Did you attend RootsTech 2023? There were so many different options for sessions and classes. Like "Using DNA to Determine Relationships in 2023," "How to Filter and Sort Your DNA Matches," and many more. While I was not able to catch as many sessions as I had hoped, I was very focused on finding relatives that were also attending and finding out many of the people I know are distant relatives.
Let me give you some background information. I have lived in a rural area of Arizona for about 9 years now. We have no family here except our church family who we love. However, it can be hard to be away from relatives. I have joked with people that we are probably long lost cousins many times. Especially, when you are always hearing about six degrees of separation, which basically means you are six or fewer social connections away from each other. Has this been true for you? It has been with me multiple times and it intrigues me. It also intrigues me how many people we are related to, which leads me to RootsTech.
Relatives Around Me in the FamilySearch Family Tree App
Right before RootsTech started there was an activity for the women at my church. The only instruction before we attended was to download the FamilySearch app. This was not a problem since I already had it on my phone. Once we were there we were asked to click on Relatives Around Me. Now the area I am in is small and most people are related to each other in some way. My husband and I on the other hand are not related to anyone … or so I thought.
Once I clicked on that link, a bunch of people in the room popped up as being my relatives. Now all of them are very distant, but it was exciting to know that some of my very good friends, who love me flaws and all, are my actual cousins. It really does make the world a much smaller place. The best part is it gives you your suggested lineage so you can go back and research the line to be able to add them to your family tree and get sources to back it up. I may have added quite a few without telling my husband, so it was fun when he opened our tree and was surprised some of our friends popped up with hints.
Another fun thing from RootsTech is "Find Relatives at RootsTech"
Another fun thing from RootsTech is "Find Relatives at RootsTech." This year by far was the largest number of relatives I had attending RootsTech with over 25,000. There were only a few I actually knew, but it was fun to go through and see how we were related and where they all lived. Did you do this? Did you make any contacts with new relatives?
While RootsTech is over for the year you are still able to go and watch any of the sessions and classes you missed. This gives you time to watch and take notes and spend the next year implementing what you learned. My plan this year is to try and find out how certain DNA matches are related to me. Maybe I will even find someone in my elusive family lines that can help with some double layered brick walls.
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