Called to Serve the World

Family History Church Service Missionary Opportunity

“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 …… We, therefore, have been engaged for some time in a very difficult undertaking. To avoid such duplication, the solution lies in complex computer technology. Preliminary indications are that it will work, and if this is so, it will be a truly remarkable thing with worldwide implications.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley, October 2005 General Conference

The Family History Department is looking for individuals to serve as Church Service Missionaries called to support the release of the new FamilySearch program as the program is deployed to temple districts throughout the world. Missionaries are also needed to answer phone calls and / or e-mails regarding other aspects of family history such as Family History Center Support, Internet Indexing, PAF, Family Search and other programs.

Missionaries will have early access to the new FamilySearch program and will be trained via a self-paced training curriculum that can be accessed from home.

Missionaries will serve completely from home in this capacity; there is no requirement for any travel. Missionaries will receive help and support via a variety of computer and internet-based systems as they seek to provide accurate and timely responses to patrons around the world.

The opportunity is available immediately.

In order to be called as a Church Service Missionary for the Family History Department, one should:

• Meet with their bishop and stake president to discuss the Church Service Missionary call
• Be willing to commit to at least a 6 month call, and preferably 12-30 months
• Be able to commit to at least 12-20 hours a week, preferably in 4 hour increments
• Have some prior family history experience
• Have a DSL/Broadband Internet connection
  

Potential Church Service Missionary candidates should be those currently unable to serve a full-time mission due to health, family or other concerns. Stake presidents and bishops should look at this opportunity to serve as an ideal one for temple-worthy young men and women that are unable to serve full-time missions in the mission field.

Comments from those currently serving in this capacity include:

• “I am grateful that it isn’t only the 19 or 21-year old…or the retired, that are capable of, or willing to serve a mission…to learn and grow spiritually, while being of benefit to others. Next to the Lord and my family…family history is my greatest love in the world. Serving a mission—even part-time-- from home is an opportunity of a lifetime for me…a dream come true,…for I love serving the Lord”
  

• “I could not now, nor do I think I ever will be able to go on a mission outside of the confines of our home. While this saddens and disappoints me, I appreciate the fact that now I can make some small contribution from my home. This blessing gives some comfort to me because I really do want to serve.”
  

• “It is the Lord's work, and I feel highly privileged to be accepted as a Church Service Missionary at this time of my life, when many think my time of usefulness is past.”

• “We came home and served two years in the temple and then my husband died and I felt like my life died. My bishop knew how I felt and came to me and suggested this mission since I had a computer and had done quite a lot of genealogy. It has been a life saver.”

• “This calling of Family History Support Missionary is one of sitting down at a computer with little physical labor. I feel that the Lord has answered my prayers for a position I could handle and help build the kingdom.”

We are certain that similar, rich experiences can occur in many of the stakes and wards across North America as Church Service Missionaries are called to support this work. Missionaries are truly a necessary part of this remarkable work with worldwide implications.