My Family 15 in 15

The project we spend most of our time on is supporting the Pacific Area Presidency's goal called "My Family 15 in 15".  For over 100 years LDS people have been encouraged to seek out information about at least four generations of their ancestors and to perform saving ordinances for them in the temple.   The difference with this particular project is the degree of accountability it includes.

Stake leaders throughout the Pacific Area (including Australia, Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Papa New Guinea as well as New Zealand) are being specifically asked to report if they have entered their 15 names (which means doing 4 generations - self, parents, grandparents & great grandparents = 15 people) into FamilySearch.org.  The challenge is for every one of the members of Stake and District Councils to be sure those names are in the system (as far as is possible) and then to go to the temple for at least 1 family name.

Pacific Area Presidency - Elder O. Vincent Haleck, Elder Kevin Pearson and Elder Gifford Neislen with their
 4 generation charts showing their 15 in 15 completed

In the Pacific Area Office where we work there are a little over 200 people working in various departments (some are senior missionaries, most are church employees.)   Everyone in the office here was also challenged to complete the 15 in 15 goal.  I had the opportunity to work directly with some of these folks to help them locate their family information and get it into system.

This has been a remarkable program to work on.  We have seen so many blessings come from it.

I am a firm believer in the prophet's words when he quoted what he referred to as a cardinal principle of industrial management: "When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates" (see Thomas S. Monson, in Conference Report, Oct. 1970, 107).

There are times when tracking down reports from each stake and updating the master database for how people are progressing can be tedious in the extreme.  But I know that as we gather the numbers to make the reports, those numbers represent real lives that are being changed as a result of the experiences they are having.  It is by providing consistent and careful watch care over these reports we are able to reach out to the specific stake leaders who may be in need of further support and to cheer on those who are having success.

We have learned so much working together to carry out this program.  It will be exciting to see how things go as this spread outward to the ward councils and on to the rank and file membership of the church.