Thanks to today's technologically advanced world, the extensively long, tedious hours researching ancestors and doing family history work have essentially become, well, a thing of the past. While researchers may still spend numerous hours searching, utilization of various Web sites on the Internet surely speeds up the process.
Now researchers on Oahu can utilize Instant Messenger.
At least it might seem that way as Richard Messenger (pictured at left) and his wife, Linda, serve at BYU-Hawaii and assist the community in using the FamilySearch Indexing Website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. By logging onto the site as a volunteer, users extract information from images (usually pdf documents) to create indexes that may be searched for help in family history research. After data are entered into a searchable database, users can then research their ancestors.
"If you even roll back the clock five years, the technology wasn't to the point that families could link to each other like this. It's exciting!" Richard Messenger said.
The Messengers have had vast experience working with the World Wide Web-based technology, including a three-year mission in Utah dealing exclusively with FamilySearch. The couple said they took many long-distance calls and instructed users on how to get started. "The program does a lot of things that aid the indexer in doing the work. It makes it faster… that's why people like it so well," Linda Messenger stated.
The Messengers instantly went to work on indexing the 1900 Hawaii census records. With the help of others, those records are now digitized. "Doing the Hawaiian index research was unique to the islands because they initially opened up only to the islands. Now that the 1900s Hawaii census is completed, people have a chance to index records for other states and other countries," Elder Messenger said.
Entering the data seems to be relatively easy, and the Messengers say that getting involved in family history research is for all ages. "This is doing missionary work, and one of our purposes is to get a lot more [younger people] on the program," Sister Messenger said. She also explained that students especially should find FamilySearch Indexing quite easy because of their computer literacy.
In order to get involved and gain a quick understanding of the site, the Messengers offer short training sessions. "He [Elder Messenger] explained very well. Indexing is doable…everyone can follow it," said Eria Yoshino, who recently completed a training session. To get started, send an e-mail to Elder Messenger with your full name, stake and ward names, and e-mail address to richar37@byuh.edu. The Messengers may also be contacted at 675-3998.
Technology allows researchers in indexing and family history work to accomplish their tasks at a rapid pace. However, the Messengers say the spiritual side of the effort cannot be overlooked. "The opportunity to create the indexes and make it possible to do ancestors' work… [students and others] could make it possible for many, many people to accept the gospel."