A friend of mine asked me today how ordinances were cleared to be done in the past, before computers. For example, how did you find out if the ordinance had been done? Was it the Temple Index Bureau? And, what about people whose ordinances shouldn't be done? For example, a relative of mine who was excommunicated. If I understand correctly, his descendants will have to go through extra procedures to do temple work for him, if it's done at all. How was that handled in the past? I assume there might be a marker on his file now, in nfs. And what about black people before 1978? Were baptisms for the dead permitted for them? If not, how would that have been screened? I remember my grandmother showing her research to someone in the ward before submitting, but not sure if that was an official procedure, or just that she was trying to make sure she'd done everything correctly. Paula