Family History has changed greatly over the years.

 

Until the 1990s the focus used to be research by mail and by personal visits. Each person kept their own genealogy in a Book of Remembrance.

With the arrival of the internet, the Church created www.familysearch.org and family history went online.

Members and non-members could now work together on research. The data from Books of Remembrance could be shared with everyone online. Books of Remembrance remained important for storing old photos and stories.

Then the FamilySearch Family Tree became a shared repository for these "Memories", and Books of Remembrance became treasured curiosities.

Temples used to be few, so travel to the temple could require days or weeks. Now temples are much closer.

The process of finding a family name to take to the temple used to take months of personal research. Now it takes 5 minutes, as Ordinances Ready can quickly search the 1.3 billion records in Family Tree for a relative needing ordinances.

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I hope that everyone who has a Book of Remembrance will go through it carefully to make sure  that the photos, stories, and documents are uploaded to the FamilySearch Family Tree for long-term preservation. (We are asked to not upload patriarchal blessings, but there is a permanent record of these available directly for those who need access.)