Church Features Family History Exhibit In SM Taytay

FamilySearch.org, a nonprofit family history website dedicated to connecting families across generations, was featured by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a Family History Exhibit January 12, 2013.  The week long exhibit was displayed in SM Taytay, Rizal.  

The Family History Exhibit, held  from January 12 through January 18, was divided into four sections: Registration, Exhibit, Family Search Website, and Lectures. In the seven days of the Family History Exhibit, more than 900 visitors registered. The lecture sessions were attended by around 300 visitors who learned about  Family History in general and the steps for starting their own family tree. The 120 volunteers spent a total of 5,040 man-hours of service within the week of the Family History Exhibit.

Several opinion leaders and their representatives attended the opening ceremony. These guests shared their own experiences with regards to their ancestors. One of them mentioned that “All I knew was that my ancestors came from Taytay, but later I learned that we originated from Bulacan.” 150 visitors, both invited and walk-ins, participated during the opening and ribbon cutting ceremony.  The family tree of Jose Rizal, the national hero, became a focal point of the exhibit for all the visitors.

Church volunteers, a majority of whom were 15 to 35 years old, showed their excitement, enthusiasm, and dedication to their work. As these volunteers interacted with the attendees, each learned that there are a lot of people who are interested in family history and have been keeping their personal genealogical records. One of the visitors even shared his genealogy where he had started archiving his records back in 1777 (visit the website at http://lfuawards.yolasite.com/).

Visitors created their own free LDS accounts and were able to start their family trees using the www.FamilySearch.org website. With the help of the Church Family History consultants, many people were able to complete four generations before leaving; others were able to link their records to existing records on the website, enabling them to complete seven generations of their family tree instantly.

The Family History Exhibit was much more than just an opportunity for visitors to log on to find their ancestors; it was an opportunity to learn about how to document their own family stories.  Many who attended didn’t have computers or even computer access. Some who do were still not able to locate their ancestors on the Church website. These people were taught how to use catalogs and records to identify the closest microfilm where birth, marriage, death, and other information they were looking for can possibly be found. Anyone may visit their nearest Family History Center in the Philippines to be able to read these microfilms.

This Exhibit was a remarkable experience for all of the participants – the visitors, consultants, and volunteers – because they saw the realization of the Bible scripture in Malachi of how the children will turn their hearts to their fathers and how the fathers will turn their hearts to their children.