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Did you get an email like the one I got Sunday?
The subject line was a surprise, to say the least: “You have a relative who was a famous footballer!”
I’m going to show you how this can lead to some real fun with your family or friends.
Two context clues helped me swiftly realize this email was about soccer:
- No American would be caught dead ever — ever! — using the term “footballers” to describe someone who plays American football. We just say football players.
- The World Cup is in full swing. (I am watching all the games played by the U.S. and Germany, which is where I was converted away from my initial anti-soccer bias during the two years I served a Latter-day Saint mission.)
Sunday’s email came from FamilySearch.org. You are missing out if you haven’t signed up for a free FamilySearch account.
You can use FamilySearch to see all the famous people you are related to, from movie and music stars to world leaders and great inventors.
The best feature is opening the corresponding — and free — FamilySearch Tree app when you’re with a friend. If they open the app, too, you can see if the two of you are related and how.
You can do that with a whole group. I was part of an activity for a Young Men’s group one night a few years ago, and we had a blast learning that many of us were cousins of some kind. The boys loved seeing their famous ancestors.
It might be fun if church classes did that once a year.
And of course you can look up your own family tree and add relatives, memories, photos and more to it.
For the record, I am related to two of the 20 World Cup stars included in this FamilySearch promotion. They are pretty distant relations, which is probably why I was better at baseball than soccer/football:
- Bert Patenaude, the best American goal-scorer in the very first World Cup in 1930, is my 12th cousin twice removed. Our shared relatives are a French couple from the 1500s — Jacques Jour Peinuet L’allement and Monique Cuisinier Pinet.
- Bobby Charlton, a star for England’s only World Cup championship team in 1966, is my 14th cousin. Our 13th great-grandfather is Sir William Paston Knight of Bath, who was born in the 1400s.
Here are three fun facts about Patenaude:
- There is a dispute over whether he scored the first hat trick in World Cup history. The second of his three goals in that game has been credited in different records to him, to one of his teammates or to a member of the other team (an “own goal”).
- He was the only American with two goals (or more!) in a game until last week, when Folarin Balogun scored twice for the U.S. men’s national team in a win over Paraguay.
- Patenaude still holds the American record for most goals at a single World Cup, with four. Or was it three?
History is hard sometimes, right?
“The World’s Game” feature will run on FamilySearch through July 19. To sign up, visit FamilySearch.org and set up an account, then download the Family Tree app to your phone.
If you already have an account, log in and the World Cup feature should pop up instantly.
Let me know which famous people fall out of your tree!
My recent stories
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About the church
President Dallin H. Oaks spoke at the seminar for new mission leaders and taught three characteristics of “the only true and living church.”
All 15 members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at the seminar. You can find talk summaries and photos here.
You could have your testimony of Christ displayed on Temple Square this Christmas season.
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square are in California this week for “Songs of Hope” benefit concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.
The First Presidency announced August groundbreakings for two Latter-day Saint temples in the U.S. and Canada.
The Church News Podcast published its 300th episode. Three of the hosts sat down to reflect on the journey to No. 300.
What I’m reading
BYU star AJ Dybantsa, whom I featured in a story last November, crossed himself immediately Tuesday night after he became the first Cougar ever selected with the first pick in an NBA Draft. I also wrote about his participation in a religion class at BYU.
A Latter-day Saint family said it was strengthened while working together to set a world record.
The positive outcomes of faith are not the reason to have it, but they are consistent. Here’s a story about why a nonreligious researcher says religion is important to society.
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Behind the scenes
FamilySearch has other fun activities and features, like this one: