Sharing is Caring

Remember in the parable of the talents, the Savior taught that to one was given one talent and to another, another talent that all may benefit?  I find that the same holds true in genealogy.

Some have the gift of research.  They can find a name wherever it may be hiding in the leafy treetops of the family tree.  To another is the ability to recall events in great detail.  They are wonderful storytellers.  Some have the knack for taking and collecting photographs.  And as everyone in the ward knows, Dennis Preece is the man to go to if you have male endowments you want to get done! 

Dennis can do something I can’t.  No matter how many male names I find, I cannot do the temple work for them.  I need help.  That’s why they created the stake credenza so you could share your surplus names with other people in the stake.  I have 3 daughters who love to do baptisms for the dead.  It is a great family activity!  But they outnumber me 3 to 1.  Do I say to them, “Stop!  You can’t do any more baptisms until I catch up on endowments.”  Heavens, no!  This work will roll forward as a rock that gathers no moss.

But we have a problem.  There is a limited amount of space in the stake file.  If my cards are taking up three inches of space in there, then others aren’t able to share their names.  We have received a directive from the stake presidency in this regard.  They have asked that we have no more than 10 names needing work under any given ordinance in the stake file: 10 baptisms, 10 initiatories, 10 endowments, 10 sealings (40 total).  So what am I to do with my stack of names?  It’s not like collecting baseball cards; you want to share them with others.  There are temples around the world that don’t generate enough names to hand them out to patrons.  You either bring your own names or you don’t go to the temple.  We can share our surplus with them.  It’s very easy.  I go to the stake credenza and I pull out all the cards that I’ve submitted that need work done.  I then walk them over to family file and hand the names to a worker.  Done.  I will not get the cards back.  So if you are sentimental about some of the names of close friends and family members, I would hold on to those.  But if you are working on “your mom’s great uncle’s wife’s grandma’s niece’s husband’s aunt on father’s side brother’s daughter’s second cousin” and you’re not exactly sure how you’re related, then this is the way to go!    

Remember, names you have reserved are only good two years from the date you reserved them.  After that the church will release the names so the work can be done in a timely manner.

Inactive Ordinance Reservations Now Being Released

• Reservations for an individual will only be unreserved if the most recent ordinance was completed more than two years ago. (So, reservations with progress more recent than two years ago will not be unreserved.)

share with family via email

share with temple

share in stake file (credenza, limit 10/ordinance)

share with temples around the world (family file)


HOW CAN YOU SHARE GENEALOGY WITH OTHERS?

show someone how to index a batch

write your life history (or that of a family member)

collect true family stories to give as Christmas gifts

upload some photos to family tree (identify those you know)

take your family to the temple to do family names