A nice long title for a blog, is it not?
Once your ancestors have been identified, the next step is to prepare the information that is needed in order to complete the ordinance work in the temple. Some of the information can be estimated, as long as most of the data is as accurate as you can possible make it. You need to have at least:
For the baptism and endowment –
The name of the ancestor
Their gender
An event date (for instance, a birth date or death date)
An event place (where they were born, died)
For sealing to parents –
The first or last name (or both) of the father
All the information above
Sealing to Spouse –
Name of the husband
Marriage date
Marriage place
This information is the barest minimum. You can successfully perform the ordinance work with this small amount of information, but if you can, you should provide all of it. First names, last names, middle names, counties and towns of birth – anything you can add to the skeleton to make a more fleshed-out structure from which to work.
A note about names. If you find, for instance, that your great-grandmother’s name was Elizabeth but she often went by Betty, include that on the submission. Write it as “Elizabeth or Betty.” In addition, if you have the man’s information but are unsure as to his wife’s name, you can call her “Mrs.” If his name is Tom Jones, put “Mrs. Tom Jones” on the submission and you’ll be just fine. The Lord knows us all individually and He knows who we mean – He’ll see to it that the blessings of the endowment get extended to the proper person on the other side of the veil.
This process of preparing a name for submission is possibly the most thrilling part of the process. You’ve found the ancestor and you are getting ready to extend to them the saving ordinances. Bless you for doing this work – they will be grateful to you forever.
Related Blogs:
Author Interview — Trina Boice
Temple Ordinances for the Dead