Find inspiration in your ancestors and their examples of spiritual strength, intellectual growth, moral character, lifelong learning, and/or service.

Activity Simple Steps

With friendly help from a service missionary in the BYU Library Family History Center:

1. Choose an ancestor you want to learn more about. (May be living or deceased.)
2. Search for stories from your ancestor's life that illustrate one or more of the Aims of a BYU Education.
3. Share what you have discovered with someone important to you.

• You can complete this activity in about an hour, or you can spend more time if you wish.
• A good way to share is to create a single-slide presentation to summarize your ancestor's story and your reflections. (See examples below.)

Help in the Library

Missionaries in the BYU Library are available to help you, in a short amount of time, to find stories, connect them to the Aims, and discover library resources. There are a few ways to do this:

• Walk in to the BYU Library Family History Center (2250 HBLL) during missionary service hours and ask for a missionary to help you individually or in small groups.
• Schedule an appointment for yourself, a group (YSA, FHE, etc.), or a class.* Contact familyhistorymissionaries@byu.edu or 801-422-3766.
• Visit the Virtual Family History Help Desk during available hours.

*Class visits - Faculty may request to bring their class to the Library to participate in this experience, where it is appropriate and applicable to their course. Interested faculty may contact the missionaries or the Family History Librarian, Joe Everett, to schedule. The Aims in My Ancestry experience is applicable to a variety of courses in various disciplines. The experience may be completed within one 50 minute class period.