User:Lindasmith8

I am Linda Marie Smith and was born in Augsburg, Germany in 1957. My parents were born and raised in southern Idaho. I am married with 8 children and 19 grandchildren. I was born in Germany while my father was serving in the US Army. Our family moved a lot. We lived in Germany, Kentucky, Tennessee, Idaho, Georgia, Turkey, Maryland and Pennsylvania before he retired to Idaho. Since marrying I have lived in Idaho, Washington and Missouri and now live in Hagerman, Idaho.

I began learning to play the piano when I was 6 years old and I began playing in church when I was 11. My mother secretly wanted me to play in a stake conference by the time I was 12. Unfortunately, we were living in an area where there was no stake, but I did play in a district conference when I was 13. It was a special conference in Turkey attended by Hartman Rector, Jr. It was the first conference held in Turkey since the time of Paul. That was in 1970. In 2000 I moved to Missouri with my husband and discovered that I was attending the ward started by his aunt. When Bro Rector was 19 he spent the summer with her and converted her to the gospel. Now, in addition to playing in church, my husband and I play in dance bands - I play keyboards and he plays bass guitar. We met while playing in a band together.

My family history training began when I was 8 years old. My mother gave me hand-written copies of her aunt's genealogy to recopy starting with her. Later when she found new information at Historical Libraries, I would add it to her pages. My penmanship was very good, but she eventually bought me a typewriter. By the time I was a teenager I was helping her do research and after I was married she took care of my children while I researched and 1994 I built my first computer, which she paid for. In 2006, I helped beta test NewFamilySearch. In 2009 I started my first FamilySearch mission and served until 2014. My husband and I have been serving in the Twin Falls, Idaho temple for 4 years.