In our recent General Conference, Elder Ronald A. Rasband stated, “To gather Israel, we need missionaries, many more than are serving. There are so many ways senior missionaries can do what no one else can.” (link to talk)
Elder Rasband noted that serving a senior mission can mean traveling to serve as a full-time missionary, but it can also mean serving from home. The church’s “Missionary Assignments Types” website details various opportunities available—some are full-time missions, others are parttime service missions. https://seniormissionary.churchofjesuschrist.org/srsite/catalog?lang=eng
One option is helping with family history while working as a part time senior service missionary from your own home. For the past 3 ½ years I have worked as a part time service missionary as part of FamilySearch’s Virtual Records Operations Centers. As a VROC missionary I work from home using my own computer and internet to support the familysearch.org website. VROC missionaries are called for a minimum of 1 year and are asked to serve 12 hours a week.
During my time as a FamilySearch VROC missionary, I have had some marvelous opportunities. I have worked to add names to FamilySearch’s Saints by Sea website, enabling patrons to find information about their ancestors who crossed the ocean and came to Utah between 1850 and 1910. Another exciting project was indexing Native American censuses and recording the interesting Native American and English names found in the documents. I also helped add African American families to the Family Tree by linking census records to families that are often incomplete until the record is added.
VROC missionaries also help to prepare images so they can be indexed or published. In the “Infinity Audit” project, missionaries check image quality and metadata (information about location, date and record type) before unindexed digital records are added to FamilySearch. These records are available for “browsing” before indexing has taken place. In the “Batching” project, missionaries tag and block irrelevant documents, then organize the images into the indexing batches which later appear on FamilySearch.
Missionaries assist by improving records such as the newly released 1950 census; they also work on FamilySearch projects that may be restricted because they contain sensitive or private information such as social security numbers.
A new emphasis for VROC missionaries is to “nourish” the FamilyTree by linking records that contain important information to help patrons find their family members. For example, missionaries are currently adding Numident records which contain information gathered by the U.S. government from Social Security applications, deaths, and claims. Numident records provide complete names, birth dates, death dates and parents’ names of people who died between 1936 to 2007.
Maybe you are thinking, “But, I don’t know how to do any of those things.” Part of the wonderful VROC experience is working in a Team, a group of 6-10 missionaries, and meeting with them and a Team Lead who can help you learn. Many projects have training videos, and leaders are called to specialize in a project; they hold regular meetings and answer questions. Missionaries also participate in weekly devotionals where they receive inspiration and training.
Elder Rasband observed, “Senior missionaries are a remarkable force for good, seasoned in the Church, and poised to encourage and rescue God’s children.” And then he added, “As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you to serve as a missionary in the gathering of Israel and perhaps even serve again.” Think celestial, and ask yourself, “Is a mission possible?”
For more information about serving as a service missionary in the Virtual Records Operations Centers, go to https://seniormissionary.churchofjesuschrist.org/srsite/catalog-sub-item/5/53?lang=eng or email me at mariannefbates@gmail.com.
For information about other FamilySearch mission opportunities, go to
https://www.familysearch.org/en/info/family-history-mission/familysearch-center-mission.
– Marianne Bates, Consultant, Granite FamilySearch Center