Mormons. Sect in genealogy

Genealogical research, studying archives in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, as well as around the world, were interested and interested not only by genealogists – amateurs and professionals, but also by the sect of the people called “Mormons”, the official name “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”, sometimes shortened to Latter-day Saints or “Mormons” is a religious organization of restorationist origin, the largest branch of “mormonism”. A number of teachings and rituals of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have no analogues in Christianity. Mormon cosmology and the “plan of salvation” include the doctrines of the “premortal existence.” To attain the divine state, a person must believe in Jesus Christ and undergo a series of rites in the temple (“endowment” and “sealing of eternal marriage”). Men and women can be “sealed” with each other so that the marriage union has power in the afterlife.

When I personally had to talk with representatives of the church, people are interesting, but obsessive, like any other sectarians. Although the center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake Temple) is located in Salt Lake City (Utah, USA), Mormon temples can be found all over the world. So how do Mormons relate to genealogy?

In the 90s, the state of the archives in the former USSR countries was in a rather deplorable condition, the documents were not properly stored, there were no specialized rooms, and for often it was the old churches and emergency cellars. Mormons offered to scan documents completely free of charge with their technology and leave copies to archives. Mormons began microfilming archives back in 1938. They did a great job, thanks to their microfilms, thousands of documents have been preserved that we can use. Mormons created a family history library (Salt Lake City), which includes more than 300,000 books, 2.5 million microfilms, and more than 825,000 microfiches. Approximately 4,200 units of data are added to the collection each month. The library stores records of the names of several billion departed people. In 2007, they began digitizing microfilm and began publishing their collections online. They have worked with over 10,000 archives in more than 100 countries around the world. On June 23, 2014, FamilySearch announced the online publication of 1,000,000 digital copies. “FamilySearch” is the official website where you can build your family tree on-line, and find information about your ancestors, just with the help of these archived data. You can also contact family history centers where you can use these microfilms. Or buy, ordering online those microfilms that you need.

For what the church needs it, we can only guess. Should you turn to Mormons only you decide. I think I need to use all the search capabilities, but only carefully. Do not forget that this is still a sect and all the same recruitment methods work there, as in other common sects. But thanks must be given to the Mormons, without their help, thousands of documents would be lost without a trace about people who no longer exist, but which will give us the beginning of our search.

Good luck in finding.