Using TempleReady

Brother White, a convert, wanted to do temple work for his deceased family members, but he needed names listed in a family Bible that his sister would not share with him.

One day, Sister White was walking to visit a relative who lived three miles from her when the Holy Spirit prompted her to visit Brother White’s sister, who lived three miles in the other direction. The Whites did not have a car, so Sister White decided that she would go the next day. But three times she felt impressed to go immediately. She did. When she arrived she was greeted with these words: “We were just talking about you. Here is that family Bible you have been wanting.”

With great excitement, the Whites set out to clear the names through TempleReady™. They knew that they could have the ward consultant do it for them or do it themselves. The Whites decided to include their teenage son, Carl, who was interested in preparing the names of his ancestors for the temple. They took all of the family’s information with them to the FamilySearch® workstation. Together they checked the FamilySearch files and found no record of work previously done for these ancestors. (Because these ancestors were not members and did not tie into pioneer ancestry, checking FamilySearch files was all that was needed.) Then they were ready to have Carl type the names into the blank spaces on the TempleReady screen. They obtained two diskettes at the FamilySearch workstation and, with the help of their ward consultant, began.

Carl typed in the names, birth dates and places, marriage dates and places, and death dates for each person. He answered the few questions presented on the computer screen by pressing the appropriate keys.

The Whites learned that TempleReady files are international in scope, so they wrote out the names of states and did not use the two-letter abbreviations.

They understood that if a person was born within the last 95 years they should not submit the name for temple work without permission from the widow or widower, if still living, or from the children.

After Carl typed all the names into TempleReady, the computer checked to see if the temple work had already been done by searching a small selection of records in the ordinance index and its addendum, selected from the state in which the person was born or married. The names needing ordinances were then placed on a diskette and a paper report printed.

Brother and Sister White carefully proofread the report for correct spellings, dates, relationships, and ordinances approved. They also made sure that the names were marked Family File and that they were to be sent to the correct temple.

When they found an error, they brought the file back into the computer from the diskette, made the corrections, resaved the file, and reprinted the TempleReady paper report. Then they made a backup copy on a second diskette in case the original diskette were lost or damaged.

The Whites noted on their family records which ordinances had been submitted so that they would not submit them again. Then they mailed the diskette to the temple. Their plans included having their teenage children do the baptisms and the adults participate in the initiatory ordinances, endowment sessions, and sealings. They looked forward to sharing this special family experience.—Elizabeth L. Nichols, Salt Lake City, Utah