Family History

I had the privillege of speeking in church on Sunday to the whole congregation about the importance of family history. What an experience and a journey to beable to learn and teach at the same time. Here is a little tidbit of the talk but for the whole talk click here.

Here is a story I would like to share with you about my grandfather. Herschel Lloyd was born on a wintry day, much like today, in 1922. On this day, Babe Ruth signs a 3 year contract with New York Yankees at $52,000.

He grew up on a wheat and cattle ranch. He was the oldest son, who took care of his 5 brothers and sisters. During the 30’s, times were very tough and Herschel was grateful to receive a used pencil or a large marble for Christmas. As he grew older, life brought him to WSU where he received his degree in agriculture.

When He got into his early 20’s he enlisted in the US Army because the freedom of our Country was precious to him. In WW2 he fought and finished his service being present in Okinawa at the time of the signing of the treaty.

During his 28th year he had a life changing moment…He met “the Stinson family from “the Pasco ward”, (which I know very well to this day),liked their beliefs and living standards, and was baptized a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. As his spirit rapidly grew, Herschel was ordained an elder, called as a stake missionary, and was an outstanding Scout Master always going the extra mile. At one point he acquired a large boat which his troop helped fix up, and then they were able to take trips down the Columbia River and go camping on this island… now named Herschel Island. Other church callings he had included Welfare Services, Stake and ward Clerk, and Temple Ordinance Worker.

What a life to have…it just leaves me feeling peace and hope for my future.

To start off Another name for family history is Genealogy, Genealogy is The study or investigation of ancestry and family histories.

So, The first question I want to ask is? Can I see a show of hands who has someone doing their geneology for them? Ok, I understand, we all have different things in our lives but I am hopeing I can motivate each one of us to do family history. A couple different motivational reasons would be:
1-You want to know who your relatives are: This May be triggered by when a family member has passed away and because of this, you gain an interest. You can get the most information from a current relative that is alive if you search their attics or just simply ask questions. Or imagine you have a grandmother that has given you a huge suitcase full of papers with information from people in your family. You have no idea who any of these people are but you now have this suitcase.

2.genetic background. This is one thing that got me thinking. Why am I the way I am? I’ll tell ya, everything started falling into place when I started thinking of my family background genetically. There are a lot of traits that I possess that have been passed on from generation to generation. The love for the outdoors, artistic abilities, hard working, and overall healthy. Other families might have great leadership skills or genius minds. There is also another side that is built into a lot of families like addiction, health related issues, alcoholism… its in our past and it will unfortunately be in our future. I have a lot of alcoholism on my moms side of the family, and I know it runs in my blood. I know addiction runs in my blood… and to have this knowledge helps me to better understand myself. I know with the church and scriptures to guide me I have tools that help me to resist. But by educating myself with the family history and teaching my children, I can understand my strengths and my weeknesses.

*talk-volunteer speeker
*calling-a volunteer leader of a group