Thursday, July 23, 2009

Busy work versus temple work

To my friends who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: you probably will not find anything of interest in this article.

Dear Ancestry Insider,

Howdy.

I have spent hours every day on [New FamilySearch] NFS trying to do every do-able ordinance for my ancestors since my ALS diagnoses. It seems that I spend most of the time merging records. Am I doing NFS a favor merging all these records?  I hope so....

Thanks,
Tom

Tom,

It sounds like you are both doing ordinances and some clean up of New FamilySearch. I commend you. I think doing one without the other would be a waste of time. You have to do enough combining to avoid needless duplication of ordinances. But there is so much cleanup to do, you can't do it to the exclusion of getting some real work—temple work—done.

Wisdom and order in all things. (See Mosiah 4:27)

God bless you,
-- The Ancestry Insider

1 comment:

  1. I believe your reply was incomplete. Many individuals find it difficult or impossible to either find a relative whose work needs to be done, or to attend the temple because of personal circumstances. Those who spend time "cleaning up" NFS provide an enormous service by helping speed up the work for others.

    Dallin H. Oaks, “Family History: ‘In Wisdom and in Order,’ ” Ensign, June 1989, 6
    “…we should understand that in the work of redeeming the dead there are many tasks to be performed…. Our effort is not to compel everyone to do everything, but to encourage everyone to do something. There are many different things our members can do to help in the redeeming of the dead, in temple and family history work. …We think first of submitting names and going to the temple to perform proxy ordinances for those who are dead. But there is much more to this work. There are ward family history consultants, missionaries in records centers, and workers in microfilming, libraries, data entry, and name extraction. ….Behind all of these are the family members and friends who facilitate the service of others by support and encouragement. For example, a young woman who baby-sits or a couple who provide overnight accommodations for those who are attending the temple should understand that they are also making an important contribution to temple work.”

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