Liahona
The “Ordinances Ready” Tool: Temple and Family History Work Made Easy
February 2024

“The ‘Ordinances Ready’ Tool: Temple and Family History Work Made Easy,” Liahona, Feb. 2024, United States and Canada Section.

The “Ordinances Ready” Tool: Temple and Family History Work Made Easy

By Margot Hovley

Church Magazines

With the Ordinances Ready feature in FamilySearch, finding a person who needs temple work in your ancestry has never been easier.

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hands working with an app on a cell phone

In these challenging times, we need all the help we can get to stay spiritually strong. Attending the temple regularly is a wonderful way to keep our testimonies robust and to build a protective shield for spiritual safety. The temple helps us think of Jesus Christ and centers our lives on Him. President Russell M. Nelson has taught: “The temple lies at the center of strengthening our faith and spiritual fortitude because the Savior and His doctrine are the very heart of the temple. Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power.”1

Finding Family Names

An especially meaningful temple experience is possible when you perform ordinances for your own kindred dead. As children of God, we are all brothers and sisters, but doing temple work for someone in your family line is a powerful way to connect with the divine and with ancestors who made our lives possible and stand ready across the veil to assist us. Finding a person who needs temple work in your ancestry has never been easier.

Consider these two examples:

New Member

Mary had been a member of the Church for two years and was just starting to fill in her family tree. Her ward family history consultant helped her find ancestors the first few times she went to the temple. The next time she planned to attend the temple, she wanted to do some initiatory work and decided to see if she could obtain an ordinance card on her own.

Following the steps for Ordinances Ready outlined below, Mary logged on to the Family Tree mobile app to quickly find an ancestor who needed initiatory work, but she didn’t have a printer available. She saved the card to her cell phone photos, and a temple worker printed the card for her when she arrived.

Longtime Member

John’s family had been a part of the Church for many generations. He wanted to go to the temple on behalf of a family member but assumed there wouldn’t be any persons with work left to do since his family had been active in temple work for such a long time. His ward family history consultant invited him to give Ordinances Ready a try.

John followed the steps, selecting the ordinance he wanted to perform. He was surprised and excited to see Ordinances Ready find a person—a fifth cousin, twice removed. He printed the card on his home computer and took it with him to the temple. With a special joy in his heart, John was able to perform the ordinance for a family member.

Ordinance Cards—Fast

With the Ordinances Ready feature, you can tap a button on your Family Tree app and have family names ready in minutes. Ordinances Ready first searches your family tree up to 10 generations back, and then if no ordinances are available, a name that has been shared with the temple will be found for you. You’re guaranteed to be given a name to take to the temple.

The Ordinances Ready feature finds enough ordinances for your next temple session:

  • 4 or 5 baptisms and confirmations

  • 3 to 5 initiatory ordinances

  • 1 endowment

  • Up to 5 sealings to spouse

  • Up to 10 sealings to parents

Steps for FamilySearch.org

  1. Sign in to FamilySearch.org and do either of the following:

    • Go to the home page and find the Ordinances Ready box.

    • Click Temple and then Ordinances Ready.

  2. Click an ordinance type.

  3. At the bottom of the screen, click Take to the Temple.

  4. A box appears with instructions on how to print your family name card. Click Continue.

    • If you have a printer, print out the family name card.

    • If you lack a printer, you receive a 16-digit family ordinance number. Write down the number and take it to the temple.

  5. (Optional) Take some time to learn more about each person you reserved ordinances for:

    • To see more about the person, click the person’s name and then click View Person.

    • To see how you are related to him or her, click View Relationship.

Steps for Family Tree App

  1. In the Family Tree mobile app, open your temple list:

    • iOS: At the bottom of the screen, tap Temple.

    • Android: In the top left corner of the screen, tap the menu icon (three lines), and then tap Temple.

  2. At the bottom of the screen, tap Ordinances Ready (if you do not see it, update your Family Tree mobile app).

  3. Select Male or Female.

  4. Select the ordinance that you want to complete.

  5. Tap View People.

    • You can deselect any ordinances from this list. Tap the check mark next to the individual’s name.

  6. (Optional) Take some time to learn more about each person on the list. Tap View Person or View Relationship. Then tap the back arrow on your device.

  7. Tap Continue.

  8. Tap the option that you prefer:

    • To print at home, tap View Cards.

    • Without a printer: Tap Save to Photos. Take your phone with you when you go to the temple, and a temple worker can print the cards for you.