At a recent gathering in Porirua, New Zealand, historian Rangi Parker encouraged young people to talk with elderly family members about their lives, and record what they say.
“You have phones with video cameras. You can do a great work to preserve your family’s history,” Mrs Parker said.
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For the last 26 years—via artefacts, photographs, films, videos, journals and oral histories— Rangi Parker has collected family and New Zealand stories as far back as the 1800s.
In their retirement years, she and husband Vic Parker are full-time volunteer missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints preparing for the opening of the Pacific Church History Centre in Temple View, Hamilton in 2017.
Her desire to search for photographs and stories began after she and her family moved to Australia. When she returned home to Ngati Toa (Porirua) to visit, she says there was always someone missing.
”One or more family members had passed away, and there was little photographic memory of their lives because at the time they did not have the technology that others had.”
But many of her family had converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints so she turned for stories and photos to Mormon missionaries from the United States who had lived in New Zealand.
Her search for visual, written and oral histories included trips to America.
“The past slips away forever when our loved ones die, if they or we don’t take the opportunity to document the stories of their rich lives,” said Tania Torea, who lives in Porirua and is the director of public affairs for the Church from Hastings to Invercargill.
“It doesn’t have to be that way. It takes little effort to record their memories, which will be cherished by family forever.”
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a world leader in genealogy and family history research. Its resources are free to anyone and can be found at familysearch.org or at family history centres located at many Church meetinghouses throughout New Zealand.