Handbooks and Callings
Lesson 3: Gathering Information from Home

“Lesson 3: Gathering Information from Home,” Instructor’s Guide to Temple and Family History Work (2008), 8–10

“Lesson 3,” Instructor’s Guide, 8–10

Lesson 3

Gathering Information from Home

Objectives

When class members complete this lesson, they should be able to:

  • Understand what information is needed for temple work.

  • Understand the need to check their family information on the FamilySearch Internet site before gathering more information.

  • Begin gathering information from home sources.

Preparation

In preparation for this lesson:

  • Prayerfully study pages 10–12 of the Member’s Guide to Temple and Family History Work. Also review the section titled “Information Needed for Temple Work” on page 17 of the Member’s Guide.

  • Watch the following segments of the Temple and Family History Course DVD. (If you are not able to show the segments, you can cover some of the same information by presenting the discussion activity that follows the showing of the segments.)

    • “Information Needed for Temple Work” (5:51 minutes)

    • “Gathering Information from Home” (7:02 minutes)

  • Reserve a DVD player from the meetinghouse library for the class session.

  • Bring a cardboard box containing several examples of common family records or items from your home that might have genealogical information in them, such as birth, marriage, and death records; a family Bible; family history stories; newspaper clippings about the family; obituaries; or a journal. Prepare to show them to the class.

Review Assignments

Begin the class by briefly reviewing the assignments from the previous lesson. Ask class members:

  • How many of you were able to register on the FamilySearch Internet site? What challenges did you face while trying to register?

  • How many of you were able to find information about yourself or your family on the Internet site?

  • How many of you were able to print a family pedigree and family group records for three or four generations of your family?

If any class members were unable to register on the Internet site and print their family information, make arrangements to help them complete these assignments.

Key Points

1. Information Needed for Temple Work

Explain that as class members gather information, they should know what information is needed to do temple work for their ancestors.

CD Icon
DVD Presentation

Before showing this DVD segment, ask class members to look for the types of information that will enable them to do temple work for their ancestors.

Show “Information Needed for Temple Work” (5:51 minutes).

Discuss

Ask class members to discuss the information that is needed to do temple work for a person. Read together “Information Needed for Temple Work” on page 17 of the Member’s Guide.

Help class members understand that they should gather as much information as possible to ensure that temple ordinances are not duplicated and to provide a solid foundation for future research.

2. Use the FamilySearch Internet Site

Ask class members to look at the family pedigree and family group records that they printed from the FamilySearch Internet site. Invite them to share what they learned about their family.

Help them do the following:

  • Review the information on their printed records.

  • Identify and correct obvious errors.

  • Add missing information.

  • See if there are temple ordinances that can be done.

Emphasize that if the records show that ordinances can be performed for an ancestor, class members can go to the temple immediately to do this work. They can refer to pages 32–33 in the Member’s Guide for instructions on how to perform temple ordinances.

Explain that if class members do not have enough information about some ancestors for temple ordinances to be performed, this course will help them learn how to gather the necessary information and add it to the FamilySearch Internet site.

3. Gather Information from Home Sources

Explain that class members may find some excellent family history information by:

  • Recording family history information from their memories.

  • Looking for records that exist in their homes.

CD Icon
DVD Presentation

Before showing this DVD segment, ask class members to look for ways to gather family history information that exists in their homes.

Show “Gathering Information from Home” (7:02 minutes).

Discuss

Ask class members to identify objects or records they might find in their homes that could contain useful family history information (see items listed on page 11 of the Member’s Guide).

Show

Show class members the box containing the records you have gathered. Show the records to the class members, and discuss the types of records that class members might expect to find in their homes.