Elder M. Russell Ballard noted, “The average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the world. Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single honey bee’s contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth of one teaspoon”(“Be Anxiously Engaged,” Ensign or Liahona, October 2012, 29).

FamilySearch volunteers who index records can be compared to honey bees working together to accomplish great things. Thousands of indexers work diligently to contribute their time and energy by volunteering for FamilySearch indexing. Indexers and arbitrators from approximately 134 countries around the world, working tirelessly, have contributed an average of 1.2 million indexed records each day.

Because of industrious volunteers like you, FamilySearch recently celebrated a monumental achievement of a billion records indexed since FamilySearch indexing was launched online in the fall of 2006. Our first billion previously took 80 years to accomplish. The second billion took just 6½ years. This remarkable feat was possible through the efforts of many volunteers. Thank you for contributing to such a great cause. Because of your efforts, researchers have more records freely available for to use as they seek out and find their ancestors on FamilySearch.org.

Like honey bees, we haven’t finished our work. FamilySearch has been dedicated for over 100 years to gathering and preserving vital records from around the world. Preserving records is a continuing endeavor here at FamilySearch, and thus the cycle continues. We have a monumental task before us; stored in the Granite Mountain Records Vault are 2.4 million rolls of microfilm and one million microfiche waiting to be indexed and published, with more records being added every year.

With many hands working together, we can continue to make a difference. Together, we will make history as we continue in this great work—one batch at a time. Let’s see how swiftly we can complete our next billion indexed records.

When you get together for your yearly family reunion this summer, what will you do to make sure future generations have access to important family memories? FamilySearch, through its Photos and Stories tools, provides a way for you to capture, preserve, and share your family memories for today and generations to come.

General Ideas

There are certain photo-related activities that could or should happen at any family gathering. Here are some ideas.

• Take a group photo—Kind of a no-brainer, but so important to capture the people at the event for future generations.

• Photo slideshow—Set up a laptop or television with a looping slideshow of favorite family photos, from as many people as you can get to contribute. Make sure the photos are uploaded to FamilySearch.org so that family members can see the photos when they get home.

• Photo name tags—get head shots from each attendee (or from the ancestor they descend from for larger events) and place the photos on name tags with their name to make sure everyone remembers names!

Photos and Stories

Many family reunions or get-togethers are held in buildings or other locations with Wi-Fi. Some family members can bring an Internet Hot Spot. Whatever the case may be, if you have it available, take advantage of the access to make some serious progress in documenting your family story on FamilySearch.

• Photo and story presentation—Show the photos that have been uploaded, tagged, and linked to the Family Tree on FamilySearch.org. For larger groups you could arrange for a projector. For smaller groups a laptop screen would work just fine. Any photos linked to ancestors within 4 generations will show up. See a video about this new feature.

• Identify photos—Work with individuals or groups to identify the people in photos that have already been uploaded. My family reunion picture above is a great example—I don’t know everyone in the photo, but working together we can likely fill in many of the blanks.

• Give time to explore—Have a few laptops available for family members to explore the Family Tree fan chart, photos, and stories at their own pace. They can add stories to photos and may even help tag previously unknown people in photos they see.

• Take time to record—A hand held digital audio recorder or video recorder can capture individuals telling stories and sharing memories that can be preserved and cherished by those to come.

Gather and Digitize

Even if you don’t have access to the Internet you can still grow your family’s Photos and Story collection and experience the magic of ancestral photos.

• Assign a Photo Chairperson—As part of your reunion planning, assign someone to manage the gathering and display of family photos. This person can organize an effort to have family members bring photographs to the reunion to be digitized or copied so you can upload them to FamilySearch.

• Set up a scanning station—This is easily done with a laptop and portable scanner. Once scanned, you have a copy to upload to FamilySearch. This can get people motivated and trained to add more photos when they return home. Get the word out as far ahead of the event as possible and provide reminders so that people remember to bring their photos.

• Show a family presentation—This can happen quite naturally during an already scheduled family meeting. Even without Internet, you can present a slide show with screen captures of what family information is already available on FamilySearch.

• Set up a photo identification table—Print out photos of unidentified people on inexpensive paper print and have a table full of family photos for older relatives to annotate who is in each photo. Transfer the information to FamilySearch to be preserved.

• Reunion web page—Create a family reunion page in FamilySearch Photos and Stories and share it through email or social media.

However you approach photo sharing at your reunion you’ll be glad you did. The photos and stories of our ancestors can help create a connection that bridges generations.

Just this year more than 20 million images—or 75 projects—have been arbitrated. If each of us arbitrate an extra batch here and there, an additional 4 million images could be freed from the database and published on FamilySearch.org. Even more, think what we could accomplish if we recruit our friends and neighbors. Do you know someone you could invite to arbitrate? If so, see the details below.*

We appreciate your collaboration as the largest group of online indexers in the world! THANK YOU!

*If you know other experienced indexers with an eye for detail, please encourage them to explore arbitration to help free over 4 million images waiting to be published on FamilySearch.org. Have them ask their group administrator or stake indexing director for rights; they can also call support to discuss their options.

Change your preferred language

1. Go to indexing.familysearch.org
2. Click Sign In.
3. Sign in with your indexing username and password.
4. In the top right corner of the page, click the down arrow next to “Languages.”
5. Select English from the list. (This step is necessary to reset your language preferences for notifications.)
6. Again, click the down arrow next to“Languages.”
7. Select your preferred language from the list.
8. Click Sign Out.

Once you finish these steps, your preferred language will be noted on your profile.

FamilySearch Account: Steps to update your current email address

1. Go to indexing.familysearch.org.
2. Click Sign In.
3. Click Help and then My Info.
4. Click Edit at the bottom of the screen.
5. Change your email address.
6. Click Save.

LDS Account: Steps to update your current email address

1. Go to indexing.familysearch.org.
2. Click Sign In.
3. Click Help and then My Info.
4. Under the FamilySearch Account Information section, click Edit Above Information.
5. Sign in with your LDS account.
6. Click Edit on profile information.
7. Change your primary email and alternate email addresses.
8. Click Update.

By updating your preferred language and email address, you can continue to receive important indexing communications. If you run into any problems making these changes, you may contact support.

According to a recent UNICEF study, as many as 40 percent of the world’s births are never recorded, and many of these people die without any written documentation of their existence. How sad that any of our fellow humans should be born, grow, learn, love, and perhaps marry and have children and grandchildren, only to have the memory of their lives simply fade away after they die!

Doesn’t every person deserve to be remembered? FamilySearch thinks they do, which is why we invest so much time, effort, and money to gather, preserve, and share the records of the past. But there is still so much left to do!

Recently FamilySearch commissioned a study to better understand why people index. One of the leading reasons is to leave a legacy—not a legacy about themselves, but a legacy for those whose names are being indexed. Study participants reasoned correctly that without their indexing contribution, people could be lost from memory altogether. But because of their generosity, millions of long-forgotten people are being found and remembered and, in a sense, are being reunited with their living family members.

To celebrate this reunion of the living with their ancestors that volunteers make possible many times every day, FamilySearch has created a short video called “Indexing Is Vital for Research.” It may not be the catchiest title, but we think you’ll remember how it makes you feel.

Enjoy it with our compliments, and please share it freely with your friends and family. The more people we can encourage to join in this great cause, the more we will help those who are lost and forgotten to be found and remembered.

In this guide, you will find a series of research articles packed with helpful ideas for tracing ancestors in big cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as 67 counties throughout the state. Pennsylvania Online Genealogy Records will help you quickly discover what is available online. In Pennsylvania, birth, marriage, and death records generally do not begin until the late 1800s and early 1900s. Church records are a valuable substitute for birth, marriage, and death records if you are searching in an earlier time period. In the county guides, such as Berks County, a great deal of effort has been made to determine which church records are available online at sites such as Ancestry, FamilySearch, and USGenWeb.

There are articles about using Philadelphia passenger lists (at one time, British North America’s busiest port), finding newspapers (dating all the way back to Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette), naturalizations, and township maps identifying homes of early settlers. Pennsylvania never took state censuses, but the Pennsylvania Census article will help you quickly get to federal censuses. You will learn how to trace Delaware, Iroquois, Shawnee, and Tuscarora American Indian ancestors, follow old migration routes such as the National Road, Braddock’s Road, and the King’s Highway, and learn tips about using Pennsylvania genealogy collections in Philadelphia at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. There are also articles to help you determine which Civil War regiments were recruited in which counties, and background on extinct jurisdictions, such as New Sweden.

Counties in Pennsylvania

Find the complete update on the FamilySearch News and Press page.

Check the official FGS conference blog at https://www.fgsconference.org/  for news about lectures, speakers, vendors, special offers, events, research opportunities, hotels, and information about the Fort Wayne area.

This conference has something for everyone – beginner, intermediate, advanced, and professional. Wednesday’s presentations will focus on local and state genealogical societies. There will even be an opportunity for conference registrants to consult with knowledgeable genealogists about research problems. Friday evening FamilySearch will sponsor a light dessert buffet as part of  “A Journey Through the Generations with Our Veterans,” hosted by the conference’s local sponsors, the Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana and the Allen County Public Library.

Presenters will discuss records, methodologies, military research, transportation, online resources,genetics and DNA, federal records, technology, migration, ethnic research (including European, German, African American, and British Isles), speaking and writing, and of course the Midwest and neighboring states, including repositories and religious communities. Check the program on the official conference web site for details about specific talks and presenters.

The exhibit hall plus evening social programs on Wednesday and Friday will round out a full genealogical experience for the next-to-last week of August. Next door to the Grand Wayne Center, the world-famous Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center will have extended research hours early and late during the conference. The library and the Allen County Genealogical Society are our local hosts.

This announcement was written and submitted by Tina Lyons, FGS 2013 Publicity Chair

or Tree Access (tree read only) indicates that FamilySearch Family Tree data can be read from the partner’s application.
 or Tree Connect (tree read and writing of sources) indicates that you can attach references about your ancestors to records, images, stories, and other media found on the internet. These attached sources of evidence can be viewed by anyone using FamilySearch Family Tree.
 or Tree Share (full tree read and write) indicates that you can reconcile tree data between the partner’s product and Family Tree.

MacFamilyTree is now Tree Share  certified for Mac OS X computers.  MacFamilyTree 7 gives genealogy a facelift: It’s modern, interactive, incredibly fast and easy to use. MacFamilyTree helps you collect and record facts and data about your family history and turns them into informative reports and charts. MacFamilyTree 7 comes with countless features to record and visualize your family history – use them to create reports, charts or nifty 3D views within our Virtual Tree feature. MacFamilyTree has been translated into a total of 15 languages. MobileFamilyTree is the first Tree Share  certified application for iOS Devices.  MobileFamilyTree 7 is perfect for anyone wanting to get into mobile digital genealogy. This is the first application that brings FamilySearch Family Tree compatibility to your iPhone or iPad. There is no need for a computer – comprehensive and modern genealogy app fully independent of Mac and PC! Use our powerful app to do your genealogy on the go! Create or edit your family tree with the help of an intuitive graphical interface or use a number of convenient charts and reports to record every little family history detail. Take photos or videos of your relatives directly from within the app. Charting Companion  is now Tree Share  certified. View, customize, print and publish your family history. Choose from an incredible variety of formats and more than 16-million color options. Browse through generations of FamilySearch Family Tree using the onscreen tree views. You can customize your charts: choose the number of generations, the events to include, the content of your box charts, date format, photos, etc. Save charts in a range of file types for sharing and printing.

See these new products and previously certified products at www.FamilySearch.org/products

 The diamond mark indicates products that were previously certified for new.familysearch.org.

The check mark indicates products that are now certified for FamilySearch.org Family Tree