“Family history work has the power to do something for the dead. It has
an equal power to do something for the living. Family history work…
has a refining, spiritualizing, tempering influence on those who are
engaged in it.” Boyd K Packer Ensign, August 2003

While participating in the work of family history, I find that it is the small,
seemingly minor experiences that build my testimony the most. Here are a
couple of experiences that I have had in learning about my family and my
ancestors.

When my oldest daughter, Jessica, was pregnant with her first daughter,
she started thinking about names for her. Jessica asked about any names
that were from our ancestors. My sister recalled that my grandmother had
a favorite Aunt, Amelia. Jessica liked the name Amelia but didn’t mention it
again. As the birth of her daughter came closer, they still hadn’t decided
on a name. The baby was overdue and finally came on a Thursday
morning, June 29, 2017. Jessica started thinking about the name Amelia
again…and they named their daughter Amelia. When my sister heard, she decided to look in familysearch.org and find out a little more about this favorite “Aunt Amelia”. My sister called me quickly with some surprising news. Aunt Amelia had been born on this same day, June 29, but in 1874, 143 years earlier. How sweet it will be for these two Amelias to meet some day!

Another experience…this past week my friend and expert with researching
family history, Alison Vanleeuwen, offered to help me with a family line that I was working on. I had been stuck, and knew I had made mistakes with some of the information that I had added to Family Search. Alison was able to find my mistakes and to add missing family members to our family tree. We had always thought the Duke family had originated in England. Alison helped us confirm that they had been in Quebec Canada and had originally been from France. While working with Alison, we found an infant baby we did not know about. Through the help of a good friend we were able to read the French records that we needed to confirm the information. How grateful I was to my friends who served me and helped me learn more about our French ancestors.

I love getting to know my family and ancestors through my experiences of
doing family history. I love their stories and the closeness that I feel to
them. — Joy Duke, Temple and Family History Consultant – Willow Creek Stake