Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a strong interest in researching their family histories. Mormons are among the most avid genealogists you will find.
To assist members and others interested in learning about their ancestry, the Church maintains FamilySearch.org, a popular research site, as well as the Family History Library in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
There are also over 4,600 family history centres run by the Church throughout the world. These centres are open to Latter-day Saints and members of the public.
One example of a Latter-day Saint finding a way to learn more about her ancestors, and to pass on that knowledge to other members of her family, is Brisbane woman Wendy Hunter Atkinson.
A few months ago she was reading the September 2011 edition of The Ensign when she came across an article by Cynthia Green titled ‘Our Family History Game.’
“The author had made cards with pictures of ancestors on them,” Atkinson says, “and her family placed the cards on a huge pedigree chart.”
“This inspired me to make a ‘memory game’ for my family, using similar cards.”
It took weeks for her to source photos “from everywhere I could think of,” she says. “And I received some photos that were unidentified. So I emailed distant relatives who I thought may be able to identify them.”
She gathered photos of direct–line ancestors, then either enlarged or minimised the images so she had "head and shoulders at the right size."
“Where possible, I wanted photos of the person in their twenties but any photo at all became a treasure!”
She continues: “I found photos going back seven generations with one photo of a couple who were born in 1803 in Birmingham, England. Finding that photo and then eventually being able to identify it was a miracle in itself.”
Using bright-coloured A4 paper, she says she divided sheets into nine squares. She used red backing paper for her husband’s line; green for her parents’ line; and then yellow for the spouse of her child.
“I glued the prepared photocopies and then identified them with name, year of birth and place of birth,” she says. “This sheet was then glued with a stronger glue to a firm backing paper. I then laminated each sheet and cut into cards. I made two of each person. I also did cards of the children who would play so they would be ‘part of’ the game.'"
“Finally,” she says, “I found a suitable, inexpensive box for the cards and gave the game a name: ‘Our Family Tree.’"
Atkinson says the game is helping her grandchildren become acquainted with the faces, names and places of birth of their ancestors.
“It brings them into our lives,” she says.
The family is finding other ways to use the cards, such as placing them on a large pedigree chart, and playing ‘Snap.’
Read an article and watch a video about why Latter-day Saints do genealogical research.