2024-04 Apr - Heritage Language

Apr 10, 2024 heritage language indexing connection

Read time: Summary 0.5 minutes | Expanded section: 6.3 minutes | Appendices: 0.5 minutes

Summary Message

• Story about the struggle to pass down heritage language to posterity as one way of turning the hearts of the children to their fathers
• Indexing is Short and Easy (bite-sized)
• The Stake’s 2024 Stake Temple “Day” will be from noon on Friday, July 19th to noon on Saturday, July 20th, 2024. Our goal is for Stake Members to complete 1,000 Temple Ordinances (baptism, confirmation, initiatory, ENDOWMENT, and sealing) over these 24 hours. To achieve this goal, stake wide participation is essential. Starting May 1st, 2024, Members can make online reservations for July Temple Ordinances. Please begin making your reservations promptly, especially if planning to attend Saturday morning, as Temple capacity is limited. Your Temple Service will bless you and your family, on both sides of the veil.

Expanded Message

• In an effort to find good and uplifting news stories (rather than the parade of negative news from most sites), I came upon a video about a young man who is a polyglot and learns languages very quickly who visited the Cree people in Canada. One of the Cree tribe there had asked him to come and to learn some Cree language to inspire their children to learn the Cree language too. One of the village elders stood and she thanked him for coming and for learning their language. She told the others (in Cree) “If he can learn Cree then we can teach our children and grandchildren to learn too. That’s why we brought him here, to show you its possible. If this white guy can learn to speak Cree, then we can teach our children. It is very touching. Thank you.”

• What does this story have to do with our Temple & Family History efforts, you ask? Did you find it interesting that the Cree elders want their children and grandchildren to be connected to where they came from with language? I did. In our Temple & Family History efforts, we want our children and grandchildren to know where they came from too. Not for increasing divisiveness in the world, but for spiritually turning their hearts to their fathers (Malachi 4:6). For wholeness, perhaps.

• This ward speaks at least English and I’ve heard some Spanish and perhaps other languages. Our native language affects our thinking and sense of connection. Living and traveling overseas makes other languages a necessity to get around, to interact with people of those countries. Some of us have ancestors from other countries, who spoke other languages. Both my paternal and maternal family lines are largely from England before coming to America. Consequently, I may have had an easier time keeping the connection of my father’s native language and transmitting it across generations than the Cree in this story or than your family. Your context may be different.

• Multilingual households that I’ve seen (Japanese) and have been a part of (Spanish, German, Galić) often try to teach their heritage language to their children. Yet being surrounded by English speakers in the United States can increase the challenge for parents trying to pass down their native tongue.

• An educational linguist shares that there exists a…

profound impact of heritage language on children’s sense of belonging and connection to cultural heritage. Language is not just a tool for communication; it is an integral part of our cultural identity. For children growing up in multilingual households, learning and using their heritage language is a gateway to their cultural heritage. By embracing their heritage language, children gain insights into their ancestral traditions, stories, folklore, and wisdom, fostering a sense of belonging and connection to their cultural roots.

~ Bianca Mister, PhD

• President Nelson recently reminded us all that our identities are first children of God and he encouraged not being divisive with identities. And we can have additional richness and connection in knowing where we came from in this mortal life.

• So if your family is multicultural, even sharing your native language helps pass along your heritage to your future generations.

• When I worked at a Japanese company in Texas, the Japanese expats sent their children to weekend Japanese school.

• The grandparents of some of our children are concerned that in coming to America that their knowledge of Spanish and Mexican traditions was becoming lost to their grandchildren as they blended into the melting pot of the United States.

• So has it been for many generations of newer Americans. These children can likely learn Spanish more easily having being exposed to Castilian Spanish as young children, but they speak English now.

• At least as importantly, they can also see their family lines stretching back to Mexico and further back even to Spain because their concerned grandparents made the effort to do their Temple & Family History work on FamilySearch.org (They can also see their connections in the United Kingdom).

• What a legacy we can leave with a little effort here and a little effort there. What can you do to help your progeny or relatives know better where they came from (mortally & spiritually)?

• Do we not all want to ground our children and grandchildren with the knowledge of where they came from?

• The Cree face challenges teaching their progeny. I have read of other small societies with a historic language sharing this challenge of a fading language. Given all the challenges of growing up, and these days the technology distractions and smartphone-based dopamine hits our forefathers did not have to contend with, we too face challenges in trying to gain a span of attention sufficient to pass along parts of our shared heritage with our own children and grandchildren.

• We can only share. The next generation will use their agency to choose what they do with that shared knowledge. Like that Cree village, I hope our ward village can see that it is possible to turn hearts (ours and the children’s). God has asked us to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers. He is willing to help us do what he asks as we reach out to him.

My friends at FamilySearch have taught me that over one million new names are added to FamilySearch each day. If you didn’t find your ancestor yesterday, I invite you to look again tomorrow. When it comes to gathering Israel on the other side of the veil, there has never been a better time.

~ Elder Brent H. Nielson, Of the Presidency of the Seventy, April 2024 General Conference

• One good RootsTech talk this year was about how to effectively search for people, by Debbie Gurtler.

Indexing is Short and Easy (bite-sized)

• Want to use little segments of time to serve in Temple & Family History? Use indexing on a mobile device. On mobile devices you have a helper artificial intelligence that has already looked at the record and made its best guess.
• You just have to confirm or correct the AI’s guess.
• Ta Da! That’s it.
• Spend as little as 5-10 minutes to index a single batch and you’ve helped Temple & Family History!
• And Indexing is bite-sized, meaning it fits into your busy days.

• As always, the HOW in Temple & Family History work takes more scope than this (sometimes brief) monthly message can accomplish, which is why the church organizes into stakes and wards/branches, and calls Temple & Family History consultants to serve you and get you going or to help (where possible for now) where you’re stuck.
• Consider serving by indexing, to put money(data) into the ATM before temple trips take money(names) out, so to speak. If you use your mobile device, the Artificial Intelligence (A.I. Machine Learning model) will give it a go first and you only have to confirm (youth, I’m talking to you because you can see mobile screens better). If you do indexing on a computer, it’s all on you to read the cursive writing (older technology) and type what you see (index) the data.

• Roots Tech 2024 was 29 February to 2 March 2024 and had lots of how-to videos and talks to help grow your knowledge and skills in Temple & Family History. The videos are available for our knowledge & skill improvement.

• As a reference repository, I set up a website with all the older ward messages about Temple & Family History.

  • However, when buying the domain name, I got interrupted and then mistakenly clicked the button for dot com, rather than dot org. I didn’t want to pay for the domain name twice, so I kept the mistake. The site is not for commercial purposes despite my wrong selection. Sorry for the dot com extension.
  • You can find older ward messages at https://familyhistorystuff.com/.
  • I filtered out identifying information (names, etc.) to protect privacy.
  • Who knows, perhaps there is a small chance a person who is not yet a member of the Church sees the site, wants to know more, contacts you or a missionary with questions.

“Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that” ~ President Russell M. Nelson, 2018

Sincerely, Your Ward Temple & Family History Consultants,

During Stake Family Search Center posted hours, our Ward’s TFH Consultants center staffing assignments are posted near the hours on the bulletin board next to the Family Search Center door (our contact info is in the tools app, or see us in church).

Appendix A - 2024 Ward Temple & Family History Coordination Meetings

The Stake guidance is to regularly hold a ward/branch Temple and Family History Coordination Meeting. So in 2024, we are doing that.

• 2nd week of each month for 15 min in Stake Family Search Center
• 4th week of each month for 15 min in Stake Family Search Center
• Invited: Relief Society counselor over Temple & Family History, Elder’s Quorum counselor over Temple & Family History, Youth leaders over Temple & Family History, Stake Family Search Center Leader, TFH Ward Consultants, Ward TFH Leader.
• Start time: 7 minutes after the conclusion of ward Sabbath meetings
• End time: 22 min after ward meetings (you can go even if the meeting goes longer than planned)