BillionGraves Contest Leads to Free Canary Islands Vacation

In the Summer of 2015, BillionGraves offered a Summer of More Get Away contest.  Combine my passion for cemeteries with a contest, and immediately my competitive nature emerged!  Over a couple of months, with the help of my family and friends, I managed to photograph 68,972 images, allowing me to win a trip to anywhere in the world.  My family and I chose to travel to Teneriffe, Canary Islands, Spain.

A Room With A View

Our initial set off was not without incident.  A delayed and then canceled flight out of Dulles Airport resulted in our luggage being lost somewhere between Washington and France, or maybe it was France and Spain.  We never did find out what happened.  Our first 3 days in Teneriffe was spent in the same travel clothes.  But, hey!  We were in the Canary Islands, so who cares, right?!

 

My 16 year old daughter carried all her luggage on the plane.  Not a care in the world!

My 19 year old son looks like he could live here!

While waiting for our luggage to be found, we decided to connect with members of our faith.  Meeting with members of the local LDS church was like seeing family and made the trip even more special than it already was.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Teneriffe, Canary Islands

The Sister Missionaries were as happy to see us as we were to see them!

Our luggage finally arrived and after some respite, we were ready to see the island.  The black sand beaches are a result of the volcanic eruptions from El Tiede.  It was strange to see beaches this dark, but they were so beautiful!

I was fascinated by the rock piling on this particular beach.

Even though this was to be our vacation, we couldn't resist visiting cemeteries around the island and photographing them for BillionGraves.  The visitors of the cemeteries greeted us with an embrace and love.  Although we could not communicate in their language, we could feel their warmth and welcome.
 

From our Condo, the drive around the island took about 3 hours.  It was amazing that at one moment we would be on the beach and within an hour we would be in the mountains.  The view was always amazing!

 

 Our trip to Teneriffe was definitely an experience of a lifetime.  With my children nearly grown, it was expected that this may be our last full family vacation.  I am so grateful for the kindness of BillionGraves and their willingness to send the four of us on such a spectacular trip to another country. It is something we will never forget!  Thank you, BillionGraves!

If you would like to learn more about volunteering in this effort to preserve cemetery records, visit BillionGraves.com.

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BillionGraves Takes The Anxiety Out Of Searching For Loved Ones

Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking my friend, Cathi, to Quantico National Cemetery to visit her father's grave.   Six years ago Cathi had moved to Arizona and has been unable to visit her father's grave regularly.  As you can imagine, the cemetery is rather large, and since it had been awhile since Cathi had come by, her memory needed to be jogged as to where the actual grave was located.  She knew the Section but could not remember where the actual plot was.

I have been working with BillionGraves for a number of years.  I knew that using BillionGraves' app, which provides the GPS location for every gravestone photographed, we would find Cathi's father in a matter of moments.  After opening the app, we entered her father's name, William E. Mulroy.  Immediately, the record of his burial showed up, and by simply tapping on the map icon, we were given the exact location of his headstone in relation to where we were standing.

Cathi was amazed that the BillionGraves app provided the exact location of where her dad was, as well as the headstone information.  When a relative, and in this case, daughter, wants to visit the resting place of a loved one, time would rather be spent visiting the grave than looking for it.  Since the cemetery information center was closed for the day, Cathi worried that her anxiety would increase as she tried to find her dad's grave.  BillionGraves removed the anxiety and afforded her the opportunity to spend more time with her dad and memories.

BillionGraves is a worldwide grassroots program that allows for anyone researching their ancestors to find the cemetery and gravesite of their loved ones who have passed away.  The site is free to join and anyone can be a BillionGraves volunteer.  It is a simple process that will have you helping people around the world as fast as it takes to snap a photo.

There are several ways to volunteer with BillionGraves, the top two being photographing and transcribing.  To photograph headstones, simply grab your smart phone or ipad and download the BillionGraves app.  When you arrive to the cemetery of your choice, open the app and click on the camera icon.  You will see the name of the cemetery appear in the camera with the live image.  As you walk grave by grave, simply take a picture of each headstone.  When you are done photographing, you may upload the pictures immediately or wait until you get home.

After you upload the pictures you have taken, you will want to transcribe the photos.  Log into BillionGraves on your computer and on the dashboard you will see a Photos icon.  When you select Photos, you will have the option to select the photos you have taken.  Each picture you click on will give you a form to complete with the information from the headstone.  Should you choose not to transcribe the images, the photos will go into the BillionGraves database for another volunteer to transcribe.

Volunteering for BillionGraves is a wonderful opportunity to give back to the genealogy community. There are millions of individuals, like Cathi, searching for the headstones of their loved ones. Whether the search is for family history purposes or to reminisce and pay respects, being able to access the gravesite immediately allows for time to be well spent.

For more information regarding BillionGraves, visit BillionGraves.com.

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My FamilySearch Service Mission - Month One: The Call

I grew up in a genealogical home.  Back in the 1980s, my dad was Historian General of the Mayflower Society, and as a teen, I had the privilege of living in the Mayflower Society House.  It was a fun time to be a kid.  I helped in the genealogy library.  I walked in the Pilgrim's Progress.  I worked summers as a guide in the Spooner House and the Howland House. Heck, I lived across the street from Plymouth Rock.  You can't get more Plymouth than that!  It was a life filled with history.

Visiting my old home -- The Winslow House -- in 2010.

So, I'm sure it came as no surprise to my family and friends when I put in my papers for a Service Mission with FamilySearch through the LDS church. 

When I attended RootsTech 2014, I had inquired about serving with FamilySearch. Since around 2005 I have been a Family History Consultant with the church and thought this might be a good next step to take.  For whatever reason, it didn't happen until RootsTech2016, when I met with some amazing missionaries at the FamilySearch Booth in the Innovation Hall.

FamilySearch wasted no time in getting my paperwork processed and my computer system set up in my home.  They were whirlwind fast, albeit I told them that I had a few genealogical conferences that I need to attend and they might want to wait until early Summer.  Ever optimistic, they set me on my journey and wished me well.

Now, most people have heard of Mormon missionaries.  They are the young men and women who, at 18 and 20 respectively, enter the MTC for training.  That training could be a couple of weeks to a couple of months depending on the call of the missionary.  The longer training is to accommodate learning a new language.

Service Missionaries receive training as well, however, they are not sent to a Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah or anywhere else for that matter.  Instead, training is done in the home, in front of a computer, by yourself.  Okay, so it isn't all that bad.   In fact, while we don't have a companion (unless a spouse has chosen to serve along side you), we do have a Mission Training Team that consists of a handful of missionaries, a Mission Team Leader, and each day a new teacher who guides us through our certification process. 

Certification.  Where do I begin?!  It is the entire focus of our existence right now.  Each day there is a new module to learn, and every other day we must certify.  Trust me when I say, you want us to certify!  We, Service Missionaries, are the people who greet you online or on the phone when you have concerns with the FamilySearch process.  This training has definitely given me a new appreciation for anyone working in a service center, no matter what the program is! 

The best part is, I am learning more than ever about a program that I thought I knew everything about.  So much goes on behind the scenes of FamilySearch, and new updates are made daily.  I look forward to completing my training in these next few weeks and begin assisting all my fellow family history enthusiasts out there!  My mission call is for one year.  I hope you will enjoy my posts as I share my journey along the way.

The 21 Day Genealogy Challenge - Day 20: Writing Narratives

“Write what should not be forgotten…”  -- Isabel Allende

Welcome to Day 20 of the 21 Day Genealogy Challenge.  Today let’s look at a step that many people may overlook: Narratives.  Have you ever considered writing a narrative about the ancestor you are researching?  You should!  You did a lot of work locating that ancestor!  Now is the time to compile that work into a wonderful and informational report.

First, relax! You don’t have to be a professional writer to present your work in a narrative format.  However, if you are looking to publish your writing, you may want to research further on how to do a professional level of genealogical writing for periodicals and newsletters, but for the sake of this challenge, we are going to look at how to present your work for yourself and immediate family.

Blogging: One writing format you may consider is creating a Blog.  A blog is a wonderful outlet to present your research and include pictures and scanned documentation.  Family and friends can view and comment on a blog.  If you open your blog to public viewing, you may connect with distant cousins who will benefit from your research and may even have something more to share with you.  If you feel you may not have the discipline to blog, I suggest joining a blogging group that will not only help you stay accountable, but encourage you and acknowledge the strides you are making.  I highly recommend SarkeMedia, which was voted as one of the 100 Best Websites for Writers in 2015.  They have an exemplary, free 30 Day Blogging Challenge that is dedicated in helping bloggers succeed in writing.  Not only does SarkeMedia provide encouragement and support, but they also offer suggestions of improvement on writing, style, and how to get proper reader exposure. 

Journaling: If blogging is not for you, perhaps keeping a private journal is more your style.  In the past, I have done this with my family history research and then shared portions with family members via email.  I print out and bind my narratives for future use or to share with family in the future.  You can use any writing program you are already comfortable with, or check out JRNL, a RootsTech 2016 Innovator Showdown Finalist.  Not only can you create writing entries and include photographs, but JRNL also offers publishing. 

Family Interviews:  What about those family interviews?  Combining the information you obtained in your personal research along with the family interviews, you will have more than enough to work with.  Don’t forget to include some of your family photos!

Sources:  Whatever style you choose to write in, you must remember to include your sources.  Okay, so maybe you are writing for your eyes only.  You want to be able to refer back to a source now and again to either verify the information you retrieved, or perhaps see if there was any information you overlooked.  Sourcing in paramount!  And, should you share your writings with family members or other researchers, your readers will see that you have given attention to detail and take your work seriously.

Evalutate:  Finally, evaluate your work.  It is through evaluation that you will notice any glaring holes in your research.  Take note of what is missing and do what you can to the missing pieces of evidence.  It may be that there are no records available to you at this time, but you will want to include that information in your writing.

Here is your 5 Point Review:

     

• Gather together your research information.  Don’t forget to include your family interviews and photos.
• Do your research.  There are a plethora of ways to write a family history narrative. Choose a writing style/program that is right for you.  
• If writing on line and obtaining feedback is something that interests you, look into blogging and journaling.  Set goals on how much or how often you want to write. 
• Sources.  Always source your work.  If you include images in your writing, remember to give credit for those, as well.  If you don’t know who took the picture from 1938, source how you came in possession of the photograph. 
• Read.  Review.  Re-evaluate.  Once you have completed your narrative, take the time to look it over thoroughly.  Did you notice any areas that are obviously missing some details?  Take notes and see if further research will help you fill in those holes.  Sometimes it is difficult to find evidence, and you may want to address this, if that is the case.  By reviewing your writing, you will get a clear idea of what areas of research you need to focus on for the ancestor you chose to write about.

Congratulations!  You have completed day 20 of the 21 Day Genealogy Challenge!  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them in the Blog Comment section below.  Invite your friends to join this challenge by sharing this blog with them on Google+, Twitter and Facebook.  The share icons are just below this blog entry. 

Thank you for joining this challenge and remember…..

History not shared is History forgotten!