Indexing

I spoke very shortly about indexing in the previous post but I would like to expand on the topic now.  I have a special place in my heart for indexing.  My Mom's Father died of cancer when she was sixteen.  One day when I was showing her the website familysearch.org we decided to try to find her Dad.  She was so excited when we found census records that had his name and family living in the household with him.  The census was taken when he was just one year old.  She was able to clear up some questions about his family that were present also.  Then we searched for her Grandfather and found a WWII draft card with his information and signature on it.  She was so excited that she went home and showed my Great Aunt, my Great Grandfather's only surviving daughter. 

                              

None of this would have been possible if it hadn't been for volunteers who index records on family search.org.  It is a free website offered to the public by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Anyone can index records to help further the mission of family history.  All you need to do to get started is go to https://familysearch.org/volunteer/indexing and click 'Get Started' to download the free software.  If you would like to try it out first without downloading there is a short tutorial.  Click on 'Test Drive'. 

It's fun, easy and takes little time.  You can index a batch (group of names) in less than half an hour.  There is a check and balance system in place so that you don't have to worry too much about making a mistake.  Another indexer will index the same record and if there are discrepencies then an arbitrator checks over both records and makes changes.  It's really neat seeing pages from history and being part of such an amazing worldwide project.

For more information about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints go to Mormon.org.

Callings

Each member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is given a calling in the Church.  I think callings are a great way to keep people active in the Church, feel a part of the community and get things done.  I have had many callings since I became a member.  Here are a few of my favorites (in no specific order):

• Young Woman Secretary - I got to participate in Young Women (ages 13 to 17) meetings, teach, and best of all, go to Young Women's camp.
• Gospel Doctrine Teacher - Gospel Doctrine is Adult Sunday School.  I love to teach and really enjoyed preparing and teaching the adults every Sunday.
• Media Center Assistant - It was fun to work in the Church Library.  I got to know the materials and see a lot of people.  I like categorizing and organizing.  I also loved checking out all of the movies the Library had available.
• Choir Director - Although it's tough to get participants for the choir and I felt like I was always advertising for more singers, I loved leading the choir.  I was able to pick the music that the choir sang and chose some of my favorite songs that I hadn't heard in a while.
• 5 Year Old Primary Teacher - As I said before, I love to teach.  Teaching the 5 year olds was polar opposite to teaching adults as Gospel Doctrine Teacher.  The 5 year olds were a lot of fun.  I loved coming up with new and fun ways to get them to learn.  I also liked planning the message for sharing time when it was our turn to teach the Junior Primary.
• Family History Consultant - My husband and I were called to be Family History Consultants when we moved to our new Ward.  We went into member's homes who wanted to learn how to do family history searches on their own computers through familysearch.org and enter their family history in new.familysearch.org.  We also held informational seminars in the Church Family History Center for the Young Women and taught a Family History Presentation for a Relief Society meeting.  The best thing about this calling was that I learned a lot about Family History myself and began indexing records through familysearch.org

I testify that the Church's practice of extending callings to members is divinely inspired.  I have been blessed in so many ways in my callings as I have performed my duties and furthered the mission of the Church.  To learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints please visit Mormon.org.

Visiting Teaching

I guess there really isn't a great place to start and I don't have time today to start at the beginning.  Perhaps, some day soon I will sit down and tell that story but for now I'll start with today. 

I went visiting teaching.  Visiting teaching is a program that the LDS Church has where each woman is assigned a partner and the pair are given two or three women in their area to visit once a month.  The Church also has a home teaching program similar to visiting teaching where the men are assigned partners and have families to visit.  Having gone through Divinity School and learned that it is usually the Pastor's job to visit and check on all of the members of his/her congregation I especially recognize the importance of this program.  I testify that the visiting teaching and home teaching programs issued by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are inspired of Heavenly Father.

For more information about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints please click here.