Before we left on our mission, Jacque asked me what I would like to do when we have a little free time. My answer was “family history research.”
Fast forward a few months. At Christmas time, we met a delightful man, whom we will call Preston. He is formerly from American Fork, Utah and felt strongly impressed two years ago to move to Romania to work on family history. In the past two years, he has literally become a walking, talking family history encyclopedia. We think he knows everything important about how to do it well here.
Two days later, our district president stops me in the hall and asks me to create a family history program in my branch. Needless to say, I am very excited and honestly, have no excuses.
Fast forward a few months. At Christmas time, we met a delightful man, whom we will call Preston. He is formerly from American Fork, Utah and felt strongly impressed two years ago to move to Romania to work on family history. In the past two years, he has literally become a walking, talking family history encyclopedia. We think he knows everything important about how to do it well here.
Two days later, our district president stops me in the hall and asks me to create a family history program in my branch. Needless to say, I am very excited and honestly, have no excuses.
What is family history? It is learning about, documenting and sharing the stories and essential information for those who went before us. These are the people who made it possible for us to be here.
Why do family history? We have discovered there is a great spirit associated with learning about these amazing people. Most often, they lived ordinary lives, but considering what they had, it is extraordinary to consider who they existed and even thrived in their circumstances. We often realize we are wimps by comparison. By learning about them, we are learning who we really are.
There are many advantages for doing family history research here. There are excellent records, often extending back to the 1600’s. Second, people at that time did not move. When you find a family, you likely have found several generations! Finally, we have Preston, who knows exactly where to go to get every type of record in each of the 41 counties and municipalities of Romania.
Why do family history? We have discovered there is a great spirit associated with learning about these amazing people. Most often, they lived ordinary lives, but considering what they had, it is extraordinary to consider who they existed and even thrived in their circumstances. We often realize we are wimps by comparison. By learning about them, we are learning who we really are.
There are many advantages for doing family history research here. There are excellent records, often extending back to the 1600’s. Second, people at that time did not move. When you find a family, you likely have found several generations! Finally, we have Preston, who knows exactly where to go to get every type of record in each of the 41 counties and municipalities of Romania.
There are a few disadvantages. The first for us is that the records are obviously written in Romanian. We are still learning the language and we also need to learn to read their writing which is a little different. The good thing is that it is consistent. Once we figure it out, we can read them all. The next issue is that none of the records are yet digitized. That slows the process a bit, but even a snail mail will be returned with the requested information in about two weeks.
Today we have included some pictures of our family! It’s not Romanian, but they are very important to us.
Today we have included some pictures of our family! It’s not Romanian, but they are very important to us.