Issue 29.17
FamilySearch announced the release of a fun new feature that connects you with ancestors of Utah pioneers who served missions in the first hundred years of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Early Mormon Missionaries database, announced at RootsTech 2016 by Elder Steven E. Snow, is a collaborative effort between FamilySearch, the Church History Library, and the Church’s Missionary Department to match FamilySearch users’ family trees with the database to identify early missionaries. If the feature finds a match, you will see digital images of your missionary ancestor’s call and acceptance letters, mission journals, and possibly even photos. FamilySearch is a free service.
Over 1.1 million LDS members have connections to the information in the database, but you don’t need to be a Mormon to have ancestral ties to the global Church. The Early Mormon Missionaries database found at https://familysearch.org/missionary includes records of over 40,000 Church missionaries that served between 1830 and 1930. The feature contains resources like bios, setting-apart information, call letters, mission journals, registries, and photos. You can also contribute additional information your family might have about your missionary ancestor.
To see if you are a descendant of early Mormon missionaries, visit the Early Mormon Missionaries database. https://familysearch.org/missionary You will view a personalized page that reveals the identities and stories of any of your early missionary ancestors.
The calls to serve and corresponding letters of acceptance give insight into the lives of these faithful people. Most of them lived in poor circumstances and were married with children. Many had travelled long distances and were establishing their homes when they received their letter to serve a mission. In their written replies to the Church, examples of great faith mixed with incredible hardships were depicted. Some explained their financial problems and requested time to clear up any debts or finish school or to deal with family urgencies. But they accepted in impressive numbers, serving in the US and abroad. Some served two or three times while their faithful wives and families held down the home front during already difficult times.
For more information, contact Shanna Jones at shannasjones@msn.com