We want our family history to be as accurate as possible, don't we? But there is a lot of power in estimating, when the exact information is elusive. I apologize if I offend some researchers. I think this will make more sense if you read to the end. Remember that in the Church, the purpose of family history is temple work.
Ordinances
See What information is required to do temple ordinances for my ancestors? (52714)
Basically you need the name, sex, and the standard date and standard place of a major life event. (birth, christening, marriage, death, or burial)
For the parents of some of our ancestors, if we can estimate the year and country, we can request ordinances. If we are careful, our estimates will be close enough.
Ordinance validity when performed with minor errors (52707)
Minor errors of information do not affect the validity of ordinances.
Ordinances for the dead become effective when the deceased person is qualified and chooses to accept them (see D&C 138:19, 32–34). We need to do all we can to ensure the ordinances are valid.
You can correct the information about the individuals in Family Tree, but you do not need to perform the ordinances again. For example, ordinances are still valid and sealings are still in effect, even if an individual's birthday is wrong, or a name is misspelled, or a place of death is wrong. The individual's genealogical record can be updated with the correct information.
Research
If you can estimate the approximate date and place of birth, you can focus your research on finding historical records that will help you to find the birth or christening of your ancestor, which may identify your ancestor's parents. As we know from experience, searching for: Mary, female, birth date unknown, birth place unknown will fail to find the person you are seeking. But if you can add a married name and some good estimates, your chances of success get much better. Finding Mrs. Mary Aitken, born about 1810 of Carluke, Lanark, Scotland has suddenly become a more interesting task.
If you use FamilySearch with Ancestry, findmypast, and MyHeritage, things become even better,
Estimating
To estimate the birth place, I start with the earliest place the person lived. If there is no place attached to this individual, where were their children born? I start by looking in that locality and expand the radius of my search as needed.
To estimate the parent's birth date, I start with 30 years prior to the birth of the child. For a middle child of a first marriage it is usually accurate within 10 years. Women tended to marry about age 20 and men slightly older.
Accuracy
"While it is possible to perform ordinances with minimal information, careful research for accurate and complete information before ordinance work will help prevent duplications. In the end, this will help accomplish more work for ancestors."
I agree. Estimates are a wonderful tool to help us reach this point.
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Understanding Ordinances Ready, Family Tree Overview
An excellent overview of the FamilySearch Family Tree can be viewed in about 45 minutes.
I think this would be excellent for all Temple and Family History Consultants. But don't expect patrons to watch it, as the deluge of information may just confuse them.
Click the link to view this interview with a FamilySearch representative.
At the other extreme we have Ordinances Ready. This is the wonderful and easy way to get a few ordinances for your next temple trip. Go to the Temple menu on the website or mobile app, and select Ordinances Ready.
Where does Ordinances Ready get names? (564428)
The Ordinance Ready feature helps you find names easily for your next temple trip. The names provided may be from your own family, or they may be names that other Church members have shared with the temple.
Specifically, the Ordinances Ready feature looks in these places:
1. Your family names list (or "temple list" or "reservation list"). These are family names that you have reserved in Family Tree. They are on your family names list.
2. Your family names that you shared with the temple. These are names that you reserved in Family Tree and then shared with the temple. They are on your family names list. As long as a temple has not yet printed a shared name, the Ordinances Ready feature can unshare the name so you can print the card.
3. Names of people who are related to you that have been shared with the temple by someone else. These names are in your tree and were reserved by someone else and then shared by that other person with the temple.
4. "Green temples" from your tree. These are names that Ordinances Ready finds by scanning 10 generations of your ancestors and 5 generations of their descendants for incomplete ordinances. The ordinances have not yet been reserved by anyone. If you were to look in Family Tree, the name would have a green temple icon. Before giving you one of these ordinances, FamilySearch makes sure no possible duplicates exist for the record.
5. Names not related to you that have been shared with the temple. If no ordinances are available from other sources, Ordinances Ready will retrieve available ordinances that have been submitted to the temple by any patron. These ordinances from temple inventory will be provided in the same order they were submitted to the temple. You can perform ordinances for these individuals to whom you may or may not have a direct relationship.
Ordinances Ready finds names for you that are your same sex (that is, Ordinances Ready finds only male names for male users and female names for female users) and from your own family tree, not from your spouse's family tree. If you are trying to print family name cards for a spouse or someone else, you will need to sign in as a helper first. If you are signed in as a helper, Ordinances Ready will find names only that are for the same sex as the person you are helping and from that person's family tree.
Related Articles
Using the Ordinances Ready feature to easily find names for the temple (542303)
Note: If the patron has an empty tree, Ordinances Ready will only have access to option 5. So a half hour spent helping them to add their parents, grandparents and great grandparents has the potential to give them access to names of their own extended family to take to the temple.
If the patron wants more than a few ordinance cards, this tool is not for them. It is not designed to provide stacks of temple cards for ward or stake groups or family reunions. But it is an easy single- person endeavor. If you want to do 4 baptisms or an endowment, it is perfect!
Ordinances Ready's temple reservations have a very short shelf life. They expire in 90 days.
Since the cards produced are usually for a single ordinance, you cannot follow-up by completing the remaining ordinances for that person if they come from options 3 and 5. So you do ordinances for someone else the next time.
And if the patron wants to reserve ordinances and then share them electronically with someone else, there are different tools for that task.
It is an easy tool that almost anyone can learn to use in 5 or 10 minutes to print temple cards. .
I think this would be excellent for all Temple and Family History Consultants. But don't expect patrons to watch it, as the deluge of information may just confuse them.
Click the link to view this interview with a FamilySearch representative.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the other extreme we have Ordinances Ready. This is the wonderful and easy way to get a few ordinances for your next temple trip. Go to the Temple menu on the website or mobile app, and select Ordinances Ready.
Where does Ordinances Ready get names? (564428)
The Ordinance Ready feature helps you find names easily for your next temple trip. The names provided may be from your own family, or they may be names that other Church members have shared with the temple.
Specifically, the Ordinances Ready feature looks in these places:
1. Your family names list (or "temple list" or "reservation list"). These are family names that you have reserved in Family Tree. They are on your family names list.
2. Your family names that you shared with the temple. These are names that you reserved in Family Tree and then shared with the temple. They are on your family names list. As long as a temple has not yet printed a shared name, the Ordinances Ready feature can unshare the name so you can print the card.
3. Names of people who are related to you that have been shared with the temple by someone else. These names are in your tree and were reserved by someone else and then shared by that other person with the temple.
4. "Green temples" from your tree. These are names that Ordinances Ready finds by scanning 10 generations of your ancestors and 5 generations of their descendants for incomplete ordinances. The ordinances have not yet been reserved by anyone. If you were to look in Family Tree, the name would have a green temple icon. Before giving you one of these ordinances, FamilySearch makes sure no possible duplicates exist for the record.
5. Names not related to you that have been shared with the temple. If no ordinances are available from other sources, Ordinances Ready will retrieve available ordinances that have been submitted to the temple by any patron. These ordinances from temple inventory will be provided in the same order they were submitted to the temple. You can perform ordinances for these individuals to whom you may or may not have a direct relationship.
Ordinances Ready finds names for you that are your same sex (that is, Ordinances Ready finds only male names for male users and female names for female users) and from your own family tree, not from your spouse's family tree. If you are trying to print family name cards for a spouse or someone else, you will need to sign in as a helper first. If you are signed in as a helper, Ordinances Ready will find names only that are for the same sex as the person you are helping and from that person's family tree.
Related Articles
Using the Ordinances Ready feature to easily find names for the temple (542303)
_________________________________________________
Note: If the patron has an empty tree, Ordinances Ready will only have access to option 5. So a half hour spent helping them to add their parents, grandparents and great grandparents has the potential to give them access to names of their own extended family to take to the temple.
If the patron wants more than a few ordinance cards, this tool is not for them. It is not designed to provide stacks of temple cards for ward or stake groups or family reunions. But it is an easy single- person endeavor. If you want to do 4 baptisms or an endowment, it is perfect!
Ordinances Ready's temple reservations have a very short shelf life. They expire in 90 days.
Since the cards produced are usually for a single ordinance, you cannot follow-up by completing the remaining ordinances for that person if they come from options 3 and 5. So you do ordinances for someone else the next time.
And if the patron wants to reserve ordinances and then share them electronically with someone else, there are different tools for that task.
It is an easy tool that almost anyone can learn to use in 5 or 10 minutes to print temple cards. .
Thursday, November 14, 2019
UPDATED Changes to the Implementation of the 110-year Permissions Policy
Recent changes to article 529542 have required an update to this posting.
In the situation where someone wants to reserve ordinances for a deceased person born within the last 110 years, the policy has not changed, but many of the permissions can now be automated. Perhaps 40% of requests will now be granted automatically if Family Tree has the correct relationships to the patron and the deceased relative. This should greatly speed up the process in these cases.
There appears to be a tighter observance of the existing policy. Very few exceptions will be granted for reserving ordinances for unrelated people. And the new request form specifically asks if a living spouse has been contacted before reserving ordinances for the deceased spouse.
The following quote is from the latest version of this official article.
Can I do proxy temple ordinances for a friend? (529542)
The First Presidency stated on February 29, 2012: "Our preeminent obligation is to seek out and identify our own ancestors. Those whose names are submitted for proxy temple ordinances should be related to the submitter." You need to submit signed, written permission from a close living relative to request temple ordinances for nonrelated individuals and friends.
Before you start
Make sure that you have signed, written permission from one of your friend's close living relatives. We cannot accept signed, written permission from your deceased friend. The written permission needs to be worded as follows:
I, (name of person giving permission), give (your name) permission to do temple work in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple, for (name of deceased), who is my (relationship to person giving permission).
(Signature of person giving permission)
If your deceased friend has no close living relatives that can provide written permission, then a request cannot be granted.
Steps
Who am I related to? (535109)
If you are married and your spouse is still living, you are also considered to be related to your spouse's blood relatives and their spouses. If your spouse is deceased you are no longer considered to be related to their extended family, for ordinance reservation purposes.
In the case of a sealing to spouse, you will continue to need permission from a close family member of the husband and of the wife if either one was born within the last 110 years.
We need to trust in the Lord. These are his children and He loves them. They will be given the opportunities they need in the Lord's time and in His way,
In the situation where someone wants to reserve ordinances for a deceased person born within the last 110 years, the policy has not changed, but many of the permissions can now be automated. Perhaps 40% of requests will now be granted automatically if Family Tree has the correct relationships to the patron and the deceased relative. This should greatly speed up the process in these cases.
There appears to be a tighter observance of the existing policy. Very few exceptions will be granted for reserving ordinances for unrelated people. And the new request form specifically asks if a living spouse has been contacted before reserving ordinances for the deceased spouse.
The following quote is from the latest version of this official article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The First Presidency stated on February 29, 2012: "Our preeminent obligation is to seek out and identify our own ancestors. Those whose names are submitted for proxy temple ordinances should be related to the submitter." You need to submit signed, written permission from a close living relative to request temple ordinances for nonrelated individuals and friends.
Before you start
Make sure that you have signed, written permission from one of your friend's close living relatives. We cannot accept signed, written permission from your deceased friend. The written permission needs to be worded as follows:
I, (name of person giving permission), give (your name) permission to do temple work in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple, for (name of deceased), who is my (relationship to person giving permission).
(Signature of person giving permission)
If your deceased friend has no close living relatives that can provide written permission, then a request cannot be granted.
Steps
- Add your deceased friend to Family Tree.
- Note your friend's ID number in Family Tree.
- To request the ordinances, contact FamilySearch Support by email, phone, or chat. In your request, provide the following information:
- Your friend's name and Family Tree ID number.
- The name of the person who granted permission and his or her relationship to the deceased individual.
- Your FamilySearch username.
- Your helper number. You can find this number in your FamilySearch Account settings.
- A scanned copy or photo of the signed permission form.
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Who am I related to? (535109)
You are related to blood relatives and their spouses. For example, you are related to your father’s sister (your aunt) and to her husband (your uncle). However, you are not related to her husband’s extended family (parents, siblings, and so on.) You are related to the children of your aunt and uncle (your cousins).
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If you are married and your spouse is still living, you are also considered to be related to your spouse's blood relatives and their spouses. If your spouse is deceased you are no longer considered to be related to their extended family, for ordinance reservation purposes.
In the case of a sealing to spouse, you will continue to need permission from a close family member of the husband and of the wife if either one was born within the last 110 years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We need to trust in the Lord. These are his children and He loves them. They will be given the opportunities they need in the Lord's time and in His way,
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