FamilySearch Orientation

I created this document for a family history orientation. It has no official status, but may still be useful. 

Proposed Family History Orientation by Bill Buchanan for 24 March 2021

1. Why is it important? Family history and temple work can strengthen the family relationships and testimonies of the living, and help the dead to redeem themselves through faith in Jesus Christ.

2. Of the hundreds of family history websites, FamilySearch.org is the only one where you can reserve temple ordinances and print temple cards for your ancestors and their descendants. This can be be done in a web browser or the Family Tree mobile app from FamilySearch.

3, Ordinances Ready in the Temple menu of the website or app allows you to reserve temple ordinances and print temple cards in about 10 minutes. Where does it find related people needing ordinances?
a. Firstly, in your list of reserved ordinances, then
b. in the ordinances reserved by others and shared with the temple, then
c, related people whose ordinances have not been reserved, then
d. unrelated people whose ordinances have been shared with the temple.
For it to find related people, you need to be connected to previous generations in Family Tree.
At the worst, it will provide unrelated people, just like cards the temple would give you.
Note that these cards are intended to be used within 90 days, or they expire.

4. Research expectations: How far back can you trace your ancestry in historical records? It varies.
In Europe, records of common people rarely go back to the 1500's, Hereditary titles of nobility and royalty can sometimes go back much further, Records of Chinese nobility (jaipu) can go back into centuries BC. But in some parts of the world, written records start in the 1900s.
The FamilySearch Research Wiki (Familysearch.org > Search > Research Wiki) can tell you what records are available for the country you are interested in,

5. In RootsTech Connect 2021, Robert Kehrer, of FamilySearch, explained that Family Tree now uses Indexing data to find records of your ancestors and their families, He estimates that 70%-80% of these records will be suggested as Hints (blue icons) in Family Tree. The Search function is for the other 20%-30%, These Hints often contain records that list other family members, that you can add to Family Tree. The Hints can be found in many places, such as the Tree View, Person Details page, and the Recommended Task list on the home page. Needed temple ordinances can also be found there.

6. FamilySearch.org Memories, and the Memories mobile app are excellent places for preserving photos, documents, stories, and even short audio clips of your family. It can help your family members to connect to their ancestors on a more personal level. Stories of people's lives can be more engaging than a collection of dates and places. FamilySearch (The Genealogical Society of Utah) has been preserving family histories since 1894, so it is a safe place to store your family history treasures.

7. The Search menu:
Records: 8 billion Historical Records can be searched within Family Tree or separately from here.
Genealogies: These are individual family trees submitted by patrons, but separate from Family Tree.
Catalog: The Family History Library catalog can be searched here
Books: Many thousand historical books can be searched
Research Wiki: This lists the records available for various countries and how to access them.

8. Indexing makes historical records searchable by computer. You can help in a few minutes each day.

There is no official users manual, but see: https://www.thefhguide.com/project-1-family-tree.html