RootsTech 2018 Giveaway Winner - Gwen McClellan

Gwen McClellan

Congratulations to the winner of my FREE RootsTech 2018 Registration - Gwen McClellan!

Gwen first became interested in genealogy after she joined the LDS Church at the age of 18 while living in South Texas. She has been working on genealogy / family history for over 40 years and during that time has gained a real love and connection to her ancestors and family through doing the work. She is currently working on her paternal line; doing research in Oklahoma and Texas records.

She is a nurse by profession and she loves her family, including all her ancestors.

She is excited to be attending RootsTech 2018. She has always wanted to attend but has never taken the time to attend. She is interested in learning more about how to use her DNA results in her research. Lucky for Gwen, there are 13 DNA Classes Being Offered at RootsTech 2018! She is very excited to attend the conference and to make new genealogy friends.


Thank you to those who entered my giveaway contest here on my blog. I hope to have other fun giveaways in the future.

I utilized Rafflecopter to run the giveaway. To select the winner the Rafflecopter software utilizes Random.org to ensure true randomness. I shared my blog post organically via Facebook and received 960 Facebook views from the shared post on my Facebook page; I also shared via Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.

For some more numbers, that may be interesting only to me:
696 people viewed the blog post
24 people entered the giveaway
107 entries from those 24 people

Two of the entry options of my giveaway were to come back to my blog everyday and read another post and/or visit the RootsTech website and identify another class; which resulted in one/two additional entries each day.

The winner had 5 entries. The most entries had by one person was 11.

Thank you again for participating in my giveaway! I look forward to seeing you at RootsTech 2018!

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I am 2018 RootsTech Ambassador and have received a free conference registration from RootsTech.

#RootsTech

Incorporating Family History Into Christmas

This post is full of family history ideas you may want to incorporate into Christmas. It is not meant to overwhelm you. I hope that this post awakens within you the mindfulness of what family history you already do within your own family holiday traditions.

As I gathered ideas to share, I grouped them into 5 categories: Decorations, Activities, Music, Gifts, and Food.

Decorations

Christmas Stockings - My father (Papa) crocheted Christmas stockings for us as children. As each child married he also made a sock for the spouse and as each grandchild was born they received their own. My mother also helped with some of the crocheting. The main photo above was from his funeral and the first time all the stockings were in the same place together. Three generations of my family have this special gift. Do you have special family Christmas stockings?


Christmas Village - My mother made village pieces that looked like our homes. The green house is the home I lived in until I was 5. We moved next door to the red house and I lived there until I was an adult. My family still owns and lives in these homes.

Ancestor Ornaments - to make a real "family tree". Include photos of current and past family members. You can also give these as gifts to your family. You can use all different kinds of materials for ornaments. Check out this Pinterest board for more Family Ornaments ideas.

Photo printed on velum - Pat Richley-Erickson

Ancestors Tree - Pat Richley-Erickson

Please read Gini's post about why and how she created this Ancestor Memory Tree:

Ancestor Memory Tree - Gini Webb

Photo tags - Gini Webb

Other beautiful family history Christmas decorations.

Family Photos on Lights - Pat Richley-Erickson

Glass Block with photo printed on velum w//lights
Pat Richley-Erickson

                Great Grandparents - Pat Richley-Erickson               

What other family history related decorations do you have during Christmas? Share in the comments.

Family History Advent Calendar - Check out this link for a free fillable PDF.
Track or plan all your family history related activities on an advent calendar; makes a beautiful decoration while it serves as a reminder of your plans.

Memories in Time - New Zealand

Activities

Relatives Around Me, FamilySearch Family Tree Mobile App

• Use at a community, church, or neighborhood function to identify your cousins "around you".

FamilySearch: How Well Do You Know Your Family Photo Quiz

• Everyone in my family (mother, siblings, spouses) has played this 10 question game and reported our scores to each other!

Home Movies

• Record new and watch old home movies of Christmas celebrations.
• Create a short video using Adobe Spark (free and easy to use). You can incorporate old family photos and do a voice over to make it very personal. You could make a few of them to play on a loop at a family get-together or make them into DVDs to give as gifts.

Personal Interviews / Spontaneous Family Storytelling / Personal History

• Use recording apps or digital recorder.
• Record your memories of Christmases past, or interview a living relative about their memories.
• A Memories App by FamilySearch - Capture photos, stories, audio and load direct to FamilySearch.
• How an App Can Make Traditions Last
• JoyFLIPs app - Scan old photos and have relatives tell their stories of the photos by recording them right along with the photos in the app.
• StoryCorps App
•  #52Stories - One story each week for a year. Or use the prompts to ask family members questions.
• Check out Peggy's post about these #52Stories and the importance of recording these memories: Tweaking Your Memory Bank
• Check out Emily's list of questions for a Childhood Christmas Memories Interview.
• Mariah has a great idea regarding Story Jars and how to utilize them.

Photos

• Collect all the vintage holiday photos from past years and create either a paper scrapbook or digital book and have each family member share their memories.

A Christmas notebook full of ancestor photos
Pat Richley-Erickson

Family Christmas Letters / Photos

• We have nearly 50 years of family Christmas / New Year letters. Each year my parents send a letter listing a few of our personal and family happenings during the year. This year will be the 18th year my own little family has created our own family letter. Keeping these together in a binder provides a great family history of our family.

• Family Photo cards from close and distant family also provide a great family record over the generations; keep a copy of the one you send out too!

• Write letters to living grandparents (instead of Santa, or as well as Santa if you must).
• Reach out to distant living cousins. Send a Christmas card with photos of your family and introduce yourself.

Traditions

• What were your ancestors' religious beliefs and practices and how they might have celebrated this time of year? 
• What traditions are unique to your specific family cultures or historic countries?
• What were your traditions as a child and as an adult?
• What traditions have been passed down for multiple generations?
• How was Santa (or similar figure) celebrated in your family's historic countries?
• Do you do have specific things you do on Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, Christmas Day?
• We have a special coloring book that we color in each Christmas Eve. My parents started it when they were married. As adults, my brother gifted us each our own copy of the Christmas coloring book so that we could continue the tradition with our own children.

1st page I colored all by myself - 1976

Service

• #LightTheWorld - 25 ways to share the Savior's light with those around you.
• You can bring light to your ancestors and the lives that they lived as well. Five (5) of the ideas for 2017 center around family history.
• Visit lonely people and let them share their memories with you. Record them.
• Do service in honor of a loved who has passed away. Particularly one for whom you may be grieving.
• Make their favorite treat and give it away. 
• Donate time or money to a charity they preferred. 
• Sing their favorite songs at a shelter or nursing home.
• Visit a cemetery and leave flowers. 
• Index records from where the person lived.
• Make every Christmas a White Christmas by starting a tradition of performing at least one LDS temple ordinance for an ancestor during the holidays
• Give a busy mother or father the gift of time to research their own genealogy by offering to watch their children.

Concentration Game
Pat Richley-Erickson

Games

• Roll a Memory
• Magnetic Family Christmas Tree
• Fingerprint and Signature Trees
• Concentration. After a match is made. Give one or two sentences about the image.
• Have families recall a favorite pie made by a grandmother, a favorite song in the family, a favorite movie of the season and a special tradition of helping others. 

Ideas From Others
Christmas Traditions: 12 Writing Prompts, Laura Wilkinson Hedgecock
Adding Family History to the Hectic Holiday Season, Amie Bowser Tennant
Holidays, Lisa Louise Cooke

What other family history related activities do you do during Christmas? Share in the comments.

Music

• How does Christmas music make you feel?
• Are there songs that have been shared through generations of your family?
• Do you go Christmas caroling? Do others carol to you? 
• When I was younger the Robinson family of Enoch, Utah were regular carolers to our home. 
• In my community today the Carter family of Clearfield, Utah are regular carolers to our home. (Just after I added this comment about the Carters to this post, they showed up and sang. Serendipity!)
• We have a special Christmas Family Home Evening each year in our home.
• Opportunity to share our musical talents. 
• I remember one year when my Grandpa Darrel Peterson and my sister Jenny played a saxophone duet. Do you have musical talents passed through the generations?
• The men in our family all sing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Some years they even conference called in to sing together.
• Nicole learned about a Christmas song that her grandpa's family sang. Check out the neat story here: I Wonder Who Is Santa Claus – A Christmas Song Tradition

What other family history related music do you enjoy during Christmas? Share in the comments.

Gifts

• Anything family history related can be given as a gift.
• Histories
• Family tree designs / charts
• Photo Books
• Framed photos or collages
• Calendars
• DNA kits
• Ornaments 
• Gloria Larson shared:

• "For Christmas last year, my sisters and I put together a family newspaper made up of articles about our ancestors. We even put in some old newspaper ads. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about our family history. There was one short article about one of my great grandfathers who was having a party that a drunk guy crashed. There may or may not have been some punches thrown. We found the articles in the newspaper archives and screenshot them.  Then we pasted them in a word document with some of our own headlines and stuff.  It was a lot of fun."
• Not only was this a great activity - this would make a great gift for any family.

• The year my father passed away I made stuffed bears, from his shirts, as a Christmas gift for all 27 family members: Papa Bears

• One year, I also made small wrap quilts from my grandma's shirts for her 9 grandchildren: Grandma's Hug

• Pictorial books from historical photos - Pediment Group

• I have the Quad-City Memories, The Early Years - covers from the mid 1880s until 1939 - the time my direct family lived in the Quad Cities.
• Help others with family history
• Temple and Family History Consultants - give a coupon to your neighbors to redeem in the new year for 2 hours of help.

What other family history related gifts have your given for Christmas? Share in the comments.

Meals / Food

• What are your family food traditions at Christmas?
• Christmas Dinners
• Christmas Breakfasts
• As a child we had to eat breakfast before we could open any presents. 
• As teenagers we would get up really early and make breakfast for our family.
• In my young family today, we make a special breakfast casserole each year and this year my daughter has also requested cinnamon rolls.
• Use blank family trees or family photos as placemats.
• Try food dishes from your ancestor's countries.
• Make and share family recipes with others.
• Share family recipes on FamilySearch as a story and / or via the FamilySearch Recipes campaign.

What other family history related traditions do you have regarding food at Christmas? Share in the comments.


I have cookie recipes from 3 of my 4 great grandmothers. When I make the cookies I tell my children things I remember or know about each great grandmother. We also have taken time to look at their photos on FamilySearch while the cookies are baking. Here is one of my favorite great grandma recipes:

Alice Alvey Pierce

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
By: Alice Alvey Pierce
My Great Grandmother

Mix in order:
1 cup shortening
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ cups flour
1 TBS hot water
1 tsp vanilla
6-9 oz chocolate chips
3 cups oatmeal

Bake at 350* F. for 9-10 minutes.

This post was created for a presentation for the Logan FamilySearch Library Training on 13 December 2017.

Special THANKS to my genealogy friends and family for sharing their ideas: Pat Richley-Erickson, Sarah Poe, Julie Judd, Gini Webb, Sumer Andreason, Amie Bowser Tennant, Nicole Dyer, Rhonda Anderson Lauritzen, Emily Schroeder, Melynda Valgardsson, Dave Dowell, Amy Johnson Crow, Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, Paula Quesenberry Iniguez, Helen Smith, Tami Osmer Mize, Mariah Bishop Hudson, Lisa Louise Cooke, Katherine Duquette, Christine Fisher, Gloria Larson, Maggie Daugherty, Linda Stufflebean, Laura Wilkinson Hedgecock, Devon Noel Lee, and Carol Barnett.

#FamilySearch
#LightTheWorld
#FHforChildren

An Individual Responsibility

Photo from LDS Media Library

“Much more must be done in our personal genealogical research. We have an obligation to do temple work for our kindred dead. This means that we will do the necessary research in order for the names of our progenitors to be sent to the temples. We have an individual responsibility to see that we are linked to our progenitors.” 

– Ezra Taft Benson, “Our Duty as Latter-day Saints,”

Springfield-Burke Virginia Chapel Dedication, 15 October 1982.

RootsTech 2018 Pass Giveaway

I love RootsTech! It is the world's largest family history event. There are many great classes and speakers to choose from and so many wonderful people with whom to network.

As an Ambassador for RootsTech 2018, I have the privilege of giving away ONE FREE full RootsTech conference pass (worth $279).

The RootsTech Conference 4 Day Pass is valid from Wednesday, February 28 through Saturday, March 3, 2018. It includes the registration fee for over 300 classes, Innovation Showcase, all keynotes, general sessions, the expo hall, and evening events.

It does not include the free Family Discovery Day; you need to add on this free event if you'd like to attend. Nor does it include any sponsored lunches or computer labs. It also does not include any accommodations or transportation to or from the event.

The giveaway covers the registration fee only.

If the winner has already paid a registration fee for the 2018 RootsTech event, instructions will be provided to obtain a refund.

This giveaway runs from November 20 to November 30, 2017. 

Winner will be notified (with registration instructions) no later than December 2, 2017.  The winner's name will be disclosed on the Revealing Roots and Branches blog and associated social media channels. The winner also agrees to participate in a blog post about the winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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I am 2018 RootsTech Ambassador and have received a free conference registration from RootsTech.

#RootsTech

2018 RootsTech Ambassador

I am thrilled to be serving as a 2018 RootsTech Ambassador. This is my 3rd year serving as an ambassador. You may be wondering ... just what is a RootsTech Ambassador and what do they do?

Ambassadors are expected to act as brand advocates by helping to generate awareness and excitement for RootsTech. This is accomplished through: writing and publishing RootsTech related content on my blog, sharing RootsTech content on my social media channels, and helping to generate interest in RootsTech.

Prior to the conference I will have opportunities to share information about RootsTech with you. Some of this information will be in the form of media press releases. While attending RootsTech in February-March 2018, I will have opportunities to connect with and interview guest presenters and keynote speakers. I will share information from those interviews here on my blog.

I have received a free conference registration for my own attendance and I have received a free registration to give away to one of my followers. I will be starting that giveaway very soon.

In addition to being a RootsTech Ambassador, I have the privilege of serving as the RootsTech Ambassador Coordinator. I have served in this role since Fall 2016. As the Coordinator, I do just what the name implies, I assist the RootsTech staff in sharing and "coordinating" information with the nearly 100 ambassadors.

If you have any questions about RootsTech, please leave me a comment and I'll answer you.

#RootsTech

The House of the Lord, a Sacred Space

Manti Utah Temple - © Stuart L. Gardner Photography

“The Lord always has commanded His people to build temples, holy places in which worthy Saints perform sacred gospel ceremonies and ordinances for themselves and for the dead. Temples are the most holy of all places of worship. A temple literally is the house of the Lord, a sacred space specifically set apart for worshipping God and for receiving and remembering His great and precious promises.” 

– Elder David A. Bednar, “Exceeding Great and Precious Promises,”

LDS General Conference, October 2017.

They Know Us Better Than We Know Them

“I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors … who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. … If this is the case with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses, … how much more certain it is … to believe that those who have been faithful, who have gone beyond … can see us better than we can see them; that they know us better than we know them. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; … their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.” 

– Joseph F. Smith, in Conference Report, Apr. 1916, 2–3; also Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. (1939), 430–31.

A Responsibility For Each Of Us

“This is a responsibility for each of us. Not one of us can be made perfect without this work. I doubt if the Lord will accept the excuse that we are so busy with other church work that we cannot spend a part of our time in genealogy. Any part of this we do not do, which we should do, must be done by someone else, for it must be done. If we shirk our responsibilities, how can we expect to receive the blessings?” 

- Elder Eldred G. Smith, “Family Research," LDS General Conference, October 1975.

Refining, Spiritualizing, Tempering Influence

Family history work has the power to do something for the dead. It has an equal power to do something to the living. Family history work of Church members has a refining, spiritualizing, tempering influence on those who are engaged in it. They understand that they are tying their family together, their living family here with those who have gone before. 

- Elder Boyd K. Packer, “Your Family History: Getting Started,” Ensign, Aug. 2003, pages 12-17.

Opportunities for Sacrifice and Service

Reno Nevada LDS Temple - Photo from LDS Media Library

"There are many different things our members can do to help in the redeeming of the dead, in temple and family history work. Some involve callings. Others are personal. All are expressions of devotion and discipleship. All present opportunities for sacrifice and service.” 

- Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “Family History: ‘In Wisdom and in Order’”, Ensign, June 1989.

So That No One Is Left Out

Nauvoo Illinois Temple - Photo from LDS Media Library

“The great work of providing the saving ordinances for our kindred dead is a vital part of the threefold mission of the Church. We do this work for a purpose, which is to redeem our dead ancestors. Temple work is essential for both us and our kindred dead who are waiting for these saving ordinances to be done for them. It is essential because “we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect.”(D&C 128:18) They need the saving ordinances, and we need to be sealed to them. For this reason it is important that we trace our family lines so that no one is left out.” 

- President James E. Faust, “The Phenomenon That Is You,” LDS General Conference, October 2003

Leaving Us More and More Time for Temple Work

“Sister Susa Young Gates related to me that she once asked her father [Brigham Young] how it would ever be possible to accomplish the great amount of temple work that must be done, if all are given a full opportunity for exaltation. He told her there would be many inventions of labor-saving devices, so that our daily duties could be performed in a short time, leaving us more and more time for temple work. The inventions have come, and are still coming, but many simply divert the time gained to other channels, and not for the purpose intended by the Lord”

- Archibald F. Bennett, “Put on Thy Strength, O Zion!” Improvement Era, October 1952, p. 720.

Messengers From The Ranks Of Our Kindred

“When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred, friends, and fellow-beings and fellow-servants. The ancient prophets who died were those who came to visit their fellow creatures upon the earth. They came to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; it was such beings—holy beings if you please—who waited upon the Savior and administered to him on the Mount. The angel that visited John, when an exile, and unfolded to his vision future events in the history of man upon the earth, was one who had been here, who had toiled and suffered in common with the people of God.

"In like manner our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh.” 

- Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1970, pp. 435–36.

I Owe My Existence To Them

One young lady, a genealogist, was asked the question, 

“What if you find an undesirable character in your family tree, such as a pirate or convict or the like?” 

She answered, 

“My responsibility does not concern how he lived, but just that he lived and died. After all, I owe my existence to him, and my only way of paying that debt is to do the baptism and sealing work for him. It will be up to him to accept it.”

- Elder Eldred G. Smith, “Family Research," LDS General Conference, October 1975.

A Personal Assignment

Las Vegas Nevada Temple - Photo from LDS Media Library

“It would be desirable for each member of the Church to think about the work of proclaiming the gospel, perfecting the Saints, and redeeming the dead not only as an expression of the mission of the Church, but also as a personal assignment. Every member should have some ongoing activity in each of these three dimensions, with a total personal activity that does not exceed what is wise for his or her current circumstances and resources. The three dimensions of the mission of the Church overlap and are inseparable.” 

- Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “Family History: ‘In Wisdom and in Order’”, Ensign, June 1989.

Our Highest Priority: Ordinances for Our Own Kindred

Draper Utah Temple - Photo from LDS Media Library

“For whom will such temple work be efficacious? Principles of agency pertain on both sides of the veil. There, in post mortal realms, personal choice and accountability will be of paramount importance. Not all will accept these ordinances. Not all that would choose to do so may be worthy to receive them. Scriptures indicate that individual faith, repentance, and obedience will be required to consummate this vicarious work. Here, on this side of the veil, there are limitations of available time and temples. This means that choosing to identify and perform ordinances for our own kindred should receive our highest priority. The Spirit of Elijah will inspire individual members of the Church to link their generations, rather than submit lists of people or popular personalities to whom they are unrelated.” 

- Elder Russell M. Nelson, “The Spirit of Elijah,” LDS General Conference, October 1994.

Essential That It Must Be Given A High Priority

“If we believe in the restoration of the gospel at all, we must believe also in the mission of Elijah. We declare that he has come to earth and delivered the keys of his ministry to the Prophet Joseph Smith. As a result of his labors, the hearts of both the fathers and the children are now turning to each other, and this vital work is being done. 

“But each of us must do our part for our own deceased relatives. It is so essential that it must be given a high priority in our daily lives. And that we may give it this great priority is my humble prayer in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.” 

– Elder Mark E. Petersen, “The Message of Elijah”, LDS General Conference, April 1976.

You Can Do This Work

“There somehow seems to be the feeling that genealogical work is an all-or-nothing responsibility. Genealogical work is another responsibility for every Latter-day Saint. And we may do it successfully along with all the other callings and responsibilities that rest upon us. You can fulfill your obligation to your kindred dead and to the Lord without forsaking your other Church callings. You can do it without abandoning your family responsibilities. You can do this work. You can do it without becoming a so-called “expert” in it.” 

- Elder Boyd K. Packer, “Someone Up There Loves You,” Ensign, January 1977.

The Lord Is In This Work

George Taft Benson Family
Louise Ballif Benson is seated 2nd from right.

“The Lord is in this work. He wants it to prosper. He wants us to be successful in our efforts. While living with my grandmother, Louise Ballif Benson, in Logan as a student, I knew she had been working very hard on her research. She kept referring to the fact that there was a gap that she couldn’t fill and it worried her. She prayed about it fervently. One day she received a package address just ‘Benson Family, Utah.’ The package contained a printed book which had come from a man in Syracuse, New York, who had done research independently – not as a member of the Church. You can imagine the joy that filled my grandmother’s heart when she found that this not only filled the gap, but did much more than that. Her prayers had been answered. Yes, there are many ways to help get the job done.” 

– Ezra Taft Benson, “Eternal Memories,” Tenth Annual Priesthood Genealogical Research Seminar, 

BYU, Provo, Utah, 31 July 1975.

Consecrate A Portion Of Our Time And Energy

Billings Montana Temple - Photo from LDS Media Library

“It has been my experience that some of the happiest people I know are those who are engaged in family history and temple work. Let us demonstrate our willingness to follow the prophet by consecrating a portion of our time and energy to the Lord’s redemptive work, and let us do it in a spirit of love. As we do so, not only will we bless the lives of those who have gone before us, but we will bless our own lives and the lives of our family members as well.” 

– Mary Ellen Smoot, “Family History: A Work of Love,” Ensign, March 1999.

The Love of Bread Making

Alice Alvey Pierce

This post is part of a blog link up - check out the other contributor posts here:

Mothers: Our Memory Keepers

I asked my mother if she would share with me something that she learned from either her mother or grandmother that she passed down to us, her children.

She shared that her grandma, Alice Alvey Pierce, made yummy homemade bread and taught her how good homemade bread can be. When my mother got married she started making her own homemade bread.

As a young child, I remember helping my mother sort through the wheat to remove any bad kernels before she would grind the wheat to make bread. I loved the smell and taste of homemade bread!

Today my sisters and I all make differing variations of homemade bread.

Below is the current recipe that I use for making bread, rolls, and cinnamon rolls for my husband and children (and family, friends, and neighbors). I hope you enjoy it! Can you smell the bread baking now?

Bread Machine Dough/Bread

4 cups Flour
1 ½ tsp Yeast
1/3 cup Sugar
4 TBS Wheat Gluten
3 TBS Powdered Milk
1 ½ tsp Salt
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
13 oz Warm Water

Place all ingredients in bread machine. Push ‘dough’ cycle on machine. Once machine starts going, scrape sides of pan to incorporate all of the flour. After cycle finishes, remove dough. Knead, cut into two equal amounts. Spray bread pans with oil spray. Shape dough into loaves. Let dough rise in bread pans for about 90 minutes (until dough rises above the top of the pan).
Bake 350*F for about 25 minutes for 2 loaves of bread.

Rolls:
Shape dough into 12 balls. Place in oil sprayed 9x13 pan. Let dough rise in pan for 90-120 minutes. Bake 350*F for about 20 minutes.

Cinnamon Rolls:
Filling:
¼ cup Butter, melted
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Sugar
1 ½ TBS Cinnamon

Frosting:
¼ cup Butter, softened
3 cups Powdered Sugar
4 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1 tsp Vanilla
Milk – to spreading consistency (about 3 TBS)

Roll out dough into rectangle shape. Spread with filling. Roll up lengthwise. Cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in oil sprayed 9x13 pan. Let rise for 90-120 minutes. Bake 350*F for 20 minutes. Spread on frosting while rolls are hot.

#FHforChildren

More Than a Hobby

Portland Oregon Temple - Photo from LDS Media Library

“Genealogy and temple work—you can’t have one without the other. They are two inseparable parts of one supernal decree the Lord has given us to aid in the redemption of the dead. The process of identifying one’s family should be much more than a hobby to a Latter-day Saint. From an eternal perspective, to consider the word genealogy and not its partner temple work—or to think of temple work and disregard its twin, genealogy—makes no more sense than to try to play a game with only half a ball.” 

– George D. Durrant, “Genealogy and Temple Work: 

‘You Can’t Have One without the Other’”, Ensign, August 1983.

Inspirational to One's Descendants

Photo from LDS Media Library

“Not everything we do is important. Not everything we write is important. Not everything we think is important. But occasionally we are in tune with God. Inspiration sometimes comes to us without our even recognizing it. At such times the Lord whispers things into our minds, and what one then writes can become inspirational to one’s descendants. When we write by the Spirit and they read by the Spirit, there is a godly communication between us and them which makes that which we write become meaningful and a source of inspiration to our descendants”. 

- Elder Theodore M. Burton, “The Inspiration of a Family Record,” Ensign, January 1977.

Grand, Vast, Essential, and Urgent

Taipei Taiwan Temple - Photo from LDS Media Library

“We live and serve in the dispensation of the fulness of times. Recognizing the eternal importance of the distinctive dispensation in which we live should influence all that we do and strive to become. The work of salvation to be accomplished in these last days is grand, vast, essential, and urgent. How grateful each of us should be for the blessings and responsibilities of living in this specific season of the final dispensation. How humble we should be knowing that “unto whom much is given much is required” (D&C 82:3).” 

– Elder David A. Bednar, “Missionary, Family History, and Temple Work,” Ensign, October 2014.