LFA Newsletter Volume 44, Issue 1 (Spring 2017)
From LFAwiki
7731 Jefferson Road
Magna, UT 84044
board@livingstonfamily.org
| Volume: 44 Issue: 1 - (View the PDF Version) | Date: Spring 2017 |
Contents |
Family History Museum
By Dennis Davis
This mission is different than most. We wear name tags, but only with our first name and not preceded with “Elder” or “Sister”. That is for a reason. We are also not allowed to preach the gospel, nor give away any Books of Mormon. Also for a reason. We are asked to only spent 3-5 minutes with museum guests to tell them about one article in the museum.
We are asked to not ask their names, where they are from, or what church they belong to. We are asked to be very friendly and helpful to any and all who attend the museum. We have been asked to provide a safe and friendly environment. After many studies, it has been concluded that patrons of museums around the world mostly want to be left alone, to discover for themselves. They don’t want to be preached to, nor do they want to be followed around by museum docents (a person who acts as a guide, typically on a volunteer basis at a museum, art gallery, or zoo). Many guests don’t want anyone to talk to them - makes them feel like they're at a car dealership.
The way we do it at the Church History Museum is:
We are assigned to a group of about 8-10 members, with a leader, that serves at the same time every week. In our case, we serve with a group that serves on Friday night for 4 hours from 5pm to 9pm.
Our leader makes up a schedule where each of us serves at a particular artifact or area in the museum for one hour. Therefore, we serve at 4 different areas during our 4 hour shift.
We don’t learn everything about everything in the museum. There are thousands of items. We do learn a little about a couple dozen items in the museum and are encouraged to continue reading and studying about everything else.
Of the things we do learn about, we give a little 3-5 minute presentation to those who are interested (and sometimes they are not interested in what we have to say, therefore we thank them for visiting the museum and tell them we are there to help or answer question if they have any).
The 3-5 minute presentations are geared to increase faith, feel love, cause to ponder, etc. After the presentation, we thank the guests for visiting, and wish them a wonderful visit. We then walk away and/or begin talking to a new group. We are not supposed to engage in more conversation with them.
We want the patrons to feel loved and blessed for visiting the museum and the non-members to have a desire to learn more about the church. Those who ask more question about the church, we direct to Temple Square where there are missionaries that will answer those questions.
Jeri and I have had many awesome experiences with those who visit the museum:
First of all, we really love the group we are assigned to work with. It is a wonderful, fun-loving group.
One night I was assigned to serve at the First Vision Theater. After a couple watched the 6-minute video of the First Vision, I asked how they liked it. He told me that he had trouble understanding because he didn’t speak English very well, but spoke Portuguese. I then asked him (in Portuguese) if he would like to see the film in Portuguese. He did, so they watched again in Portuguese. I then spoke to them in Portuguese about where they we from, etc. He was from a city I worked in my first mission there and she was from a city near where Jeri and I served this last time. They were not members and wanted to know more. I directed them to Temple Square. It was a very spiritual experience for me and hopefully was for them, too. We hardly ever hear back from those we talk to at the museum, but we often strongly feel the Spirit as we talk with them. We strive to change people’s lives for the better in the few minutes we talk with them.
Another time a small 5-6 year old boy comes up and grabs my hand. I kneel down as he introduces his whole family to me. He asks my name and I tell him, then ask his name. He was a little difficult to understand, but his mother was right there and repeated to me what he said. I talked with him about his family. He was so animated and full of life. I immediately fell in love with him. I could sense that his mother was extremely pleased that I was spending time with him. He was very, very social. He was also autistic. A beautiful, fun-loving young man. He enjoyed the museum and I know his mother also enjoyed being there.
Jeri has had several occasions when after her presentation one of the patrons has come up to her and thanked her, telling her that they needed that. . We have very spiritual experiences every time we serve in the museum. We are very grateful to serve the Lord.
It's Almost Reunion Time!!
When: Saturday, July 1st 2017
Where: This Is The Place Heritage Park, Salt Lake City, UT
Time: 10:00am - 2:00pm
Cost: Reunion is Free. To purchase a park wristband is $5/person (CASH ONLY) instead of the normal $12.
We have rented the historical Bowery for our event. Meet there just inside the entrance. We will also be providing the entire lunch and dessert free!
We will have a short program including our famous Livingston Rap, eat, and then you can enjoy the park for a discounted fee ($5 CASH ONLY per person). At the park you will enjoy train rides, the native village, pony rides, the schoolhouse, candle making, and much more. We encourage you to visit the website to see all it has to offer! http://www.thisistheplace.org
Reunion Chairs
Eric Epperson – 801 599.4327
Celeste Livingston – 801 885.7944
Call us with questions, suggestions, or to volunteer.
 This Is The Place Heritage Park - Monument |
 Donuts & Other Foods |
 Ride The Mini Train |
 Visit A Native Village |
 Interactive Pioneer Activities |
 Shopping |
The Livingston Legacy Lives on Through Roger Livingston
By Amy Metler
Roger served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the England London mission and upon his return married Debra Smith in the Salt Lake Temple and they were blessed with five children, Amy (Ryan) Metler, Melisa (Ryan) Omer, Tyler, Kimberly (Andrew) Christensen, and Cameron (Bethany). They have 11 grandchildren, Lindsay, Joshua, Tanner, Emily, Cannon, Morgan, Maxwell, Henry, Holland, Hadley, and Zackary with number 12 making her appearance in early June.
Over the years, Roger has been active in the LDS Church and has served in many positions. He currently serves as a missionary in the Church’s Public Relations Department. He also serves his community; he was active in getting Millcreek recognized as a city and is often a county and/or state delegate to the Republican Party.
No one could ever doubt the love Roger has for his family and the importance he places on gathering often. He served for many years on the board for the Livingston Family Association and taught his children what it means to be a Livingston. Roger and Debbi host dinners 2x a month so that all his children and grandchildren can gather together, as well as hosting numerous movie and swimming nights in the summer complete with popcorn, snocones and cotton candy. For years Roger swore he would never run more than 6 miles at a time, but for the past two and half years he’s gotten up early every Saturday morning and trained with his daughters and daughter in law and completed 5 Half Marathons (that’s 13.1 miles) just so he could spend more time with his kids and encourage them in their crazy endeavors.
We are very grateful for Roger and his continuous example of Faith, Family and Service, and for teaching us all what it means to be a Livingston.
How the Scottish Naming Tradition Helped Us Identify Jean Bain Livingston’s Correct Parents
By Jaynann Lillywhite
Do you remember the Scottish naming tradition we talked about in the last newsletter? The oldest son and second daughter were named after the paternal grandparents and the oldest daughter and the second son were named after the maternal grandparents. We saw how the Livingston family followed this tradition for the most part. If we look at Archibald Livingston and Helen Connor’s children they fit: 1. James (paternal grandfather), 2. Charles (maternal grandfather) 3 Helen (maternal grandmother). Perfect. Now Archibald and Jean Bain: 1. Jane (maternal grandmother Jean/Jane Lithgow) 2. Isabella (a sister) 3. Archibald (father) 4 William (does not match maternal grandfather who was Walter Lithgow). If you look at the next generation, Archibald and William both named a son William and Isabella used it as a middle name for a son. William undoubtedly was an important family name. But Walter was not used at all. That was a big red flag! Did we have Jean Bain connected to the right parents? Some of us didn’t think so.
Some of the problem with identifying her parents was that they weren’t listed on her marriage record and we could not find a death record for her. There just weren’t many deaths recorded before it became mandatory in 1855.
We found a Bain family who lived close to Archibald and Jean in the 1841 census; William Bain and Jean Forrester. Perfect name match. And they did have a daughter that would have been the right age to be our Jean.
So how could we know for sure? DNA! Mitochondrial DNA to be specific. And that’s what we did. We had a descendant down the maternal line from Jean Bain to Isabella Livingston and so on take the DNA test in June. Lori. Then we had to find another descendant of Jean Forrester---someone who could prove their maternal lineage through a different daughter. Then we would have Jean Forrester’s mitochondrial DNA to see if it matched Lori’s. With the help of a professional genealogist in Scotland a “cousin” was found who agreed to take the DNA test. This was done in September. And on December 1st we received the results back from the two tests and they were…..A PERFECT MATCH!!
So Archibald Livingston’s wife Jean Bain is not the daughter of Walter Bain and Jean Lithgow as was believed for many decades. A professional genealogist made that connection back then possibly because Walter had a daughter named Isabella. But now through DNA tests we have positively confirmed that Jean Bain was the daughter of William Bain and Jean Forrester. But now the question is who did Archibald and Jean name their daughter Isabella after???
I have updated the parents and family for Jean Bain in FamilySearch.org. Many of her family members were already in the system with temple work complete but not attached together in the right part of the Tree. Other family members have been added and are getting their temple work done. But we need everyone to correct their personal records to match FamilySearch and that includes all the trees in Ancestry and other online sites. If we don’t take the time to correct our records and pass the word to other family members to correct theirs, other relatives will come along and copy wrong information and there will be a lot of confusion in our family tree. So thanks to everyone who helps correct our direct line ancestors! If you have questions contact me at 505-632-2514 or lillywhitesonpixley@yahoo.com.
Board Member Information
| Photo | Name, Phone | Assignment | Line | Term Expires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Dennis Davis, xxx-xxx-xxxx | Chair | James Line | 2019 |
 | Karolyn Hall, 719-661-4014 | Co-chair | James Line | 2017 |
 | Mike Livingston, 801-850-3616 | Newsletter | James Line | 2017 |
 | Jaynann Lillywhite, 505-632-2514 | Family History Research | Isabella Line | 2017 |
 | Mickie Lewis, 801-250-9323 | Treasurer | James Line | 2018 |
 | Eric Epperson, 801-599-4327 | Reunion Co-chair | William Line | 2018 |
 | Celeste Livingston, 801-885-7944 | Reunion Co-chair | Archibald Line | 2018 |
 | Amy Metler, xxx-xxx-xxxx | Reunion Assistant | William Line | 2019 |
 | Evie Brewerton, 801-580-7939 | Reunion Assistant | William Line | 2019 |
The PDF version of this newsletter can be viewed and downloaded by clicking Spring Newsletter (824 KB).