Sunday School: Temple and Family History Work, An Overview

by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger

11 Oct 2007 03:02 PM

For the last several weeks, I haven't gone to Gospel Doctrine. I'm not sluffing, I promise. I've been attending the Temple and Family History Work class.

My husband is the ward temple committee chairman, and so he works closely with the family history library that's located in our building. In concert with the others called to similar positions, they work to educate the ward about the importance of family history work, and part of that education is the Temple and Family History Work class.

The curriculum for the class is fairly simple and straightforward and is found in the booklet entitled: "A Member's Guide to Temple and Family History Work: Ordinances and Covenants," available through church distribution and also through your Sunday School presidency. This course teaches the reasons why we want to do genealogy, and then the consultants can sit down at the computers with the patrons and show them the exact methods that can be used.

Now, I'm going to admit that I'm a genealogy nerd. My husband can sit down with the computer and presto - gets fifteen names ready for submission while I'm still trying to find my great-grandfather. In fact, when we got married, my husband had stacks and stacks of ordinance cards that had been completed. I'd say he had easily five hundred of them. The stinker.

Genealogy is a gift but it's also a skill that can be learned, and that is the purpose of the class. It takes those of us with a desire but no skill and helps us to learn the basic principles, teaches us the rudimentary steps, and instills in us an even greater desire. As the teachers share their stories of success and the strong feelings of the Spirit that have accompanied them as they research, it makes me want to get in there and do it too.

I'll be doing a blog series about this remarkable course of study and invite you to join me. If you have access to this class in your ward or stake, I encourage you to attend. It's only a short course, so you'll miss perhaps two months of Gospel Doctrine, but it's well worth your time.

Related Blogs:

Courthouse Genealogy

Online Genealogy

Obtaining the Records

Learn more about Tristi Pinkston

I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006.

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