Quotes on Accurate Temple Work
"The kingdom of God is a house of order because all things obey the law. The temples of the Lord on earth should also be orderly for the same reason. Temple work should not be done in a haphazard or disorderly way. Those who labor for the dead should endeavor to prepare their records in an orderly and systematic manner.
"When names are copied in an improper way and incomplete records are sent to the temples, but one thing will be the result – confusion. The compilers of records should try to find the information so that records can be made in family groups with all the necessary data for correct identification. When names are taken out of books without any accompanying information that will identify them… it will more than likely have to be done over again… researchers will make fewer mistakes and in the end save time and means by giving more attention to their recording. It is the disposition of many of the people to hurry their work along in an unorganized fashion because of their zeal for temple work. Patience, accompanied by prayer and thorough research, will prove best in the end."
Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol 2, p 208
"Some of us get so enthusiastic over this temple work that we are not willing to abide by the rules and the regulations and to confine ourselves to our own line, but we want to spread out into the other fellow's line, and we want to do the work because we readily find names that belong to somebody else, and that method of work for the dead is not permissible. It is all right to help others do their work, if we do that with proper consent, but each family group is entitled to do the work for its particular line.
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol 2, p 207-208
"Some of us get so enthusiastic over this temple work that we are not willing to abide by the rules and the regulations and to confine ourselves to our own line, but we want to spread out into the other fellow's line, and we want to do the work because we readily find names that belong to somebody else, and that method of work for the dead is not permissible. It is all right to help others do their work, if we do that with proper consent, but each family group is entitled to do the work for its particular line.
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol 2, p 207-208
"Although temple ordinances can be performed when only the minimum information is available, try to provide as much information about an ancestor as possible. More complete information identifies your ancestor uniquely so that he or she cannot be confused with another person. With less complete information, ordinances may be done more than once for the same person...Seek the guidance of the Spirit as you determine whether you should do the ordinance work for an ancestor now or try to find more information first."
A Members Guide to Temple and Family History Work, pgs. 10, 13
"As thou hast inclined the hearts of many...to search out their progenitors...bless them, we pray thee, in their labors, that they may not fall into errors in preparing their genealogies; and furthermore, we ask thee to open before them new avenues of information, and place in their hands the records of the past, that their work may not only be correct but complete also."
Dedicatory Prayer of Salt Lake Temple, Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, 340-41
"Because of the sacred nature of this work, members should be diligent in assuring the accuracy of all information submitted."
From a letter, dated 16 June 1995 and signed by the First Presidency, for all Church members "News of the Church," Ensign, Sept. 1995, 80