Did Proxy Baptism Make Obama’s Mother Mormon?
Filed under: Mormon Temples: Purposes and Promises, News, Public Issues, Saving Ordinances, Temples, Work for the Dead
The stories are circulating the internet that President Obama’s mother is now a Mormon according to Mormon records, because a posthumus baptism was done on her behalf. It’s important to understand how names come to be submitted and what it means when the work is done. It does not mean she is a Mormon; nor does it mean her name has been added to church membership records.
Mormons are instructed they must only submit names of direct ancestors and their immediate family (parents, siblings, etc.) unless they have permission from the family. Not every Mormon knows the rule, however, although it is written in the places where submissions are made, and many feel they are helping people they consider special by submitting their names. Therefore, when a name is inappropriately submitted, it is due to a misunderstanding of the rules by the member who submitted it. Since they can be submitted online, there is generally not a worker who can ask them about the names they’ve submitted. The church itself does not submit these names and does not give permission for the practice. Of course, as you go further back into a famous person’s genealogy, there are LDS church members who can legitimately submit the names because they are also descendants of the ancestors. Read more
Worthy to Enter the Temple
I’ve written briefly about the importance of Family History work to Mormons but I wish to elaborate on what is required of Mormons to be able to enter the Temple to do this important work.
Besides baptism, Latter-Day Saints must obtain their own endowment before they can perform any ordinances for the dead.
Elder James E. Talmage in The House of the Lord Deseret Book Co., 1968, pp. 83–84, defined the Endowment for us:
“The Temple Endowment, as administered in modern temples, comprises instruction relating to the significance and sequence of past dispensations, and the importance of the present as the greatest and grandest era in human history. This course of instruction includes a recital of the most prominent events of the creative period, the condition of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, their disobedience and consequent expulsion from that blissful abode, their condition in the lone and dreary world when doomed to live by labor and sweat, the plan of redemption by which the great transgression may be atoned, the period of the great apostasy, the restoration of the Gospel with all its ancient powers and privileges, the absolute and indispensable condition of personal purity and devotion to the right in present life, and a strict compliance with Gospel requirements. …
“The ordinances of the endowment embody certain obligations on the part of the individual, such as covenant and promise to observe the law of strict virtue and chastity, to be charitable, benevolent, tolerant and pure; to devote both talent and material means to the spread of truth and the uplifting of the race; to maintain devotion to the cause of truth; and to seek in every way to contribute to the great preparation that the earth may be made ready to receive her King,—the Lord Jesus Christ. With the taking of each covenant and the assuming of each obligation a promised blessing is pronounced, contingent upon the faithful observance of the conditions.”
Before Mormons are able to enter the Temple to receive the endowment they must receive a recommend from their Bishop and Stake President. A recommend is a slip of paper that, with the Bishop and Stake President’s signatures, will allow a person to enter the Temple. Receiving a recommend involves two steps, an interview with the Bishop and an interview with the Stake President. The questions asked are the same in both interviews:
1) Do you have a testimony of the Gospel?
2) Do you support your Local and General Authorities?
3) Do you accept and follow the teachings and programs of the Church?
4) Do you keep the Word of Wisdom
5) Are you morally clean?
6) Are you a member of good standing?
7) Are you free of legal entanglements?
Do you feel you are worthy to enter the Temple?
If the Bishop and Stake President discern that a member is truly worthy to enter the Temple, they will be given their recommend which is good for 2 years from its issue date.
It is then that members responsibility to utilize their recommend and perform work for those ancestors that may be waiting for it.
President Hinckley, in the May 1998 Ensign said:
“If temple ordinances are an essential part of the restored gospel, and I testify that they are, then we must provide the means by which they can be accomplished. All of our vast family history endeavor is directed to temple work. There is no other purpose for it. The temple ordinances become the crowning blessings the Church has to offer.”
I have a testimony that Temple work brings great blessings to both the living and the dead. If you are a member and are not worthy at this time to enter the Temple, I encourage you to begin making the effort. Pray to Heavenly Father to understand the importance of redeeming the dead. The Temple the most peaceful place on earth and is well worth any effort it might take to get there.
Has temple work already been performed for my Ancestors?
As I’ve mentioned before there is some additional genealogy work for Latter-Day Saints to complete. That of Temple work, where saving ordinances are performed for the dead by proxy. Before temple ordinances can be performed we have to find out which ancestors need those ordinances.
In Gospel Principles, Page 258, Fifth Paragraph, we read: “Temple Ordinances have been performed for the dead since the early days of the Church. Consequently, some ordinances for our ancestors may have already been done. To find out which ancestors need temple ordinances, we can look in two places. Our own family records might have information about what has been done. If not, the Church has a record of all ordinances that have been performed in the temple.”
The most current form of this record can be found on FamilySearch.org. FamilySearch was created and is maintained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and is the largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world. It contains a special feature just for members of the Church. That of being able to see if certain ordinances have been performed for various ancestors.
At the bottom of the Registration form there is a section titled: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Membership Information (Optional). Latter-Day Saints must fill out this portion if they wish to see what ordinances have been performed for their ancestors. The membership number that is asked for can be obtained from their Ward Clerk or from their own Temple Recommend. A Temple Recommend is a type of certificate given to members who are considered to be in good standing with the Church. A person may not enter the temple without a recommend. The confirmation date asked for can be obtained from the Ward Clerk.
Once registration is completed a church member will be able to sign on and begin their search for ancestors who have had their temple ordinances completed. This information can be obtained by searching the International Genealogical Index (IGI). This is done by clicking the SEARCH tab at the top of the page that appears after signing on. The next page that appears will have a list of links in a sidebar on the left. One of those link options reads, International Genealogical Index. Once this is clicked on, a page will appear with a number of search options. It is not necessary to fill every search option offered there. Once you have decided which options to fill, click the search button. You will be taken to a results page showing numbered results. Each number will have next to it the Name, Gender, and a date/place of either Birth, Marriage or Death for an individual. By clicking on the name of an individual you may then see more information about them. For Latter-Day Saints this includes a section titled: LDS Ordinances. This section will show what, if any temple work has been completed for that individual. There are several things that might appear:
* A capital B inside a blue box means Baptism. The date appearing next to that blue box is the date on which that individual was baptized.
* A capital P inside a blue box mean Sealing to Parents. The date appearing next to that blue box is the date on which the individual was sealed to their parents.
* A capital S inside a blue box means Sealing to Spouse. The date appearing next to that blue box is the date on which that individual was sealed to their spouse.
* A capital E inside a blue box means Endowed. The date appearing next to that blue box is the date on which that individual was endowed.
Sometimes an ordinance will appear but will not have a date next to it. Instead you will see either CHILD or CLEARED.
*CHILD indicates that the individual died before the age of baptism (age and therefore does not need those ordinances performed.
*CLEARED indicates that someone has submitted that ordinance to Temple Ready and that the temple work for that ordinance will be completed soon. TempleReady is a program created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and is used to submit individuals to an LDS temple so their ordinance work can be completed.
Another thing you might see next to the dates of ordinances that have been completed are the abbreviated names of the Temple at which the ordinance was completed.
You may notice as you use FamilySearch that there is a lot of duplicate information. This usually happens when multiple people submit the same name, with slightly varying information. This often happens because many people do not check FamilySearch to see if temple work has already been done or has been submitted for completion for an ancestor before submitting that name to TempleReady. Please be willing to check FamilySearch before submitting your ancestors names to TempleReady to avoid adding to the duplication on the site.
More than just Temple work
Upon hearing the term, work for the dead, many Latter-Day Saints think only of the actual performance of temple ordinances. But there are many other ways to contribute.
In the June 1989 Ensign Article Family History: “In Wisdom and Order” Elder Dallin H. Oaks says:
“…In the work of redeeming the dead there are many tasks to be performed…all members should participate by prayerfully selecting those ways that fit their personal circumstances at a particular time…Members of this church have many individual circumstances—age, health, education, place of residence, family responsibilities, financial circumstances, accessibility to sources for individual or library research, and many others. If we encourage members in this work without taking these individual circumstances into account, we may do more to impose guilt than to further the work…Our effort is not to compel everyone to do everything, but to encourage everyone to do something.”
I’d like to suggest the following ideas for contributing to Family History work:
1) Young Men and Young Women contribute to the work when they babysit for couples so that they may attend the temple. They also help when they attend their youth temple trips to be baptized for the dead.
2) Older members or those with fewer obligations in the home might volunteer in the Temple on a regular basis or consider serving a Temple mission. They might also help with the newest FamilySearch Family History program, FamilySearch Indexing.
3) Visit a cemetery and write down headstone information or take pictures of headstones to submit to an internet website such as the USGenweb, Find A Grave or Interment.net.
I transcribed a small cemetery in my area in four hours on a Saturday, typed the entries into my word processing program and emailed the information to interment.net the next day. It’s very simple to do and someone looking for birth or death information for an ancestor will be eternally grateful that you took the time to do that.
4) When a church accompanies a cemetery, that church will often have a record book of those buried in the cemetery. You might call ahead and ask if you can take digital photos of the records or transcribe them, as not everyone buried there (especially if the church dates way back) will have a headstone.
5) Volunteer to take headstone photographs or to look up obituaries or other items of genealogical interest at Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness.
6) Elder Dallin H. Oaks in the June 1989 Ensign Article Family History: “In Wisdom and Order” said:
“Some of the most important temple and family history work is done at home. I do not refer just to the important work of keeping family genealogies up-to-date and the much needed verifying that all sealings have been performed. At home we can keep our journals and gather pictures and data for the books of remembrances of our family members. We can gather and record information available through living relatives. We can write family histories and share their great lessons with our children.”
I hope that through reading this article, you have thought of some ways you can personally contribute to the work of redeeming the dead. Even if your life only permits for a seemingly small task or small amount of time, it is enough. No effort put toward this work is considered small.
In Doctrine and Covenants, Section 128:22, Joseph Smith gave this call to action:
“Brethren (and sisters) shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage…and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.”