Family History Fireside Chat – 7 May 2016

Recently, I had an opportunity to attend a Family History Fireside Chat which was sponsored by the Family History Centers of Newfoundland. This was originally planned as a one-day conference but because of lack of preregistrations, it was considered to be unfeasible to continue on as a conference.

As Lesley Anderson was scheduled to fly into St John’s from Ottawa and already had her ticket booked, there was a certain cost that had to be covered whether Lesley came or not. So, the decision was made to have her come and change the venue into a fireside chat. It gave Lesley a chance to tour St John’s and to visit places that she hadn’t been to before.

The committee decided to also ask Yvonne Sorenson from FamilySearch.org to also speak. Yvonne was invited to Skype in from Salt Lake City which is what she did.

There were four locations where you could go to attend the fireside chat. They were the chapels of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in St John’s, Bay Roberts, and Corner Brook as well as the meeting place for the members in Grand Falls-Windsor/Gander area. Those attending in St John’s, Bay Roberts, and Corner Brook were treated to a potluck dinner. Those attending in Grand Falls-Windsor had light refreshments during the fireside chat. This was because the facility in Grand Falls-Windsor is not big enough to be able to have a meal like the others and then immediately go into the other room for the program.

I am not sure of the attendance in the other locations, but in Grand Falls-Windsor, we had eight people in attendance. It looked like the other locations had approximately 20 to 30 people each. I personally think that, for this area and the fact that this is the first time that we have done this, the fireside chat was a success.

Lesley Anderson was the first speaker and spoke about Ancestry.ca. She explained how to get started on your family history as well as how Ancestry can help you with it. Ancestry has come out with some new initiatives and Lesley explained how they worked.

Yvonne Sorenson then spoke, giving a quick history of Newfoundland, the Atlantic provinces, and the northeastern states and how they related to each other. She then demonstrated what kind of records that are available online with FamilySearch.org and also mentioned some of the records that are available through Ancestry, Find My Past, and My Heritage. Yvonne also touched on the Indexing program and how anyone could index the records through this program. She mentioned that the Indexing program is about to make available some additional options that will be offered.

As we know, there are many records that are not available online as of yet. There are some in archives that may never be online. However, all of the records held in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City will eventually be online. In the meantime, these records are on microfilm that can still be ordered into Family History Centers for viewing. Personally, this is the case that I have, some of my records may be the last records to be digitized and put online. Living in Gander, we are hours away from the closest Family History Center, but, at least there are two here on the island.

This Family History Fireside Chat was an initiative that may have been a way of making the best of things for the conference, but I can see that it can produce good things. We are hoping that we will be able to continue with them, highlighting various organizations here in Newfoundland that hold records and explain how they can help us find and understand our ancestors.

My direct ancestors did not settle here in Newfoundland. My mother’s ancestors went to what is now Lanark County and Huron County in Ontario, and my father’s parents and grandparents left Liverpool and moved to Toronto.

However, there are records pertaining to my great-grandfather here in Newfoundland. This is part of the reason why my husband and I are here. These records are the ships logs for the British Merchant Marines for all the years except those ending in 5. These also have the crews’ lists. I am also thinking that I might be able to find some passenger lists in them as well. I have already made one trip to St John’s but I have more than just my great-grandfather who was a sailor in the Merchant Marine. I have a number of indirect ancestors who were sailors and I want to find their records and be able to tell their stories to my children, my grandchildren, and possibly even my great-grandchildren.

May we work towards finding the records of our ancestors to tell our descendants about these people who came before us. May Heavenly Father help us to find the records, the people and the stories to become the family historians that we need to be. May our ancestors help us by prompting us about where to look for this vital information. May our love for our families, past, present, and future grow to encompass every member from the babies that died so young to the parents and grandparents who guided their children, to the black sheep and the white sheep, the adventurers, the tree-huggers, those that stayed at home, and those that trusted that the future would be all that it could. These are they that come before us and come after us. Let us remember them all as we find them. Everyone deserves to be remembered no matter what they have or have not done.

Brussels, 22 March 2016

I apologize to those of you who have been waiting for this, but this had to be a special blog. It took me longer to write this as I was waiting for the Holy Spirit to help me and inspire me. I hope that this will touch people in the way that I mean, with love and understanding and compassion. Nothing in this life touches people like the horror that happened this morning. Nothing in this life touches people like the love and compassion of God when it is allowed to touch them. You have the choice. Will you let the love and compassion of God through and have his help? Or, will you stop it and struggle for the rest of your life to understand?

This morning, when I woke up, I was reading the news via the CBC News app on my tablet. I don’t read the news every day, but, today, I had the impression that I should. As the app updated itself, I found that the first news article was regarding the bombings in Brussels. I was not surprised to read about it. This is something that has been expected by the authorities since the bombing in Paris.

There have been lives changed due to these bombings. There were 34 deaths that we are aware of and over 100 people injured. 34 families will not be having a family member return home to them. 34 funerals are needed. 34 sudden deaths of people who previously were healthy and had plans for the future. For the injured, many of them have serious injuries that will require time in hospital, physiotherapy, and other medical treatments.

Even though the bomb attack this morning does not seem to have an affect on my life, you can be sure that these attacks do affect our lives. Right now, there are many people that are saying, “It’s not affecting how I live my life. It happened over in Europe.” Canadians and Americans are indeed affected. Donald Trump has already commented on the situation. So has Ted Cruz. Justin Trudeau sent his tweet.

It’s not my responsibility to comment on the political leaders comments. However, come election time, think about how the potential leaders reacted and how it made you feel. Then vote accordingly.

As for my personal feelings, I think that the actions taken today by the terrorists will affect each and every one of us. They may not affect us immediately, but they will affect us.

I was talking with some friends of mine about the bombings, early this evening. We were talking about the fact that a great number of people will use incidents like this to justify their belief in God. They ask why does God allow the bombings and all the bad things that can happen to us. What people in essence are asking is why doesn’t God take away our free agency to keep us safe. If God were to interfere with things like this, it would be taking away the ability to make decisions from all of us, not just the bad guys.

There is also the fact that when we are baptized, either we or our sponsors will make a covenant. A covenant is a promise that has two sides. We make a promise and the other party makes a promise. If either side does not keep their end of the bargain, the promises are null and void. When we are baptized, the promise is made that we will follow God’s commandments and live the teachings of Jesus Christ. In return, God promises to give us the blessings that we need to succeed in life. Success in life doesn’t always mean a big house, lots of money, everything that you want. It means that you will be happy in your life with your family.

That brings me to another point. When we obey the commandments of God and try our best to live a righteous life, we will be blessed. Because of our free agency, everyone has the right to live their lives how they want. If someone decides that they will follow a radical teaching that teaches them that they should kill those who don’t believe the same way that they do, they still have their free agency. However, if they make choices that are not good, they will pay the consequences for their choices. Some of their choices will harm others and they may not feel the consequences right away. Good people will be killed or harmed because of the choices of other. It is not our place to judge others. However, it does not mean that you cannot take steps to defend yourself and your family.

I believe that it is my responsibility to myself and my family to live my life as righteous as I can. Yes, I do make mistakes. I am not perfect. However, if I do make a mistake, I need to correct the situation. It is my belief that part of my life should be devoted to what God wants me to do.

Many people will think that I am out of my mind in this but, I also believe that if people were to become closer to God and Jesus Christ, they would benefit greatly from it. Yes, there still would be death. Yes, there still will be people who believe differently. If more people would follow God’s direction, I believe that we would be able to allow ourselves to be guided by God and that we would receive blessings beyond our comprehension.

I beg you. Please do not let the bombings in Brussels deter you from believing in God. I don’t care what religion that you adhere to, but the old saying goes “two wrongs don’t make a right”. If you have family members injured by the bombings, thank God that they are still with you. If you have family members that were killed, thank God that they don’t have to suffer tremendous pain. Everyone feels the pain of what happened today. Some feel it more than others. Please, do not let this pain sour you or make you feel that you cannot handle what you are going through. God will never let you go through something like this without any help that you need. If you need help, God is willing to give it to you, but you have to ask for that help. He cannot interfere without a request from you. God wants to bless you. Please, ask Him for His blessing that you may be able to get through tomorrow, then the day after, and then the day after that. Let Him heal your heart and soul. Be the person that God wants you to be. Be the person that cares about what happens to those that hurt and those that did the hurting. You can do it with God’s help.