Thoughts on Reality and Your Temple List

In talking to people about their genealogy the last few days, I have been mentioning the Ordinances Ready app. Some of the responses have surprised me. One couple explained that they didn't need to use the Ordinances Ready app because they had 3000 names on their Temple list and they were supplying names to their family members. Of course, I am also aware that many other people have far greater numbers of individuals on their Temple lists into the tens and even the hundreds of thousands.

First of all, I cannot imagine accurately finding that many validly sourced people without simply copying names from records without actually doing any individual verification. But more importantly, in effect, you are creating your own private "Spirit Prison" without knowing the actual people involved in your list. As long as those people are sitting on your reserved list, it is not possible for anyone else to do their Temple work and you are effectively keeping those people in the Spirit World from their progression even if they are ready and waiting for the ordinances to be done. Do you really want to face all those people when you personally go to the Spirit World?

FamilySearch has yet to set a limit as to the number of names that can be reserved at one time, but I imagine that if FamilySearch sees a continuation of the accumulation of names in the Reserved Lists, limiting to the total allowed will become a possible solution. However, there is presently no need to accumulate a huge list of names. All of those extra names, more than a few months or maybe a year's worth, should be shared with the Temples. Granted, there may be a backlog of names for the Temples, but that is being resolved regularly by the dedication of new Temples.

Here is what I am doing. I am still researching and adding people to the FamilySearch Family Tree but I am not reserving any more names than I presently have for my own list. I am sharing all the names I find directly with the Temples. This way, given the way the Ordinances Ready app finds names, any member of my family can find these shared names by using the app. If I need a name or names to take to the Temple, I can use the app also to reserve a name I may have already shared. I can get names off of my shared list. Yes, as long as the names haven't been printed, I can get them back.

Guess what? FamilySearch is telling me when someone performs the ordinances for one of the people on my shared list so I can still see the work is being done. There is no real incentive to keep more than a few names on my private reserved list. In fact, I am sharing all the women on my list with the Temples because there are none of the women in my family who need names because of their own work or because of Ordinances Ready.

Additionally, if I use the Ordinances Ready app to find more names for the Temples, I can find new names fairly quickly should I use up all the names on my shared list (which is not going to happen). So look at your list realistically. Share everything on your list and start using the Ordinances Ready app to supply your own names and encourage your family members to obtain their own names from the Ordinances Ready app. That way, you may have a more pleasant experience meeting your relatives on the other side.