www.churchofjesuschrist.org
I have this idea for applying the principle of referrals in missionary work (see churchofjesuschrist.org/referrals) to connecting loved ones with temple and family history consultants. I would appreciate any resources, articles, conversations, or discussions that could help me learn more about this possibility and specific or develop elements of the idea.
A tentative title would be "Temple and Family History Ministering."
Here is what I have written so far on the idea:
- Identify a friend or relative that you know wants to learn more or participate more in temple and family history work, or anyone that you feel inspired to invite to participate more fully in any way.
- Contact that person and obtain permission to set an appointment with the ward temple and family history consultant.
- Have the person go to https://www.familysearch.org/help/helper/planner/workwith and send a screenshot to you.
- Contact the temple and family history consultant(s) in your contact's ward to set up an appointment and let them know that someone is interested.
- In the appointment, participate via video call (or in person if feasible) and support the consultant in leading out the personalized experience.
- Help the consultant and your contact create and maintaing regular contact and meetings, with needed support and encouragement.
Thank you for any of your insights.
Further notes:
Some context of this idea is as follows. I contacted some relatives who live in a different city. They had desires to increase their participation in temple and family history work, and they were interested by the idea of an inspiring, personalized experience to help them meet their goals. They did not know the temple and family history consultants in their ward. This idea came to mind as I was figuring out how to help them
Comments
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@Joseph Nielson That's a cool idea. As far as I know, we don't have access to a list of consultants outside of our own areas, so I'm not sure how we'd get referrals to the right people. Maybe FamilySearch could facilitate it. You might want to use the Feedback button at the bottom of FamilySearch.org to make your suggestion. (Do it from the main FamilySearch page instead of from the Community page so that you aren't just sending feedback to Community.) My understanding is that the FamilySearch engineers look at feedback suggestions and that suggestions influence changes in FamilySearch.
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Thank you for the insights. I will see about submitting feedback.
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Also FYI, the fulltime missionaries generally are not familiar with the consultant planner nor can they use the church provided cell phone to log onto the page. So the idea of a screenshot is a great work around. If your idea caught on, then I’m sure arrangements can be made for contacting either Stake leaders or Area leaders.
Interestingly enough FS is not taught or reviewed at MTC which is so contrary to all the Brethren are teaching about missionary and TFH history work are complimentary.
Whatever help you need, please let me know. This is a great idea.
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When my children went to the Provo MTC, FamilySearch and family history in general was a big part of what they learned, and they loved it. That was 20+ years ago.
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In my ward i have taken the opportunity to teach missionaries about family history by working on their lines with them (most I find I or my husband or both are related to..surprise surprise). They prepare names and take them to the temple when their districts go.....and they take a few extra names to hand out to other missionaries! I have at times worked with the mothers of these missionaries who are astounded and DELIGHTED their children are now doing family history and they jump in to help do baptisms and initiatores and give names they want done!!!! The missionaries introduce family history to those they teach and I have had the opportunity to work with some of those. One young man, in the midst of a divorce was very, very depressed, considering ending his life. The missionaries, very concerned, came over asked if they could call him and had him come to my house RIGHT THEN. He Came!!!! I told him I had a better idea than what he was considering. We got he and his 12 year old daughter involved in family history, he started connecting with extended family, One aunt jumped in and sent him pictures, and family info (non LDS) and we have gathered many names for he and his daughter to take to take to temple. He said he "now had a reason to live". He learns quickly and adept at computer and was interested in helping others. I wish I had a wonderful ending to this story. I left for 77 days, things went badly downhill with family issues and he left the church. He promised me he would sort things out and come back (later). I hold the folder with his cards, ready for work that HE AND HIS DAUGHTER found. I am not giving up! Just need some inspiration. What a difference FH CAN make. Some need support in trying situations, however.
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Finding people who are interested in the restored gospel first, then introducing them to family history, is yielding less success than desired in our area.
I think we need to teach family history to the community as a way to find people interested in the restored gospel.
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I do too! Anybody who wants to introduce people to eternal connections (first) as a way of introducing them to the doctrine (second) .... please write me. I'm thinking that our doctrine will mean more to people who first see the "connecting" benefits we offer.
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