Priesthood leaders, family history center directors, and family history consultants share a common challenge: how to motivate Church members to accept and act on their divinely appointed responsibility to seek their ancestors and submit their names for temple ordinances.
The challenge is multifaceted, and the hurdles range from lack of time and skills, to uncertainty about what to do, to a plain lack of interest. These are not trivial concerns, and respect for each person’s situation is important. But experience shows that when hearts are turned, challenges can quickly melt away.
One lesser-known but increasingly powerful way to invite the spirit of Elijah and help members develop a greater desire to serve their ancestors in the temple is by involving them in FamilySearch indexing. Indexing supports finding ancestors and family members, the first part of the find, take, teach vision of family history. It makes records searchable and helps people find their ancestors. But new research among stakes in North America shows that it is also a powerful heart-turner in its own right. For example, in a survey of Church members, the majority (68 percent) of members who engaged in indexing found it increased their overall interest in family history work, either “some” or “a lot.”
The accompanying chart shows the impact of indexing on the interest of active Church members in family history.
The research further showed when members engage in indexing, some common outcomes are (1) that it sparks an interest in researching their own ancestors (56 percent), and (2) that it contributes to their actually doing research on their own ancestors (26 percent).
Respondents to the survey described their experiences with indexing as follows:
- “I found indexing not too difficult and liked the idea of helping others with their family history work.”
- “I wasn’t finding names in my family history, so it [indexing] made me feel as though I was helping in some way.”
- “Indexing made me feel like I was helping others in their work. It has sparked interest in learning information about my grandparents.”
President David Pickup of the Chorley England Stake sums up the likely reason why indexing increases interest in family history when he says, “It's a refining work. You cannot do indexing without thinking about not only these names [being indexed] but about your own family. . . . It just naturally follows; it softens the heart; it turns people to think about their own families.” Watch the Chorley Experience video here.
Additional research shows that stakes that include indexing as part of an overall emphasis on family history have a higher percentage of members who submit names to the temple when compared to stakes that focus their family history efforts mostly or exclusively on finding and submitting names.
Indexing has been described by the First Presidency as “vital to family history and temple work,” largely because of the way it enhances access to priceless family history records. Now stake and ward leaders are discovering how indexing is also vital to helping Church members feel the Spirit in their lives, more fully participate in hastening the work of salvation, and fulfill their divinely appointed responsibility to help the Lord redeem His precious children.
For more information on how to make indexing a fully integrated part of your stake’s family history program that will not only bless your members’ lives, but also bless others so they can find their ancestors, visit https://www.FamilySearch.org/indexing.
