Resolved - We will make progress on The Bahamas Project in 2013
Back in 1999 we started interviewing people about the development of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in The Bahamas. At that time we did not envision how vast the project would grow and how many years of our life it would dominate. Now 13 years later we've interviewed almost 200 people, traveled all over the country and to The Bahamas numerous times. Along the way we've made wonderful friends and documented fascinating stories of faith and perseverance. We've presented at national conferences to share the history, our insights, and analysis.
Funding from Brigham Young University and donors enabled us to hire two transcribers. All the interviews have been transcribed. Before turning the material over to BYU and the LDS Church Archives, we want to audit each interview - check to make sure the transcriber used the correct names and events - not an easy job for a transcriber who does not know the Bahamian dialect. It takes about 6 hours to listen to each interview, check it against the transcript, and add information to the finding aides we've created. Auditing will be an assurance to anyone who wants to use the materials for research and writing that the materials are as accurate as possible and are much more than a collection of stuff from a little old missionary couple who loved their mission people and country.
Prior to our move across country, we had a routine that created forward momentum. Then we moved. Then 2012 flew by.
The definition of "finished" has changed over the years as the realities of time, motivation, and age have hit us. Originally we were collecting the material to write "the book." Then the number of interviews expanded and we recognized the value of creating a collection of "research ready" materials. As we talked with librarians and archivists, we were assured that the materials needed to be such that academics could trust that there was a level of professionalism involved in the transcribing the interviews and putting the collection together.
SO - these bins, file drawers, and notebooks wait for us. The contents of the drawers got scrambled when the filing cabinet was moved. Our starting point is going through the drawers, rearranging the contents, and becoming reacquainted with what we have and where we left off. To that end I cleared out some bins in the garage and created enough space that we can have a work table for organizing. That was a feat!
Mentally we have to recapture the motivation, desire, and excitement that used to accompany this project. We're not sure how we're going to do that. We still feel it's extremely valuable material that can be used by many and in a multitude of ways. Right now we see it as a duty that we need to plod through so we can turn it over to someone else who will see the potential. There's a lot to be said for doing things out of duty. That's enough to keep us going - once we get started again.
We're ready to "finish" the project and move on with other big tasks - like family history. We realize that in another 13 years I will be almost 80; Joe will be 91. We don't know what kind of big projects we'll be taking on then - or if we'll even still be here. So we'd better clear this one out to make room for other things on our todo lists!
When I was creating this post, I noticed the magnetic sign on the drawer - "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. (Goethe) I don't know who placed it there and when - but it's a great reminder to BEGIN.
BEGIN - we have begun - again
".... I sat in my room pondering over the scriptures; And reflecting upon the great atoning sacrifice that was made by the Son of God, for the redemption of the world; And the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world; That through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved.
