Fulfilling Our Divinely Appointed Responsibility

As a stake indexing director, your calling is to recruit and retain indexers and arbitrators, right? If you answer “yes” you would be correct—almost.

The fact is there will long be a tremendous and growing need for indexers and arbitrators. Billions more indexed records are needed. Indeed, indexing “is vital to family history and temple work” (First Presidency letter, Feb. 29, 2012).

That is precisely why this next suggestion makes so much sense.

If your indexers and arbitrators have not found and submitted a name to the temple this year, please encourage them to make this their top family history priority—even if it means putting aside their indexing work for a moment.

How does this make sense? Consider the following:

Indexing is only a means to an end. Ultimately, our divinely appointed responsibility as Latter-day Saints and the thing that matters most is to ensure that saving ordinances are performed for our deceased family members.
Indexing is a heart-turning experience (see Malachi 4:5–6), and the Spirit of Elijah prompts many indexers with a desire to learn more about their own ancestors. In a recent survey, one in four indexers said indexing provides motivation for them to engage in additional family history work. Indexers and arbitrators should be encouraged to listen to and follow such promptings.
Nothing deepens a testimony of the sacred nature of this work more than participating in temple ordinances for one’s own deceased family members. As promised by President Howard W. Hunter, doing so qualifies us for additional blessings (“A Temple-Motivated People,” Ensign, Feb. 1995).
Indexers who use indexed records to research their family history can readily understand and appreciate how their work blesses others. The most committed indexers and arbitrators are those who know from experience why their service matters.

So how about you? Are you actively seeking and submitting the names of your ancestors to the temple? Your calling matters a great deal, and it makes a real difference to the work, but it should not distract you from focusing on the ultimate reason why we index in the first place.
Speak to your priesthood leaders and discuss these ideas with them. Share your thoughts and impressions for how you can help the indexers and arbitrators in your stake to more fully participate in family history and temple work.

Encourage your indexers and arbitrators to work with their ward family history consultants for help with their research. Studies show this interaction is the most reliable predictor of success in finding and submitting names to the temple.

For those who believe their work is “all done,” refer them to the Finding Our Cousins page on FamilySearch.org. They will be surprised at how many opportunities still exist to add names to their Family Tree and provide temple ordinances for relatives.

Placing temple work, family history research, and indexing in their proper priority will bless you personally and will strengthen your ability to boldly teach and testify to the indexers and potential indexers in your stake. As you do, you may be pleasantly surprised to find indexing and arbitration increase in your stake.