Family Search Indexing

This is based on an article I wrote for my Ward's Newsletter regarding Family Search Indexing. It is really fun and easy, and you don't have to be LDS to do it.

In September 1842, Joseph Smith wrote the following direction to the Saints concerning preparing family history records for temple ordinances:

“Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.” (D&C 128:24)

As individuals, we may need to change our thinking from me centered, to we centered, or from my ancestors to our ancestors.

Family Search Indexing is a program which ambitiously aims to catalog and index millions of rolls of microfilm providing census, vital, probate, and church records from over 100 countries. This work is done by volunteers of any age or faith. All information is made available free to the public, helping church members prepare names for temple ordinances and allowing the spirit of family history work to bless individuals across the globe. Your help is needed in this effort, including a special need for individuals who can read foreign languages. If you have a computer, Internet access, and a few minutes, you can help participate in Family Search Indexing from your own home. The process is easy, low pressure, and there is no paperwork involved.

If you want to learn more about Family Search Indexing, read the August 2007 Ensign article, Family Search Indexing, visit the website www.familysearch.org, or contact your local ward’s Family History Consultant.