2023-08 Aug - Can You Speak 10 Generations From Memory?

Aug 7, 2023 family history Ali cousins

Read time: 8.3 minutes

From your Ward Temple & Family History Consultants:

Can You Say Your Generations? I Couldn’t at First. Here’s Why You May Want To.

Today’s message is a story, not a how-to. If you’ll indulge me for a few minutes, I will share it with you.

In earlier messages, we’ve talked about indexing and how short and easy it is to do. Please keep contributing indexing efforts. It is needed and most easily fits into busy schedules.

Today I will take you further.

My Origin Story in Temple & Family History Work

I was not a member of this church and had no members of this church in any of my family growing up. My people needed me to do this work for them. Perhaps your people need your efforts too.
We moved every 1-3 years, so I only knew my parents and grandparents, but none beyond them. I heard about cousins, but I didn’t see them often enough to know them.
When I was 14 and my Grandfather gave me his genealogy research book, I treated it without the understanding of how much work he had put into making it over a decade of his life.
After I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when I was 21 years old, I began to realize what a treasure Granddad’s research book was, and repented of my teen attitude.
I built my 4-generations chart.
Then I entered Granddad’s information into the Family History technologies of the time (harder to use then, by the way) and took many of their names to the Temples near where I lived then.
Back then I was more transactionally oriented more than getting to know them oriented.

Ali’s Story

While I was still active duty in the US Army, I was in a command course where I was asked to tutor out a Lieutenant from the United Arab Emirates if he got stuck with English.
His name was Ali, and we talked a lot over that 10 week course.
One day on a break between class sessions, we were talking and he said I am the son of aaaaaa, who is the son of bbbbbb, who is the son of ccccc, and Ali went on for ten (10) generations of his patriarchal line. I was surprised he knew them by heart. It was like a live version of Genesis in the Bible. He didn’t have to hesitate, he knew their names.
When Ali did this, I had been a member of this church for 1.5 years and I realized I did not know my ancestors by name for ten generations, even thought my Grandfather (non-member) had given me a book of his genealogy research back the the 1700s. I only knew two generations of my grandfathers by name.

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. ~ Marcus Garvey

Ali Changed My Temple & Family History Work

As I pondered the difference between Ali’s knowledge of where he came from and my own lack of familiarity I realized I could improve and chose to do so.
Talking to Ali had helped me realize that I had used that book of genealogy ONLY as a reference, and that I did not have any of their names or any real knowledge about them in my mind or heart.
Thus began my decades long efforts to get to know them, not just do an ordinance and forget them; and to add to our family’s history.

Now I Know Where I Come From - It Feels Good

As I learned to go beyond mere dates to try to know their stories, I grew to know some of them better and began to love them in my heart too.
Now I know more about my people on both my patriarchal line, matriarchal line. Now, like Ali, I can tell you about them. I know more about their stories from pictures I’ve found, from newspaper articles from their towns, from obituary articles, and from government records.
Knowing more about their humble backgrounds keeps me firmly rooted and grounded.
As I have struggled with various challenges of mortality, I have drawn strength from knowing how some of them dealt with their trials.
Knowing them has made me more resilient.
- Others I have to guess at because I have not yet found their whole story.
My ancestors’ stories have helped shape me into a more grateful, happy, empathetic, and compassionate version of myself.
Some of them lived through the Great Depression and World Wars.
Linking to my family roots back through generations has helped connect more deeply with a sense of who I am.
I have gained insights into my genetic inheritance and how my DNA may include a part of what they experienced in their mortal lives.
For those for whom I have found information, I have learned about their family’s past—where they came from, who they were, what they did, the trials they overcame, the accomplishments they achieved, the dreams they had.
I know some of them worked through challenges even harder than I have gone through. That gives me courage to go on in the face of uncertainty or difficulty.
For others, I have a photo passed down from 3 generations ago (that I have digitized and put on family search so my posterity can see their people too).
I have been blessed to live where many of my ancestor lived and feel a connection from that too. If you have not, perhaps consider visiting those places where they lived.

By learning about the hardships our ancestors encountered, we can become more understanding of the inevitable ups and downs we all face and encouraged to keep the faith when times are hard. Knowing our family history can also help us to appreciate different cultures and open our minds. ~ Helen Morris

I Have Served my Ancestors and my Posterity

For my ancestors, I have taken many names to the temple.
- Other temples have helped do the ordinances for others of my family I put on family search.
- Though my Granddad’s genealogy book helped with my father’s line, I struggled with the four generations of my mother’s lines. Nobody I knew had much knowledge of where they came from.
- I have found 13 generations of my father’s line and over the decades, I have found 12 generations of my mother’s father’s line.
- The challenge is that family history is like a bowtie. With you or me in the middle thin part, and behind us the people fan out with many lines. With our posterity, the people fan out the other direction on the “bow tie”.
For my posterity, I have saved all that I have discovered about our joint ancestors to family search so they too can share the blessings of knowing where they come from.
Their stories have enhanced my own sense of connection and belonging, and this sense of belonging can be especially helpful for younger generations of my posterity.
Studies show a strong family narrative positively impacts emotional health. To some youth, knowing where they come from helps them have higher self-esteem.
When our kids were young we did various home evening activities to help them get to know their ancestors. You can too.
I heard one person being interviewed about family history say “It helps me feel more complete.” That says some of what I feel too. That can bless our children and grand children and great great grand children.
I can see inherited facial structures through the lines that have photos.
This unselfish service to others feels good. It is a good use of my mortal time and energy. It is bigger than me. It matters in the gathering of Israel.
I am grateful that I have been blessed to come to mortality in this time of historic technological advances that has made gathering so much information about them easier than it has ever been in the history of the world, to do my small part in God’s great work.

Hearing these stories gave the children a sense of their history and a strong “inter-generational self”. Even if they were only nine years old, their identity stretched back 100 years, giving them connection, strength and resilience. ~ Psychologists Marshall Duke and Robyn Fivush

What About Cousins? I Won’t Ask You to Name Them All.

When your situation is that you or others have seemingly already identified many of your father’s and mother’s lines, I suggest that your cousin lines are wide open as your opportunity.
A cousin is a person belonging to the same extended family.
- First cousins share a Grandparent (1 G)
- Second cousins share a Great-Grandparent (2 Gs)
- Third cousins share a Great-Great-Grandparent(3 Gs)
- Fourth cousins share a Great-Great-Great Grandparent (4 Gs)_
When I first started family history, I paid more attention to close cousins (1st cousins thru 3rd cousins). As I learned, those stories I’d heard my mother tell started to make sense.
Now I find 5th thru 13th cousins and add their information to Family Search too.
Some of the worlds top experts estimate that the entire human family only extends to 50th cousins. If that’s true, Wow!
I regularly use the “View Relationship” function on familysearch.org to see how I relate to anyone’s information I find or add. I am often surprised I’m related at all.
For example, I live in Boyce and after seeing road near here with my family name, I dug around for town history and was shocked to find I’m distantly related to this family who lived in town decades ago.
Another example, having lived all over the place I did not expect too many relations here in my County, but as I checked recently to ensure everyone in the local city cemetery had a page on Family search, I was surprised that more often than not I was 7th-10th cousins with many of them.
As we did a Ward Young Men’s activity a while back, we were nearly all related as distant 7th-13th cousins.
My work on cousins has occasionally helped me better understand their family dynamics. Seeing which cousins were most involved in the lives of my ancestors gave me insight.
All together now, hum the Disney song, “It’s a Small World After All”. Are you smiling? I am.
God’s family that we’re a part of is more closely linked than I would have imagined. What an interesting insight.

What About You? How Many Generations Can You Say Now? How Many Do You Know Now? What will you do about that?

You can have these blessings too if you’re willing to look.
You’re not alone to figure this out. The Ward has free helpers called as Temple & Family History Consultants, who are willing to serve you in your searching journey.
If you have posterity in mortality, they too can be blessed by what you find.
Your cousins will be blessed by what you find if you share it on family search.
I invite you to have these blessings too. They are wonderful and grounding.
When would you like to start? We can help you decide where to focus too.

Sincerely, Your Ward Temple & Family History Consultants,