Families can now document same-sex relationships on FamilySearch

[RocknRoll]

Same sex couples can't have children! Only a heterosexual couple can conceive a child. That man and woman are the parents, not the same sex couple.

Does that same logic carry over to adoptive, heterosexual parents? Would only the couple that conceived the child be considered the parents? What about IVF or surrogacy?

[MMbelieve]

Placing names and documenting families in whatever form is standard practice of genealogy. It’s called record keeping.
Researching genealogical records shows there are many arrangements and situations that are not ideal. If 2 gay people have a child through adoption or surrogacy put them there as two men who are connected on the same plane but if the mother is known, add her as the mother but not a wife. I don’t see the issue in recording reality and history as it is.

Maybe the changing of history is imbedded in our LDS culture?

[MMbelieve]

My question is what will family search look like when the church decides to legitimize all the sologymists? Do you think they will just create a duplicate of her genealogy record so she can be her own spouse in the family tree or do you think they will just create a genealogy record of one of her cats and assign the cat as her spouse? No offense to cats

A cat is not a human so yeah, let’s keep the animals out of the human tree.

[Aprhys]

The news article says that Family Search is the final major genealogy site to document homosexual marriages. Therefore, it seems there are numerous other sites that homosexuals and their families have been using for this documentation. Since the LDS site is used to facilitate temple ordinances, and a homosexual marriage cannot be sealed, nor have children sealed to them, it would have been a noble thing to hold the line by not adding sodomite marriages to the database. They just needed to do what ever had been done in the recent past. The only real benefit is that we are now more like Babylon, and the Gay Agenda in the Church is celebrating a victory.

Or actually trust in what the church’s statement is instead of putting words in their mouth and spreading a false narrative

“FamilySearch seeks to digitally preserve and provide access to genealogical and historical records, and this is part of its efforts to accurately document the human family. The church solemnizes or seals marriages only between people of the opposite sex,”

The church will never perform same sex marriages. How many times are we going to go down this road?

Oh Dr.Tanner my $1000 bet that the church will indeed perform sodomite sealings in the temple still stands. To make it even more interesting I will change the timeline from 20 years to 10 years.

[drtanner]

The news article says that Family Search is the final major genealogy site to document homosexual marriages. Therefore, it seems there are numerous other sites that homosexuals and their families have been using for this documentation. Since the LDS site is used to facilitate temple ordinances, and a homosexual marriage cannot be sealed, nor have children sealed to them, it would have been a noble thing to hold the line by not adding sodomite marriages to the database. They just needed to do what ever had been done in the recent past. The only real benefit is that we are now more like Babylon, and the Gay Agenda in the Church is celebrating a victory.

Or actually trust in what the church’s statement is instead of putting words in their mouth and spreading a false narrative

“FamilySearch seeks to digitally preserve and provide access to genealogical and historical records, and this is part of its efforts to accurately document the human family. The church solemnizes or seals marriages only between people of the opposite sex,”

The church will never perform same sex marriages. How many times are we going to go down this road?

Oh Dr.Tanner my $1000 bet that the church will indeed perform sodomite sealings in the temple still stands. To make it even more interesting I will change the timeline from 20 years to 10 years.

What’s that line about the house??

You may want to find some folks who know those in the house before you throw out bets like that not happening

[gkearney]

The news article says that Family Search is the final major genealogy site to document homosexual marriages. Therefore, it seems there are numerous other sites that homosexuals and their families have been using for this documentation. Since the LDS site is used to facilitate temple ordinances, and a homosexual marriage cannot be sealed, nor have children sealed to them, it would have been a noble thing to hold the line by not adding sodomite marriages to the database. They just needed to do what ever had been done in the recent past. The only real benefit is that we are now more like Babylon, and the Gay Agenda in the Church is celebrating a victory.

Or actually trust in what the church’s statement is instead of putting words in their mouth and spreading a false narrative

“FamilySearch seeks to digitally preserve and provide access to genealogical and historical records, and this is part of its efforts to accurately document the human family. The church solemnizes or seals marriages only between people of the opposite sex,”

The church will never perform same sex marriages. How many times are we going to go down this road?

Oh Dr.Tanner my $1000 bet that the church will indeed perform sodomite sealings in the temple still stands. To make it even more interesting I will change the timeline from 20 years to 10 years.

So come December 12, 2029? Where do I sign up for this bet. Looks like an easy thousand bucks to me.

[righteousrepublic]

The news article says that Family Search is the final major genealogy site to document homosexual marriages. Therefore, it seems there are numerous other sites that homosexuals and their families have been using for this documentation. Since the LDS site is used to facilitate temple ordinances, and a homosexual marriage cannot be sealed, nor have children sealed to them, it would have been a noble thing to hold the line by not adding sodomite marriages to the database. They just needed to do what ever had been done in the recent past. The only real benefit is that we are now more like Babylon, and the Gay Agenda in the Church is celebrating a victory.

Or actually trust in what the church’s statement is instead of putting words in their mouth and spreading a false narrative

“FamilySearch seeks to digitally preserve and provide access to genealogical and historical records, and this is part of its efforts to accurately document the human family. The church solemnizes or seals marriages only between people of the opposite sex,”

The church will never perform same sex marriages. How many times are we going to go down this road?

Every time that someone wants to stir the proverbial pot.

Prov 6:16,19
16 ¶ These six things doth the Lord hate:
19 ...he that soweth discord among brethren.

Some people just have to stir a pot until the contents is all burnt and clinging to the bottom, yet keep right on.

God does not allow one sin into his presence. Best think on this a while.

The church will never perform gay marriages in the temple, and even if they did, God would put a co-bosh on it in a split second...HE WILL NOT ALLOW SIN INTO HIS PRESENCE, PERIOD.

Alma 45:16
16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.

Doctrine and Covenants 1:31
31 For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;

Who dares to dispute God?

[LDS Watchman]

The news article says that Family Search is the final major genealogy site to document homosexual marriages. Therefore, it seems there are numerous other sites that homosexuals and their families have been using for this documentation. Since the LDS site is used to facilitate temple ordinances, and a homosexual marriage cannot be sealed, nor have children sealed to them, it would have been a noble thing to hold the line by not adding sodomite marriages to the database. They just needed to do what ever had been done in the recent past. The only real benefit is that we are now more like Babylon, and the Gay Agenda in the Church is celebrating a victory.

Or actually trust in what the church’s statement is instead of putting words in their mouth and spreading a false narrative

“FamilySearch seeks to digitally preserve and provide access to genealogical and historical records, and this is part of its efforts to accurately document the human family. The church solemnizes or seals marriages only between people of the opposite sex,”

The church will never perform same sex marriages. How many times are we going to go down this road?

Every time that someone wants to stir the proverbial pot.

Prov 6:16,19
16 ¶ These six things doth the Lord hate:
19 ...he that soweth discord among brethren.

Some people just have to stir a pot until the contents is all burnt and clinging to the bottom, yet keep right on.

God does not allow one sin into his presence. Best think on this a while.

The church will never perform gay marriages in the temple, and even if they did, God would put a co-bosh on it in a split second...HE WILL NOT ALLOW SIN INTO HIS PRESENCE, PERIOD.

Alma 45:16
16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.

Doctrine and Covenants 1:31
31 For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;

Who dares to dispute God?

God allowing us our free agency and for the Church to become corrupted, would not be allowing sin into his presence.

God allowed the ancient Israelites to worship false gods and even sacrifice their children to them, without destroying them, at least not right away.

Why would it be any different with modern Israel?

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

I agree that if the Church performs gay marriages in the temple, that swift judgement and destruction from God will not be far behind.

[Aprhys]

The news article says that Family Search is the final major genealogy site to document homosexual marriages. Therefore, it seems there are numerous other sites that homosexuals and their families have been using for this documentation. Since the LDS site is used to facilitate temple ordinances, and a homosexual marriage cannot be sealed, nor have children sealed to them, it would have been a noble thing to hold the line by not adding sodomite marriages to the database. They just needed to do what ever had been done in the recent past. The only real benefit is that we are now more like Babylon, and the Gay Agenda in the Church is celebrating a victory.

Or actually trust in what the church’s statement is instead of putting words in their mouth and spreading a false narrative

“FamilySearch seeks to digitally preserve and provide access to genealogical and historical records, and this is part of its efforts to accurately document the human family. The church solemnizes or seals marriages only between people of the opposite sex,”

The church will never perform same sex marriages. How many times are we going to go down this road?

Every time that someone wants to stir the proverbial pot.

Prov 6:16,19
16 ¶ These six things doth the Lord hate:
19 ...he that soweth discord among brethren.

Some people just have to stir a pot until the contents is all burnt and clinging to the bottom, yet keep right on.

God does not allow one sin into his presence. Best think on this a while.

The church will never perform gay marriages in the temple, and even if they did, God would put a co-bosh on it in a split second...HE WILL NOT ALLOW SIN INTO HIS PRESENCE, PERIOD.

Alma 45:16
16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.

Doctrine and Covenants 1:31
31 For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;

Who dares to dispute God?

God allows us to mess things up every single day. Why was there an initial apostasy? Because God allows us to mess things up. He may not recognize the validity of gay sealings performed in his temples but man will perform them. Do you think that God will strike those preforming the first gay sealing with lightning? Cmon. We do things contrary to Gods will everyday.

[drtanner]

The news article says that Family Search is the final major genealogy site to document homosexual marriages. Therefore, it seems there are numerous other sites that homosexuals and their families have been using for this documentation. Since the LDS site is used to facilitate temple ordinances, and a homosexual marriage cannot be sealed, nor have children sealed to them, it would have been a noble thing to hold the line by not adding sodomite marriages to the database. They just needed to do what ever had been done in the recent past. The only real benefit is that we are now more like Babylon, and the Gay Agenda in the Church is celebrating a victory.

Or actually trust in what the church’s statement is instead of putting words in their mouth and spreading a false narrative

“FamilySearch seeks to digitally preserve and provide access to genealogical and historical records, and this is part of its efforts to accurately document the human family. The church solemnizes or seals marriages only between people of the opposite sex,”

The church will never perform same sex marriages. How many times are we going to go down this road?

Every time that someone wants to stir the proverbial pot.

Prov 6:16,19
16 ¶ These six things doth the Lord hate:
19 ...he that soweth discord among brethren.

Some people just have to stir a pot until the contents is all burnt and clinging to the bottom, yet keep right on.

God does not allow one sin into his presence. Best think on this a while.

The church will never perform gay marriages in the temple, and even if they did, God would put a co-bosh on it in a split second...HE WILL NOT ALLOW SIN INTO HIS PRESENCE, PERIOD.

Alma 45:16
16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.

Doctrine and Covenants 1:31
31 For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;

Who dares to dispute God?

God allows us to mess things up every single day. Why was there an initial apostasy? Because God allows us to mess things up. He may not recognize the validity of gay sealings performed in his temples but man will perform them. Do you think that God will strike those preforming the first gay sealing with lightning? Cmon. We do things contrary to Gods will everyday.

Yes God allows things, but you can’t pick up one side of the consequence stick without picking up the other.

[mes5464]

Same sex couples can't have children! Only a heterosexual couple can conceive a child. That man and woman are the parents, not the same sex couple.

Does that same logic carry over to adoptive, heterosexual parents? Would only the couple that conceived the child be considered the parents? What about IVF or surrogacy?

As an adopted person, I have always believed that adoption is recognized by God as legal. We even believe that we, as members of the church, are adopted into the family of Abraham.

Only a union between a man and woman can result in children. For same sex couples to have children, then they have to destroy an existing family (man, woman, children) to get children. That original family is the bona fide family not the new artificial family.

[righteousrepublic]

God allowing us our free agency and for the Church to become corrupted, would not be allowing sin into his presence.

I agree that if the Church performs gay marriages in the temple, that swift judgement and destruction from God will not be far behind.

But gays going to the temple believing they will be sealed together upon death would.

When properly done, the sealers have the keys to bind on earth, and that binding is also bound in heaven. This is the process for a man and a woman entering the temple to be sealed occurs. But when sin/two men or two women is thrown into the mix God will not honor that sealing. An act like this would make God a minister of sin. "Ain't goin' to happin."

[righteousrepublic]

The news article says that Family Search is the final major genealogy site to document homosexual marriages. Therefore, it seems there are numerous other sites that homosexuals and their families have been using for this documentation. Since the LDS site is used to facilitate temple ordinances, and a homosexual marriage cannot be sealed, nor have children sealed to them, it would have been a noble thing to hold the line by not adding sodomite marriages to the database. They just needed to do what ever had been done in the recent past. The only real benefit is that we are now more like Babylon, and the Gay Agenda in the Church is celebrating a victory.

Or actually trust in what the church’s statement is instead of putting words in their mouth and spreading a false narrative

“FamilySearch seeks to digitally preserve and provide access to genealogical and historical records, and this is part of its efforts to accurately document the human family. The church solemnizes or seals marriages only between people of the opposite sex,”

The church will never perform same sex marriages. How many times are we going to go down this road?

Every time that someone wants to stir the proverbial pot.

Prov 6:16,19
16 ¶ These six things doth the Lord hate:
19 ...he that soweth discord among brethren.

Some people just have to stir a pot until the contents is all burnt and clinging to the bottom, yet keep right on.

God does not allow one sin into his presence. Best think on this a while.

The church will never perform gay marriages in the temple, and even if they did, God would put a co-bosh on it in a split second...HE WILL NOT ALLOW SIN INTO HIS PRESENCE, PERIOD.

Alma 45:16
16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.

Doctrine and Covenants 1:31
31 For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;

Who dares to dispute God?

God allows us to mess things up every single day. Why was there an initial apostasy? Because God allows us to mess things up. He may not recognize the validity of gay sealings performed in his temples but man will perform them. Do you think that God will strike those preforming the first gay sealing with lightning? This is what judgement day is for. Cmon. We do things contrary to Gods will everyday.

God also provided a way to overcome messing things up. It is referred to as repentance. This in turn provides a clean slate. The carnal man follows his own will, whereas, a righteous man strives to follow God's will. We can act or be acted upon.

[Lizzy60]

This is just one example of why some pro-homosexual marriage ex-Mormons are so happy about the new FamilySearch feature. They see it as a step forward, and an answer to prayer, reaffirming that God is peachy-keen on sodomite marriage.
---------------------------------------------------
In 2007, after nine years of searching and petitioning, Göran and I were finally able to obtain Göran’s birth certificate from the state of Tennessee. This event, facilitated by our congressperson, Keith Ellison, was momentous for us. Until then, we could not prove Göran’s citizenship, and his legal status was uncertain at best, with potentially disastrous consequences for him individually and for us as a family.
I remember the moment when Göran called me to tell me the news that his birth certificate had been located and that we would soon have a certified copy of it. It was accompanied by an extraordinary spiritual experience. I felt heavenly light flooding into my heart and mind, and had a mental image of the gates of the Kingdom opening to let us in. And I felt the voice of the Spirit saying: "I, the Lord have done this." And, "This is a foreshadowing of what is yet to come." It was an extraordinary moment, when I knew with unusual clarity God’s affirmation not just of Göran as a child of God, but of us as a family. Without this, what followed next would have been impossible.

What followed next was that in May 2008, the California Supreme Court struck down a state law banning same-sex marriage, mandating the issuance, starting on June 15, 2008, of marriage licenses to qualified same-sex couples. That event was accompanied by yet another profound spiritual experience. The Spirit said to me with urgency and undeniable clarity: “Go! Go to California now and get married as soon as possible.” I told Göran, “We’re going to California.” Without his birth certificate, we could not have met the state requirements to marry. But, with birth certificates in hand, we received our marriage licenses the day before our wedding. Then, with my whole family (including our son Glen) as witnesses, we married under the law on July 15, 2008.

After our wedding, after we returned to Minnesota from California (where, at that time, our marriage would have no legal standing), there was another spiritual experience: the Spirit expressing satisfaction that we had done as the Lord had told us to do. And, the Spirit said, this too was a foreshadowing of what was to come.

There was something else of great spiritual importance that was made possible by the recovery of Göran’s birth certificate, also accompanied by profound spiritual experiences. The birth certificate revealed to us the names of Göran’s parents. Something that most people take for granted we hadn’t been able to know until then. It took us about a year, but eventually we made contact with Göran’s father and other members of his biological family in Memphis, Tennessee.

An initial attempt to contact Göran’s father failed at the end of 2007. Stymied, we didn’t know what to do, so we let it go for a while. Then in February 2008, I had a vision. I woke up in the middle of the night to see a man standing in our room. The man was of obvious African ancestry, and wore traditional African garb. I sat up in bed. I was wide awake. And then he was gone. This had been no dream. I got out of bed, went downstairs into our living room and prayed. I received two very strong spiritual impressions. One was that this man was the spirit of one of Göran’s ancestors. And the other impression was that we needed to try contacting Göran’s father again. The next morning, I told Göran, “We need to send another letter to your father.” Lo and behold, the second attempt succeeded.

Contact with Göran’s family changed our life in indescribable ways. And it changed their lives as well. As soon as they received our letter, we received a phone call from them. We were on the phone all afternoon and into late at night. During the phone call, in which both Göran and I participated, I had started to jot down names. After the phone conversation ended, I said, “We’re going to need a genealogy program to help us keep track of everybody.” I went online and downloaded one and started entering names.

During our first visit to Memphis the following August, I had a little black notebook. In addition to meeting Göran’s father and his grandmother, we met aunts, uncles, and cousins. As we visited the homes of family members who were eager to meet the long lost relative who had finally been found, I asked questions, looked at family bibles, and took notes. By the end of our trip, I had collected over 300 names.

During that trip I had a spiritual dream in which Göran and I visited the mansion that Christ had prepared for us in the Father’s kingdom, the mansion that I would, grafted into my husband's royal lineage, receive through faithfulness to my husband and to the Lord.

Make what you will of these spiritual experiences. From my point of view, two things are clear. If the Spirit speaks to you with clarity and in a way you can’t ignore, you need to act on it. If you are a believer, you would be a fool not to act on it. Act regardless of church policy. Act regardless of whatever anybody else thinks or says. The other thing that is clear to me is that in acting on these spiritual impressions our lives have been infinitely blessed time and time again over the years. The Lord has poured out blessings on us in the here and now, with promises of more in the here-to-come if we continue faithful.

There are more stories I could add, but these are sufficient to explain why I created a Family Search account, and why I continue to do genealogy. In July 2017, when I tried connecting my husband and me in Family Search and found, to my annoyance, that it wouldn’t let me do it without fudging the gender of one of us, I knew this was a temporary setback. It was nothing that should discourage me from continuing to do what the Spirit had prompted me (and continues to prompt me) to do. It was pure delight yesterday to learn that I could finally correctly record information about our relationship, and about the marriage of our gay son and his husband.

Some folks are focusing on the fact that, now that same-sex couples can be documented in Family Search, the Church announced it in such a way as to make sure that nobody mistook this for a change in the Church’s policies on same-sex marriage. I think it’s fairly obvious why the Church would do this. Family Search is used to document temple ordinance work. With the Family Search policy change, people might ask the question. And the Church hasn’t received a revelation yet that would permit a change in its doctrines or policies related to same-sex marriage. Until it does, we should expect these types of clarifications, and not be mentally, emotionally, or spiritually defeated every time the Church makes them.

By a poignant coincidence, I received the news about the Family Search policy change minutes before visiting with Darius Gray, an African American Latter-day Saint pioneer who — following a prompting of the Holy Spirit — joined the church in 1964. He did this in faith, 14 years before anybody knew that Church policy would change to allow him to some day hold the priesthood or be sealed in the temple. The fact that he could not do those things at the time that he joined the Church never stopped him from persevering in faith, trusting that someday he could receive all that the Father hath. Darius has been been a role model and mentor to me, and he was eager to meet my husband. And he eagerly asked to hear the story of our relationship, including some of the sacred personal experiences I’ve felt prompted to share here.

There’s been a consistent principle I’ve received from God in relation to my salvation. It is that I should always take the next step, always do what I can do now. And if I reach a roadblock because of a current legal restriction or Church policy, instead of fixating on what I can’t do, I should just work on what I can do. There is plenty of work that can be done now. Genealogy, I’ve learned, is among the work that I can do. Focusing on becoming a Christ-like soul is among the work that I can and must do now.

Some day, the events I’ve described here will be part of a future history of how Göran and I obtained all the blessings that the Father has for us… Through trusting in him and in following the promptings he’s given us here and now.

Göran and I have been so blessed. No reason to lose faith or hope or charity now. Life is better with faith.
----------------------------------------

[pho·to·syn·the·sis]

This is just one example of why some pro-homosexual marriage ex-Mormons are so happy about the new FamilySearch feature. They see it as a step forward, and an answer to prayer, reaffirming that God is peachy-keen on sodomite marriage.
---------------------------------------------------
In 2007, after nine years of searching and petitioning, Göran and I were finally able to obtain Göran’s birth certificate from the state of Tennessee. This event, facilitated by our congressperson, Keith Ellison, was momentous for us. Until then, we could not prove Göran’s citizenship, and his legal status was uncertain at best, with potentially disastrous consequences for him individually and for us as a family.
I remember the moment when Göran called me to tell me the news that his birth certificate had been located and that we would soon have a certified copy of it. It was accompanied by an extraordinary spiritual experience. I felt heavenly light flooding into my heart and mind, and had a mental image of the gates of the Kingdom opening to let us in. And I felt the voice of the Spirit saying: "I, the Lord have done this." And, "This is a foreshadowing of what is yet to come." It was an extraordinary moment, when I knew with unusual clarity God’s affirmation not just of Göran as a child of God, but of us as a family. Without this, what followed next would have been impossible.

What followed next was that in May 2008, the California Supreme Court struck down a state law banning same-sex marriage, mandating the issuance, starting on June 15, 2008, of marriage licenses to qualified same-sex couples. That event was accompanied by yet another profound spiritual experience. The Spirit said to me with urgency and undeniable clarity: “Go! Go to California now and get married as soon as possible.” I told Göran, “We’re going to California.” Without his birth certificate, we could not have met the state requirements to marry. But, with birth certificates in hand, we received our marriage licenses the day before our wedding. Then, with my whole family (including our son Glen) as witnesses, we married under the law on July 15, 2008.

After our wedding, after we returned to Minnesota from California (where, at that time, our marriage would have no legal standing), there was another spiritual experience: the Spirit expressing satisfaction that we had done as the Lord had told us to do. And, the Spirit said, this too was a foreshadowing of what was to come.

There was something else of great spiritual importance that was made possible by the recovery of Göran’s birth certificate, also accompanied by profound spiritual experiences. The birth certificate revealed to us the names of Göran’s parents. Something that most people take for granted we hadn’t been able to know until then. It took us about a year, but eventually we made contact with Göran’s father and other members of his biological family in Memphis, Tennessee.

An initial attempt to contact Göran’s father failed at the end of 2007. Stymied, we didn’t know what to do, so we let it go for a while. Then in February 2008, I had a vision. I woke up in the middle of the night to see a man standing in our room. The man was of obvious African ancestry, and wore traditional African garb. I sat up in bed. I was wide awake. And then he was gone. This had been no dream. I got out of bed, went downstairs into our living room and prayed. I received two very strong spiritual impressions. One was that this man was the spirit of one of Göran’s ancestors. And the other impression was that we needed to try contacting Göran’s father again. The next morning, I told Göran, “We need to send another letter to your father.” Lo and behold, the second attempt succeeded.

Contact with Göran’s family changed our life in indescribable ways. And it changed their lives as well. As soon as they received our letter, we received a phone call from them. We were on the phone all afternoon and into late at night. During the phone call, in which both Göran and I participated, I had started to jot down names. After the phone conversation ended, I said, “We’re going to need a genealogy program to help us keep track of everybody.” I went online and downloaded one and started entering names.

During our first visit to Memphis the following August, I had a little black notebook. In addition to meeting Göran’s father and his grandmother, we met aunts, uncles, and cousins. As we visited the homes of family members who were eager to meet the long lost relative who had finally been found, I asked questions, looked at family bibles, and took notes. By the end of our trip, I had collected over 300 names.

During that trip I had a spiritual dream in which Göran and I visited the mansion that Christ had prepared for us in the Father’s kingdom, the mansion that I would, grafted into my husband's royal lineage, receive through faithfulness to my husband and to the Lord.

Make what you will of these spiritual experiences. From my point of view, two things are clear. If the Spirit speaks to you with clarity and in a way you can’t ignore, you need to act on it. If you are a believer, you would be a fool not to act on it. Act regardless of church policy. Act regardless of whatever anybody else thinks or says. The other thing that is clear to me is that in acting on these spiritual impressions our lives have been infinitely blessed time and time again over the years. The Lord has poured out blessings on us in the here and now, with promises of more in the here-to-come if we continue faithful.

There are more stories I could add, but these are sufficient to explain why I created a Family Search account, and why I continue to do genealogy. In July 2017, when I tried connecting my husband and me in Family Search and found, to my annoyance, that it wouldn’t let me do it without fudging the gender of one of us, I knew this was a temporary setback. It was nothing that should discourage me from continuing to do what the Spirit had prompted me (and continues to prompt me) to do. It was pure delight yesterday to learn that I could finally correctly record information about our relationship, and about the marriage of our gay son and his husband.

Some folks are focusing on the fact that, now that same-sex couples can be documented in Family Search, the Church announced it in such a way as to make sure that nobody mistook this for a change in the Church’s policies on same-sex marriage. I think it’s fairly obvious why the Church would do this. Family Search is used to document temple ordinance work. With the Family Search policy change, people might ask the question. And the Church hasn’t received a revelation yet that would permit a change in its doctrines or policies related to same-sex marriage. Until it does, we should expect these types of clarifications, and not be mentally, emotionally, or spiritually defeated every time the Church makes them.

By a poignant coincidence, I received the news about the Family Search policy change minutes before visiting with Darius Gray, an African American Latter-day Saint pioneer who — following a prompting of the Holy Spirit — joined the church in 1964. He did this in faith, 14 years before anybody knew that Church policy would change to allow him to some day hold the priesthood or be sealed in the temple. The fact that he could not do those things at the time that he joined the Church never stopped him from persevering in faith, trusting that someday he could receive all that the Father hath. Darius has been been a role model and mentor to me, and he was eager to meet my husband. And he eagerly asked to hear the story of our relationship, including some of the sacred personal experiences I’ve felt prompted to share here.

There’s been a consistent principle I’ve received from God in relation to my salvation. It is that I should always take the next step, always do what I can do now. And if I reach a roadblock because of a current legal restriction or Church policy, instead of fixating on what I can’t do, I should just work on what I can do. There is plenty of work that can be done now. Genealogy, I’ve learned, is among the work that I can do. Focusing on becoming a Christ-like soul is among the work that I can and must do now.

Some day, the events I’ve described here will be part of a future history of how Göran and I obtained all the blessings that the Father has for us… Through trusting in him and in following the promptings he’s given us here and now.

Göran and I have been so blessed. No reason to lose faith or hope or charity now. Life is better with faith.
----------------------------------------

Talk about leaving neither root nor branch.

[Michelle]

.

[captainfearnot]

I don't really do genealogy so this is probably an ignorant question.

Don't we already record lots of events that we don't recognize as valid? Like religious rites performed by other churches? Baptisms and communions and christenings and such? Or common law marriages and civil unions? It seems like there is value in recording whatever there is to record, even if we don't endorse it or recognize it as legitimate in our religion.

[Ferrisbueller]

What kind of hog wash is this? Family Search was already a 2 star app and site. This news almost wants me to delete it from my phone now. Too many gays related to the apostles these days. Why are gays the focus of policy these days? Is there not better things to put our focus on??

[Robin Hood]

This is just one example of why some pro-homosexual marriage ex-Mormons are so happy about the new FamilySearch feature. They see it as a step forward, and an answer to prayer, reaffirming that God is peachy-keen on sodomite marriage.
---------------------------------------------------
In 2007, after nine years of searching and petitioning, Göran and I were finally able to obtain Göran’s birth certificate from the state of Tennessee. This event, facilitated by our congressperson, Keith Ellison, was momentous for us. Until then, we could not prove Göran’s citizenship, and his legal status was uncertain at best, with potentially disastrous consequences for him individually and for us as a family.
I remember the moment when Göran called me to tell me the news that his birth certificate had been located and that we would soon have a certified copy of it. It was accompanied by an extraordinary spiritual experience. I felt heavenly light flooding into my heart and mind, and had a mental image of the gates of the Kingdom opening to let us in. And I felt the voice of the Spirit saying: "I, the Lord have done this." And, "This is a foreshadowing of what is yet to come." It was an extraordinary moment, when I knew with unusual clarity God’s affirmation not just of Göran as a child of God, but of us as a family. Without this, what followed next would have been impossible.

What followed next was that in May 2008, the California Supreme Court struck down a state law banning same-sex marriage, mandating the issuance, starting on June 15, 2008, of marriage licenses to qualified same-sex couples. That event was accompanied by yet another profound spiritual experience. The Spirit said to me with urgency and undeniable clarity: “Go! Go to California now and get married as soon as possible.” I told Göran, “We’re going to California.” Without his birth certificate, we could not have met the state requirements to marry. But, with birth certificates in hand, we received our marriage licenses the day before our wedding. Then, with my whole family (including our son Glen) as witnesses, we married under the law on July 15, 2008.

After our wedding, after we returned to Minnesota from California (where, at that time, our marriage would have no legal standing), there was another spiritual experience: the Spirit expressing satisfaction that we had done as the Lord had told us to do. And, the Spirit said, this too was a foreshadowing of what was to come.

There was something else of great spiritual importance that was made possible by the recovery of Göran’s birth certificate, also accompanied by profound spiritual experiences. The birth certificate revealed to us the names of Göran’s parents. Something that most people take for granted we hadn’t been able to know until then. It took us about a year, but eventually we made contact with Göran’s father and other members of his biological family in Memphis, Tennessee.

An initial attempt to contact Göran’s father failed at the end of 2007. Stymied, we didn’t know what to do, so we let it go for a while. Then in February 2008, I had a vision. I woke up in the middle of the night to see a man standing in our room. The man was of obvious African ancestry, and wore traditional African garb. I sat up in bed. I was wide awake. And then he was gone. This had been no dream. I got out of bed, went downstairs into our living room and prayed. I received two very strong spiritual impressions. One was that this man was the spirit of one of Göran’s ancestors. And the other impression was that we needed to try contacting Göran’s father again. The next morning, I told Göran, “We need to send another letter to your father.” Lo and behold, the second attempt succeeded.

Contact with Göran’s family changed our life in indescribable ways. And it changed their lives as well. As soon as they received our letter, we received a phone call from them. We were on the phone all afternoon and into late at night. During the phone call, in which both Göran and I participated, I had started to jot down names. After the phone conversation ended, I said, “We’re going to need a genealogy program to help us keep track of everybody.” I went online and downloaded one and started entering names.

During our first visit to Memphis the following August, I had a little black notebook. In addition to meeting Göran’s father and his grandmother, we met aunts, uncles, and cousins. As we visited the homes of family members who were eager to meet the long lost relative who had finally been found, I asked questions, looked at family bibles, and took notes. By the end of our trip, I had collected over 300 names.

During that trip I had a spiritual dream in which Göran and I visited the mansion that Christ had prepared for us in the Father’s kingdom, the mansion that I would, grafted into my husband's royal lineage, receive through faithfulness to my husband and to the Lord.

Make what you will of these spiritual experiences. From my point of view, two things are clear. If the Spirit speaks to you with clarity and in a way you can’t ignore, you need to act on it. If you are a believer, you would be a fool not to act on it. Act regardless of church policy. Act regardless of whatever anybody else thinks or says. The other thing that is clear to me is that in acting on these spiritual impressions our lives have been infinitely blessed time and time again over the years. The Lord has poured out blessings on us in the here and now, with promises of more in the here-to-come if we continue faithful.

There are more stories I could add, but these are sufficient to explain why I created a Family Search account, and why I continue to do genealogy. In July 2017, when I tried connecting my husband and me in Family Search and found, to my annoyance, that it wouldn’t let me do it without fudging the gender of one of us, I knew this was a temporary setback. It was nothing that should discourage me from continuing to do what the Spirit had prompted me (and continues to prompt me) to do. It was pure delight yesterday to learn that I could finally correctly record information about our relationship, and about the marriage of our gay son and his husband.

Some folks are focusing on the fact that, now that same-sex couples can be documented in Family Search, the Church announced it in such a way as to make sure that nobody mistook this for a change in the Church’s policies on same-sex marriage. I think it’s fairly obvious why the Church would do this. Family Search is used to document temple ordinance work. With the Family Search policy change, people might ask the question. And the Church hasn’t received a revelation yet that would permit a change in its doctrines or policies related to same-sex marriage. Until it does, we should expect these types of clarifications, and not be mentally, emotionally, or spiritually defeated every time the Church makes them.

By a poignant coincidence, I received the news about the Family Search policy change minutes before visiting with Darius Gray, an African American Latter-day Saint pioneer who — following a prompting of the Holy Spirit — joined the church in 1964. He did this in faith, 14 years before anybody knew that Church policy would change to allow him to some day hold the priesthood or be sealed in the temple. The fact that he could not do those things at the time that he joined the Church never stopped him from persevering in faith, trusting that someday he could receive all that the Father hath. Darius has been been a role model and mentor to me, and he was eager to meet my husband. And he eagerly asked to hear the story of our relationship, including some of the sacred personal experiences I’ve felt prompted to share here.

There’s been a consistent principle I’ve received from God in relation to my salvation. It is that I should always take the next step, always do what I can do now. And if I reach a roadblock because of a current legal restriction or Church policy, instead of fixating on what I can’t do, I should just work on what I can do. There is plenty of work that can be done now. Genealogy, I’ve learned, is among the work that I can do. Focusing on becoming a Christ-like soul is among the work that I can and must do now.

Some day, the events I’ve described here will be part of a future history of how Göran and I obtained all the blessings that the Father has for us… Through trusting in him and in following the promptings he’s given us here and now.

Göran and I have been so blessed. No reason to lose faith or hope or charity now. Life is better with faith.
----------------------------------------

Thanks for sharing Lizzy60.
This person is clearly deranged.

[jmack]

Same sex couples can't have children! Only a heterosexual couple can conceive a child. That man and woman are the parents, not the same sex couple.

Do we not record legal adoptions? Can a same sex couple adopt children? Can't a same sex marriage between two women end up with a biological child by one of the spouses? Don't these children deserve to be recorded and documented for history? Or are they just to be pointedly ignored in the record keeping business the church is involved in?? Thank god the church isn't as foolish and rejecting as some of its members and luckily they take the responsibility of recording the births, deaths, etc of as many of God's children as they can as the sacred charge it is.

[gkearney]

Same sex couples can't have children! Only a heterosexual couple can conceive a child. That man and woman are the parents, not the same sex couple.

Do we not record legal adoptions? Can a same sex couple adopt children? Can't a same sex marriage between two women end up with a biological child by one of the spouses? Don't these children deserve to be recorded and documented for history? Or are they just to be pointedly ignored in the record keeping business the church is involved in?? Thank god the church isn't as foolish and rejecting as some of its members and luckily they take the responsibility of recording the births, deaths, etc of as many of God's children as they can as the sacred charge it is.

I agree, further as advancements are made in reproductive medicine we may well end up with children conceived outside of the traditional biological processes, then what?

[Ferrisbueller]

Same sex couples can't have children! Only a heterosexual couple can conceive a child. That man and woman are the parents, not the same sex couple.

Do we not record legal adoptions? Can a same sex couple adopt children? Can't a same sex marriage between two women end up with a biological child by one of the spouses? Don't these children deserve to be recorded and documented for history? Or are they just to be pointedly ignored in the record keeping business the church is involved in?? Thank god the church isn't as foolish and rejecting as some of its members and luckily they take the responsibility of recording the births, deaths, etc of as many of God's children as they can as the sacred charge it is.

Then they need to be required to be linked to their biological mother AND father. They should not recognize who their adoptive gay parents are. A gay spouse should be denied entry on family search.

[Lizzy60]

Same sex couples can't have children! Only a heterosexual couple can conceive a child. That man and woman are the parents, not the same sex couple.

Do we not record legal adoptions? Can a same sex couple adopt children? Can't a same sex marriage between two women end up with a biological child by one of the spouses? Don't these children deserve to be recorded and documented for history? Or are they just to be pointedly ignored in the record keeping business the church is involved in?? Thank god the church isn't as foolish and rejecting as some of its members and luckily they take the responsibility of recording the births, deaths, etc of as many of God's children as they can as the sacred charge it is.

Then they need to be required to be linked to their biological mother AND father. They should not recognize who their adoptive gay parents are. A gay spouse should be denied entry on family search.

There are other genealogy databases where homosexual marriages and their children can be documented. Family Search is the database used by the Church to facilitate and document temple ordinance work. There are numerous members of the Church who are over the moon with seeing gay marriages on Family Serach and they also see it as another significant step on the path to total acceptance of gay marriage by the church.

How far down the road are we going to go?

[mes5464]

Same sex couples can't have children! Only a heterosexual couple can conceive a child. That man and woman are the parents, not the same sex couple.

Do we not record legal adoptions? Can a same sex couple adopt children? Can't a same sex marriage between two women end up with a biological child by one of the spouses? Don't these children deserve to be recorded and documented for history? Or are they just to be pointedly ignored in the record keeping business the church is involved in?? Thank god the church isn't as foolish and rejecting as some of its members and luckily they take the responsibility of recording the births, deaths, etc of as many of God's children as they can as the sacred charge it is.

Legal adoptions are generally recorded.
Same sex couples can adopt children.
A same sex couple (male or female) cannot have biological children. So, for them to have children they have to sever someone's parent right/responsibility.
They do deserve to be recorded but under their parents.

My point is that a same sex family is a sham. It is pretending to be something but it is not.

[gkearney]

Same sex couples can't have children! Only a heterosexual couple can conceive a child. That man and woman are the parents, not the same sex couple.

Do we not record legal adoptions? Can a same sex couple adopt children? Can't a same sex marriage between two women end up with a biological child by one of the spouses? Don't these children deserve to be recorded and documented for history? Or are they just to be pointedly ignored in the record keeping business the church is involved in?? Thank god the church isn't as foolish and rejecting as some of its members and luckily they take the responsibility of recording the births, deaths, etc of as many of God's children as they can as the sacred charge it is.

Legal adoptions are generally recorded.
Same sex couples can adopt children.
A same sex couple (male or female) cannot have biological children. So, for them to have children they have to sever someone's parent right/responsibility.
They do deserve to be recorded but under their parents.

My point is that a same sex family is a sham. It is pretending to be something but it is not.

Speaking as a clerk here there are all sorts of situations where we record only the birth mother and not the father, most often when the father is not known to the mother, that happens more often that you might think for example when the birth is the result of a sperm donation and the birth certificates mark the father as "unknown" if the woman is single. It can also happen in situations where the woman has had multiple sex partners.

So it isn't always the case that we know or can know who the XY partner is. Sperm donation would, I assume be a common method of same sex female couples employ to have children and in such cases the male would never be known.