Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. – The Family: A Proclamation to the World
Computer-Assisted Indexing Is Unlocking Records on FamilySearch for People Worldwide
(Extracts from an article on The Church Newsroom)
For decades, FamilySearch camera operators have been taking images of historical records from archives, museums and government buildings around the world. These images are published on FamilySearch.org and can be viewed online using the Explore Historical Images feature.
That feature, however, can only search groups of images. An image cannot be searched by name or other specific information until it is indexed.
Indexing is a transcription effort in which information on the record is read and typed into fields so it can be searched.
Up to this time, the only way we’ve been able to do that is with humans, with a volunteer workforce. Computer-assisted indexing is a new tool among those options.”
Only 20% of FamilySearch’s online historical records are currently indexed, and FamilySearch hopes computer-assisted indexing can increase that percentage at an accelerated pace.
In simple terms, computer-assisted indexing is a three-part process:
The computer figures out what it’s looking at.
The computer reads the document.
The computer tries to understand what it’s reading.
However, the artificial intelligence the computer uses is not perfect, and that’s where the people come in.
Humans support computer-assisted indexing in two ways: they teach the computer what to look at and they correct the mistakes the computer makes so it can keep getting better.
Records indexed by a computer are labeled with a box in the top right corner that reads “This record was indexed by a computer. If you find an error, click here to report it.”
(Read the entire article on the Church Newsroom)
To learn more about computer-assisted indexing, watch Davies and James’ RootsTech Connect 2021 presentation “Insights in Archives and Computer-Assisted Indexing” at RootsTech.org.
FamilySearch Microfilms Are Now All Available Digitally
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has completed the project to digitize all 2.4 million rolls of microfilm with the records of more than 11.5 billion people from around the world. These are now available to the public online.
For 83 years, the Church has been collecting and using microfilm records. All those are now available digitally to anyone who has a computer and internet connection.
Over 200 countries and principalities and more than 100 languages are included in the digitized documents. All types of genealogically significant records are included—censuses, births, marriages, deaths, probate, Church, immigration, and more. Now that the project is completed, it’s much easier for users to find members of their family tree and make personal discoveries within these records.
If you want to check out these digitized microfilms for yourself you can explore FamilySearch’s free collections of indexed records and images by going to FamilySearch.org, and then search both “Records” and “Images.” The Images feature will let you browse digitized images from the microfilm collection and more. You will need a FamilySearch account to access digitized records—but signing up is completely free! Just follow this link: Create a FamilySearch Account
Happy Father’s day: The Importance of Fathers, A God-Given Role
We live in a society that seems to discount the father’s role every day more. My own father passed away when I was 10 years old, and my mother never remarried. My mother did her best to compensate for the loss, and so did other members of the extended family, but it wasn’t the same.
Losing my father perhaps was one of the factors that pushed me to search for God, the Father of all of us, when I was still a teenager, and the results of that search was one of the greatest blessings of my life.
I so learned that fathers are important, mortal ones and the Eternal One, and the two roles are strongly connected.
According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Fatherhood is a divine role and calling.
Becoming a father, stepfather, grandfather, or foster father is an opportunity to become like God, to love and care for children as God loves and cares for us. God loves and supports all fathers as they try their best to raise and care for those in their care.
There are fathers—a noun and those who father—a verb. To father is to teach children in many ways—through example, direct counsel, and everything in-between. Our fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, and uncles may teach us to ride a bike, tie our shoes, or cook a meal, but more importantly, they can be righteous influences who teach us how to follow God.
Enos gave thanks for his father for the things he knew, saying, “Knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it” (Enos 1:1).
Elder D. Todd Christofferson said,
“As a Church, we believe in fathers. We believe in ‘the ideal of the man who puts his family first’ [Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “Fathers,” Liahona, Apr. 2016, 93].
We believe that ‘by divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families’ [“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org]. … We believe that far from being superfluous, fathers are unique and irreplaceable” (“Fathers,” general conference, Apr. 2016).
I want to add my own belief and learning from experience, repeating what Elder Christofferson said:
I believe that far from being superfluous, fathers are unique and irreplaceable … even if they aren’t perfect.
Happy Father’s day!
FamilySearch Community’s Improvements And New Look
The FamilySearch Community is an online resource that helps people interested in family history connect with each other worldwide. In the community, you can learn research strategies, view genealogy events, join various groups that have the similar interests, and connect with specialized research experts.
Members of the FamilySearch Community can answer questions you may have—and you can help others by sharing what you know. Whether you have questions, need expert help, or want to connect with others who share your passion for family history, the FamilySearch Community is a great place to be.
The FamilySearch Community was recently updated with a new look, additional functionality, and navigation enhancements. Here is a short list of what is new:
- Site navigation is now more visible and located on the left sidebar of the page.
- Searching the community is easier because of the prominent search bar on the home page.
- The Community Hub section announces changes and updates.
- A questions and answers section can be found in the navigation. Each question is sorted into a category (similar to how the Help Center categorizes content) so you can find answers to your questions about specific topics.
- A new Events section allows you to see upcoming events, send an RSVP, and even view recordings of some past events!
- Notification settings have been added. You control the notifications you want to receive. Do you want an email when someone answers your question? You get to choose!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How do I get to the new community?
A. You can get to the new community by signing into FamilySearch.org, clicking the Help icon (a question mark in a circle), and selecting Community. Or you can click here.
Q. If I was a FamilySearch Community member before, will I be a member of the new community?
A. Yes! This update will not change your access to the community and the groups you participate in…
(Learn more about these updates in the article “FamilySearch Community Receives New Look and Improvements.”)
FamilySearch inspires people everywhere to connect with their family—across generations
Free to All
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides FamilySearch free of charge to everyone, regardless of tradition, culture, or religious affiliation. Originally intended for Church members, FamilySearch resources help millions of people around the world discover their heritage and connect with family members.
What FamilySearch DoES
FamilySearch helps people discover their family’s history through our website, mobile apps, and in-person help at over 5,000 local family history centers.
Other News About FamilySearch
More than 500,000 will Attend All-Virtual FamilySearch RootsTech Connect 2021
Presenters share family stories with record-breaking global audience RootsTech Connect 2021 is starting in a few hours…. More than 501,000 family history enthusiasts are participating in RootsTech Connect 2021, many for the very first time, making this the…
More Keynote Speakers Announced for FamilySearch RootsTech Connect
RootsTech Connect, hosted by FamilySearch, will be entirely online and completely free for the first time this year. Registration is open for what is considered the world’s largest family celebration event.
FamilySearch Genealogy Website Is Now Available in 30 Languages
The free genealogy website FamilySearch.org has added 20 new languages since August, becoming the world’s largest genealogical service available to anyone in 30 total languages.
FamilySearch Gerações: O Brasil Sediará a Maior Conferência em Genealogia do Mundo
Entre os dias 5 e 8 de novembro de 2020 acontecerá a versão brasileira da maior conferência de genealogia e história da família do mundo, a FamilySearch Gerações.
Brazil to Hold First Ever FamilySearch Gerações (Generations) Virtual Event
Similar to RootsTech based in the United States and ExpoGenealogía based in Mexico, FamilySearch Gerações will include keynote speakers, family history classes and activities. Sessions will be streamed live on FamilySearch Brazil’s YouTube, Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Family History at FamilySearch: Map Where Your Ancestors Are From
Find out where your ancestors are from—and ultimately where you are from—using FamilySearch’s new Where Am I From? activity.
FamilySearch RootsTech Connect Attracting Participants From 167 Countries
since registration opened for RootsTech Connect 2021 last month, more than 106,000 people from 167 countries have signed up for the virtual event. And 86% of them have never attended RootsTech before.
8 Billion Names Are Now Searchable on FamilySearch.org
FamilySearch, the world’s largest genealogical service, has published its 8 billionth searchable name from its historical records collection.
Digitized Records of Mayflower Descendants Now Available on FamilySearch and AmericanAncestors.org
FamilySearch RootsTech Goes Virtual in 2021
FamilySearch has announced that RootsTech 2021 will be held in February as a free, virtual event.
FamilySearch Family History Blog Update – May 2020
A high-level recap of all of the fun, new content you might have missed on the FamilySearch blog in May 2020
Church News: How Brazil became a ‘pioneer’ for FamilySearch live social media events
Long before FamilySearch live social media events began in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were already successful in Brazil.
FamilySearch: Going Beyond Birth and Death Dates in Family Tree
Did you know there is a place on FamilySearch’s Family Tree to record these stories and other details so others can enjoy them as well?
DNA, Video, Facebook Coming to FamilySearch
Elder Kevin S. Hamilton Executive Director of FamilySearch sits down and talks about the future of genealogy on the popular free family history site.
Family History Activities from FamilySearch
FamilySearch provides a number of simple activities for all ages that are designed to bridge the distance between loved ones. These activities can be done with those closest to us at home or through social media. You can find activities to enjoy at FamilySearch.org/discovery.
2021 RootsTech Connect: Elder Jeffrey R. and Sister Holland
More than 1 million family history enthusiasts participated in RootsTech Connect 2021, many for the very first time, making this the largest gathering in the event’s 10-year history. Participants from over 235 countries and territories were registered for the world’s largest family history celebration, which ran Thursday through Saturday, February 25–27, 2021.
My favorite speakers were Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sister Patricia Holland, who spoke at Family Discovery Day on February 27.
Elder and Sister Holland take viewers on hometown visit around St. George during RootsTech Connect Family Discovery Day
Sitting beside his wife and three children on the grounds of the old red-brick Dixie Academy in St. George, Utah, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recalled how he met Sister Patricia Holland.
A 10th grader at the time, young Jeff heard that a beautiful young woman named Patricia Terry from Enterprise, Utah, had recently moved to St. George. The two were soon acquainted. “I didn’t think I stood a chance to know her or date her,” Elder Holland said. “She was the center of everyone’s attention, and I was really quite shy.”
Sister Holland chimed in with a chuckle, “You were never shy.”
A few months after they met, Sister Holland said she wrote a letter to her cousin about a popular, “overly confident” boy named Jeff Holland who loved to tease. “I don’t like him at all,” she remembers writing. “But I have this deep feeling someday I’m going to marry him.”
Read the full article here or watch the video below:
All Talks by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
JEFFREY R. HOLLAND
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 23, 1994. At the time of this call, Elder Holland was serving as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy to which he had been called on April 1, 1989.
From 1980 until his call as a General Authority in 1989 Jeffrey R. Holland served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is a former Church commissioner of education and dean of the College of Religious Education at BYU.https://www.youtube.com/embed/3DVpRFRFKME?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent
Elder Holland was a student leader and varsity athlete at Dixie High School and Dixie College in his native St. George, Utah. He received his bachelor and master degrees in English and religious education, respectively, from Brigham Young University. He also obtained master and doctor of philosophy degrees in American Studies from Yale University.
Elder Holland was active in professional educational activity prior to his call to full‑time Church service. He served as president of the American Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities (AAPICU), on the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), and as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Presidents Commission. For his work in improving understanding between Christians and Jews he was given the “Torch of Liberty” award by the Anti‑Defamation League of B’Nai B’rith. He has served on the governing boards of a number of civic and business‑related corporations and is the author of 15 books, 2 of which he co-authored with his wife, Patricia.
Elder Holland was born December 3, 1940, to Frank D. and Alice Bentley Holland. In 1963, he married Patricia Terry. They are the parents of Matthew, Mary Alice, and David, the parents-in-law of Paige, Lee, and Jeanne, and the grandparents of 13 grandchildren and one great- grandchild. (from the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
More Keynote Speakers Announced for FamilySearch RootsTech Connect
More keynote speakers have been announced for RootsTech Connect, a virtual family history event that will be held February 25–27, 2021.
RootsTech Connect, hosted by FamilySearch, will be entirely online and completely free for the first time this year. Registration is open for what is considered the world’s largest family celebration event.
See the complete list below.
Erick Avari
Erick Avari, an Indian American actor, has consistently turned in finely crafted performances, from grand opera to soap opera, with stops on and off Broadway, in regional theaters, some of the highest grossing films in Hollywood, hit television series and award-winning independent films. New York stage appearances include “Rasputin” with the New York City Opera; “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Tony Award winner A.J. Antoon; and “The King and I” on Broadway. He has performed at regional theaters, including the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, the Goodman Theater in Chicago, Cleveland Playhouse, Dallas Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare and Company and the Portland Grand Opera. Avari has been a trailblazer for a generation of South Asian actors in Hollywood.
Sunetra Sarker
Sunetra Sarker first came to prominence as a teenager, playing Nisha Batra in Channel Four’s cult soap opera, “Brookside.” Over the ensuing three decades, she has become a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and a stalwart of British television, appearing in regular roles in “No Angels” for Channel Four, “Informer” for BBC/Amazon Prime, “Safe House” for ITV and as Dr. Zoe Hanna in BBC One’s “Casualty” for nearly a decade. Recently, Sarker filmed a new role in the second season of “The Bay” for ITV, airing in late 2020/early 2021, and can be seen in the latest season of “Cold Feet,” also for ITV. She has won much praise for her pioneering role of Kaneez in Channel Four’s hit drama, “Ackley Bridge,” and is currently filming the fourth season.
Diego Lugano
Diego Alfredo Lugano Morena is a former professional footballer from Uruguay who played as a central defender. Nicknamed “Tota,” Lugano played for many clubs in South America and Europe, including Plaza Colonia, Club Nacional de Football, São Paulo, Fenerbahçe, Paris Saint-Germain, Malaga and West Bromwich Albion, before finishing his career with a second spell at Brazilian club São Paulo, where he now works as an administrator. Lugano made 95 appearances for the Uruguay national team, captaining his country at two FIFA World Cups. He was named best captain at the 2010 tournament. Lugano is married to Karina Roncio and has three children: Nicolás, Thiago and Bianca.
Nick Vujicic
Nick was born in 1982 with neither arms nor legs. Throughout his childhood, he dealt with many challenges as he questioned why he was different from others. As he grew up, he learned to deal with his disability and rise above his challenges to complete a university degree. By the age of 19, Nick started to fulfill his dream of encouraging other people in their struggles.
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco. She was the best golf player in the world for 157 consecutive weeks.
In 2010, Lorena paused her professional career as a golf player to focus on her foundation, which centers on the education of low-income children. Currently, it supports 360 students, the design of golf courses, and altruistic activities.
Francesco Lotoro
Francesco Lotoro is a pianist, composer, and conductor in addition to being a piano professor at the Umberto Giordano Music Conservatory in Foggia, Italy. For the past 30 years, he has been involved in collecting musical works created by musicians in concentration camps during the Holocaust. So far, he has recovered over 8,000 of these musical scores.
Read more about Francesco Lotoro.
Sharon Leslie Morgan
Sharon Leslie Morgan is a writer and genealogist. She is also the founder of Our Black Ancestry (OBA), an online community that provides resources for African American genealogical research. OBA accomplishes its objectives by helping to preserve historical materials and properties, as well as by promoting the healing of wounds left by slavery.
Read more about Sharon Leslie Morgan.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and Sister Patricia Holland
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his wife, Patricia, will be the featured speakers on February 27 at this year’s Family Discovery Day, part of RootsTech Connect.
Elder and Sister Holland and their family will talk about how we can connect to our heritage, to our ancestors, to our immediate family and to God. Their address comes from Elder Holland’s hometown of St. George, Utah. The Hollands will share family memories and stories through a video that was recorded at various locations in the area.
Family Discovery Day will be streamed on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, YouTube, Latter-day Saints Channel and other media on Saturday, February 27, at noon (Mountain Standard Time). The broadcast will also be available for on-demand viewing.
Also during RootsTech, Elder David A. Bednar, Elder Gary E. Stevenson and Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will host training on temple and family history work for Latter-day Saint leaders. On-demand viewing will be available anytime beginning on February 25, 2021, by visiting ChurchofJesusChrist.org/family-history or the Church broadcast page.
The broadcast will be available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Swedish. A recording of the training will be available in the Gospel Library soon after the event.
Visit RootsTech.org for additional information or to register for this year’s virtual event.
(Information taken from Rootstech.org, Familysearch.org and Newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org)
Marriages and Divorces World Trends
These are interesting data about marriage and divorce from OurWorldinData.org
- Marriages are becoming less common: in most countries the share of people getting married has fallen in recent decades. However, this is not true across all countries.
- Across most countries, people are marrying later in life.
- Cohabitation – couples living together who are not married – is becoming increasingly common.
- Single parenting is common and has increased in recent decades across the world.
- The Netherlands was the first country to legally recognise marriage for same-sex couples in 2000. Since then at least 30 countries have followed suit.
- There has been a general upward trend in divorce rates globally since the 1970s. But this pattern varies significantly country-to-country.
- Divorce rates are lower in younger cohorts.
- In rich countries with available data the average length of marriage before divorce has been relatively stable in recent decades, and in some cases it has even increased.
Marriage rates in the US over the last century
For the US we have data on marriage rates going back to the start of the 20th century. This lets us see when the decline started, and trace the influence of social and economic changes during the process.
- In 1920, shortly after the First World War, there were 12 marriages annually for every 1,000 people in the US. Marriages in the US then were almost twice as common as today.
- In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the rate fell sharply. In the 1930s marriages became again more common and in 1946 – the year after the Second World War ended – marriages reached a peak of 16.4 marriages per 1,000 people.
- Marriage rates fell again in the 1950s and then bounced back in the 1960s.
- The long decline started in the 1970s. Since 1972, marriage rates in the US have fallen by almost 50%, and are currently at the lowest point in recorded history.
How did marriage rates change around the world?
The chart above shows that in comparison to other rich countries, the US has had particularly high historical marriage rates. But in terms of changes over time, the trend looks similar for other rich countries. The UK and Australia, for example, have also seen marriage rates declining for decades, and are currently at the lowest point in recorded history.
For non-rich countries the data is sparse, but available estimates from Latin America, Africa and Asia suggest that the decline of marriages is not exclusive to rich countries. Over the period 1990 – 2010 there was a decline in marriage rates in the majority of countries around the world.
But there’s still a lot of cross-country variation around this general trend, and in some countries changes are going in the opposite direction. In China, Russia and Bangladesh, for example, marriages are more common today than a couple of decades ago.
FamilySearch Genealogy Website Is Now Available in 30 Languages
The free genealogy website FamilySearch.org has added 20 new languages since August, becoming the world’s largest genealogical service available to anyone in 30 total languages. The website has been available in 10 languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish) since it first launched in 2007.
FamilySearch users can create free accounts, build family trees, explore billions of genealogical records and add family memories and artifacts using any of the 30 languages below. FamilySearch’s Family Tree mobile app is available on iOS and Android if the language being used is supported on a user’s device.
Anyone visiting FamilySearch.org with a web browser set to one of the new languages can automatically navigate the site in that language. Otherwise, users can select their preferred language from the list of choices in the site’s language setting at the bottom of FamilySearch.org.
FamilySearch.org is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Languages supported by FamilySearch.org
- Български (Bulgarian)
- Česky (Czech)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Deutsch (German)
- English
- Español (Spanish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- Vosa vakaviti (Fijian)
- Français (French)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- ភាសាខ្មែរ (Khmer)
- Монгол (Mongolian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- Polski (Polish)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Română (Romanian)
- Русский (Russian)
- Slovenčina (Slovak)
- Gagana Samoa (Samoan)
- Shqip (Albanian)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Faka-tonga (Tongan)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese)
(read more in the Church Newsroom)
RootsTech Connect, February 25 – 27, 2021 at rootstech.org
You may only be “one”, but you are vitally important. One part of humanity, one part of a family, one part of a worldwide story. Because together, everyONE matters. Every ONE makes all the difference. You can celebrate the unique contributions you make by joining RootsTech Connect, February 25 – 27, 2021 at rootstech.org.
RootsTech Connect 2021 will enable attendees to participate from around the world and will feature inspiring keynote speakers, dozens of classes in multiple languages, and a virtual marketplace. Reserve your place today at RootsTech.org.
RootsTech Connect 2021 will be global in scope while offering many experiences that attendees have come to know and love from RootsTech events—including inspirational keynote speakers, dozens of classes to choose from, and an expo hall.
Throughout the three-day online event, attendees will have the ability to interact with presenters, exhibitors, and other attendees through live chat and question and answer sessions. Classes will be taught in many languages, and presenters will teach from a number of international locations.
My Experience Sharing Gratitude on Social Media for Seven Days
On November 20, 2020, President Russell M. Nelson offered a prayer of gratitude and also invited everyone, everywhere, to do two important things to help heal our fractured relationships and communities:
- Turn social media into your own gratitude journal for the next seven days
- Say a prayer of thanks
My experience expressing gratitude on social media was a wonderful learning experience.
The first day I expressed gratitude for my wife, because she is the most important person in my life, and she had made my life wonderful.
The second day I expressed gratitude for having found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 35 years ago, in Italy, when two missionaries from Utah, elder Lynn Forbes and Craig Stout, taught me the gospel. Every other major blessing in my life has come from that initial step, accepting the teachings of the church and being baptized.
The third day was about the Savior, for what He did for me and for each one of us, even for those who don’t believe in Him. Jesus Christ came to this earth to teach, to be an example, but especially to carry out the Atonement, because only He had the power to lay down His life and take it up again. Only He could redeem us from our sins, and because He had the power of redemption and had no debt with the divine justice, he could pay the debt for those who repent.
The fourth day I expressed gratitude for my ancestors. None of them were part of the handcarts pioneer companies who crossed the plains of America. None of them came to America in the Mayflower and none of them was in this life a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. However, they were good people, and they did the best they could with the knowledge they had. They worked and loved, raised their families and fought in wars, faced challenges and had moments of joy.
And the good things that they learned in their lives and that they passed down to their children became part of my heritage and prepared me to receive and accept the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful to them, and I know that I will meet them again, after this life, and I will have the opportunity of thanking them personally.
The fifth day was about the blessing of becoming a parent and about my children. Parenting has been a growing experience over the years that has taught me many important lessons, and I am still learning. Our children have grown up to be good people, each one of them very different from the others, and all very independent. Some of them have already started their own families and so the cycle has began again. We need to remember that “children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3)
The sixth day was about friends. Friends enrich our lives in many ways, and I wanted to express gratitude for them, for whatever they did or are still doing to make our lives better, even when they don’t realize the effect they may have. Some friends are like family, some we have known for a long time, while others are new; with some we share happy moments and with others we cry together, but life is better because of good friends.
And the seventh day I felt that there was another very important group of people, our extended family, our cousins, uncles , aunts, etc. They all live in Italy and therefore we don’t see them very often, but we love them and they help us feel connected to our roots, our native country and family.
While choosing pictures of our relatives, on this side of the veil or on the other, or of our friends, I was taken into a journey of rediscovery of the importance of people in our lives. There is really nothing more important. Material possessions and even the blessing of nature are necessary, but people are what really makes a difference in our lives.
Sometimes, even our own family members or friends may be a challenge, they are not perfect, and we aren’t either, and therefore we don’t share only great and happy moments with them. We may have had disagreements or we may have not seen them for some time, or even a long time, for whatever reason. But when we think of them, while reviewing some old pictures of when we were together, it’s easier to feel love for them, and remember what unites us, instead than what may temporarily divide us, including time and distance.
I want to conclude by thanking God for a prophet and for his counsels, including this last one, about focusing on gratitude for a week. It was a great experience and a blessing, which made me feel more connected to many people who are important in my life.
- Watch President Russell M. Nelson’s special video message that he shared with the world on November 20, 2020.
- Visit GiveThanks.ChurchofJesusChrist.org to read the backstory of President Nelson’s message.
- Read the article “The Prophet Releases a Message on the Healing Power of Gratitude.”
Brazil to Hold First Ever FamilySearch Gerações (Generations) Virtual Event
Sign up at familysearchgeracoes.com.br to join the free, virtual family history event for Portuguese speakers on November 5-8
FamilySearch Gerações is a free, virtual family history event to be hosted in Brazil November 5-8 and is the result of the Brazil Area Presidency’s emphasis, efforts and desire to help the public connect to their heritage.
Though targeted toward Brazilians, FamilySearch Gerações is designed for anyone who speaks Portuguese and wants to learn more about their roots.
Similar to RootsTech based in the United States and ExpoGenealogía based in Mexico, FamilySearch Gerações will include keynote speakers, family history classes and activities. Sessions will be streamed live on FamilySearch Brazil’s YouTube, Instagram and Facebook accounts.
A number of prominent Brazilians and Elder Joaquin E. Costa, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Brazil Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are scheduled to speak. (Read the full article on Church Newsroom)
Sign up for free at familysearchgeracoes.com.br.
PROGRAM
DE 5 A 8 DE NOVEMBRO DE 2020
| 5/11 – QUINTA |
| 15h às 16h | Parceria do Arquivo Nacional com o FamiliySearch | Neide De Sordi e Aluf Alba Elias |
| 18h30 às 19h15 | História da Família na Prática: Como Começar | Carlos Wizard Martins e família |
| 20h às 20h45 | Afrodescendentes Brasileiros e a Árvore Biológica (DNA) | Zulu Araújo |
| 6/11 – SEXTA |
| 15h às 16h | Pesquisa em Registros Paroquiais e Religiosos | Jair Mongelli |
| 18h30 às 19h15 | Pesquisa para Cidadania Estrangeira | Victor Amadeu e Daniel Taddone |
| 20h às 21h | Comunicação e Talento: de Geração para Geração | Patrícia Abravanel |
| 7/11 – SÁBADO |
| 10h às 10h45 | Museu da Imigração de São Paulo, 1ª Biblioteca Afiliada FamilySearch no Brasil | Alessandra Almeida e Henrique Trindade |
| 15h às 15h45 | Recursos do MyHeritage | Sonia Meza |
| 18h30 às 19h15 | Os Jovens e a História da Família | Elder Luciano Sankari |
| 20h às 21h | Raízes e Ramos: A Missão e os Recursos do FamilySearch | Fábio Falcão Lucas |
| 8/11 – DOMINGO |
| 15h às 15h45 | Memórias da História da Família | John Rodgerson |
| 18h30 às 19h15 | Minha Família: Histórias que Nos Unem | Elder Joaquin E. Costa |
| 20h às 21h | História da Família Através da Música |
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