How does Family History Work Save the World?

Amy Harris, an Associate Professor in the History Department at BYU, gave a talk in 2017 titled, “Of Dead Cats and Dead People: How Family History can Save the World.” In the talk she says, “Margaret Bendroth, the archivist at the Congregational Library: Instead of defining ourselves through associations with once-famous people, or taking our ancestors too lightly by assuming they were not as complex as we are, we should want an encounter with the past that will challenge and deepen [us].”28 How can we achieve this statement above? I had the privilege of working with a friend of mine for the past couple of weeks on her family history work. She knew she had family members that had worked on her family line, but was not able to obtain this information for some time.

When I talked with her about her own family history, she told me she was starting with some family names and would have to reach out to her mother and father for more information on her ancestors. As she worked hard on her family history, she found answers and important information that was needed for her to add on to her family tree. I believe her desire to know her past ancestors and write this information down has been equally challenging and meaningful. We have such a great opportunity before us to learn and record our family history.

Our Father in Heaven and Savior have all the information we need to complete our ancestry work. What would happen if they just gave us that information right when we first asked though? Would family history work be as meaningful to us? I don’t know. Only you can answer that for yourselves. One thing I do know though, is that when we have a desire to find information about our own family, our Savior, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost work with us line upon line to get that information.

I have witnessed many miracles and blessings on my own journey to work on my family history. When I am stuck or confused, I will say a prayer and find that answers come my way line upon line, precept upon precept. I have learned more in the past few months about family history work than I had ever known before. My desire to do the work matters and so does my faith in my Savior and Heavenly Father.

If you have not ever read Amy Harris’s talk titled: "Of Dead Cats and Dead People: How Family History Can Save the World," I encourage you to read it. She gives great insights into the evolution of how family information was kept in the 1700’s.

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/amy-harris/how-family-history-can-save-the-world/