I am presently in the 4th year of my third part-time ("stay at home") mission with the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (specifically in FamilySearch.org).
But I have a problem. We are losing missionaries faster than we are gaining them. Issues such as declining health are preventing many of our family history missionaries from continuing. We really need recruits.
What is involved?
- Previous experience in family history is expected.
- You need a computer with at least Windows 7 or an equivalent Mac, and high speed internet.
- You need to be able to serve at least 15 hours per week (more during training),
- You apply to serve a part-time mission from home.
- When you are accepted, you are called by your stake president and set apart by your bishop as a Church Service Missionary assigned to serve in Family History.
- The mission trains you to use our online tools to help our patrons.
- You do a few hours of mentored help with phone calls and chats with Registration and Log-in issues.
- You select a specialty: Family Tree, Historical Records, Indexing, Family History Centers, Outreach
- You are trained in your specialty.
- You are assigned to a team based on where you live.
- You do a few hours of mentored help in your specialty.
- Now you take cases yourself, supported by our teams.
- There will be a weekly team meeting and a specialty training meeting to help you keep up to date with the latest changes and technology issues.
Sometimes when the phone call comes in the patron is in tears, and in a few minutes you can send them on their way rejoicing. Do you ever wonder whether you really receive inspiration? When you are serving with us, you will find your thoughts led to answers you would never have thought of on your own. A member of my team, said, "I have had more spiritual experiences in a few short months of this mission than during my entire full-time mission!"
I served for many years in a Family History Center, Most evenings we drove to the city for our shift, no patrons came, and we drove back home again. It was a great opportunity for my own personal research, but I could do that at home. In contrast, our mission currently has a 4-day backlog of email cases waiting for answers, and during busy times of the day we may have 10 or 20 patrons on hold waiting to talk to us. We need help!
I sometimes get asked, why do you keep applying for a family history mission? What makes you keep coming back? When I have prayed to know "How can I be of the greatest service?", my answer has been "Serve a family history mission."
Are you interested? You can email mission@familysearch.org, or call 1-855-346-4774 toll-free.
Online info https://www.lds.org/callings/temple-and-family-history/support-missionary
Do you know someone else who might be interested? Please give them this information.
