Navigating new.familysearch.org

New.familysearch.org is the web site members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints use to prepare family names to perform ordinance work in our halela'a/temple on behalf of our ancestors so they can be eternal families.

To set up an account, members just need their membership record number which can be obtained from the ward clerk, or which is also found on ordinance paperwork, and an email account. (A blessing when you've forgotten your username or password.)

(Not to confuse new.familysearch.org with www.familysearch.org.. The latter is a free database of genealogical records and pedigrees which can be accessed by anyone.)

Before we add ancestors into the new.familysearch.org database, it's important to use the 'Search' tab to make sure they have not already been entered. (I spend a good amount of time clearing up duplicate entries on my ancestral lines- largely a result of dedicated family members before the era of new.familysearch.org who were all working independently on our ancestral lines...This site now allows us to see what already has been done so we can focus our attention on ancestors who are missing.)

Today our Family History class started navigating through the new.familysearch site, getting used to the layout. 

I am really excited for the class to get more comfortable with the site, especially since many people have already been heavily involved in researching their ancestors.

I love learning more about our class member's through their family stories. They all have such strong impressions and aloha regarding their families and this work. It has been a huge blessing for me to learn from them and their backgrounds.