Rick Bennett currently serves as family history leader in his ward and as a temple worker at the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple for the past ten years. He has served previously as ward mission leader, elders quorum counselor, membership clerk, Gospel Doctrine teacher, Primary teacher, and missionary in South Carolina/Georgia. He has a masters degree in biostatistics from the University of Utah and teaches at Utah Valley University and Western Governors University.

For the past seven years, Rick has hosted Gospel Tangents, a podcast and YouTube channel focusing on Mormon history, science, and theology, where he interviews not only Latter-day Saint scholars and leaders, but Restoration leaders from other offshoots like Community of Christ, Strangites, Bickertonites, and even fundamentalist Mormon cousins in the Restoration Movement. Rick loves not only family history but Mormon history as well.

Highlights

02:40 Introduction to Rick Bennett

04:40 Rick talks about his podcast, which focuses on Church history, science, and theology

21:30 How Rick got into family history

23:30 Roots Magic, a tool for family history

27:15 Family history tools and programs

27:50 If family history doesn’t excite you then that's ok. Do what you can do. Take the time to record your own history and your parents' or grandparents' history.

30:15 Doing a ward podcast can be another way to record people’s history

34:30 Do what you want to do in family history. Some people love uploading photos or interviewing family.

37:15 Rick shares some of his family history and talks about how he has found some of his family records

42:45 Tips for improving family history in your ward

Find the computer guy

Connect to your in-laws by helping them with their history

Get people excited about finding stories

43:20 Another way to help with family history is to take pictures of grave stones and put them on findagrave.com

49:00 Cancel Sunday school and do family history. Get people excited by going to the church history center.

56:45 Creating groups as families or wards to help give people names for the temple

Links

Gospel Tangents Podcast

Gospel Tangents podcast interviews with Kurt Francom

Why Your Ward Needs a Podcast

Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast

Listen on YouTube

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