Jeff Westover

Who are the storytellers?

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Today was another inspiring day at Rootstech. The best featured keynote of today’s conference agenda was Daniel Isay of StoryCorps.

You might recall a posting we made on our Facebook page about them around Thanksgiving. At that time they were driving an initiative to get kids to record talking to their grandparents about their memories.

That was just part of an overall ongoing project by StoryCorps. For more than a decade they have recorded the stories of people from all over – just two people talking, in most cases, about their lives and experiences. They take these usually brief conversations and stories and send them to the National Archives, where they have stored 65,000 stories like this one:

It is pretty clear to see how such recorded memories are such a powerful family history tool. It is inspiring a lot of ideas within me.

But as I attended today’s events with the present on my mind as much as the past I had to wonder – who are the natural storytellers of our family?

Well, obviously, we’re all storytellers in our own right.

We each have memories of times, places and people we eagerly recount. The closer to any such situations or people that we are the easier it is for us to tell the story.

But some just seem to have a knack.

One of the best storytellers I know is my father-in-law, Gary Gillen. He’s a legend with my kids for being able to tell the funniest stories. Of course, what makes the stories so much fun is the fact he can’t get through them without laughing like crazy himself.

Another who comes to mind is Gerald Quilter. My experiences with him were quite limited compared to others but he could tell great stories. He had the twinkle in his eye that always kept you on the edge of your seat. Long before I met my wife he told me the story of his rock garden, a story I thought for a long time was exclusive for just me but that I later learned was legendary among many in the family.

These thoughts and memories were all over me today as I explored the topic of our present Westover Family History. While our first year last year produced a lot of our family past we didn’t do a good job recording our family present. We lost a few last year but also saw a good share of new babies, graduations, weddings, missions and travels – all that should be noted in family history for generations to come.

I thought today how we can address this. It’s a big job. Some of the classes I took today talked about that and especially how to reach out to the Millennials in our family who can help preserve our present happenings. More on this down the road.

One of the great diversions of the day came from previewing the first episode of a new reality game show produced by KBYU called Relative Race. What a kick in the head.

The premise is this: four couples compete in a race across the country by first taking Ancestry DNA tests that are used to identify relatives unknown to them across the USA. Each day they are given a destination and a challenge that will lead them to the doorstep of these unknown relatives – where they will then spend the night. They are racing from San Francisco to New York and the prize is $25,000.

The show is a hoot, if just for the married people dynamics alone. But when you toss in the mysterious element of family connections a lot of magic happens. KBYU is putting out some creative stuff and this one is a lot of fun and should do well. It debuts on Sunday evenings starting February 28th.

I spent plenty of time today again learning about Church history resources for family history research. The Joseph Smith Papers are included via a Family Search integration now, a tantalizing prospect for the future as they are now starting to work on the Brigham Young Papers project. I find that a tantalizing prospect for years to come as these resources come out that could help tell even deeper stories from our family members whose lives were so connected to early Church history.

In all, today was a day that left me bursting with ideas. It also left me painfully aware that I need help – and a lot of it.

Jeff Westover

Stories Over Data

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It was an emotional day for me at Rootstech. One filled with inspiration.

Things kicked off with the keynote addresses of this first official day of the event. Two presentations stood out for me. Steven Rockwood, head honcho at Family Search talked about the need to focus on the stories instead of the data when sharing our family history.

That’s pretty interesting considering that FamilySearch is all about the data. But his point is a recurring theme that I’ve felt keenly for many years now — and it was repeated over and over today.

The Spirit of Elijah comes from the stories, not the cold hard facts of names and dates. What inspires, uplifts, teaches and humbles one are the lives lived by those who came before us. They in part define who we are and that emotion comes back to me time and again.

In fact, that was the story shared by Paula Williams Madison, a retired NBC Universal Executive of black and Chinese descent. She told her story featured in this preview of her documentary – click here to see the trailer.

Fascinating tale of how family — no matter where or how — touches us.

Her point in speaking at Rootstech was to say “thank you” to the world of researchers who helped her bridge the gaps between Harlem and China. Quite a tale.

That was a good foundation for what followed for me today.

My morning after the keynotes did not start well. I attended a class that was supposed to instruct us on writing our own family history. I’ve been unsettled about that topic because it is easier for me to write about others than it is to write about myself.

This class was not as advertised, however. It was “taught” by an exhibitor who was there to pitch websites, family charts and custom books. It was more sales than practical advice and I quickly bailed on the class, more than a little annoyed.

I jumped into a Family Search class that gave tips about using Family Search. Fantastic class, even if some of the information was stuff I already knew.

I noticed something. Everything associated with Family Search in some way was packed – crowded to standing room only.

There’s a reason for that.

Family Search isn’t in the business of making money. The entire site is free.

This is important to recognize as you take inventory of the prodigious amount of progress Family Search is making. The emphasis on stories over data, as Rockwood explained, shows just how much Family Search has mastered the mechanics of tying together the available data.

The hook of it all – the meat – lies in the stories. And to get to the stories you’ve got to use the many beneficial features of Family Search.

From that class I learned to pretty much keep my eye on what Family Search is doing – and right behind that, what the Church was emphasizing.

Even though I’m not a family history consultant and I’m not in ward leadership I decided to attend the Church Family History department presentation about the vision of the Family History Department.

What a wise choice! And what an inspiring hour that was spent. It was every bit as good as anything you’d see in General Conference.

Elder Stephen Snow – yeah, we’re related – first announced ways the Church history department is interfacing with Family Search efforts. He announced the release of a database of early church missionaries dating from 1830 to 1930.

If one has ancestors who served a mission during that time frame we can get new information about them. I couldn’t wait to get home to check it out.

But then Steven Rockwood came back – this time in a tie and addressing the crowd as “Brothers and Sisters”.

He was inspiring in ways that few are at Rootstech and he gave what I consider to be a masterful presentation. He said, “If you want to understand the business plan of Family Search International, read 1st Nephi”, then he began to teach how the experience of Lehi was really a lesson in family history. Great talk with too many take aways for me to list here.

But again his talk was centered on the “heart” of family history – the stories we learn of those who come before.

That was again demonstrated through another Family Search class I attended later as they walked a recent convert through a live coaching session on finding ancestors via Family Search and preparing those names for the temple. The poor girl they used was a bit nervous but she was a good sport. I’d say she was maybe in her mid-twenties.

She had gathered just a few names and dates from a distant family member – and within a 30 minute demonstration they were able to find more data to paste into her family tree. In fact, they discovered a whole family of some 15 members – and gathered enough to print cards for them all to take to the temple. The look on her face was priceless – and one I could certainly identify with – as these discoveries unfolded in front of us.

Facts brought out questions, questions brought up searches, and searches began to sketch out a story. And the story brought realization and tears. All of it, of course, was made all the more powerful for this new member who suddenly had new context for getting to the Temple.

Oh, that I could do this work all the time – 24 hours a day. It is food for the spirit, hope for the soul, and light for dark hearts.

Jeff Westover

Seeing the Sword of Laban

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For several years now the Church History Library has teased me. Knowing what I know now about much of our 19th century family history I’ve wanted to go there to see what I could find out. Today, after registering for Rootstech, I had a few hours to kill before my first class. Now was the time.

I hoofed it on over there and walked into the front door, meeting a man in a suit and wearing an ear piece. He looked at me and asked what I was looking for.

“The sword of Laban,” I said confidently.

Ok, I didn’t say that but I wished I had thought of it at the time.

But that is the difference between this facility and others I have visited associated with family and church history. In this building they will allow even amateur researchers like myself access to Church records.

I decided I would play nice and follow by the rules. They checked my ID, made me log on to my LDS.org account and then I had to watch a video about how things are handled and what the procedures were there at the library.

After going through all that I put my visions of Liahonas aside and meekly asked for the ward records for Mendon, Utah.

In the time I had to spend I thought a worthy goal would be to find out if Ann Findley Westover was really primary president in Mendon for 37 years.

I had about ten minutes with a historian. He seemed impressed with my target and what I knew about Grandma Ann already. He was confident that maybe the records would show something of her calling and service.

As it turns out the ward records dated back to 1861 (I knew that) and all I needed to do was to sort through those. They made me sign, ditch my coat and phone, and sent me to the reading room where I awaited 4 rolls of microfilm. I wouldn’t see the records themselves – because they had them on film and that was safer for me to handle.

I thought about that sword again – surely they had a picture, no? I still lacked the nerve.

The first roll of film had nothing I could use, though I spent a good 45 minutes going through it. There was no rhyme or reason to what was filmed. One minute I was reading notes from the Bishopric in 1890 and the next I was dealing with YMMIA meeting notes from the 1950s.

The second reel I hit pay dirt. “Primary meeting minutes, November 5th, 1888, President Ann Westover presiding.”

There she was. Week after week, first for years and then for decades.

These were comprehensive meeting notes. Immediately I felt the pangs of guilt for the 2-line meeting notes I kept as Teacher’s Quorum secretary years ago. These pioneer meeting notes outlined total attendance (over 60 kids usually in the Mendon Ward), who spoke, what they sang and the themes of the meeting.

In looking at week after week of these notes one trend became clear: President Westover was the storyteller of the Mendon Primary. She was always relating something – the story of the blind boy who had faith, the story of Moses from the Bible, the story of Joseph sold into Egypt. My favorite note was “President Westover tells stories of early church history”. Boy, what I wouldn’t give to hear that story today!

In all, I spent three hours in 19th century Mendon, perusing minutes all the way past the year 1906, when Ann’s name stopped appearing the minutes and she no longer presided.

I doubt she was Primary President for 37 years…though I think she spent close to that time in the Primary presidency because she was a counselor for several years before she was made president.

It was a good training session for me. And you can bet I’ll be back.

I wanna see that sword.

Jeff Westover

Your Ticket to Rootstech

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When I registered for RootsTech last fall my first priority was to grab enough tickets for my children to attend Family Discovery Day.

Family Discovery Day is a free event sponsored by the Church that is designed for families and youth. Last year I witnessed thousands of families and kids come to listen to a challenge given by Apostle Neil L. Andersen. I was inspired by their enthusiasm and their eager acceptance of his message. I want my children to experience that this year.

But if you don’t live near Salt Lake you can still attend by checking with your local ward or stake to see if they are sponsoring a live streaming event of what is happening at RootsTech this coming Saturday. Here is the schedule and list of speakers.

I have no doubt those speakers will be great. But there will be other events going on that day if you can attend in Salt Lake. There will be classes for beginners and activities in the Expo Hall designed to engage the youth to demonstrate how they can enjoy the work of family history.

For example, FamilySearch is sponsoring a recording booth where for 10-minutes the youth can call an older relative and record a shared story.

One of my biggest regrets is not engaging myself enough in family history early enough in my life. I can see that my enthusiasm now is not doing much to inspire my kids. I am hoping that in attending RootsTech we can break through that a little bit. We discussed it tonight for Family Night. I know they are skeptical — but I’m convinced once they see the power for good this is in the lives of so many others they will begin to discover the great heritage we share.

The hardest part of family history is deciding to do it — to actually invest time in schedules that are overloaded already.

I see nothing but good coming from these efforts and I see nothing but benefits for those of my children and my family at large by engaging in this work. There are nothing but upsides.

If you have not been to RootsTech before and are curious about it perhaps getting a peek this Saturday via a local ward or even by catching it online at LDS.org would be a good way to get started. You can bet we’ll report on what we experience.

And if there are family members out there from the Salt Lake area already planning to attend or wanting to attend – let us know! We’d love to meet up and discover things with you.

Jeff Westover

Blogging RootsTech

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Last Sunday they made an announcement about how local ward members could attend RootsTech either in person or via live streaming that would be broadcast right to our church building. Later in that same meeting the question was asked how many were making plans to attend. Mine was the only hand that went up.

That really surprised me.

I live in a dynamic ward, one where I find myself in awe of the knowledge of the men and women around me. There is such strength here. I’m new to this ward but, like my last ward, I’m certain there are those here who are “in” to family history. But I was shocked that in that moment there really wasn’t anyone planning to attend RootsTech or even those who knew what it was. I was asked to explain it.

Couple that Sunday experience with the struggles I continue to have getting some of my own family members and children engaged in our family history and I find myself wanting to write about it all.

RootsTech last year was a great event for me. It’s easy to call it a convention because it has that feel but it is unlike any kind of convention I’ve ever attended. The central focus of RootsTech is family. There is a spirit of celebration and even sacred connection that comes from doing family history and this is the common thread among the thousands who attend this event.

The event is designed to put family history enthusiasts in contact with new resources and new ideas in connecting family dots. There are classes. There are speeches. There are, gathered in one place, vendors and experts who work with family historians of all skill levels. There is more stuff associated with family history to explore at RootsTech than there is time to explore it all. That’s why I’m going back.

And that’s why I’m going to write about it this week.

I have ideas of what I want to accomplish at RootsTech. They are tied to the goals we have for this site this year. I bet I find a lot of help with those things.

But more importantly I want to share anything I can find that will help others of my family engage in this work. I know for me the biggest stumbling block to getting started in family history was myself and my excuses. For nearly 50 years I gave only cursory efforts with family history before I realized how important it really is and how much I needed it in my life. I am hoping something I find at RootsTech might help others “wake up”.

So the next several posts you see here will be more about the mechanics of doing family history than actual family history itself. i don’t want to bore any one but part of the blessing of doing this work comes from the thrill of discovery. You simply cannot know what it adds to your life until your absorb yourself in the detail of your family past.

Maybe this video from Family Search says that better than I can: