Most people seem to realize that genealogy occupies a special place in the Latter Day Saint faith, but do they know why Mormon genealogy is such a popular avocation among the Latter Day Saints? Once you know more about Mormon history, you will understand why genealogy is so important to members of the Latter Day Saint (LDS) faith.

Enduring Family Relationships

Latter Day Saints believe that individuals must be baptized and receive the ordinances of the temple before they can be resurrected and live forever in the afterlife. Once an LDS believer is baptized and receives the ordinances of the temple, the believer is "sealed" for all eternity to his or her ancestors and descendants but only if they, too, have also been baptized and have received the ordinances of the temple.

Mormonism is a relatively new religion, and one of their self-made tragedies is that dead ancestors who were not Mormon believers cannot be baptized and therefore are not sealed to the believer; those ancestors are lost for all eternity.

Sealed By Proxy

The Latter Day Saint faith, however, provides a way for modern-day Latter Day Saints to rescue ancestors who either chose not to be baptized during their lifetimes or who lived before the Latter Day Saint faith began. If Latter Day Saints can definitively identify their relatives who have passed, they can accomplish baptism and the ordinances of the temple by proxy.

Imagine having the opportunity to potentially save millions of individuals by identifying LDS ancestors and having them baptized by proxy. The opportunity is irresistible to most Latter Day Saints, so they use Mormon genealogy to find not only their ancestors, but ancestors of other Saints. Mormon genealogy is so important to Latter Day Saints because it is the process by which they identify and save their ancestors, sealing them to the Latter Day Saints for all eternity.

Research Resources

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints makes the most extensive genealogy research record collection available to everyone so that Latter Day Saints all over the world can conduct Mormon genealogy search resources to find their lost relatives.

In addition to the on line databases that the LDS church provides, serious researchers should also plan a visit to the state of Utah, the Latter Day Saints world headquarters. Visitors to Utah will find extensive Mormon genealogy resources at the genealogy library at the Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, which is open to the public, and at the public library in Salt Lake City, Utah.