The Teddington Post (the original edition found at teddington.wordpress.com) brought you exclusive news on Thursday that the New FamilySearch website had just become available for Southern and Central African members’ registration (see teddington.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/breaking-news-johannesburg-temple-district-members-can-register-on-new-familysearch).

The availability comes as the Johannesburg Temple is making preparations to ‘go live’ with the Church’s new system on Tuesday.

This website was envisaged by President Gordon B. Hinckley, mainly to stop the large amount of duplication occurring in Temples around the world. Because members could not centralise and share information easily, they subsequently worked on and submitted names without knowing that ordinances had already been done for.

Now, members will all contribute to a centralised database, which will eventually link all of humanity, supposing that the databank remains through the Millennium.

Millions of names the Church has held for years, such as Temple work done, extraction programmes, Church membership records and Ancestral and Pedigree File, are all online already. When members sign on for the first time, they can choose to either upload their family history from another genealogy program (such as PAF) and then sort through all the names, checking for duplicates from the above-mentioned databases; or they can start from scratch and search for and add those names that already exist in the said databases.
Eventually, a chain will emerge and members will find it easy to contact others working on their lines.

The process for doing ordinance work is also much more simplified. Members now need only to reserve the names they wish to do, print out a sheet called a Family Ordinance Request and give it to the Temple staff, who then print cards that are taken to the ordinances. Instead of waiting for weeks after submission before an ordinance can be done, members can now decide on the day.

New FamilySearch (NFS) is still in its rolling-out stage, with 44% of Temples across the globe presently online. Another 27% are in the preparatory stages, Johannesburg included until Tuesday. Once all Temples have been linked up, the website will be opened to the general public and the old FamilySearch site (www.familysearch.org) will be decommissioned.

The FamilySearch organisation, which is operated by the Church, has also galvanised 104 000 people to voluntarily index millions of names from records currently held in the granite vaults in Salt Lake City. This will mean that records currently only available through microfilm or government archives will be digitised and placed on FamilySearch for anyone to search, free of charge. 50 million names have been indexed so far.

Those wishing to help in this massive indexing effort can register at www.familysearchindexing.org. Indexing can be done at home, through batches of images previously scanned in Salt Lake being sent to one’s computer. One then transcribes the images and sends back the data.

Those collections already indexed are being made available gradually on search.labs.familysearch.org.

The Temple is the crown jewel of any active Latter-day Saint’s life.  There, the most blissful and spiritual experiences are had.  For those who are not members — or who do not know much about temple work — here is a basic guide.

Allow me to deviate somewhat first.  Latter-day Saints are, like Israel was during Old and New Testament times, a covenant-making people.  Our spiritual progression is largely determined by the making of covenants, or sacred promises to the Lord, in return for which we are promised glorious blessings.

The first covenant a member of the Church makes is known as the baptismal covenant, or the covenant made at baptism.  Members promise to take the name of Jesus Christ upon them, to always remember Him and to keep His commandments.  Basically, they promise to try their utmost to follow the Lord’s will and be like Him.

Male members who are worthy will then make the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood when they have the Melchizedek Priesthood conferred upon them.  Essentially, they covenant to discharge their duties to the greatest degree possible and to (again) follow all the commandments given to them.

The preceding two ordinances are performed in meeting houses, homes or wherever they can be.  The covenants they next take out are so sacred that they can only be performed in temples.

The Temple is the House of the Lord.  It is an intensely sacred place, where the Saviour Himself walks the corridors and where His servants go to perform the most sacred acts of Mormonism.

Only the worthy Latter-day Saint may enter the Temple.  For that purpose, Bishops and Branch Presidents (leaders of congregations) must interview a prospective visitor before he or she may enter.  A recommend is then issued, which is valid for two years and which is used as a qualifying ticket to enter any temple in the world.

There are five essential ordinances (of which I am aware, at least) that occur in the Temple.  They are baptism, confirmation, Initiatry, the Endowment and Sealings.  When a member is at least 18 years old (in practice, a bit older), he or she may enter the Temple to ‘take out’ his or her own endowment. 

Before the Endowment is taken out, he or she must first go through Initiatry, where certain vital ordinances are performed.  I shall forebear to divulge too much information here.  All that can be revealed, I think, is that Initiatry is also known as ‘washings and anointings’.

After going through Initiatry, the member will ‘take out’ his or her Endowment.  This ordinance involves being taught about the Plan of Salvation and a review of history as well as the making of certain covenants, such as to be chaste, give of time and means to help build up the Church, et cetera.

After this, the member may return whenever he or she wishes (provided a current recommend is held).

Before I explain the other three ordinances performed at the Temple, allow me to explain something first.  Latter-Saints are charged to research their family lines in order to identify their ancestors.

Because so many people have died without ever knowing of the true Gospel and without being baptised, confirmed and (in the case of men) given the Priesthood, the Lord has provided a glorious way in which we can assist our kindred dead.  Through the principle of vicariousness, living members may act as proxy in ordinances for those who are dead.  For example, I have been baptised vicariously for my grandfather, who died without really knowing about the Gospel.

The dead do have a choice, on the ‘other side’, whether they will accept the ordinances performed, but through this glorious principle, those who died without the privileges of the Gospel may be given the same opportunities as we.

Now, vicarious ordinances for the dead may only be performed in a Temple.  Therefore, whilst living members may be baptised, endowed and given the Priesthood anywhere, proxy ordinances must be performed within the walls of a Temple.

Members of the Church are busily doing genealogical research, so that they can have their ancestors baptised, confirmed, taken through Initiatry, endowed and sealed.

Sealings are the greatest blessings of the Temple.  Two types of sealings occur: those for entire families and those for marriage.

Traditional marriage ceremonies have no power after death.  Marriages are ’till death to you part’.  Therefore, the death of one spouse immediately annuls one’s marriage.  Also, what authority have we to tell God who will be with whom for eternity.  Nowadays, one can be married by a civil officer in two minutes!

For Latter-day Saints, marriage is more than an earthly coupling; it is eternal.  When we get married, we have our ceremonies performed within the Temple, in a sealing, where the couple is literally bound together for time and all eternity.  There are covenants associated with this, naturally.  They are marital commitments.

Children born to sealed parents are automatically sealed to their parents.  Thus, the family is bound together, by the Holy Spirit, for eternity.

Through conversion, of course, and when doing work for the dead, there are children who were born to parents who were not sealed.  They must then be sealed as a family in a sealing ceremony as well.

Latter-day Saints love their temples!

The Johannesburg Temple is to Go Live with New FamilySearch on 8 July 2008

A number of sources have confirmed to me that the Johannesburg Temple has received this, the date of its going live with New FamilySearch.  It appears that family history staff in our temple district have been informed; family history blogs have obtained the information as well and are reporting it.

Concerning going ‘live’, the Ancestry Insider (ancestryinsider.blogspot.com)says:

‘Registered family history consultants and leaders are notified when their temple districts are about to change to NFS [New FamilySearch]. … The initial notification usually gives an approximate time frame of 3 or 4 months for the NFS release, but not a specific date. A final notification gives the date to stop using TempleReady, the date all temple district members can access NFS and the date the temple will begin using NFS.’

The same blog provides information that on 8 July, members will be able to print cards for temple ordinances using a Family Ordinance Request.  This system makes use of the New FamilySearch website, available at new.familysearch.org.  Apparently, members will be able to register on and access the site about three days prior to the activation (about 5 July 2008), early in the morning.

With this announcement, Renee Zamora, on her blog ‘Renee’s Genealogy Blog’ (rzamor1.blogspot.com), says that 56 temples are now live and 34 are in the process of going live.  That leaves only 37 which have not been announced.

This is a most exciting development for members in our region.

For those of you who know are thoroughly confused by the above, the Church has been introducing an incredible new system called New FamilySearch.  The website’s predecessor, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org), is one of the largest family history research websites in the world.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints very rarely involves itself in the political arena, but, on the position of same-sex marriage, it has been vehement in its campaigning.

News agencies across the United States, including Mormon Times, are reporting that the First Presidency has sent a letter to all units in California, urging members to ‘do all [they] can’ to support a constitutional amendment that would prohibit gay marriage in California indefinitely.

This is not the first time the Church has entered the political arena in support of the sanctity marriage.  Now, Church members will be galvanised into voting for this amendment.

The admendment is in response to a Supreme Court ruling that overturned a referendum on the subject.  Gay marriage is now legal, but the amendment would define marriage in the Constitution as between a man and a woman.

The letter states: ‘Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.’

I caught the ‘genealogy bug’ a few years ago.  My grandmother, who converted me to the Church, was zealous in getting her family history work done.  Together with our ward family history consultant, she got hundreds of names prepared and submitted to the temple.  Finding out that I am a descendant of William the Conqueror, I do admit, was quite a push to do my own research.

With so much of my father’s line done (my grandmother, brother and I are the only members of our family to have joined the Church on the Earth), I set about looking into my mother’s line.  After much procrastination, I submitted my maternal grandparents to the temple and had the privilege of being confirmed for my grandfather.  As I am unendowed still, I am now relying on other people to get the further ordinances completed.  Anyway, after my grandparents’ baptisms and confirmation, I had the distinct impression, which has remained with me since, that my grandmother accepted or embraced her baptism.  After she was endowed (my other grandmother was proxy!), I again received the same impression.  I think that was one of the reasons why the Spirit of Elijah has touched me so much: I was spiritually enthralled by those promptings.

Since then, I really got into genealogy.  My mother’s family is South African.  Finding information for the South African deceased is somewhat of a challenge.  After finding that our National Archives has conveniently indexed a considerable amount of their records, I searched the website.  South African death notices contain a wealth of information, including the deceased’s parents, children, spouse or spouses, et cetera.  I found one of my great-grandparents and felt that first ‘kick’ that only finding an ancestor can bring.

Since then, I’ve expanded on my father’s line as well, making use of Ancestry.co.uk, whose databases are truly invaluable.  I have thus become so into genealogy that I am certain it will be a life-long hobby.

Naturally, upon hearing about New FamilySearch, I was caught into the snare!  I think that I am now obsessed with it, despite the fact that the Johannesburg temple is only going live sometime next month.  I am so captivated by the concept and to hear that President Hinckley asked for it gives the project that divine stamp of approval.

Earlier this year, I discovered that FamilySearch has been commandeering a massive indexing project and that they invite volunteers to assist in digitising the entire vault in Salt Lake City.  I naturally volunteered and eventually got my grandmother into doing it.  She does at least one batch every day.  I haven’t the time to do that, but I nevertheless do do as much as possible.

Having recently assisted in transcribing Irish marriage indices, I am most excited for the advent of the Irish birth, marriage and death indices to be made available on the pilot FamilySearch record search.  I Irish lines and since they decided to burn down their census records and make access to the BMD indices to difficult, I will be able break down many brick walls I have encountered.  Obviously, NFS will also be able to assist me in this regard as I am hopeful that I have long-lost family somewhere out there who have contributed to those lines I cannot find.

I often think of counsel I received from my ward family history consultant.  She said that since redeeming the dead is a third of the mission of the Church, a third of our time should be spent doing it.