Legacy Family Tree Genealogy Software

Avoiding Duplication of Temple Work

Seven Simple Steps

President Gordon B. Hinckley in his opening remarks to the October 2005 Semi-Annual General Conference of the Church said:

One of the most troublesome aspects of our temple activity is that as we get more and more temples scattered across the earth there is duplication of effort in proxy work. People in various nations simultaneously work on the same family lines and come up with the same names.

While better technology is being developed to alleviate this problem, there is also much that members can do personally to make sure that duplication of temple ordinances does not occur. The first and most important thing that can be done is to avoid mass submission of hundreds of names at a time. The likelihood of duplication increases exponentially the further back in time we go. An ancestor who lived three or four hundred years ago may have hundreds of thousands of living descendants today, with many who have joined the Church and have submitted ancestral names for temple work now or in the past.

To avoid this problem concentrate on the submission by just a one or two family groups in your direct ancestral line at a time. More thoughtful attention can be given to just a few selected ancestral families. On the other hand, it's much harder to be thorough and careful when you are batch submitting hundreds of people at a time ̶ many of whom may not be directly related to you. In short, if you are not part of the solution, you might be part of the problem.

The following steps may seem time consuming, but consider which is better: an hour or two of careful preparation now, or wasted hours laboring in the temple needlessly duplicating ordinances? In addition, duplication can only delay the temple work for those on the other side of the veil who have never had their ordinances completed at all and who are anxiously waiting. Here are some things to do in Legacy Family Tree that will greatly help.

Use the Legacy Deluxe Advanced Set Living utility to set as dead individuals who are over 110 years old. If you get a Dates Need Verification warning message, print the Log file and then research and correct the problems. Optionally you can also run a Potential Problems report.
Be sure to exclude living individuals from your submissions.

a. To exclude living individuals click on Search on the menu bar and select Find on the pulldown menu.
b. Next select the Detailed Search tab and set the following primary conditions:

Look for whom? = Individual

Where to look = Living

How to look = Equal To

What to look for = NO

c. Select Clear List before this search and then click Create List. This will create a subset of the Name List called the Search List. It will show only individuals who are marked as not living.
d. Close the Search List.

Next generate an LDS Ordinance Report to help you select the families you want to qualify for TempleReady submission.

a. Click on Reports on the menu bar and select All Reports (Books and others) from the pulldown menu.
b. In the Reports screen click LDS Ordinances.
c. In the LDS Ordinance Report screen set the following options on the Include tab:

Records with one or more missing ordinance dates

And only individuals on the current Search List

Make no changes on the Options tab

Preview and/or print the LDS Ordinances (One or More Missing) Report and close the report windows.

Tag the family or families you wish to qualify for TempleReady. (Click Here to view a video demonstration of tagging.)

a. Make sure Legacy's tagging options are turned on by clicking on Options on the menu bar and selecting Customize. In the Customize screen select the General tab and check Enable tagging options and click Save.
b. In Legacy's main screen select the Family tab.
c. Navigate to the head of a family you want to qualify.
d. With the right mouse button click on any one of his/her tag boxes.
e. In the Advanced Tagging screen click Clear All Tags, All Levels, for Everyone, then select tag level 1, 2 or 3. (You must select only one of these tag levels. Don't use any tag levels higher than 3.)
f. Next click the Family button and in the Spouse List screen choose your options and then click Select Spouse or All Spouses button.

Next check for temple work that has already been done (or has been cleared).

a. Click on the Temple button and select Search IGI for completed Ordinances.
b. Click the Filter List button and select Individuals With a Tag of then set the tag level used in step 4e above and click Create Filtered List.
c. Set your other options as wanted and click Search All.
d. When all of the searches are complete click View Matches and update the individual records.
e. If you need assistance, please click the Help button for additional information.

At this point you are now ready to select your names for TempleReady submission.

a. Click on the Temple button and select Create TempleReady Submission File. The Name List will open with the Temple tab selected.
b. At the bottom of the Name List, click Search, then select Show All Tagged and click the tag level you have been using in step 4e.
c. Next click the blue down arrow button (next to the Submit button) and select Quick Qualify Groups of People.
d. In the Quick Qualify screen click the Submit All tab, then select Qualify everyone in the current list and click the Qualify Everyone in List button.

When finished proceed to create a TempleReady GEDCOM file.

a. Click TempleReady to continue on and generate the GEDCOM file containing all the qualified submissions. This is the file you take to the Family History Center and process in the TempleReady program.
b. Be sure you include the compiler information and add Submitted plus the date to ordinance date fields.
c. Additional information is available by clicking Help in the screen that you are working in.

Guidelines for Submitting for Temple Ordinances Names of Persons Born Before A.D. 1500

1. Submit only names of persons in your direct-line ancestral families.

2. Regardless of your relationship, do not submit the names of British or European royalty or their families, famous individuals, or historical leaders. All temple ordinances have already been completed for those individuals. Names of many individuals born before A.D. 1500 are on the Ancestral File without completed ordinance dates. The temple ordinances have been completed, however, and the dates will appear on future editions.

3. After identifying the names of direct-line ancestors who were born before A.D. 1500 and for whom you believe the temple ordinances have not been completed, follow the procedures below to prepare those names for processing:

a. In Legacy, tag only those records that are direct-line ancestors to you. (See Tagging Records for more information.)

b. From the Name List, display only the tagged individuals. To do this, click the Options button near the lower-left corner of the window, click Show All Tagged and then choose Tag #1 Individuals. (If you have tagged the ancestors with a different tag number, choose that number instead.)

c. Click the Options button on the Temple tab and choose Change Cutoff Date.

d. Click Only Submit Individuals BEFORE the year: and make sure the year is set to 1500. Click OK.

e. Proceed to qualify the desired individuals. (But don�t click the TempleReady button.)

f. Since you cannot clear the names through TempleReady, you will have to print out the list of qualified names and check them manually, one at a time. To print the list:

g. Click the Options button on the Temple tab and then choose Filter the List of Names.

h. Click the All Individuals Currently Marked for Submission button. Now, only the people being submitted will appear in the Name List.

i. To print the list, click the Print button below the Name List and choose Print TempleReady Report. Click the Preview or Print button to produce the report.

j. Take the printed list to the Family History Center and use FamilySearch (but not TempleReady) to carefully check the Ordinance Index and the Ordinance Index Addendum, and Ancestral File to verify whether the temple ordinances have already been completed. (TempleReady will not attempt to qualify anyone born before the year 1500.) Be advised that the surnames, dates, and localities in these files may vary from the information you may have for the same individuals. This is very common for records from that time period. Often the name of the country or the locality is used as a surname. Dates are usually calculated and may differ as much as two hundred years. These variations in identification do not affect the validity of the temple ordinances. TempleReady is not able to check for every possible name, date, and locality variation and so a careful search of the Ordinance Index, Ordinance Index Addendum, and Ancestral File is necessary to avoid duplication of temple ordinances.

k. Cross off the names from your printed list that you find have already been done.

l. Back in Legacy, remove the submission marks for the people that have already had the temple ordinances completed. Do this by highlighting each of these individuals, clicking on the down arrow to the right of the Submit button, and choosing Unsubmit Current Individual.

m. After you have unsubmitted all the individuals that have had their ordinances already completed, click the TempleReady button and create a submission file. (See Create TempleReady Submission File for more information.)

n. Send the resulting GEDCOM file, with a pedigree chart showing your relationship to the deceased persons whose names you are submitting, to the Medieval Families Unit, Family History Department, 50 East North Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150, where additional sources will be examined to ensure that the ordinance work has not been completed. The department will then send those names, which qualify for ordinances to the temple you indicate in a cover letter sent with your submission.

The Family History Department appreciates your efforts in ensuring that this work is completed in an orderly manner and without unnecessary duplication.