Showing posts with label Gathering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gathering. Show all posts

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Gathering

So, I realized in my last post that I didn't explain the whole "box" thing. As I've been reading about family history I read "Your Family History: Getting Started" By President Boyd K. Packer. In this talk he says to those who are just getting started and not sure where to begin:

"Get a cardboard box. Any kind of a box will do. Put it someplace where it is in the way, perhaps on the couch or on the counter in the kitchen—anywhere where it cannot go unnoticed. Then, over a period of a few weeks, collect and put into the box every record of your life, such as your birth certificate, your certificate of blessing, your certificate of baptism, your certificate of ordination, and your certificate of graduation. Collect diplomas, all of the photographs, honors, or awards, a diary if you have kept one, everything that you can find pertaining to your life; anything that is written, or registered, or recorded that testifies that you are alive and what you have done."

This information will become valuable to your descendants and to yourself. As we were gathering this information, my husband started reading his mission journal, some of the things he read he had no memory of and it was interesting to hear. My children have enjoyed looking through our trophies and other awards we received growing up. It's been a fun project for us all.

Gathering Information

Gathering

Gathering my personal family history was really easy. I knew where everything was and I had already gotten GEDCOMs from my mom and imported them into RootsMagic earlier. I did however email my husband's grandma to see if she had GEDCOMs for his side of the family and I emailed my uncle to see if he has digital copies of the family history books he, my mom, and grandma put together, I only have hard copies. I'm still waiting to hear back on those. Even though I knew where all my family history was it took time gathering it so I enlisted my husband and kids to help. Once everything was gathered I had to block my living room door so my two year old couldn't go in and tear it apart, it didn't all fit into a box. I found old pictures from when I was a kid, newspapers, certificates, awards and trophies, family history books, my old journals, my kids' information, husbands mission stuff and old pics of him in elementary... the list goes on but I'm ready to go through it and get organized! Here is a picture of what I have:
 The tote has all my and my husband's pictures from elementary through high school. You can also see the family history books and other odds and ends. Much to big for a box.