My Latest Project

My great grandma Pia's husband and children.

So my Aunt Kathy let me in on a little secret that there was a huge big book of family group sheets from the Dutch side of my family that my mom had from my great grandma Pia (my mom's mom's mom). My mom copied the entire 1000 plus page book for me and ever since I have been going through it page by page, line by line making sure that all the data my great grandma collected is on the church records. So far I've only gone through 55 pages of the 1000 or so and have found 34 people that were just sitting there on those records waiting to have their temple work done. With a little research for some more dates, there will be PLENTY more from those 55 pages that can have their work done.

The Book

Honestly, it has become a little bit of an obsession. One night Matt said to me, "Hey, stop worrying about your dead family members and come hang out with the live ones." I decided that night to pace myself a little bit. So now, I've limited myself to going through 3 pages a day ONLY.

Anyway, it has been really interesting going through this stuff. It's amazing what you can tell just by the dates and names. For instance, there was one couple who had 14 children around the 2nd World War, three of which died within their first year of life. I never met my Great Grandma Pia. She died I think just two years before I was born. My mom tells me that she was kind of gruff Dutch lady and was not very personable, but you can tell from all the work that she did that her testimony of the gospel burned bright and she had a very big heart even if she didn't like to show it very much. I also love reading the letters (some in English and some in Dutch) that she wrote to the people at the archives in the Netherlands. She is a very matter of fact and down to business kind of lady.

I'm loving it, and looking forward to serving A LOT in the temple for my own family. I would STRONGLY encourage everyone to check out the new church genealogical site. It is called New Family Search. All you need in order to register and access the site is your confirmation date and your membership record number (which is on your temple recommend). When you first get on, under "Me and My Ancestors" it may just show you. If your parents are alive, it may not show them but you can just add them yourself. Again, same for your grandparents. Once you get to relatives that have passed away, you can search for them in the database and add them to your family line. Generally, once you get to that point (unless you're a recent convert), there are tons of people already on your family tree. You can browse around and see who still needs their temple work done. It's rad!!! Feel free to call me if you need help with the program. This used to be my church calling.