For Church members, the ultimate temple and family history goal is to provide saving ordinances for their ancestors.
This can happen whether you are able to serve as proxy for an ancestor in person or if you share the ordinances with the temple for someone to perform in your (and your ancestor’s) behalf.
But, for various reasons, it can sometimes be difficult to identify an ancestor needing ordinances.
The new Ordinances Ready feature in the FamilySearch Family Tree app can help. Here’s how it works:
Ordinances Ready searches FamilySearch Family Tree, as well as temple reservation and shared lists, to find available ordinances for people you are related to. It verifies that the person:
- Is related to you.
- Was born at least 110 years ago.
- Has chronologically consistent birth and death dates as compared with family relationships.
- Is not a duplicate, based on the information available in the tree.
In the near future, the Ordinances Ready search will expand to include ordinance reservations from the temple inventory, ensuring that anyone that uses it will be able to find and request ordinances to perform in the temple.
A Boost for Consultants
Consultants can use Ordinances Ready to help the members they work with find temple ordinances for ancestors. It also provides the ability to see the family relationship and to access any photos and stories for the ancestor. Ordinances Ready is a simple way to introduce members to the joy of family history, which may instill in them a deeper desire to connect with their ancestors.
Give it a try, and see what it finds for you.
How to Request Ordinances Using an iOS Device
Using your iOS device, download the FamilySearch Family Tree App, and sign-in. From the bottom of the home screen, tap the Temple icon.
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Ordinances that are already reserved will appear as a list on the Temple screen. If no ordinances have been reserved, you’ll see: “You have no reserved family names. We will find some names for you.” To search for available temple ordinances, tap on the green Ordinances Ready button. Then pick which ordinance type you’d like to search for.
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The Ordinances Ready feature will generate a list of available ordinance reservations for you to reserve and take to the temple. From there, you will be able to print temple cards or write down a Family Ordinance Request (FOR) number. Note: Temple workers prefer that patrons bring in printed cards if possible, but the FOR number will help them print the ordinance reservation cards if needed.
How to Request Ordinances Using an Android Device
Once you have downloaded the FamilySearch Family Tree App on your android, open the app. Sign in, and in the upper left corner, tap the menu bar. From the drop-down options, select Temple.
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If you already have reserved ordinances, you will see that list appear on the Temple screen. If not, your screen will say “You have no reserved family names. We will find some for you.” Either way, tap the green Ordinances Ready button.
Now select an ordinance type so that FamilySearch can create a list of ordinance reservations for you.
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Once you have your list, you will be directed to print the cards for your relatives or write down a Family Ordinance Request (FOR) number for each reservation you take to the temple. Again, keep in mind that temple workers prefer that patrons bring in printed cards if possible. If not, bring the FOR numbers to get help printing ordinance cards at the temple.
If no ordinances are found in the sources listed above, Ordinances Ready will retrieve available ordinances that have been submitted to the temple by any patron. These ordinances from temple inventory will be provided in the same order they were submitted to the temple. You can perform ordinances that have been submitted to the temple by others, whether or not you are directly related to those individuals.
Ordinances Ready Can Also Be Used on a Desktop
The new Ordinances Ready feature can also be used on a desktop computer, where the interface is very similar to the mobile app interface. To try it out, go to the Ordinances Ready web page.
The Power of FamilySearch Family Tree
Ordinances Ready is fueled by the family information found in the branches of FamilySearch Family Tree. Every time you add to the tree, you not only preserve part of your family story, but you may also be directly helping someone else gain the blessings of family history and temple work. Here are some simple ways you can make Ordinances Ready and the Tree even more powerful for yourself and others:
- Discover new persons to add to the FamilySearch Tree by talking to (or texting) relatives or using record hints.
- Help with indexing to make vital records available for families with gaps in their family tree. Indexing makes record hints possible.
- Search out stories and photos from living family members, and add them as memories to people in the FamilySearch tree.
Tips for Using Ordinances Ready
- If you request ordinances using the new feature, be sure to take them to the temple on your next visit or give them to family, friends, or ward members. Under certain circumstances, ordinance reservations might expire after 90 days or longer.
- The Ordinances Ready feature will help generate just a few ordinance reservations at a time to make them easier to sort through and use for each new temple trip. If you need more ordinance reservations than you find on your first search, consider encouraging others try the feature for themselves for a fun family history experience.
- The first step when using Ordinances Ready is to select the ordinance type you are looking to perform. Notice if the results include other remaining ordinances for that person. Depending on the circumstances, these other ordinances can be shared with a family member or the temple, so others may do them. You can also unreserve the ordinances to make them available in Family Tree.
More about the FamilySearch Family Tree app
To learn about more FamilySearch Family Tree App features, see the following articles:
- “Using Multiple Screens in the FamilySearch Family Tree App”
- “Three Ways to Use FamilySearch Family Tree”
why can’t I do this on my PC? That is how i use family tree not on hand held device.
Ann, this feature is currently only available on the FamilySearch app. I’m sorry!
I was able to access it by using this link : https://www.familysearch.org/temple/ordinancesready
Seems to work the same.
Looks like you found a hidden link that hasn’t been exposed yet with a button on the Temple page.
Awsome!!
Thank you! That worked like a charm. I was unable to figure out how to print from my iOS device, though I could see the cards and my printer is set up to talk to my device. It seems that the App is actually set up to have the Temple print the cards. It isn’t what the instructions seem to indicate but at least your link made it possible. Again, thanks so much.
Sarah Paul’s observation for use on desk top works.
I have noticed on Ordinance Ready that with sealing to parent or sealing to spouse it will say the ordinance is ready but their other ordinances haven’t been done yet. If people don’t double check, the work will be done out of order. Are the engineers working on fixing this? I only use the desktop version, so I’m not sure if this is happening on the app. If the bugs are worked out, this will be great to use!
A recent Knowledge Article states the following about Ordinances Ready and ordinances done out of order:
The Ordinances Ready feature allows sealings to be done before the individual ordinances. It is acceptable to do these sealings without checking that the individual ordinances have been done.
See “Sealing to spouse ordinances completed before individual ordinances.” (538365)
These apps CAN be wonderful. Many special meetings with YM and YW, and other special classes have helped lots of members find names that are ready for ordinances. So lots of folks have reserved these names, and then too many of these folk never do ANOTHER thing with those reserved names. So the names are locked, and sending messages on Family Search asking folks to do the work or unreserve the names so we can do them rarely does any good. The messages are ignored or just confuse people, so all we can do is check the names now and then to see if anything has changed. There should be a requirement that the ordinances be printed out during that class, and then a group trip to the temple should be the last step.
“Print Article” does a poor job of printing. I had to use the Snip tool and copy segment by segment and paste it into Excel so that I could print a usable copy.
I wasn’t able to use the share button with names found in Ordinance Ready. Am I missing something?
I have a feeling Karren, that Ordinance Ready was created for the purpose of helping EACH OF US find an ordinance we can print and take to the temple ourselves.
Since each person can use the function to do the same thing, there’s no point in sharing that name with anyone else. They can do it themselves.
There’s also no point in sharing the name with the temple.
Names “shared with temple” is one of the spots that Ordinances Ready goes hunting to find the Person and ordinance.
It’s especially useful for people like me who can’t find work in their part of the tree that needs to be done, as well as for youth and new users who don’t know how to find work to do.
Ordinance Ready was created for just for our personal use.
Well said Gail!
I tried Ordinance Ready, but the five names it brought up for me all show that they have “no relationship” to me. Should I do the ordinances for these people? It is my understanding that we should only do the work for those who are related to us unless we are receiving proxy names in the temple?
Lori, these names are then those who have been researched by others and submitted to the temple to have their ordinances completed. Those who identified these people want the temple ordinances completed but have decided not to complete the ordinances themselves. These ordinances are those that you would complete if you arrived at the temple without your own ordinances. This is similar to completing ordinances at the request of another friend or to completing ordinances at the temple when not taking your own cards.
I am only able to print female names on my family tree using Ordinance Ready. Is there a way I can get the male names on my side of the family for my husband to complete?
Nina, at this time, Ordinances Ready only finds ordinances that you can do. Your husband can also find names that he can do if he logs in and uses the feature.
We have been successfully using the Take A Name app. and really appreciated the helpful service it provided to find and take family cards to the temple each time we attended. It is great to see that Family Search has used this great technology as well.
Thank you for the resource. I will forward this information and download to my children, and spread the good news.
Sincerely,
Jana Hyer McDonald
Where’s is the print link to send to printer?