Say hello to Pedro, a faithful and dedicated indexer and Church member from Brazil.
Pedro Domingos Bueno Neto was born in Brasilia, Federal District, in 1962. He is the youngest of nine children and learned about the Church in 1976 from his older brother Paul, who served a full-time mission. When Pedro learned about the plan of salvation and the premortal life, the concept felt familiar to him, as if he had already heard it somewhere. As a result, he embraced the gospel and was baptized at age 14.
Since then, he has served a full-time mission and has been actively serving in various capacities, including bishop of the Gama 1st Ward, Brasilia Alvorada Stake. Pedro is presently serving as a Gospel Principles teacher in his ward. He loves reading—especially to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Pedro recounts the story of his first experience with indexing:
“One night I had a dream that I was in the spirit world with my daughter. I saw people dressed in white, and they were being taught. The spirit world was a special place and a beautiful place. Someone told me that we need to receive the essential temple ordinances in order to be there. This dream gave me an even greater desire to dedicate myself to this work.”
When he indexes, Pedro feels that the people whose names he records are near him, and he feels the urgency of the work even more intensely. He becomes very animated when he says that he knows family history is a commandment of God and one of the greatest responsibilities we have been given. He feels it is a privilege and an honor to be able to help people in the spirit world who are waiting to be remembered and blessed with the ordinances of the temple.
“The living relatives of those spirits are searching for their names, and I know I can help many find their ancestors. The feeling I have is that they are alive, and I know they are my brothers, children of one Father,” says Pedro.
While indexing a particularly difficult batch, Pedro was having a hard time reading the names, but he did not want to return the batch and leave it for someone else to finish. He knelt and prayed, asking the Lord to bless him so he would be able to complete that batch. When he returned to those records, he realized that he was now able to read the names without any difficulty. He was very thankful for that sacred experience.
Indexing has opened up many opportunities for Pedro to research his own ancestry and has provided him with spiritual experiences that have strengthened him and given him his passion for indexing work. Pedro says he can hardly go a day without indexing because he knows that people in the spirit world need his dedication and because he has made a commitment to Heavenly Father to do His work throughout his life.
Thank you, Pedro, for your dedication and example!
Share your story by leaving a comment below, or send us an email at fsindexing@familysearch.org.– Article by Ornella Lepore
