Pleasant surprises from LDS #generalconference : -Oaks stating which parts were planned prior to Nelson's passing vs which were changed (takes out guess work). -Three African-*American* speakers. Traci Browning is always good, but she talked about something I love (primary songs). 1/

Sunstone trivia night fun at the Gilgal Gardens. 😁

I'm giving a presentation on LDS polygamy truther claims in two days. I'm excited about new developments, but I *really* need the breaking news on the subject to stop so I can finish this thing before Friday morning. newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/book...

Come to #Sunstone and learn from some of the brightest our community has to offer, such as @maclements.bsky.social in her presentation on responsible engagement with polygamy truther arguments. Then stay for our 50th anniversary closing banquet. It's going to be a blast!

My brain when I'm investigating Mormon history rabbit holes, and the author admits we don't have many biographical details about an individual: "Challenge accepted!"

Nothing like finishing up a conference with a session devoted to my twin interests of genealogy and Mormon history. Thanks to @ccjones.bsky.social and @jstuart.bsky.social for a fantastic MHA session with many members of the BYU family history program yesterday!

I saw this while googling the other day. @hendrixkomoto.bsky.social - a new data point for your research on Ina Coolbrith.

Got questions about Mormon History? Go check out 4 awesome historians (also 4 awesome people!) doing an AMA on the r/askhistorians subreddit on Tuesday, May 13th! @benjaminepark.bsky.social @lhp.bsky.social

Had a positive experience at the inaugural Journal of Mormon Polygamy conference this weekend. I used a fun research project as a case study to present techniques for historical (& genealogical) research. Also got to geek out with Mormon history & blogging friends, like @gospeltangents.bsky.social

NEW: Among the work jammed up by the Trump administration's freeze on government purchase cards is genealogy research that the Army sees as essential to identify the remains of soldiers who went missing in combat. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

#genealogy Image alt-text: screenhot of a post by Rachel Maddow Their job is to identify American soldiers killed in combat and Trump has told them to stand down and stop their work. "Forensic genealogists who help identify US soldiers killed in combat were told to pause their efforts ..."

This is my first time at the BYU Family History Technology Workshop. (Here to watch my son give a short presentation). Lots of geeking out about family history, which is awesome, but have to admit that a lot of the tech-speak is over my head.

I'm having a really hard time being open to the idea of my college kids taking out student loans when we are still paying off my husband's student loans.

Fun Mormon History tangent: As a kid, I was interested in the White Horse Prophecy because it mentioned my ancestor, Theodore Turley. Supposedly, Joseph Smith gave the prophecy in early 1843 while chatting outside his house with Theodore Turley and Edwin Rushton. 1/

Use of AI in Genealogy vs History: The LDS Church jumped on emerging tech to help democratize genealogy in the late 20th century. Cheap genetic testing gave further advanced tools to the general populace in the early 21st century. The field of genealogy is dominated by companies hawking tech... 1/

Nothing fills me with more hope for the future than my Gen Z kids expressing peak teenage disdain towards older family members who are unable to determine if an image or search engine result was created by AI.

Both my husband and I had overwhelmingly positive experiences with our undergrad at BYU. That being said, I'm glad none of my kids (high school age and up) have expressed any desire to attend BYU.

A couple months ago, our family organization decided to do a children's book about our common ancestor, Theodore Turley. One question arose in the meeting, "Do we mention polygamy?" Given that he had children with 4 of his 5 wives (and this is a book for his descendants), several argued, "Yes!" 1/

Fun fact: Jell-O is such an iconic food for Utahns that we had commemorative pins depicting a bowl of green Jell-O when Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Finished watching Marvel's Echo series. The plot in this and other shows (Coco, Black Panther, etc.) requires hard truths being discovered/acknowledged before family healing can occur. That's something a lot of Latter-day Saints miss. We use family history to push ideology and miss deeper benefits.

When you finally determine that the 19th century handwriting says "Mrs. Nesbot" and, days later, you still have Buzz Lightyear's deranged laughter running through your head...

If a woman feels a need to deceive her spouse because she's afraid/unwilling to deal with the fallout of appearing "disobedient," she's got bigger problems than an election. Also, stop giving freebies to those who already want to repeal the 19th. "He'll never know" isn't as funny as you think.

Just a friendly reminder to never blindly accept information found on FamilySearch's Family Tree. It's like Wikipedia with WAY less editorial control. It's a super helpful resource, but ALWAYS locate historical records to verify whatever data you plan to use in your projects. Happy researching!

Chad Daybell received the death penalty today. I highly recommend listening to the victim impact statements from the sentencing phase yesterday. They are from family members of the murder victims JJ (age 7), Tylee (age 17), and Tammy (age 49). Incredibly powerful.

My first published Mormon history essay! It's about three sisters who married one of my ancestors, exploring how individual life experiences likely factored into their perspectives on polygamy. I've been researching these ladies (Eliza Clift, Mary Clift, & Sarah E. Clift) for about 10 years.

Happy Turkey Day! 🦃 I wrote an update to the Tim Ballard saga for your holiday pleasure. wheatandtares.org/2023/11/23/t...

Current events remind me of fall 2000 at the BYU Jerusalem Center shortly after the Second Intifada began. A reporter from BYU's Daily Universe called my room and interviewed us after some riots in Jerusalem. We later learned that BYU admin didn't want students giving statements to reporters. LOL.

All of Tim Ballard's books were removed from Deseret Book's website. They've taken down his author page at Covenant Covenant Communications as well. His author page is still up at Shadow Mountain, though I anticipate that will be removed shortly. shadowmountain.com/author-book/...

I wrote a blog post about the Tim Ballard mess. wheatandtares.org/2023/09/19/w...