When it comes to managing a family of nine, doing family history work rarely makes it to the top of the “to-do list,” especially when it is easily replaced with social media “doomscrolling.”
Since 2011 — the first year RootsTech debuted — Shelly Bowers, a Latter-day Saint from Queen Creek, Arizona, has been inspired to find ways to give importance to family history in her life, despite a busy lifestyle.
“I love the idea of family. I get really excited over finding somebody who is related to me, and I’ve had really cool temple experiences because of that,” she said.
The first RootsTech conference inspired Bowers to give back to her ancestors, and she quickly found more unorthodox and time-efficient ways to do so.
She downloaded the Family Tree app on her phone. When she finds herself wanting to click on social media, she’ll open the app, click on “Tasks,” review the records of her family members and verify if the records should be attached to the name of the ancestor. If she’s not sure or doesn’t know, she simply skips the task.
“You’d be surprised how fast you can get through it. There is so much information in there.”
This feature allows users like Bowers to verify a person in their family tree in only a matter of seconds.
“Somebody else has already done the really hard work. I just compare,” she explained.
Joe Price, a professor of economics at Brigham Young University and the director of the BYU Record Linking Lab, explained in his RootsTech 2025 class, “Using Microtasks To Involve All Ages in Family History,” more about this very feature: the Powerlinker.
“For the beginner, Powerlinker is the best. These are very easy hints to do. We light it up with colors, you can see things that you should focus on, and we also have three people try the hint, so it lowers the chance that you might do some damage to the tree.”
Price also suggested another feature, Geo Hints:
“The thing I love about that is the ability to get customized hints based on either your surname or a place. And, for people, I think it’s really cool to see all of the dots on the map. So, when you type in your surname, you might be surprised to see some of the dots in another country that you hadn’t thought about.”
As several voices compete for one’s attention in the modern world, family history quietly offers powerful spiritual experiences to those who seek it.
“It’s the easiest way to bring the Spirit in the moment, along with prayer and scripture reading,” said Price. “I love the fact that every time I do family history I feel the spirit of Elijah, which is the Holy Ghost, and I love using that as a form of protection in my life against temptation or depression.”
For Bowers, replacing social media with family history work has helped her feel more connected to her ancestors. “For me, the gospel is all about family, and when I am doing something that makes me feel like I am loving and serving my family, that there is something that I am doing that’s important to our family, that gives me a purpose,” she said. “It makes me feel like I am here in this place for a reason.
“Even this little thing, because it gives me the chance to serve, I feel more of God’s love for me.”
