Ahhh!!! Family History. How does one get the sisters excited about Family History?

Typically, every ward has a Bishop who puts some form of Family History on his list of goals for the year. Sometimes it’s measurable, sometimes not. Does anything come of it? Do you know, by the end of the year, what has been accomplished?

First of all, I will say it again, I think the first Sunday of the month should be a planning, sharing, testimony meeting for the sisters, instead of a lesson by the Relief Society Presidency. This is a time when sisters can talk about what they want to accomplish for the month, or several months, where they can evaluate how well their meetings are going, share learned experiences, focus on the objectives, and then testify of how lives have been changed.

An organized presidency can look at the goals set by the Bishopric. Using Family History as our example, this time, the presidency and the Bishop might come up with a list of possible activities. Take the first Sunday to discuss these ideas with your sisters. Don’t be afraid to ask for additional suggestions. This can be a sharing time of reaching everyone’s interest level. From this discussion, the presidency can format a period of time to hold these meetings, ask for volunteers to help, and encourage the sisters to think of what they would like to pursue. It might be a month of several activities, where the ward is focused on completing the different goals, understanding sisters will be interested in different things. It might be something the Bishop would like to spend the entire year on, so a series of meetings would be organized to keep a consistent level of interest. Maybe there are other goals for the year and you can only focus for three months before moving on to another goal. You may want to work on more than one goal at a time, holding meetings of different subjects throughout each month, all leading toward completing the various goals set by the Bishop; all to be evaluated at the year’s end.

Each first Sunday can be an evaluation of how you are moving toward each final goal. Sisters will have experiences to share. Adjustments may need to be made, additional ideas may be offered, rounding out the full experience. But, always, always, always leave time for testimonies. The best motivation of all is feeling the Spirit.

Now, many people aren’t really interested in Family History. They don’t have time, they don’t know how, they think it’s all done, etc. There is something, involving Family History work, that can be fun for every single person. (Check out my 101 list of ideas.)

Here are some suggestions of how the Relief Society can further the goal of the Bishop, by bringing a ward family closer together, by making the goal measurable, and by exciting and motivating everyone.

• Create a ward Temple File Binder–Call a sister to manage the gathering, and checking out, of ward members’ family cards from this binder. The ward can help one another in this important work.
• Cultural Evening—Hold a ward party where ward members share their ancestral heritage, missions served, places lived, etc.
• Prepare for Family History or Temple Excursions—Research helps, Babysitting, Expenses, etc.
• Family History Writing Class—Helps on how to make a history interesting and publishable.
• Some lucky people are able to visit the country their ancestors came from. Have an evening where trips and discoveries can be shared. This activity has the added benefit of forcing the family to organize their pictures, and findings, for their own families.
• Temple Preparation Classes—the Priesthood typically handles this, but sisters should be involved to answer those questions only a woman is concerned about; both doctrinally, as well as precautionary.
• Include Church History and Ancient History—travels, or knowledge, of those early members is our history as well.
• There are sure to be members of the ward who discover they are related to one another. These people should have an opportunity to figure out those pedigree lines.

These activities don’t necessarily conform to a formal “once a month” Relief Society Meeting, nor should they. Some meetings will be for the entire ward, others may be for husbands and wives, some for a small group of interested women, even for two women who create a common bond. All of these activities might be accomplished in one month, or over a set course of time.

The goal is no longer a sense of drudgery but becomes a personal quest that is interesting, motivating, uniting, and life-changing.

These activities by no means should take away from the Family History Consultant. Let him/her do their job. Include them in the planning of all of these activities. Work alongside them, aiding their objectives as well. Your goals should all run in the same direction.

Find ways to include the Youth and Children in these goals. They too need to cultivate an interest in our forefathers.