I am not a Mormon. But I sure am grateful to them. Over the past century Mormons have invested heavily in genealogy throughout the world, and as a result, today their genealogical archives are the largest in the world. The consequences of this for genealogists of all faiths is profound. Mormons have made genealogy easier, more accessible, and less expensive for all of us.

Most PC genealogy programs were developed by Mormons or others with ties to that faith. One -- Personal Ancestral File (PAF) -- is actually a product of the Mormon Church. It is distributed free over the Internet.

But their primary benefit is the years and years Mormons have devoted to gathering genealogy source documents from most corners of the world.

Those records can be inspected on site in Utah. The Mormons also provide  look-up assistance for moderate fees. Moreover, copies of many records are duplicated in regional Family History Centers -- slashing the traveling distance for literally millions of genealogists.

Their collections are huge, access is free or low cost, and they don't push their faith on you. The further you live from a source document, the more you want to check out Mormon resources.

Mormons believe they can be reunited with generations of ancestors for eternity if  they make certain Church covenants. To make these covenants for their ancestors, members must first identify them. To that end, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has gathered genealogical records from all over the world. These records are available to all at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and at Family History Centers throughout the world.

Is there a downside to Mormon participation in Genealogy? Only two that I know of: genealogy programs assume heterosexuality (life partners must be of different genders), and children's births may be "errors" if they occur before marriage. That may or may not reflect life in your extended family.
 
In years to come, genealogists will probably think it weird that genealogy's historical records evolved from local archives, through a particular Church, to the Internet. But that is the direction they seem to be taking.