The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Missionary Registers (Worldwide) - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Utah

What Is in the Collection?
This collection consists of an index of registers kept to record the departure and return of missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through Salt Lake City. The collection covers the years 1860 to 1937. A more comprehensive database is offered in the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which includes missionaries serving from 1830 to 1860, missionaries not routed through Salt Lake City, links to lists of missionaries serving at the same time and histories of mission areas.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Mission records may contain the following information:


 * Full name of missionary
 * Parent’s full names
 * Birth date and place
 * Residence
 * Ward or Stake name
 * Mission location
 * Dates departed for and returned from mission
 * Name of person ordaining missionary
 * Date set apart as missionary
 * Baptism date
 * By whom baptized
 * Quorum or Priesthood office held
 * Present residence
 * Page, volume, line number

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The years they served their mission.
 * The place where they served their mission.
 * The names of the missionary's parents.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page:

The original registers are online in the Church History Library’s catalog. With volume and page number from the database you can navigate to the corresponding page in the online version. Note that Volume 1 in the database = Book A in the Church History Catalog, B = 2, and etc. Select the book which corresponds to the volume, and on the right click “View Digital Object”, you can then use the menu on the left to navigate to the page number. File numbers and page numbers do not correspond precisely, but are close, usually the page number is just a few numbers smaller than the file number. The online images are medium resolution, to view a higher resolution click the box in the upper right with an arrow coming out and select “Open Research Copy of current image” it will ask you to agree to copyright and display a higher resolution image.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members. The original registers are online in the Church History Library’s catalog. With volume and page number from the database you can navigate to the corresponding page in the online version. In some cases the book and volume numbers do not appear and it will be necessary to navigate to the page using the date listed.
 * Note that Volume 1 in the database = Book A in the Church History Catalog, B = 2, and etc.
 * Select the book which corresponds to the volume, and on the right click “View Digital Object”.
 * You can then use the menu on the left to navigate to the page number. File numbers and page numbers do not correspond precisely, but are close, usually the page number is just a few numbers smaller than the file number.
 * The online images are medium resolution, to view a higher resolution click the box in the upper right with an arrow coming out and select “Open Research Copy of current image” it will ask you to agree to copyright and display a higher resolution image.

I Found Who I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the birth date to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Utah, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Utah Archives and Libraries.

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

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