A member of our FHC staff is also a stake T&FH consultant. But she has never been contacted for tra
-- Chris
Answers
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If she logs into FamilySearch, then to Help, Helper Resources, then My Family History Network, the contact information for the area T&FH people should be listed (as long as she's in the MLS as a stake T&FH consultant). She should be able to contact the area people for training help.
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@Jeniann Nielsen, unfortunately, our area T&FH consultant is quite new, and I'm not at all comfortable that he has the knowledge to provide what was so excellently provided to my wife and me a year and a half ago when we were trained by some very knowledgeable trainers after our callings popped up on the "Salt Lake radar." We were both contacted by email and asked when would be a good time to schedule phone training, and I was specifically given additional training as our new FHC director at the time (an additional hour or more). The training was obviously already well developed, logically laid out, and well presented. Unless we were exceptionally lucky, it seemed that the Family History Department had really organized training very well, and made sure that only the best of the serving senior missionaries were selected (and trained) to do the training. Yes, I could (and do frequently) help this sister with questions, but don't want to step on toes by offering what isn't in my "job description." Plus, I'd like to see her get what my wife and I were able to get that jump-started us very nicely - well laid out, well presented, and very applicable to our new callings (at the time).
A decision was made by someone (?) that there would only be one area T&FH consultant for our geographical portion of the Area (coordinating council I believe it's still called??), and as a result a very experienced one was released after a brand new (and quite "green") one was called (I happened to know both). So sadly, the single area T&FH consultant designated to do training in this particular part of the vineyard isn't able to do the quality of training my wife's and my trainers did.
So I'm wondering if that level of training is still available, or if we were some of the lucky last few that received it; and if it's still available, how to get it for this particular sister.
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They used to have a training from Salt Lake but if I'm understanding correctly, I believe they have since discontinued it. So your area people may be what's available currently.
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Try looking at thefhguide.com which is a free training site for family history work on the 4 main sites that LDS can get on by virtue of the LDS membership, account on familysearch, and https://familysearch.org/partneraccess
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Oh, that's sad if they discontinued the phone training. It was such a blessing for me. Many of us are VERY alone in our stakes and even areas. No one local could have told me the things I got in that training because no one knew and no one even knows what they don't know in order to ask questions.
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My wife and I were called as Stake Consultant Leaders in November 2018. We were briefed on expectations at the time we were called by a counselor in the Stake Presidency, and that week we met with our Area TFH Consultant Leaders in their home, and were given a solid orientation. Since then, we have utilized Church online resources, to enhance our calling's expectations, but also studied the resources for ward consultants, so as to understand their expectations. We have quarterly stake-wide training for all ward consultants, monthly training with each ward's consultant leaders for training and roundtable discussions of ward plans, progress, challenges, questions etc. etc. The driving focus for all this is of course to redeem the dead, and in our stake, to implement stake TFH goals given us by the Stake President. We attend Stake Ward Council where we are given 5 minutes to update the high counselors and stake council on stake progress in the key areas of the Family History Activity Report. Our experience has been very positive re: training we receive, and in turn, provide. Hope this helps.
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Sadly this happens too often. I fear we have not quite caught onto the Prophet's vision for enfolding new members into family history and Temple ordinances. Hence, those who are called to help are not being given the chance. There are signs that this is true but I won't go into those for now.
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@J. Britt Franklin - Yes, and I suspect the signs will be clear upon inspecting many stakes' and wards' FHAR numbers for the past few years. At least in some areas, the number of new members that have apparently not had a temple experience in their first month or two is glaringly significant. Pair that with the number of members over age 12 that never even logged into FamilySearch at least once in a year, as well as the statistic for the number who have (or have not even) added at least one name to Family Tree. Without FamilySearch activity, we are incapable of redeeming our dead. And the lack of activity reflects a deficit in truly understanding what is embodied in the Lord's statement that bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man IS His work and glory. Eternal life cannot happen without the ordinances, and for the many billions who have gone one before us, they without us cannot be made perfect. But if that is true, then they will not be there for us in the other half of that doctrine: we without them cannot be made perfect.
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Exactly. Once upon a time my wife and I had access to the FHAR but now we do not. They are accessed through Leader and Clerk resources and we have not been given access to that area so we have no idea what is happening in the seven stakes in our Area.
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I don't recall seeing what your calling is, but if (like my wife and me) your calling ends with the word "consultant," you're right - we can't get it anymore (at least directly). It sounds like you need to make friends with a member of your bishopric, EQ presidency, RS presidency, high councilor over T&FH, or a member of the stake presidency. My high councilor is very quick to send me a copy of both the stake report as well as my own ward once it's published (it seems to come out around the 10th of the month for the previous month). I just remind him, and he emails me a .pdf copy of each. It's very helpful in answering questions as the FHC director headchiefwhatchamacallit. 😎
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Wonderful! This is the overall best effort I've seen.
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I just checked with SL last week and was told there no longer is any automatic phone training coming from the church to consultants like there used to be. If you have an Area or Stake TFHC that doesn't know the ropes real well yet, you may still consider contacting them and letting them know what your needs are. Let them know you would like some training. Let them know you feel isolated and encourage them to hold regular meetings where stake or ward consultants can get together and discuss their needs and questions. As an Area TFHC, I know it is hard for us to know what the Stake/ward consultants need and getting feedback from them is helpful.
If a Ward Consultant wants to see a FHAR report, they can contact the Ward TFH Leader or the EQP and ask for it each month. If a Stake TFHC wants a report, contact the HC over TFH. We have one Area TFHC near us that contacts the TFH HCs in his stakes every month and gets a report from them so he knows what is going on at the ward/stake levels in his area. It is another way to create communication between priesthood leadership and consultants.
Even though there aren't phone calls, there are some excellent resources that are produced by the church for training. Here are a few of my favorites:
- familysearch.org/calling - both the leader and the consultant training information - be sure to scroll to the bottom of each page since there are great links at the bottom of the different pages to the handbook, letters, and the general training session. Also this link is good for consultants: https://www.familysearch.org/help/calling/help-others?page=10
- Churchwide Temple and Family History Leadership Training meeting that takes place every year during RootsTechr: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/events/2020-temple-and-family-history-leadership-instruction?lang=eng
- Review the TFHC oriented classes from last years Rootstechs at this link: https://www.rootstech.org/category/2019-lds-sessions
- Newsletter - Be sure you are entered properly in the LCR so you can receive the FH newsletters put out by the church. They appear to come about every 2 months. These newsletters are really good and worth clicking into. They have the subtitle "My calling" at the top so you know you are getting the right one.
- Helper Resources from familysearch.org
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