Family History Training Session by Bill Buchanan for 2022

 As I was preparing to do a training session tomorrow, I decided to create a 1-page summary that I could hand out. You might find it useful to adapt this for your own training needs. It does not go into any depth, but covers a lot of the bases except for Indexing. 

- Bill

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1. Why is it important? Family history and temple work can strengthen the family relationships and testimonies of the living, And it can help the dead to be redeemed through their faith in Jesus Christ. The basic doctrine is as taught by the ancient apostles, Peter and Paul in the New Testament: Christ preached the gospel to the spirits in prison so that they could accept Christ as their Savior and progress along the same path as living people.
They need earthly ordinances that we can provide. (1 Cor 15:25) This is also plainly taught in D&C 138.
President Russell M Nelson has asked us to gather Israel on both sides of the veil.

To book a session at the Edmonton Temple: (I suggest that you bookmark that page.)
Google Edmonton Temple, and click Edmonton Alberta Temple - The Church of Jesus Christ
Click Appointments > Sign-in > Select this temple > Select the ordinance >
Indicate if your spouse is also attending > Click the calendar to select a date and time.
(If you have any issues with this process call the temple for help (1) 780-434-7436)

2. FamilySearch.org is the only website 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 our Family Tree mobile app.

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? Firstly, in your list of reserved ordinances, then those shared with the temple by other patrons, then related people whose ordinances have not been reserved, then unrelated people.
For it to find related people, you need to be connected to deceased generations in Family Tree.
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,
Records of hereditary titles of nobility and royalty can sometimes go back much further.
The FamilySearch Research Wiki can tell you what records are available for the country you are interested in.
It makes us aware of useful but unfamiliar record types, and to avoid looking for records that were never created.
(Familysearch.org > Search > Research Wiki)

5. Family Tree now uses Indexing data to find records of your ancestors and their families.
An estimated 70%-80% of all indexed records will be suggested as Record Hints (blue icons) in Family Tree.
These Hints sometimes list additional family members, that you can add to Family Tree.
So in many cases the records now come looking for you, instead of you looking for them.
Free accounts are available from some large commercial sites: www.familysearch.org/campaign/partneraccess

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. These can help your family members to connect to their ancestors on a more personal level.

Preparing names for the temple:
In order to do ordinances for someone. they need a record in Family Tree with a minimum of this information:
their name, sex, approximate year and place of a major life event (birth, christening, marriage, death, or burial). The person must have been dead at least 1 year, so they have had time to accept the gospel beyond the veil.
If they were born in the last 110 years you need to be an immediate family member or have permission of an immediate family member (parent, child, sibling or un-divorced spouse).
If the necessary information is not available now, it will be, in the Millenium.

What can I do in 10 minutes?
See Activities in the FamilySearch Activities menu.
Improve Place Names to help validate records for ordinances. (Excellent on your phone.)