by Nicole Dyer and Diana Elder, AG

OUT OF STOCK – purchase on Amazon

Full Family Tree? Can’t Find Research Opportunities?

Whether your family tree is partially filled out, mostly complete, or full with many Latter-day Saint relatives, this step-by-step method will help you discover new relatives and reserve their temple ordinances. You will review the accuracy of your tree, analyze your pedigree, and make a list of ancestors to research. Those with many Latter-day Saint relatives will locate research opportunities by diving deeper into tree analysis and listing ancestors who were not members of the Church.

Using descendancy research to find cousins will open doors for those will full family trees. Instead of selecting random ancestors, you will systematically view descendancy trees for each of the ancestors in your list. By evaluating each descendancy tree, you can determine which branches are most likely to contain candidates for further research likely to be found in available records. Once you have chosen a relative to focus on, you’ll begin a research project. Research begins by choosing a research question. Next you will create a simple research plan and research log. When you have completed your searches, you will then record what you found in FamilySearch, including adding sources and new relatives to the tree, and then write a summary of your research. After merging duplicates you will be ready to reserve temple ordinances.

After you’ve successfully found names for the temple, you can repeat the process by going back to your list of candidates for further research and begin again with a new research question. Now you won’t run out of research opportunities! As you research each relative one by one, you will grow to love them and think of them as friends. As President Eyring said, “your heart will be bound to theirs forever.”