Church Blessings of Living in the Computer Age
Have you noticed lately how “hastening the work” has been encouraged by the use of computers? It is amazing to watch. I can think of several big things that the average member does differently now than we did even two or three years ago.
- We read our church magazines on line. It is amazing how much we can read during moments of down–time. We have more freedom to partake wherever we are, whenever we have a few minutes to spare. Conference talks from years ago are stored in memory on the church web site, so we can refer to earlier discourses that we particularly enjoyed in the past. We have more resources to study and they are so easily accessed at home on our laptops or iPads or smart phones. Entire libraries are at our fingertips, literally!
- And not just church magazines—ditto for our standard works! So much easier to pack our tote bags for meetings with one computer device! They follow us around all day long. Hurray!
- The worldwide training is now online. Last year when we were first called to the stake Relief Society presidency we enjoyed going to the tabernacle to watch our general leadership present training in person. It was a great experience to sit in that historic balcony and simmer in the spirit of shared testimonies from such outstanding leaders. This March there were no live meetings but we were directed to our computers and can watch and re–watch Sister Burton, Elder Ballard, and all the auxiliary presidents as they teach us how to teach and how to learn. It is nice to hit the replay button if we miss a word or two or if we need to copy the interesting material, thought and questions for later pondering. We are directed to share this information and discuss it in our councils and presidency meetings. That way we still feel the shared spirit from others. We no longer have travel time to worry about or traffic jams and road stress! And this training is open for everyone in the church—we are all leaders.
- Family history has never been easier. Do you remember the days of submitting names through the mail for temple work? It took months to research even one name, waiting patiently for vital records to arrive back from court houses and relatives. Now there are lots of computer sites you can use to get the information you need for submissions. The newest and best is www.puzilla.org. Not very many people are aware of it, and we would encourage you to “fiddle around” there (as President Bruce Webb used to say). This site is a church site with lots of bonuses! It is connected to Family Tree, and as you enter your own name in the site and sign on, it calculates your descendants for as many generations as you desire, filling the screen with a growing “flower” with the blossoms becoming each ancestor in your tree. As you click on any ancestor, then you have the choice to see that ancestor “in the tree” (their personal data), the descendants of that person, or their ancestors. By clicking on the descendants of your great–great–great grandfather, for example, it shows not only YOU but all of your cousins—the children, grandchildren, great–greats, etc of that ancestor. It also reveals the gaps in your work and leads you to do the temple work where it is needed. It even has a link for research helps that will allow you to view birth certificates, military records, death and marriage records, census records, etc. This website has saved innumerable hours in names submission, because at this site (linked to Family Tree) you submit and then print off the paperwork to take directly to the temple to do the saving ordinances for your relatives. There is even a great tutorial here!
It is true that we live in an incredible age and we are so grateful for the way our leaders have embraced the technology of the computer to help us. Let us all abandon our fears when dealing with this new world and freely participate with joy!
With great love from,
your Stake Relief Society Presidency
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