Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Burley Family History Center. We are thankful for each of you for coming to the center. And, so thankful for the wonderful assistants and consultants who so willingly help in many ways!

Thanksgiving is a time of great reflection for most people. A time to slow down a little and think about the many blessings we have all received. Often those thoughts include family and friends and perhaps this wonderful community in which we are blessed live. As we continue pondering, our minds often go to those who have gone before us and provided the path for us to be here today. As those memories come to mind, it would be a great thing to record them and put them into FamilySearch for others to remember and relish those thoughts as well.

To give one a jump start on that pondering, check out some of the thoughts or activities below.

Thoughts and Activities

#GiveThanks, President Nelson, November 2020

"Over my nine and a half decades of life, I have concluded that counting our blessings is far better than recounting our problems. No matter our situation, showing gratitude for our privileges is a fast-acting and long-lasting spiritual prescription."

For the whole article and link to the YouTube video click here.

The Value of Experiencing and Expressing Gratitude, Vaughn E. Worthen, Ph.D. March 2010.

"Gratitude is a positive experience that comes from recognizing gifts or blessings and feeling thankful. It is also an attitude, a way of perceiving life, in which individuals are willing to receive and acknowledge the beneficial actions of others on their behalf. Those who consistently display such an attitude are said to have a grateful disposition. Gratitude is also a habit that can be cultivated, causing one to focus on the blessings of life. Finally, gratitude can be defined as a coping response to challenging or difficult circumstances."

Check out the entire article here.

Take a Gratitude Challenge - It was intended for the youth, but everyone could enjoy the activity.

The Gratitude That Comes with Family History - A blog article from the Family History Guide

Family Reminiscing and Gratitude Journals - A blog article from Family Locket about helping children to give thanks as they remember.

Center Happenings

1- Kids Class on Sunday November 13 from 4:00 -5:00 p.m.

Children…. sail away in your family tree at the Burley Family History Center, ages 3 to 10 (younger are invited with a parent). Come discover places and collections. There are many things to cheer about in your tree! Bring Dad or a show-n-tell about dad, and remember….X marks the spot with a game of Dead or Alive. Please call or text Trina Winn with questions, 208-242-6217.

2- November is the last month for classes in 2022. We won't have any classes in December (except the Kids Class on December 11), so make an effort to come to the classes in November and get some tips about doing family history over the holidays. Especially the Google Photos class on November 15 at 10:30 a.m. with some options for creating family photo books for Christmas. And, the Memories App class on November 16 at 3:00 p.m. with ideas of capturing some family history as you gather with your families. The center will still be open in December, but we don't schedule any classes that month.

3- Mark your Calendars! February 11, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Burley Family History Center is sponsoring a Family History Expo. We will have multiple classes and presenters throughout the day. There will be something for everyone and all skill levels. And, lunch will be provided. Please help us spread the word to the whole community. More information will be given as the event gets closer.

4- We are excited to announce we are working on some community projects. We are looking for ways to memorialize the people of our great community. Some projects will include digitizing of photos and oral histories and adding them to FamilySearch. Others will include working on unindexed databases from FamilySearch, ensuring no one is missed on the records. Still others will have to do with local cemeteries and obituaries. If you know of any projects that we could assist with, please reach out to us. And, stop by the Center to see how you can help with these projects.

5- We need your help! One of the community projects involves the photographs from the Cassia County Historical Museum. There are several hundred photographs without any names, dates, or places. We are asking anyone who might be able to help identify the people, to please come by the Family History Center and ask to see the photo books. Come anytime the Center is open.

6- Happy Veterans Day on November 11. In celebration, we are offering a class about Military Records on November 7 at 2:00 p.m.

7- Fridays are youth days. Not just for the youth to attend and be assisted by the youth, but for everyone to come and be assisted by the youth. We have some great youth consultants who are willing and anxious to assist others in their family history endeavors. The youth offer tours of the facility on the first Friday of each month. We are also working on the community projects on Fridays. Come see how you can help us, or we can help you. We're open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.