After counseling with my Sweetheart last night, I was able to talk with the appropriate person to find out how to deal with a personal concern that arose a couple of days ago. Although I still need to implement an action, I feel it will have a good outcome.
I filled several positions today, including spending my first time as Pager. I was very grateful to have some extra help from a fellow missionary. He is part of my study group and we were discussing his feeling overwhelmed and inadequate in German research, because the rest of us have experience with that, while his expertise is in the Netherlands. Then I needed to do the paging duties, and he helped me learn the nuances that were not covered in the written instructions, nor in the class I took. So I was able to reassure him that this was a similar situation for me, and until I did this position several times, I felt overwhelmed and inadequate also. While this is a humbling experience, I am sure it is designed for our growth.
During the first half hour or so of my time at the German desk there were no guests that needed help in German translation or research, so the more experienced missionary helped me get some practice in reading script. The first record was not typical of what we do--it had to do with a government official filling requests for records! Then she brought up some baptismal records from her family, and that was more comfortable for both of us.
A young woman came to the desk with an unusual request--she was a native of Kosovo, and wanted research help. [I learned later, while I was the Pager, that one of the staff consultants actually is experienced in research in Kosovo, but I did not know it in time to ask the Monitor to put in a request.] So I went through the process of "Search on Family Search for indexed and image only collections, search the catalog, search wiki, search Ancestry." We did find one person in the old genealogies with her surname, but there is a severe dearth of records from that area of the world.
Then I opened my Family Tree so that we could search there, too, and we found a few more people with her surname. I suggested she open a free Family Search account, and fill in her own Family Tree, so that she might be able to connect with others who are also looking. She mentioned that in addition to her surname she has a tribe name. I did not pursue that, but it was a surprising piece of information that I expect to do a bit of research on. When I encouraged her to put in her family tree, I was delighted to be able to tell her that, "No, you do not have to be a Christian to add your records to Family Search. We are all brothers and sisters, we just do not yet know how we are related!" That brought a smile to her face and secured her commitment to filling out her Family Tree.
Another guest wanted help with a record that had a big inkblot across it. The other missionary and I were both relieved when two of the staff consultants were also unable to translate the record.
I have been told by two of my study group members about a very good book for helping to decipher German and other similar scripts. One of the staff consultants is friends with the author, and gets copies of the book for a third of the commercial price. Today I finally got to order a copy, so in a few weeks I will have that resource available.
Yesterday I had walked off and left my iPad at one of the computers, along with all my notebooks, and that fact, coupled with a new missionary's question yesterday about photographing records with a tablet led me to take my Kindle mini in today instead of the iPad. I was able to download to the Reading List the German, Polish and Latin word lists. I have not yet been able to figure out how to get easy access to the "Helping Chinese Guests" handout, but paper copies of that are in the file. So I think the inexpensive Kindle will become my new companion of choice!
While I was at the Pager desk a guest came up to ask if anyone could help her with some Family Tree issues. Turned out I could with one issue while I was sitting there--and for an additional issue I was able to take her to another floor where she got the extra help she needed. She was so pleased to get her issues resolved that she took the trouble to come back and thank me personally for helping her!
When my shift was over I went to a session at the temple. It was a comparatively small session, but very comfortable.
Texting with my daughter, who had good news concerning her educational pursuits, and also had communicated with both her sisters, was followed by chatting with my Sweetheart. Now I need to do my Book of Mormon reading--it may be another night when I read and doze and read and doze until I finish!!
No comments:
Post a Comment