We can also hear Him in the temple. The house of the Lord is a house of learning. There the Lord teaches in His own way. There each ordinance teaches about the Savior. There we learn how to part the veil and communicate more clearly with heaven. There we learn how to rebuke the adversary and draw upon the Lord’s priesthood power to strengthen us and those we love. How eager each of us should be to seek refuge there.
Pres. Russell M. Nelson, Hope of Israel, June 2018
Please schedule regular time to worship and serve in the temple. Every minute of that time will bless you and your family in ways nothing else can. Take time to ponder what you hear and feel when you are there. Ask the Lord to teach you how to open the heavens to bless your life and the lives of those you love and serve.
While worshipping in the temple is presently not possible, I invite you to increase your participation in family history, including family history research and indexing. I promise that as you increase your time in temple and family history work, you will increase and improve your ability to hear Him.
Pres. Russell M. Nelson, Hope of Israel, June 2018
These surely are
the latter days, and the Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That
gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else
compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else
compares in majesty. When we speak of the gathering, we are simply saying this
fundamental truth: every one of our Heavenly Father’s children, on both sides
of the veil, deserves to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus
Christ. They decide for themselves if they want to know more.
Participating in the gathering of Israel
will require some sacrifice on your part. It may even require some changes in
your life. It will
definitely take some of your time and energy and your God-given talents.
My dear
extraordinary youth, you were sent to earth at this precise time, the most
crucial time in the history of the world, to help gather Israel. There is nothing happening on this earth
right now that is more important than that. There is nothing of greater
consequence. Absolutely nothing.
This gathering
should mean everything to you. This is the mission for which you were sent to
earth.
We, as
spirit children of our Heavenly Father, were sent to earth at this time that we
might participate in hastening this great work. I believe He is hastening His work in the spirit world. The Lord
expects you and me to perform our family history work well. I think the first
thing we must do if we are to perform our work well is to have the Spirit of
our Heavenly Father with us.
When we live as righteously as we know how to live, He will open the way for the fulfillment of the blessings that so earnestly and diligently we seek.
President Howard W. Hunter, A Temple Motivated People, 1995
There
are some members who engage in temple work but fail to do family history
research on their own family lines. Although they perform a divine service in
assisting others, they lose a blessing by not seeking their own kindred dead as
divinely directed by latter-day prophets.
“I have learned that those who
engage in family history research and then perform the temple ordinance work
for those whose names they have found will know the additional joy of receiving
both halves of the blessing."
But as we participate in family history and temple work
today, we also lay claim to “healing” blessings promised by prophets and
apostles. These blessings are also breathtakingly amazing because of their
scope, specificity, and consequence in mortality. This long list includes these
blessings:
- Increased understanding of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice;
- Increased influence of the Holy Ghost to feel strength and direction for our own lives;
- Increased faith, so that conversion to the Savior becomes deep and abiding;
- Increased ability and motivation to learn and repent because of an understanding of who we are, where we come from, and a clearer vision of where we are going;
- Increased refining, sanctifying, and moderating influences in our hearts;
- Increased joy through an increased ability to feel the love of the Lord;
- Increased family blessings, no matter our current, past, or future family situation or how imperfect our family tree may be;
- Increased love and appreciation for ancestors and living relatives, so we no longer feel alone;
- Increased power to discern that which needs healing and thus, with the Lord’s help, serve others;
- Increased protection from temptations and the intensifying influence of the adversary;
- Increased assistance to mend troubled, broken, or anxious hearts and make the wounded whole
If you have prayed for any of these blessings, participate
in family history and temple work. As you do so, your prayers will be answered.
When ordinances are performed on behalf of the deceased, God’s children on
earth are healed. No wonder President Russell M. Nelson, in his first message
as President of the Church, declared, “Your worship in the temple and your
service there for your ancestors will bless you with increased personal
revelation and peace and will fortify your commitment to stay on the covenant
path.”
SPIRITUAL PROTECTION &
DEEPENED CONVERSION
No work is more of a protection to this
Church than temple work and the family history research that supports it. No
work is more spiritually refining. No work we do gives us more power. No work requires a higher standard of
righteousness.
Elder Richard G. Scott, “The Joy of Redeeming the Dead,” 2012
Do you young people want a sure way
to eliminate the influence of the adversary in your life? Immerse yourself in searching for your ancestors,
prepare their names for the sacred vicarious ordinances available in the
temple, and then go to the temple to stand as proxy for them.
I
encourage you to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare yourselves
to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord for your kindred dead. As you respond in faith to this invitation,
your conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you
will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary.
You also will count your many blessings as
young people devote more time to family history work and temple service and
less time to video games, surfing the Internet, and Facebooking.
As you
respond in faith to this invitation,
·
your hearts shall turn
to the fathers.
·
The promises made to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts.
·
Your patriarchal
blessing, with its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and
be more meaningful to you.
·
Your love and gratitude
for your ancestors will increase.
·
Your testimony of and
conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding.
·
And I promise you will
be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary.
·
As you participate in
and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout
your lives.
I feel grateful to add my testimony to those other
testimonies—to be one more apostolic voice in support of this temple challenge.
I extend the promise of protection that’s been offered in the past. Brothers
and sisters, I promise you protection for you and your family as you take this
challenge, to “find as many names to take to the temple as ordinances you
perform in the temple, and teach others to do the same.” Not just baptisms, but
all temple ordinances.
And if you accept this challenge, blessings will begin to
flow to you and your family like the power of the river spoken of by Ezekiel.
And the river will grow as you continue to perform this work and teach others
to do the same.
· You’ll find not only protection from the
temptation and ills of this world,
·
but you’ll also find personal power—
o
power to change,
o
power to repent,
o
power to learn,
o
power to be sanctified,
o
and power to turn the hearts of your family together
and heal that which needs healing.
"Every thought or word or act we direct at this sacred work is pleasing to the Lord. Every hour spent on genealogical research, however unproductive it appears, is worthwhile. It is pleasing to the Lord. It is our testimony to Him that we accept the doctrine of the resurrection and the plan of salvation. It draws us close to those who have gone before. It welds eternal links in family associations and draws us closer to Him who is our Lord." Elder Boyd K. Packer - The Holy Temple p. 255
"Every thought or word or act we direct at this sacred work is pleasing to the Lord. Every hour spent on genealogical research, however unproductive it appears, is worthwhile. It is pleasing to the Lord. It is our testimony to Him that we accept the doctrine of the resurrection and the plan of salvation. It draws us close to those who have gone before. It welds eternal links in family associations and draws us closer to Him who is our Lord." Elder Boyd K. Packer - The Holy Temple p. 255
Brother
Widtsoe reaffirmed that ‘those who give themselves with all their might and
mind to this [family history] work receive help from the other side. Whoever
seeks to help those in the other side receives help in return in all the
affairs of life.’
Elder Henry B. Eyring, “Hearts Bound Together,” April 2005
“Remember
that the names which will be so difficult to find are of real people to whom
you owe your existence in this world and whom you will meet again in the spirit
world. … Their hearts are bound to you. Their hope is in your hands. You will
have more than your own strength as you choose to labor on to find them.”
Elder Russell M. Nelson, “A New Harvest Time," Ensign,
May 1998
"Elijah came to turn
the hearts of the fathers to their children and the children to the fathers.
With that, natural affection between generations began to be enriched. This
restoration was accompanied by what is sometimes called the Spirit of Elijah—a
manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the
family. Hence, people throughout the world, regardless of religious
affiliation, are gathering records of deceased relatives at an ever-increasing
rate.
"Elijah came not only
to stimulate research for ancestors. He also enabled families to be eternally
linked beyond the bounds of mortality. Indeed, the opportunity for families to
be sealed forever is the real reason for our research"
Elder Richard G. Scott, “Finding Happiness,” 19 Aug 1997
Temple attendance has a calming, settling, consoling influence that distills peace and contentment. The accompanying family history work to identify ancestors to receive those ordinances yields similar blessings.
Family History Discussion: Great Advise and Stories from Wendy Watson and Sheri Dew
Wendy Nelson: Working in silence in such an environment led me to pray, “Please lead me to those who are ready to make covenants with Thee and receive their ordinances.” That prayer opened the heavens for me and helped me feel which branches, limbs, and sometimes even twigs I should pursue.
Because of that prayer that I say as I begin each of my research sessions, “Please lead me to those who are ready to make covenants with Thee and receive their ordinances,” whenever I have a block and can’t find the information which would qualify a person for his ordinances, I think about the possibilities behind the block.
Could it be that this person has not yet been taught by the missionaries on the other side of the veil and has not yet embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ? Could that be the reason for the block? So I move on to someone else who has been taught and is now ready to make covenants and receive their ordinances. I’ll come back to that other person later.
President Joseph F. Smith taught something truly profound when he said this:
“When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred [and] friends.... In like manner, our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they have learned to love in the flesh.”
Sheri Dew: What we’re saying is that Wendy and I believe in angels. We believed Elder Holland when he said, “Ask for angels to help you.” Think about that. Ask for angels to help you. Then we believed him also when he said that angels could be dispatched to help us, and then he explained further: “Usually such beings are not seen. Sometimes they are. But seen or unseen they are always near. Sometimes their assignments are very grand and have significance for the whole world. Sometimes the messages are more private. Occasionally the angelic purpose is to warn. But most often it is to comfort, to provide some form of merciful attention, guidance in difficult times.” [Then they share a story about asking for help from our ancestors.]
Because of that prayer that I say as I begin each of my research sessions, “Please lead me to those who are ready to make covenants with Thee and receive their ordinances,” whenever I have a block and can’t find the information which would qualify a person for his ordinances, I think about the possibilities behind the block.
Could it be that this person has not yet been taught by the missionaries on the other side of the veil and has not yet embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ? Could that be the reason for the block? So I move on to someone else who has been taught and is now ready to make covenants and receive their ordinances. I’ll come back to that other person later.
President Joseph F. Smith taught something truly profound when he said this:
“When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred [and] friends.... In like manner, our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they have learned to love in the flesh.”
Sheri Dew: What we’re saying is that Wendy and I believe in angels. We believed Elder Holland when he said, “Ask for angels to help you.” Think about that. Ask for angels to help you. Then we believed him also when he said that angels could be dispatched to help us, and then he explained further: “Usually such beings are not seen. Sometimes they are. But seen or unseen they are always near. Sometimes their assignments are very grand and have significance for the whole world. Sometimes the messages are more private. Occasionally the angelic purpose is to warn. But most often it is to comfort, to provide some form of merciful attention, guidance in difficult times.” [Then they share a story about asking for help from our ancestors.]
MAKING TIME FOR THE WORK
President Russell M.
Nelson, “Open
the Heavens through Temple and Family History Work”, Ensign October 2017
That means sacrificing time we
normally spend on other activities. We need to be spending more time in the
temple and in doing family history research, which includes indexing. Over
time, I realized that if I was working on an overwhelming project and I was out
of time, energy, and ideas, if I would make a sacrifice of time by finding the
ordinance-qualifying information for some ancestors or by going to the temple
to be proxy for them, the heavens opened and the energy and ideas started
flowing. Somehow I had enough time to meet my deadline. It was totally
impossible, but it would happen every time.
I invite you to prayerfully
consider what kind of sacrifice—preferably a sacrifice of time—you can make in
order to do more temple and family history work this year.
President Russell M. Nelson, however, cautioned: “We can be
inspired all day long about temple and family history experiences others have
had. But we must do something to actually experience the joy ourselves.” He
continued, “I invite you to prayerfully consider what kind of
sacrifice—preferably a sacrifice of time—you can make [to] do more temple and
family history work.”
President Brigham Young - Opposition to Temple Work
We cannot … administer the further ordinances of God, in the fullest sense of the word, legally unto the people … until we have a temple built for that purpose (DBY, 394–95).
Some say, “I do not like to do it, for we never began to build a temple without the bells of hell beginning to ring.” I want to hear them ring again. We completed a temple in Kirtland and in Nauvoo; and did not the bells of hell toll all the time we were building them? They did, every week and every day (DBY, 410).
Text of President Dallin H. Oaks, RootsTech 2018
When individuals and families search out their ancestors’ inspiring actions and words, they will receive strength and direction for their own lives.
25:45 As we observed youth doing family history, we saw them:
· experience almost instantaneous joy and
· increased confidence.
· They become more connected to their families.
· They no longer feel so alone.
· They begin to feel a celestial kinship.
· They learn what it means to feel the Spirit.
· Family history offers a healing influence and an assurance that each person is precious in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.
An important part of learning about our ancestors should occur in the home. That is where the hearts of the children can most effectively turn to their fathers.
26:40 To help in our reading to children, we created a compilation of family experiences, spiritual promptings, and miracles called “Tell Me a Story.” Sister Oaks: We recommend that everyone create their own family history book.
34:35 The youth came to understand who they are and came to feel a closeness to their Savior. Share these ideas with your families.
41:34 Brothers and sisters, we live in the last days, wonderful days in which the Lord has promised that knowledge will flow down from Heaven until nothing shall be withheld from those who have endured valiantly for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Technological resources unthinkable only a short time ago have been revealed and are being eagerly used by the rising generation. We must teach that generation to use it for holy purposes like FamilySearch, not for the evil or even the trivial.
Family history also connects us to heaven. It gives us an eternal perspective. As President Russell M. Nelson has said:
While temple and family history work has the power to bless those beyond the veil, it has an equal power to bless the living. It has a refining influence on those who are engaged in it.
Increased understanding of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice
|
D.
Todd Christofferson, “The Redemption of the Dead and the Testimony of Jesus”
|
Increased influence of the Holy Ghost to feel strength and
direction for our own lives
|
|
Increased faith, so that conversion to the Savior becomes deep and abiding
|
David
A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,”
Ensign, Nov. 2011
|
Increased ability and motivation to learn and repent because of an
understanding of who we are, where we come from, and a clearer vision of
where we are going
|
Thomas
S. Monson, “Constant Truths for Changing Times,”
Ensign, May 2005
|
Increased refining, sanctifying, and moderating influences in our hearts
|
|
Increased joy through an increased ability to feel the love of the Lord
|
Henry
B. Eyring, “Hearts Bound Together,” Ensign,
May 2005
|
Increased family blessings, no matter our current, past, or future family
situation or how imperfect our family tree may be
|
David A. Bednar, “Missionary, Family History, and Temple Work,”
Ensign, Oct. 2014, 30–35.
Quentin L. Cook, “The Joy of Family History Work,”
Ensign, Feb. 2016, 28–33.
|
Increased love and appreciation for ancestors and living relatives, so we
no longer feel alone
|
Boyd K. Packer, “Your Family History,
Ensign, 2003. (Share story of John McCarthy in the wreck of the Julia Ann
story and how I gained greater appreciation for the Telfords; their strength
of testimony helped strengthen mine)
|
Increased power to discern that which needs healing and thus, with the
Lord’s help, serve others
|
Dale
G. Renlund, Ruth L. Renlund, and Ashley R. Renlund, “Family History and Temple Blessings,”
Ensign, Feb. 2017, 26–31.
|
Increased protection from temptations and the intensifying influence of the
adversary
|
David
A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,”
Ensign, Nov. 2011.
Richard
G. Scott, “The Joy of Redeeming the Dead,”
Ensign, Nov. 2012
|
Increased assistance to mend troubled, broken, or anxious hearts and make the wounded
whole
|
David A. Bednar, “Missionary, Family History, and Temple Work,”
Ensign, Oct. 2014, 30–35
|
Increased understanding of the
Savior and His atoning sacrifice
“I think that vicarious work for the dead more nearly approaches the vicarious
sacrifice of the Savior Himself than any other work of which I know. It
is given with love, without hope of compensation, or repayment or anything of
the kind. What a glorious principle.” - President Hinckley (D. Todd
Christofferson, “The Redemption of the Dead and the Testimony of Jesus”)
As you add this work to your righteous life,
the Gift of the Holy Ghost will be a stronger influence upon you. Your belief in and appreciation for the
Savior will increase. You will better understand the power of His Atonement,
and you will be safeguarded from the distractions that can so easily pull you
from His commandments (Neil L. Andersen, “Sharing the Temple Challenge,”
Family Discovery Day, Feb. 2015, LDS.org).
|
Increased influence of the Holy
Ghost to feel strength and direction for our own lives
We came to know that an inspiration will
follow those who move into it. It is just a matter of getting started. Once
we started, we found the time. Somehow we were able to carry on all of the
other responsibilities. There seemed
to be an increased inspiration in our lives because of this work. (Boyd
K. Packer, “Your Family History, Ensign, 2003)
Often in the temple, and as we engage in
family history research, we feel
promptings and have impressions from the Holy Ghost. Occasionally in the
temple the veil between us and those on the other side becomes very thin. We
get additional assistance in our efforts to be saviors on Mount Zion (Quentin
L. Cook, “See Yourself in the Temple,”
Ensign, May 2016, 97–101).
|
Increased faith, so that
conversion to the Savior becomes deep and abiding
As you respond in faith to this invitation,
your hearts shall turn to the fathers. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with
its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and be more
meaningful to you. Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase. Your testimony of and conversion to the
Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be protected
against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in
and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout
your lives (David A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,”
Ensign, Nov. 2011).
Never forget that family history—and the
temple ordinances enabled by it—is an essential part of the work of salvation
and that participation in this sacred work for the dead blesses the lives of
the living. It strengthens our faith
in and commitment to the gospel, helps us resist temptation, draws our
families closer together, and
strengthens our wards and stakes (Quentin L. Cook, “The Joy of Family History Work,”
Ensign, Feb. 2016, 28–33).
|
Increased ability and motivation
to learn and repent because of an understanding of who we are, where we come
from, and a clearer vision of where we are going
We
discover something about ourselves when we learn about our ancestors. members of my family gathered together in
the Salt Lake Temple to perform sealings for some of our deceased ancestors.
This was one of the most spiritual experiences our family has had together
and enhanced the love we have for one another and the obligation which is ours to live worthy of our heritage
(Thomas S. Monson, “Constant Truths for Changing Times,”
Ensign, May 2005).
|
Increased refining, sanctifying, and moderating influences in our hearts
Family history work has the power to do
something for the dead. It has an equal power to do something to the living. Family history work of Church members has
a refining, spiritualizing, tempering influence on those who are engaged in
it. They understand that they are tying their family together, their
living family here with those who have gone before. (Boyd K. Packer, “Your
Family History, Ensign, 2003)
While temple and family history work has the
power to bless those beyond the veil, it has an equal power to bless the
living. It has a refining influence on
those who are engaged in it. They are literally helping to exalt their
families (Russell M. Nelson, “Generations Linked in Love,”
Ensign, May 2010).
The bones of our ancestors lay in the
ground, and their spirits are in heaven, but we live on in the stories that
their lives told and retold, their challenges, their courage, their noble
deeds. A recent study by a university
in the South concludes persuasively that if you want a happier family,
create, refine, and retell the stories of your ancestors’ positive moments. Emphasize their ability to bounce back
and persist through adversity. That act alone will increase the odds that
your family will thrive for many generations to come. Family stories count.
Children should know that they belong to something bigger than themselves.
(Dallin H. Oaks and Kristen M. Oaks, “Connected to Eternal Families,”
Family Discovery Day, Mar. 2018, LDS.org).
|
Increased joy through an
increased ability to feel the love of the Lord
Think of the Savior when you meet Him. You
will have that interview. He paid the price of the sins of you and all of
Heavenly Father’s spirit children. He is Jehovah. He sent Elijah. He
conferred the powers of the priesthood to seal and to bless out of perfect
love. And He has trusted you by letting you hear the gospel in your lifetime,
giving you the chance to accept the obligation to offer it to those of your
ancestors who did not have your priceless opportunity. Think of the gratitude He has for those who pay the price in work and
faith to find the names of their ancestors and who love them and Him
enough to offer them eternal life in families, the greatest of all the gifts
of God. He offered them an infinite sacrifice. He will love and appreciate
those who paid whatever price they could to allow their ancestors to choose
His offer of eternal life (Henry B. Eyring, “Hearts Bound Together,” Ensign,
May 2005).
There is something powerful in searching out
those who need temple ordinances, learning who they are, and then being part
of their receiving these sacred ordinances. This is how you become “saviors
on Mount Zion” (see Obadiah 1:21 and D&C 103:9). There is a joy and
satisfaction that is understood only through spiritual feelings. We are
linked to our ancestors forever (Neil L. Andersen, “‘My Days’ of Temples and Technology,”
Ensign, Feb. 2015, 28–35).
|
Increased family blessings, no
matter our current, past, or future family situation or how imperfect our
family tree may be
A yearning for connection to our past can
prepare an individual to receive the virtue of the word of God and fortify
his or her faith. A heart turning to the fathers uniquely helps an individual
withstand the influence of the adversary and strengthen conversion… Hearts
and conversion. Turning to the fathers awakens and prepares a heart for the
mighty change. Thus, the spirit of Elijah helps in conversion. Hearts and retention. Turning to the
fathers sustains and strengthens
hearts that have experienced the mighty change. Thus, the spirit of
Elijah helps in retaining new converts.
Hearts and reactivation. Turning to the fathers softens a heart that has
become hardened after experiencing the mighty change. Thus, the spirit of
Elijah is key in reactivation.
(David A. Bednar, “Missionary, Family History, and Temple Work,”
Ensign, Oct. 2014, 30–35).
As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I
promise that if you look beyond the bonds of time and mortality and help
those who cannot help themselves, you
will be blessed with more closeness and joy in your family and with the
divine protection afforded those who are faithful in His service… May you parents, youth, and children find
joy and be blessed in every other
aspect of your life as you fulfill the obligation that has been sent from
heaven to participate in the sacred work for the dead (Quentin L. Cook, “The Joy of Family History Work,”
Ensign, Feb. 2016, 28–33).
|
Increased love and appreciation
for ancestors and living relatives, so we no longer feel alone
As we observed youth doing family history,
we saw them experience almost instantaneous joy and increased confidence. They become more connected to their
families. They no longer feel so alone. They begin to feel a celestial
kinship. They learn what it means to feel the Spirit. Family history offers a
healing influence and an assurance that each person is precious in the eyes
of our Heavenly Father (Dallin H. Oaks and Kristen M. Oaks, “Connected to Eternal Families,”
Family Discovery Day, Mar. 2018, LDS.org).
Family history work in one sense would
justify itself even if one were not successful in clearing names for temple
work. The process of searching, the means of going after those names, would
be worth all the effort you could invest. The reason: You cannot find names
without knowing that they represent people. You begin to find out things
about people. When we research our own lines we become interested in more
than just names or the number of names going through the temple. Our interest
turns our hearts to our fathers—we
seek to find them and to know them and to serve them. (Boyd K. Packer,
“Your Family History, Ensign, 2003)
If you learn stories about their lives,
write them down and keep them. You are not just gathering names. Those you never met in life will become
friends you love. Your heart will be bound to theirs forever (Henry B.
Eyring, “Hearts Bound Together,” Ensign,
May 2005).
And there is also much focus on extended
family, genealogy, and personal family history, providing young and old with a stronger sense of roots, identity, and
belonging (M. Russell Ballard, “Faith, Family, Facts, and Fruits,”
Ensign, Nov. 2007).
Consider the spiritual connections that are
formed when a young woman helps her grandmother enter family information into
a computer or when a young man sees the name of his great-grandfather on a
census record. When our hearts turn to our ancestors, something changes
inside us. We feel part of something
greater than ourselves. Our inborn yearnings for family connections are
fulfilled when we are linked to our ancestors through sacred ordinances of
the temple (Russell M. Nelson, “Generations Linked in Love,”
Ensign or Liahona, May 2010).
As you respond in faith to this invitation,
your hearts shall turn to the fathers. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with
its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and be more
meaningful to you. Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase
(David A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,”
Ensign, Nov. 2011).
|
Members of my family gathered together in
the Salt Lake Temple to perform sealings for some of our deceased ancestors.
This was one of the most spiritual experiences our family has had together
and enhanced the love we have for one another and the obligation which is
ours to live worthy of our heritage (Thomas S. Monson, “Constant Truths for
Changing Times,” Ensign, May 2005).
The Lord has provided ways for us to feel
love in families that can continue forever. Young people in the Church today
are feeling their hearts turn to their families. They are searching for names
of family members who did not have the opportunity to receive the ordinances
of salvation in this life. They take those names to the temple. When they
enter the waters of baptism, they have the opportunity to feel the love of
the Lord and of the family members for whom they are performing proxy
ordinances (Henry B. Eyring, “The Promise of Hearts Turning,”
Ensign, July 2014).
|
Increased power to discern that
which needs healing and thus, with the Lord’s help, serve others
If you accept this challenge, blessings will
begin to flow to you and your family like the power of the river spoken of by
Ezekiel. And the river will grow as you continue to perform this work and
teach others to do the same. You will find not only protection from the
temptation and ills of the world, but you will also find personal power—power
to change, power to repent, power to learn, power to be sanctified, and power to turn the hearts of your family
members to each other and heal that which needs healing (Dale G. Renlund,
Ruth L. Renlund, and Ashley R. Renlund, “Family History and Temple Blessings,”
Ensign, Feb. 2017, 26–31).
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Increased faith, so that
conversion to the Savior becomes deep and abiding
As you respond in faith to this invitation,
your hearts shall turn to the fathers. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with
its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and be more
meaningful to you. Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase. Your testimony of and conversion to the
Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be protected
against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in
and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout
your lives (David A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,”
Ensign, Nov. 2011).
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Increased protection from
temptations and the intensifying influence of the adversary
And I promise you will be protected against
the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love
this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your
lives (David A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,”
Ensign, Nov. 2011).
Do you young people want a sure way to
eliminate the influence of the adversary in your life? Immerse yourself in
searching for your ancestors, prepare their names for the sacred vicarious
ordinances available in the temple, and then go to the temple to stand as
proxy for them to receive the ordinances of baptism and the gift of the Holy
Ghost. As you grow older, you will be able to participate in receiving the
other ordinances as well. I can think of no greater protection from the
influence of the adversary in your life (Richard G. Scott, “The Joy of Redeeming the Dead,”
Ensign, Nov. 2012).
In the world in which you live, the House of
the Lord is essential and central to you remaining spiritually strong. The
Lord has said, “My disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be
moved” (D&C 45:32). This is who we are and who we want to be… My young brothers and sisters, as an apostle
of the Lord Jesus Christ, I invoke a blessing upon you. As you accept this
challenge and as you teach it to others, I promise you that you will feel the
beautiful link that binds us together as families through the generations.
You will feel a happiness for those who accept your sacred offering. Your
hearts will truly be turned to your fathers, and you will feel their hearts
turned toward you. You will feel purpose and strength that will help you to
avoid the temptations that surround you. You will better see the unseen, the
eternal things that the world does not see (Neil L. Andersen, “Sharing the Temple Challenge,”
Family Discovery Day, Feb. 2015, LDS.org).
No work is more of a protection to this
Church than temple work and the family history research that supports it. No
work is more spiritually refining. No work we do gives us more power. No work
requires a higher standard of righteousness.
Our labors in the temple cover us with a shield and a protection, both
individually and as a people (Boyd K. Packer, “The Holy Temple,” Ensign, Oct.
2010, 35, as quoted by, Quentin L. Cook, “The Joy of Family History Work,”
Ensign, Feb. 2016, 28–33).
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Increased assistance to mend
troubled, broken, or anxious hearts and make the wounded whole
Hearts and reactivation. Turning to the
fathers softens a heart that has become hardened after experiencing the
mighty change. Thus, the spirit of Elijah is key in reactivation… Can we
begin to understand the role of temple and family history work in helping an
investigator or a less-active member obtain a deeper understanding of the
plan of salvation? Do we recognize that one of the greatest influences on
convert retention is the spirit of Elijah? Can we more fully appreciate the
importance of heart-turning moments occasioned by the sharing of family
stories as a means of finding people to teach by both members and
missionaries? Can we help those we serve access more often the powers of
godliness by participating worthily in ordinances such as the sacrament and
baptisms and confirmations for the dead? (David A. Bednar, “Missionary, Family History, and Temple Work,”
Ensign, Oct. 2014, 30–35).
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Faith
promoting stories of our ancestors can be found on FamilySearch in the Memories
section of each individual. How many can you find? How many can you contribute
that are not posted there yet?
Have you ever climbed a large mountain?
President Monson once said, “We must plunge into this work, and we must
prepare for some uphill climbing. This is not an easy task, but the Lord has
placed it upon you, and He has placed it upon me” (Thomas S. Monson,
“Hastening the Work,” Ensign, June. 2014, 4). Like President Monson said,
offering ordinances to those who have not been given the opportunity is like
climbing a mountain. It takes effort. It is not easy. At times it seems like
there is more than we can do. But as we climb to the summit, helping our
ancestors one step at a time, we see vistas we could not have imagined from
the valley floor. We receive reassurance about our place in eternity. We see
that we are part of a great family, many coming before us and others
following us. Elder Richard G. Scott said it this way, “This work is a
spiritual work, a monumental effort of cooperation on both sides of the veil,
where help is given in both directions” (Richard G. Scott, “The Joy of
Redeeming the Dead,” Ensign, Nov. 2012, 95). We come to know like never
before that life continues after this life. We feel the righteous influence
of our ancestors upon us. (Neil L. Andersen, “Sharing the Temple Challenge,”
Family Discovery Day, Feb. 2015, LDS.org)
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All members should participate by
prayerfully selecting those ways that fit their personal circumstances at a
particular time. This should be done under the influence of the Spirit of the
Lord and with the guidance of priesthood leaders who issue calls and direct
the Church-administered portions of this work. Our effort is not to compel
everyone to do everything, but to encourage everyone to do something. (Dallin
H. Oaks, “Family History: ‘In Wisdom and Order,’” Ensign, June 1989, 6–8;)
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We become connected to our ancestors in the
family tree by our knowledge of their lives. We bond with them as we
understand the circumstances and personal values that shaped them. They are
real people to whom we owe our existence in this world and whom we will meet
again in the hereafter.
We learn better who we are, where we come
from, and are blessed with a clearer vision of where we are going. When
individuals and families search out their ancestors’ inspiring actions and
words, they will receive strength and direction for their own lives (Dallin
H. Oaks and Kristen M. Oaks, “Connected to Eternal Families,”
Family Discovery Day, Mar. 2018, LDS.org).
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● But as we participate in
family history and temple work today, we also lay claim to “healing” blessings
promised by prophets and apostles.
○ Dallin H. Oaks, “Family History: ‘In Wisdom and Order’”
○ D. Todd Christofferson, “The Redemption of the Dead and the Testimony of Jesus”:
More nearly approaches the vicarious sacrifice of the Savior. - President Hinckley
○ Boyd K. Packer, “Your Family History: Getting Started”: inspiration will follow
those who move into it. Found the time to carry on all other responsibilities.
has a refining, spiritualizing, tempering influence on those who are engaged in
it.
○ Thomas S. Monson, “Constant Truths for Changing Times,”
Ensign, May 2005: We discover something about ourselves when we learn about our
ancestors. members of my family gathered
together in the Salt Lake Temple to perform sealings for some of our deceased
ancestors. This was one of the most spiritual experiences our family has had
together and enhanced the love we have for one another and the obligation which
is ours to live worthy of our heritage.
○ Henry B. Eyring, “Hearts Bound Together,” Ensign, May
2005: Those you never met in life will become friends you love.
○ M. Russell Ballard, “Faith, Family, Facts, and Fruits,”
Ensign, Nov. 2007.
○ Russell M. Nelson, “Salvation and Exaltation,” Ensign
or Liahona, May 2008:
○ Russell M. Nelson, “Generations Linked in Love,” Ensign
or Liahona, May 2010:
○ David A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,”
Ensign, Nov. 2011.
○ Richard G. Scott, “The Joy of Redeeming the Dead,”
Ensign, Nov. 2012.
○ Quentin L. Cook, “Roots and Branches,” Ensign, May
2014
○ Thomas S. Monson, “Hastening the Work,” Ensign, June
2014
○ Henry B. Eyring, “The Promise of Hearts Turning,”
Ensign, July 2014.
○ David A. Bednar, “Missionary, Family History, and Temple Work,”
Ensign, Oct. 2014, 30–35.
○ Neil L. Andersen, “‘My Days’ of Temples and Technology,”
Ensign, Feb. 2015, 28–35.
○ Neil L. Andersen, “Sharing the Temple Challenge,”
Family Discovery Day, Feb. 2015, LDS.org.
○ Quentin L. Cook, “The Joy of Family History Work,”
Ensign, Feb. 2016, 28–33.
○ Gary E. Stevenson, “Where Are the Keys and Authority of the Priesthood?”
Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 29–32: None?
○ Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “In Praise of Those Who Save,”
Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 77–80:
○ Quentin L. Cook, “See Yourself in the Temple,”
Ensign, May 2016, 97–101.
○ Dale G. Renlund, Ruth L.
Renlund, and Ashley R. Renlund, “Family History and Temple Blessings,”
Ensign, Feb. 2017, 26–31.
○ Dallin H. Oaks and Kristen M.
Oaks, “Connected to Eternal Families,”
Family Discovery Day, Mar. 2018, LDS.org.
Other References
