Setting Family History Goals

by Nathan Shepherd

We can expect many blessings from focusing on the temple and family history, and setting a goal helps us stay focused and be productive.  Try to stretch, but remember to be realistic, too.  

Also remember that family history is just as much about creating memories today and documenting our family lives as it is about digging into the lives of our ancestors.  Planning a vacation, creating photo books, and spending quality time with our loved ones are all great ways to "do" our family history.

So how do we choose a goal in just 15 minutes?  Read through the following list and use it as a jumping-off point.  Either select a goal from it directly or use it to create a custom goal.  Then please share your goal with us!  There is a lifetime of possibilities.

Creating family memories

·       Plan a family vacation to create or stir up memories.

·       Write / formulate a story about [x family history moment – from your life or another] to share with kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or random strangers

·       Tell kids / nieces / nephews / siblings stories about their family.

·       Establish a personal family creed

o   For example, "Shepherds are…"  "They do…"

·       Identify family traditions you would like to maintain or begin celebrating

o   Ethnic holidays, Ancestral birthdays / migration days / etc.

o   Spiritual or temporal – Talk Like a Pirate Day, Oreo Cookie Day, etc.

·       Cook recipes significant to your ancestors.  Make it a tradition.

Improving temple worship

·       Invite friends and colleagues to the Washington DC Temple Open House.

·       Become worthy to attend the temple and acquire a temple recommend

·       Attend the temple more often

·       Identify ancestors in need of temple work and perform ordinances for them

Capturing family memories

·       Write and upload FamilySearch memories of grandparents and/or other people I knew

·       Photo books for my family

·       Baby books for kids

·       Write down memories of children / stories

o   Where did children names come from?  Tell them about it.

·       Write down silly things my kids / nieces / nephews say

·       Write down the soundtrack of my life (or record it for posterity)

·       Photo document my commute

·       Ask my grandma/grandpa/mom/dad about:

o   What life was like when he/she was [insert your age] years old.

o   Who the oldest person he/she ever met was.

o   Family heirlooms

o   What it was like to raise [x] kids (or THAT kid)

o   What it was like to go to *that* school

o   Dating before and after they met their spouse

·       Identify someone to interview

·       Interview my parents, cousins, grandparents

·       Record voices and videos of living family members (kids, siblings, parents, grandparents)

·       Connect with distant cousins by using DNA for genealogy

Capturing personal memories

·       Keep a journal [somewhat] regularly.

·       Identify pivotal moments in my life and document them

·       Write memoirs

Capturing spiritual epiphanies

·       Write and share my written testimony with my family (or a "Why I believe")

·       Write down blessings, spiritual experiences.

·       Obtain copies of and analyze ancestor patriarchal blessings

o   What seems to have been fulfilled?

o   What might not appear to have been fulfilled?

·       Identify ancestral converts to the gospel and track down conversion stories

·       Collect and aggregate in one place any written ancestral testimonies

·       Identify religious origins of my family (other than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and explore the religious practices in those faiths

Uncovering family memories

·       Read all the FamilySearch memories of ancestors up to [4] generations back

·       Write narratives about my family ancestors

·       Recruit siblings / cousins to write narratives about ancestors (or about themselves)

·       Identify siblings of my ancestors who died as children and honor their memories by exploring their short lives [imagine the heartache].

Battle-Hardened Ancestors

·       Identify Civil War veterans in my family and visit the local battlefields

·       Identify Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War, Iraq2, and/or Afghanistan (or other) veterans in my family and uncover their stories of service.

Professional Life

·       Identify any ancestors with federal service and view records at National Archives

·       Identify family members who chose the same profession as me.

·       Chart out the occupations of all ancestors

·       What was it like to be an [occupation] in the 19th century?

o   See industrial schedules of 1810 and 1820

Locals

·       Identify family members who lived nearby and visit their homes / hometowns / graves or other locations significant in their lives

Sickness and Health

·       Identify family members who shared an illness with me or an immediate family member

·       Health survey of ancestors

o   Who died of what?  Notable illnesses?

Emigrants

·       Identify which ancestors immigrated to different countries (e.g., USA) and track down copies of their immigration / naturalization papers.  Chart their path.

·       Explore how my German, Japanese, Italian, French, British, US ancestors weathered WWII in Germany, US, elsewhere.

·       Identify ancestors from another country.

o   Did they fight in WWII?  The 7 Days War?  The War of Austro-Hungarian Succession?  The [insert crazy long ago and far away battle here].

Famous Ancestors

·       Identify famous people with whom I am related (www.relativefinder.org)

·       Conduct research to prove / disprove familial link to [x] person.

Heirlooms

·       Identify heirlooms, record their significance, and make efforts to protect the

Family Lore

·       Corroborate / disprove my family's family history lore:

o   Native American Ancestry, royalty, pioneer stock, outstanding citizens, notorious villains, country of origin / naturalization

Interesting People and Time Periods

·       Collect stories about an ancestor who seems particularly colorful

·       Identify ancestors living through the Great Depression and find out how they managed

Hobbies / Activities

·       Identify if any of my ancestors played sports or participated in other activities while in high school or college

·       Identify hobbies or interests of my ancestors.

Photos, Voice, and Video

·       Collect photos, voice recordings, and video recordings of all possible family members.  Challenge yourself by capturing the best quality memories and then sharing (as appropriate – only the deceased) on Family Search.