I'm another one of those passionate genealogists. In the past, we've spent a month during March/April at SLC. [usually going to or coming from the Moab rally.) I had worked for 20 years before that on Fred's family, only because we lived in New England where his family stayed for 10-11 generations and the information was easy to come by. I spent one day every week in the local historical society library, or the Deeds Office or the Probate office. So much info, so much fun. And what a sense of history I have acquired, especially during the colonial period.
When we went to SLC I had to find out about MY family. I'm a first generation American and my only knowing past were my parents and grandparents who came together in the 1920's. My parents were teenagers. When I asked them about their past in Germany, they could tell me very little. My mother's father came to be with his sisters and brother leaving his wife and my mother's sisters and brother in Germany. Why??? She couldn't tell me as she was not allowed to ask questions. My Dad's family was no less heartbreaking, but his parents came to be with my grandmothers sisters who were already established here. When I asked my Grandmother about her family in Germany, she just gave me a blank stare and said, why do you want to know about them, their all dead!!
And so SLC come about, and was the main reason for us to get into RVing. [Fred will tell you I tricked him somehow!] Anyway, I was able to go back into their foreign records and find my families back into the 1500s, 1600s, and and in one case the 1400s. Then, the priest's handwriting was so bad and it was in Latin, that I gave up, but probably could have gone further.
FHL (Family History Library) is and amazing place and it WILL suck you in, like a giant vortex. I was lucky in that I could read some German, not much, but I couldn't at all with the OLD German script. But, low and behold, one of the weeks I was there, the volunteers held a class that would teach you how to identify the Old Script alphabet, and that was a tremendous breakthrough for me. I had worked on my maternal grandmother's last name, thinking the first letter was an R. But after taking this class, learned it was a Z. They also have classes in almost every language they have volunteers for that will teach it. It's an amazing place. (If anyone needs another language, ask when a class might be planned for and set your trip to coincide.). Also, while there, look up the Deed records where your people came from and also the probate records. Many times, people gave away their property before they died and so there would be no probate. But most times in these deed distributions, there would be a whole family record, sometimes going beyond children, to grandparents, (where the land came from to begin with ) to sister/brothers, nephews/nieces, etc. A pedigree in and of itself. LDS has most of them. If not there, then you would have to go to each state Archives or city Deed and Probate office to find them. IF they will even give you the time of day to look for them or tell you where to do that.
I will also voice my opinion about Ancestry.com that others have, and am happy to see so many others as dissatisfied as I have been. [I thougt I just had a chip on my shoulder] People just copy other people and bad information is perpetuated forever. I have gotten much more GOOD information from the State Historical Society, (I belong to three and and contemplating a fourth) because they always have copies of the old town records, church records, tax records, and very scholarly pedigrees, all of which have to have sourced to be published, so you can be sure you are getting good info. Also State Archives are excellent sources for the same results.
Do not worry about the volunteers at SLC trying to proselytize as they are not allowed to. If you ask about their religion, they are more than happy to talk to you about it, but they are not allowed to initiate it. I have had nothing but happy experiences there, and the volunteers there, are so warm and helpful and are as passionate about their families as are you. So do not hesitate, your ancestors are waiting to be discovered. There is something comforting about a library, being surrounded by thousands of books and microfilm reels full of knowledge, just waiting for you to come open them up to learn all they will give to you.
Daisy