Season for Family

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A Larger Family

06.17.2019 by season // 1 Comment

I grew up in a relatively small family with only 1 cousin (a second cousin) my age. It felt normal to me, because it’s what I knew. It wasn’t until I married my husband – who has a plethora of cousins (like, 85 FIRST COUSINS) – that I realized how much I missed out on cousins growing up. For many of his siblings, their cousins are their best friends that will remain throughout their life. In many ways I am sad I don’t have relationships like that, and have made it a point to ensure my kids get to have that kind of relationship with their cousins.

While I didn’t have close cousin relationships, I am lucky enough to have some great friendships. One of those great friendships is with Tiffany. Her husband and mine served together on their missions for our church and she and I met when my husband and I were dating. Despite the fact that we live in different states, she’s become one of my best friends – the kind of friend you call on both your best and worst days knowing they’ll be there to cry with you, laugh with you or cheer you on.

A couple years ago we decided to take a trip together – Tiff and I and our husbands – to get some kid-free time to hang out and catch up. We decided where to go (we’d fly into Boston and travel a bit around New England) and started planning our trip. As we were planning where exactly to go and what to see I mentioned visiting First Parish Church in Plymouth since I had ancestors that came on the Mayflower. She mentioned she had family on the Mayflower as well. We thought it would be SO COOL if it was a common ancestor and we would be, like, 13th cousins or something. Well, we checked our records and it WAS a common ancestor!

“Let’s keep going down the line and see where it splits” I said. So we texted names back and forth as we moved down our family lines:

“Elizabeth White is my next relative down”
“ME TOO!”

“Then Obadiah Wheeler…”
“ME TOO!”

“Then Peregrine Wheeler…”
“SAME HERE”

By this time we’re thinking this is amazing, and getting really tired because it’s super late. The next morning I wake up to a text from Tiff, “Who is your closest Wheeler ancestor?” We’re dying to know how close our lines are at this point and going generation by generation is taking too long so working back from where we’re at seems like the best bet.

“My grandpa, John Wheeler” I answer.

“THIS JOHN WHEELER?!” She texts back, along with a picture of my grandpa.

I called her immediately with a million questions. “How did you get this picture? Do you know my grandpa?! HOW ARE WE RELATED?!”

It turns out that we are second cousins once removed. Her mom and I are second cousins. My mom and her grandma are FIRST COUSINS. Her great-grandma and my grandpa are brother and sister. I knew her great grandma as a young girl. TEN YEARS we’d been best friends at this point, across different states, only meeting because our husbands served together on their missions – and we didn’t even know we were cousins.

Now, completely unexpectedly, I find myself with that close cousin relationship I’d wanted. We didn’t grow up together but we share so many common ancestral traits and stories, and we’re still close as can be.

Mine surely isn’t the only story like this. Nearly every time I’ve connected with someone on Family Search or Relative Finder, we’ve been related in some way. Even finding out someone is my 10th cousin feels so exciting and makes me feel more connected to them.

When we realize just how close we are, how interconnected we are to those around us, we start to see the world a little bit differently. We feel, more tangibly, part of something larger. We are reminded that, “[We are] not forgotten or alone because we are all part of a larger family.” -Neil L. Andersen


SARAH GARNER

thekindredpress.com
IG: @thekindredpress


Categories // Connections, Stories Tags // cousins, Family History, stories

Are We Related?

06.17.2019 by season // Leave a Comment

This week’s #seasonforfamilyactivities idea is all about making fun connections! Family History can seem boring at times or if it’s not boring to you, it can be boring to those you are trying to get involved! This activity is guaranteed to be so much fun for kids, teens and adults alike.

I am going to share with you 2 ways to find out if and how you are related to those outside of your immediate family! Both ways do require a familysearch.org account that is connected to your deceased relatives.

1 – Finding Relations to Those Who Are in Close Proximity to You

If you would like to find relationships with people in the same room or close area as you, you and those around you need to download, open and login to the “FamilySearch Tree” App to your phone or tablet.

  • Android
  • IOS

Next, you and your friends will need to navigate to the Menu and select “Relatives Around Me” and tap “Scan for Friends”. That’s it, if you are related to anyone near you, your relationships will show!

2 – Finding Relations to Anyone with a FamilySearch Account

Do you have long distance friends that you’d love to find connections with?!? To check on these relationships, you’ll need to use Relative Finder on the computer (this is a website, not an App).

First, you’ll click on the “Login with FamilySearch” button, where you will login to your account.

Once you are logged in, you’ll come to a page like this where you can see your relations to celebrities, Political Figures, Latter-Day Saint Prophets, etc. This all on it’s own is fun!

In order to find relations to specific people (online friends, etc.), what you will need to do is Create a Group. You’ll do that by clicking on “Groups” and “Create” on the top right menu bar.

From here, you will Create a Group Name and Password.

After your group has been created, all you need to do is share your group name and password with anyone that would like to join! To join, you do need to login (like in the previous few steps) and click on “Groups” and “Join”.

Now, when you are on the homepage of Relative Finder, and after your friends start joining, you will be able to see your relationships! Make sure to that the checkbox next to the group that you want to look at is the only one selected, so that you can start seeing those connections. (Shown below)

Also, Make sure to click on the names so that you can see how you are related!

We hope that you’ll try these 2 methods out and let us know how it goes! Use this as an activity for parties, a Family Home Evening (invite another family or 2), Youth Activities, Church Lessons, etc.


ARE WE RELATED TO YOU? Want to find out?

We have started a Relative Finder group on our Facebook Page! Come check it out. Here is the link to our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/seasonforfamily/
and after you are in the group find the post with this image to get the Relative Finder group and password.


CAROLYNN REYNOLDS

branchesart.com
IG: @branches.art


Categories // Activities, Facebook Group, Family, Teen, Tutorials Tags // 2019, activities, Family History, family search, find relations, relative finder, tutorial

Step 1: Prayerfully Choose an Ancestor to Research

06.15.2019 by season // Leave a Comment

We are excited to share with you Step 1 of a 10 Step Series called “10 Steps to Begin Researching your Tree in FamilySearch”. Team member Megan is breaking family history research down in to bite size pieces. If you have felt the pull to start researching your family tree, follow along. Every Saturday for 10 weeks, Megan will share a new step. She will also be sharing additional tips on her own Instagram page, so make sure to give her a follow at instagram.com/moderngenealogy !

If you need ANY help along the way, we have a FREE Facebook Group dedicated to helping you with any questions you have. You can join that group at http://facebook.com/groups/seasonforfamily We hope to see you there!


MEGAN HILLYER

IG: @moderngenealogy


Categories // Research Tags // beginners, Family History, family history research, Genealogy

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