Mormon Stories #1075: An Insider’s View of Mormon Genealogy and Temple Work - Don Casias Pt. 1

The Duplication Crisis in Mormon Temple Work: What an LDS Insider Reveals About Genealogy Data Management

When members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spend weeks researching family history and months waiting for temple appointments to perform proxy ordinances, they assume their work serves a meaningful spiritual purpose. But what happens when the same deceased person receives the same temple ordinance hundreds, or even thousands, of times? According to Mormon Stories Podcast episode #1075, featuring Don Casias, a former senior vice president at LDS Church headquarters, this was not a rare glitch but a systemic problem affecting an estimated tens of millions of records. The conversation raises uncomfortable questions about institutional oversight, member expectations, and the actual efficacy of one of Mormonism's most labor-intensive practices.

Background: The Evolution of Mormon Genealogy

The LDS Church's investment in genealogy stretches back over a century. What began as individual members manually researching ancestors evolved into an industrial-scale operation when computerization changed everything in the mid-20th century. By the 1950s and 1960s, Church leaders faced an unexpected crisis: fewer members were actively researching their own family histories and attending temples to perform baptisms for the deceased.

To address this inventory shortage, the Church developed the Extraction Program, a behind-the-scenes initiative where Church employees and volunteers would mine public records, systematizing names for temple work without requiring members to first locate their own ancestors. The logic was pragmatic: ensure a constant supply of names for temple ordinances. But this created unforeseen complications.

The Data Management Problem Emerges