Adventures in FamilySearch Indexing - Week 23

Well it is official my oldest son, Philip is now a missionary. He is on a service mission for the Church so things came about a little differently. His call didn't come in the mail but over the telephone with the Bishop confirming it's arrival to the Stake President and then to him. Today we actually got to read it. He is called to serve part-time for a period of 24 months as a Church -service missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Audiovisual Department in the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City - effective January 02, 2008.

After reading the letter the Bishop set him apart and you could just see the joy all over my son's face. Phil is 24 years old and has had the most incredible year coming back to church and getting prepared for a mission. We were actually all preparing for a proselyting mission when at the very last minute he had a hold up with needing to get his wisdom teeth removed. His insurance wouldn't cover it and we didn't have the money to take them out. He needed to wait until January for his insurance to cover the expense.

In the mean time the Bishop and Stake President got together and said Phil we think you really need to go on a service mission instead. They also thought at his age it might lead into a nice career afterwards. My son was so excited about the prospects. He had heard about service missions for the Church at the LDS Motion Picture Studio in Provo but never asked for it because he was willing to serve where ever he was needed. He has been studying every aspect of the film industry for years so he actually does have something to offer and excitedly much more to learn. It's so neat that his dream mission has now come true for him and later this week he finally starts that mission.

What does this have to do with FamilySearch Indexing - you guessed it nothing other than a life event that tries to put a hold on your indexing goals. The whole family came over for Phil and we just enjoyed our time together. Thankfully things did quite down before 10pm and I could steal some time onto the computer.

When I first open up the program I always look for new messages from Headquarters and I was not disappointed today.

From: Headquarters
Subject: 1871 French Canadian Census
Received: 28 Dec 2007

Thank you for all of your hard work on the 1871 Canadian Census. We are very close to completing this project, but we need your help to index and arbitrate the remaining batches as soon as possible.

At the same time, the 1871 French Canadian Census project (Recensement Canadien de 1871) is just beginning. The census records from Quebec have been separated into this project based on language. Please remember to add an "a", instead of a "y", to indicate annees (French for years) in the age field. Also, remember to index a "v", instead of a "w", in the marital status field to indicate veuve or veuf (French for "widow" or "widower").

Thank you again for all your efforts in this important work.

I wasn't really interested in tackling a new language right now but maybe I will make it a goal to work on some foreign project in 2008. I was kinda surprised that the picking where kinda slim for projects right now. The following is what's available to index.

Project Name
1871 Canadian Census (English - 1871)
Chiapas - 1930 Mexico Census (Spanish - 1930)
Chihuahua - 1930 Mexico Census (Spanish - 1930)
Illinois - 1850 US Federal Census (English - 1850)
Irish Marriage Indexes 1868-1892 (English - 1868-1892)
Kentucky - 1850 US Federal Census (English - 1850)
Nicaragua, Managua Civil Records (Spanish - 1879 - present)
Recensement Canadien de 1871 (French - 1871)
West Virginia Vital Records (English - 1850 - 1970)

I tried to work on the 1871 Canadian Census but nothing was available. I wondered given the memo if it was finally completed today or if we just finished up all the images downloaded to us. I guess next week again will give a little better picture on that project. I didn't feel up to Spanish or French records so I picked the Kentucky 1850 US Federal Census like I did last week. Things went pretty smoothly and quickly for me - in no time at all I completed 2 batches.

Since I was already looking back to all the changes that have happened in a year's time I could honestly say this time last year I would of never thought I would be into FamilySearch Indexing. Why I had so much "real" genealogy to work on why would I want to add more work? I'm so glad I have felt the call to work on this great indexing project and now I can see the results of my efforts.

I have participated in the following projects this year:

1. 1900 U.S. Federal Census for the states of Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin
2. 1850 U.S. Federal Census for the states of Connecticut, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Vermont
3. Salt Lake County Births 1908-1915
   
4. 1871 Canadian Census
   

After working on two batches today I have now indexed 2,220 individuals in the year 2007. I hope that this year I was able to pay-it-forward a little, because so many others helped me by indexing my family names in the Warren and Washington Counties of New York. I will be forever grateful for your help. Maybe some day I will know if I did the same for someone else. It's been a wonderful and rewarding adventure and thanks so much for sharing it with me.


See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!