Editor’s Note: The following article was originally published by Bonnie Mattson on “The Family History Guide” blog site and is used by permission.

Years ago I went to my first BYU Family History and Genealogy Conference and one of the speakers said, “If you want to find your ancestors, do other people’s research!”  There was a bit of a gasp from the audience! The thought ran through my mind, seriously? I can’t even do my own very well. This was probably a decade ago now! I was just beginning my adventure into online family history. I was a neophyte using FamilySearch. The speaker went on to explain how he had been looking for his great grandfather whom he knew was from Genova Province in Italy and knew he had died in San Francisco. All the while he was speaking he had a map of San Francisco on the screen. Then he explained that in order to find his great-grandfather he had to find every Italian man fitting within certain date parameters that lived in San Francisco in that time period. Why? Because he knew when his great grandfather had died and where. It was in San Francisco, and he was buried in Colma and had the dates for both. Our instructor needed the birthdate and place of his great-grandfather.

His research was exhaustive, and he researched everybody he could find with his grandfather’s surname, including every derivation of that name that came from that province in Italy. The instructor then put an overlay map of San Francisco from that time period with pins that showed all of those people. It was quite amazing and left a huge impact upon all present. His point was that people immigrated with others they knew. Their relatives and friends from the same villages, towns, and provinces often came in groups. Also, they tended to settle in the same places. By searching all of them his probability of finding his great-grandfather increased.

So sometimes when you want to find your person, you do give the gift of your research to other people.  This is especially true now that we have FamilySearch FamilyTree, where you can record these facts about others with proper sources and citations. You might be thinking, how will that work when people can change Family Tree?  Well, Family Tree also has a change log that shows you what people have changed every time, and how to go back to the original entry, if you find someone has changed something without sources. It can be a hassle to sort it all out, but it can be done. People don’t make mistakes on purpose. Most will be very happy to see you have found something more accurate. People are learning. Why not help them in the process by giving them the gift of your research experience?

Of course, another way to give the gift of family history is to share what you have learned from The Family History Guide. We have shared this many times, but sometimes it is very difficult to even get someone to look at The Family History Guide. They do not realize that The Family History Guide is an approved training program for Family Search. They do not understand how it works, and that when you learn the aspects of the project training method, you can actually take years off your random study and can actually become an independent learner.  Who doesn’t want that? You can learn step by step, and when you already know how to do something, just skip that step and go to the next aspect of what you are trying to do. The information will come to you just when you need it in the process. It is so much easier and so uncomplicated. The same pattern of Goals, Choices, and Steps is used throughout the Family History Guide. Once you learn that method and then implement it and learn how to find what you need, you are all set.

By familiarizing yourself with the simple ways to find things you need in The Family History Guide, you won’t need to sit at another person’s elbow anymore while they show you where and when to click on something. This is a way we can give the gift of Family History to others. This doesn’t mean you will never have another question; it just means you will now know where to get the answers. You will also know how to contact someone who can help you at the Family History Guide. Perhaps the best thing of all: that person is using The Family History Guide to help you, so you will always have a reference point to keep and refer back to when needed. Why?  Because it’s The Family History Guide website you will refer to, not a note you write on a scratch pad and then might misplace.

Now I want to tell you of one more way you can give the gift of family history. Last weekend, Jim and I were talking about some people that I have known most of my life. The family is one whom we went to church with and became the best of friends when I was a child. They had five kids and there were three children in my family.  The four parents enjoyed spending time together too. We spent five days a week in the same small parochial school, we saw each other every Sunday and most Saturdays. It was ideal until something tragic happened. One day one of the parents left a note and the family for good. Another person was involved. The divorce came about a year later. The parent that left, left everyone behind completely devastated and abandoned—the spouse and five grown children, all their friends, everyone. My parents were especially devastated as were we. It hurt me so much to see them so sad.

Time passed without a word, and eventually the other spouse remarried as well. Since then, all four of them have passed away. But I am still friends with their child that is closest to my age. Anyway, the conversation with my husband brought up old, sad feelings within me about what happened to our favorite friends. I realized I had stuffed those feelings and not dealt with the situation very well. So I decided to try to find the divorced and deceased couple on FamilySearch and start doing their family history, for the healing effects I knew it would have on me and maybe their children, also. I found their father on FamilySearch because I knew the state he was from and his age and of course his name. I did not know her maiden name but found their marriage record almost immediately, and it just went like wildfire after that. Within a few hours, I had found multiple records on both of them and attached them to their pages in Family Tree. I had also found several generations back on both of them as well. As I was doing this, I realized that giving this gift to the four remaining children, who are now grandparents themselves, would be a priceless gift to them. Miraculously I began to rekindle my love for their parents in a real, healing way at the same time.

I haven’t told their son yet but I plan to call him soon. I am pretty sure he will be interested or someday someone from that line may find the work I did and be grateful. So I ask the same question that the instructor at BYU asked. Why not do someone else’s research? When we serve others, it will bless us and the ones who may benefit someday from our gift of family history to them. Have you found some creative ways to give The Gift? –Bonnie Mattson