I’m at Rootstech 2020. It’s the 10 year anniversary of the world’s largest family history conference and there is something for everyone here. Even if you are like me, and the thought of dealing with genealogical data makes your skin itch, and you feel dizzy.

I have to enter family history work through a side door. I kind of sneak up on my brain by being curious about people’s stories and what their world was like in the past.

Besides, face your fears, right? This year, I don’t even have Mr. Hot Stuff to buoy me up. He’s home, working like crazy to help their company’s customers manage supply shortfalls due to Covid-19 in China and around the world. That’s a big deal when you are working in the medical supply industry. 🙏🙏🙏 In light of all that, I suppose my problem with this is small. But still.

I will be at this conference for the rest of the week, hopefully learning some cool things and conquering my imaginary monsters. That also means that I will have less time for my Book of Mormon journaling. I’ll still work on it, but it may not be as detailed. I’ve learned a lot though, and I think that’s the thing that matters.

You will probably notice some of the incompleteness in these pages. It’s just part of the process, and I think it’s foolish to think that it’s possible to have real completeness with something like scripture study, because we constantly grow and change and that impacts what we notice when we read. At least I hope I continue to grow, and learn, and change. I know that I’m not the same person I was when I started this project, and I can’t imagine how much it will have changed me by the time I get to the end of the book.

Here are some of the pages from this week.

P. S. If you get a chance to attend the Rootstech conference, you should do it. There is enough variety of classes that we can all use our strengths, whatever they are, to find our own open door or window into family history work. There are many rewards in store when we learn about who our ancestors were and how they overcame their own trials.