Light the World through Family History Work

LIGHTtheWORLD The Lord has never, to my knowledge, indicated that His work is confined to mortality. Rather, His work embraces eternity. I believe He is hastening His work in the spirit world. I also believe that the Lord, through His servants there, is preparing many spirits to receive the gospel. Our job is to search out our dead and then go to the temple and perform the sacred ordinances that will bring to those beyond the veil the same opportunities we have.  ( Thomas S. Monson, “Hastening the Work,” Ensign, June 2014, 4-6) you can Light the World this Christmas Season through helping someone find a name to take to the temple. What Happens in FamilySearch for a Recently Deceased Person? I.  Ordinances for a recently deceased person appear as Not Ready           A.  Information for Members: Family Tree does not make a name ready for ordinances until one year and one day after the date of death. Below are steps you can take if you know that the ordinance status should indicate the person is ready for ordinances:                                                                                                                         The system uses the information that appears on the Person page to determine whether you can do temple ordinances for a person. If the death date is incorrect, you can edit the date to see if the ordinance status changes.  If the death date contains only a year or a month and a year (for example, 2010 or September 2010), change the date to reflect the actual death date (for example, 15 September 2010). If the date is at least one year plus one day from the current date, the ordinances should appear as either Request or Request (Permission Required). If the Sealing to Parents ordinance is required and the person has been dead for less than a year, the system does not allow you to print family ordinance cards or a Family Ordinance Request even if you have a letter of worthiness from the person's bishop. You need to have a member of the temple presidency contact Special Services in the Temple Department.  Click HERE II.  Official LDS Church Membership records are separate from Family Tree records.        When an LDS Church member dies, each person below must complete some tasks:               1.  The ward or branch clerk of the deceased member.                 2.  The patron who has a record of the person in the private space of their Family Tree.        3.  The Church Membership department.           Actions to take:        1. Notify the ward or branch clerk where the deceased member lived, and provide                        supporting information, such as a death certificate, obituary, funeral program, or official                  death index.                       2. Find your copy of the person in your private space in Family Tree. Add the death                    information to your copy of the person. This moves the record out of private spaces              and into public Family Tree space. Then add sources to the record which clearly                    show the death—death certificate, obituary, newspaper article, or other sources.         3. Check for possible duplicates, and merge records as appropriate. If an LDS                              Church Membership record is found, please ensure it is the surviving record in a                    merge process.  For More Information Click Here _________________________________________________________ Merging Duplicate Records in FamilySearch Do you ever find more than one record of a person in FamilySearch?  If you want to learn more about the process of merging, you will want to read this blog post from Leslie Albrecht Huber.  This post was well written and easy to understand.  To find out more information Click Here.   __________________________________________________________ Resources for Leaders by Lisa McBride

New pages on LDS.org give priesthood and auxiliary leaders resources and information concerning family history in wards, stakes, districts and branches. These pages can help you in your calling as a family history center director. Understanding the doctrine and promised blessings of family history can strengthen your faith in the importance of the work you do, help you support local priesthood leaders, and work more effectively with others in your unit who have family history callings.

To access these pages, either click here or go to LDS.org and select Families and Individuals on the blue tool bar. 

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Indexing Grows the Tree by Devin Ashby Thank you for helping to spread the message of indexing. In October 2016, 772,728 new individuals were added to the Tree as a direct result of indexed records on FamilySearch.org! These are new people who weren’t in the Tree before who were added from indexed records and are now available to have their temple work completed.  See complete blog post HERE. _________________________________________________________ Dates to Remember: December 23-26   Mesa Family Search Library will be closed December 23 (after 10 am session)-24 and December 31-Mesa Arizona Temple closed January 14th: January 21st:  The Mesa AZ FamilySearch Library is pleased to announce a Family History Conference to start off the New Year.  The conference is FREE and will be held on Saturday, January 21, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:20 p.m. at the Red Mountain Institute building on the Maricopa Community College Red Mountain campus.  This facility is located near the Loop 202 and McKellips Road, at 7126 E McKellips Road, Mesa.   Our keynote speaker will be Dr. Duane Roen, the founding coordinator of the Project for Writing and Recording Family History in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at ASU, where he serves as Dean.  Attendees can choose from 7 classes each hour.  Registration begins online at mesafsl.org on Thursday, December 15th.  Registration begins 15 Dec 2016 at mesarfhc.org  Click Here January 3rd- February 14th:  The Mesa Arizona Temple will be closed for maintenance.  Take advantage of performing the ordinances you have reserved in December before the Temple closure!

February 25th:  The Mesa FamilySearch Library will again sponsor a conference on the west side of the valley.This conference will be at the Glendale Stake Center, 8602 N 31st Ave, Phoenix. Registration begins 21 Jan 2017 at mesarfhc.org

February 8-11th  -  The largest genealogy conference is just around the corner.  Click Here to purchase tickets

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Mesa FamilySearch Library

The Mesa FamilySearch Training Center at 464 E. 1st Ave (West of the Mesa Temple) is open for patrons. Films and fiche can now be accessed and viewed, books are available, and photo scanners are waiting to be used.  For more information call 480-964-1200 or 480-962-9611

OPEN: • Monday - 9:00am to 5:00pm
             • Tuesday - 10:00am to 8:30pm
             • Wednesday - 10:00am to 6:00pm
             • Thursday- 10:00am to 6:00pm
             • Friday - 10:00am to 6:00pm
• New Consultant and Priesthood Leader training on Tuesday nights at 7:00pm. (4 week course

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Enjoy some Christmas music this year  Click Here