Accurate and
Orderly Family History / Temple Work:
“The
kingdom
of God is a house
of order because all
things obey the law. The temples of the
Lord on earth should also be orderly for the same reason.
Temple
work should not be done in a haphazard or disorderly way.
Those who labor for the dead should endeavor
to prepare their records in an orderly and systematic manner.
“When
names are
copied in an improper way and incomplete records are sent to the
temples, but
one thing will be the result – confusion.
The compilers of records should try to find the information so
that
records can be made in family groups with all the necessary data for
correct
identification. When names are taken out
of books without any accompanying information that will identify them…
it will
more than likely have to be done over again… researchers will make
fewer
mistakes and in the end save time and means by giving more attention to
their
recording. It is the disposition of many
of the people to hurry their work along in an unorganized fashion
because of
their zeal for temple work. Patience,
accompanied
by prayer and thorough research, will prove best in the end.”
Joseph Fielding
Smith,
Doctrines of Salvation, Vol 2, p 208
“Some
of us get so
enthusiastic over this temple work that we are not willing to abide by
the
rules and the regulations and to confine ourselves to our own line, but
we want
to spread out into the other fellow’s line, and we want to do the work
because
we readily find names that belong to somebody else, and that method of
work for
the dead is not permissible. It is all
right to help others do their work, if we do that with proper consent,
but each
family group is entitled to do the work for its particular line.
Joseph
Fielding Smith Jr, Doctrines of
Salvation, Vol 2, p 207-208
"I would like to share with you a
few observations that I have gleaned from what I call the primary text
for the
work of the redemption of the dead - I refer specifically to … sections
127 and
128. I noticed that Joseph repeatedly referred to both ordinances and
records.
Ordinances are prerequisite to salvation. But accurate records provide
both
justification for and verification of the performance of an ordinance.
Since
records and ordinances are inseparably connected together, we see the
purpose
for the great efforts being made to search out and accurately record
information.
“Records
without
ordinances are as incomplete as ordinances without records. The
responsibility
for these records is clearly upon the shoulders of mortals. Until the
ordinances are properly performed and correctly recorded on earth,
there cannot
be and will not be a record in heaven. Thus, the opportunity for
salvation is
denied an individual until a valid ordinance and an acceptable record
verifies
his eligibility for a place in the kingdom of our
Father. The
records prepared on earth, then, become the source of judgment
information.”
Elder
C. Max Caldwell,
Devotional Address, Genealogy and Family History Conference, 6 August
1998
"Although
temple ordinances can be
performed when only the minimum information is available, try to
provide as much information about an ancestor as possible. More
complete information identifies your ancestor uniquely so that he or
she cannot be confused with another person. With less complete
information, ordinances may be done more than once for the same
person...Seek the guidance of the Spirit as you determine whether you
should do the ordinance work for an ancestor now or try to find more
information first."
A Members Guide to Temple and
Family History Work, pgs. 10, 13
"As thou hast
inclined the hearts of many...to search out their progenitors...bless
them, we pray thee, in their labors, that they may not fall into errors
in preparing their genealogies; and furthermore, we ask thee to open
before them new avenues of information, and place in their hands the
records of the past, that their work may not only be correct but
complete also."
Dedicatory Prayer of
Salt Lake Temple, Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, 340-41
"Because
of the sacred nature of this work, members should be
diligent in assuring the accuracy of all information submitted."