Does the Work of the Savior Continue in the Next Life?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Doctrine and Covenants 137-138 in a lesson titled “The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

The revelations recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 137 and 138 are separated by more than 80 years and 1,500 miles (2,400 km). Section 137 was received by the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1836 in the Kirtland Temple, and section 138 was received by Joseph F. Smith, sixth President of the Church, in 1918 in Salt Lake City. But doctrinally, these two visions belong side by side. They both answer questions that many people—including God’s prophets—have about life after death. Joseph Smith wondered about the fate of his brother Alvin, who had died without being baptized. Joseph F. Smith, who had lost both of his parents and 13 children to untimely deaths, thought often about the spirit world and wondered about the preaching of the gospel there.

Section 137 casts some initial light on the destiny of God’s children in the next life, and section 138 opens the curtains even wider. Together, both revelations testify of “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:3).

The scripture block contains the following principles: (1) All of Heavenly Father’s children will have the opportunity to choose eternal life (Doctrine and Covenants 137; 138:30-3, 57-60). (2) Reading and pondering the scriptures prepares me to receive revelation (Doctrine and Covenants 138:1-11, 25-30). (3) The Savior’s work continues on the other side of the veil (Doctrine and Covenants 138:25-60). This essay will discuss the third principle about the work of the Savior continuing in the next life.

The Savior’s “work” consists of teaching and preparing all people to return to the presence of Heavenly Father and to become like Him. During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ taught His gospel for only three years and was able to teach His gospel to only a small group of people living in the Jerusalem area. After His death, His apostles took His gospel to a wider area. Now, His apostles and disciples take the gospel worldwide to every nation where allowed. Even with all this missionary work, only a few million people have been taught the gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth.

There are billions of people in the spirit world who have never been taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. The vision given to President Joseph F. Smith and known as Doctrine and Covenants section 138 shares God’s plan for the salvation of all His children. The plan is based on all – every single one – of God’s children to be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each child of God has the gift of agency or freedom to choose for themselves, and each must use that agency to hear the gospel choose for themselves whether to accept the gospel or reject it.

This brings us to the billions of people who have lived on earth without being taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. During the time that His body lay in the tomb, the spirit of Jesus Christ went to the spirit world where righteous spirits have waited for years and even centuries for Him to set them free. There in the spirit world, Christ organized missionary work among His righteous spirits to go among the wicked spirits to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Those who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ – have faith in Him and His Atonement, repent of their sins, are baptized by immersion for the remission of sins, and receive the Holy Ghost – are released from spirit prison and began to move forward with their eternal lives. Those who do not accept the gospel of Jesus Christ are “damned” or stopped in their spiritual progression until they do.

The spirit children of God can be taught and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ in the spirit world, but all ordinances must be completed in mortality. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints builds temples – more than 200 are scattered across the world. The work of eternity takes place in temples.

Mortals are baptized and confirmed in baptismal fonts located in meetinghouses or in lakes, ponds, rivers, or other available bodies of water. Baptisms and confirmations for people who have died are performed in temples by proxies. Other ordinances can also be completed for them by proxies in a temple. Once the ordinances are completed, the person can use their agency to accept or reject the work that has been completed for them. If they accept, they can move forward in their eternal lives. If they reject the work, they are stopped in their eternal progress. It is their choice. They can choose what they want.

President Russell M. Nelson taught: “Our message to the world is simple and sincere: we invite all of God’s children on both sides of the veil to come unto their Savior, receive the blessings of the holy temple, have enduring joy, and qualify for eternal life” (“Let Us All Press On,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 118-19). Let Us All Press On

 

What Legacy Do I Want to Leave?

Families, communities, states, and nations are stronger when individuals know their family histories. There are numerous ways to take family histories with one of them being interviews. For of my classes, I interviewed my 90-year-old sister about what she knew about our maternal grandfather. She was only eight years old when he passed away, so her experiences were those of a child. Still, they helped me to get to know him a little bit better.

Holly Richardson at Deseret News shared her experiences with sharing her own story. In a previous article, she wrote “about the importance of writing down stories” since she is a writer. She shared how a conversation with a friend reminded her “of the power of hearing another’s voice, and seeing their faces.” She said, “It hits differently” and then started her explanation. 

The same part of our brain where our sense of hearing is processed is also responsible -- at least in part -- for storing emotional memories. Hearing certain sounds, then, can trigger emotions in a different way than reading text. In fact, music can be therapeutic for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Here are a couple of simple examples from my life: Hearing someone tell a joke is more likely to make me laugh than simply reading the joke to myself. Hearing my paternal grandmother tell me about being a “Rosie the Riveter” in the Bremerton, Washington, shipyards would likely have had a different impact on me than reading her relatively brief account of it in her life history, although it’s still a great story….

We can narrate our own life stories and we can interview our elders about their life stories while they are still with us. I was able to interview my maternal grandmother in her late 90s, while her memory was still sharp, and learned she had been delivered at home by a midwife.

Perhaps it was because I am a midwife that she told me that story, or maybe a question I asked sparked a memory of her father teasing her while she was growing up that she had “cost him a good horse blanket.” (It was keeping the car warm in January 1922, and flew off when he rushed to fetch the midwife.) It was a story her children had not heard, and now we have a recording of her telling the story in her own words.

The audio and video recordings we leave behind as part of our legacy don’t have to be as serious as a narration of our life story – and they don’t have to be lengthy. In fact, in an era of very short attention spans, shorter is probably better. Your recordings can be as simple as reading a book out loud….

When I think about what I wish I knew about the family that came before me, I would love to have a recording of them telling me about an ordinary day. What tasks occupied their days? What was the weather? What did they eat for a “normal meal”? How did they prepare it? I also think of how helpful it would be to listen to them narrate a photo, for example. Who is in the picture? Where are they? Why were they there? …

Here’s another idea … that could easily be done in the course of daily life: adding photos and even videos to our family cookbook….

Recording stories, recipes, joke-telling, game-playing and other forms of family lore are also good…. Researchers in the late 1990s and early 2000s found that children who know their own family stories show the most resilience. There are three types of family stories: ascending, descending and oscillating. The healthiest of these types of family stories are the oscillating stories, meaning stories that both rise and fall. “I worked hard, got a great job but then was laid off. I was depressed at being laid off, but decided to see it as an opportunity to reconsider my career path and now I have a job in a different field that I love even more.” It’s the story of the normal ups and downs of life and can offer family members a story they can relate to.

It was not too surprising to me to learn that the research also found it’s not merely a recitation of family facts that creates and strengthens family resilience, but the use of story. The kind of stories told by the  mamas and daddies, grandmas and grandpas around the dinner table, on vacations and during the holidays – those kinds of stories. Recent studies are showing a positive correlation with improved mental health and participating in family history work.

A couple of caveats: Some families and some stories re dysfunctional and broken. I am not suggesting anyone retraumatize themselves by putting themselves in harm’s way – physical, psychological or emotional. Our family has some boundaries on storytelling, too. We aren’t OK with stories that are designed to make fun of others, or that promote hate and/or discrimination. We do, however, talk about what it’s like to experience bullying, hate and/or discrimination.

Richardson counseled everyone – especially mothers – to include oneself “in the picture, the audio recording and the video.”

The time to start is NOW – even though we should have started ten, twenty, fifty years ago. We may not be able to implement all of these ideas, but we can be certain that our posterity will appreciate whatever we do. We can strengthen our families and help our posterity to become more resilient by telling stories of our lives. By strengthening our family, we can strengthen our community, state, and nation. 

Family History

We can strengthen our family by doing family history.  Knowing our ancestors helps us to know ourselves better.  We strengthen our living family members when we search for our ancestors and take their names to the temple to complete their temple ordinances and seal them to our family.  We can strengthen our living family members by showing them the importance of all family members.

                The Prophet Joseph Smith taught the importance of family history:  “The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead.”

                As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have the covenant responsibility to search for our ancestors and provide for them the saving ordinances of the gospel.  They without us cannot “be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:40), and “neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:15).

                Sally Randall of Nauvoo, Illinois, whose 14-year-old son died, found great comfort in the promise of eternal families.  After her husband was baptized for their son, she wrote to her relatives:  “What a glorious thing it is that we … can be baptized for all of our dead [ancestors] and save them as far back as we can get any knowledge of them.”  Then she asked her relatives to send her information on their ancestors, saying, “I intend to do what I can to save [our family].”

                Family history work has many facets – from keeping our own journals and writing our own life stories to searching for ancestors and making sure that all their ordinances are complete.  Family history work prepares us for the blessings of eternal life and helps us increase our faith and personal righteousness.  Family history is a vital part of the mission of the Church and enables the work of salvation and exaltation for all.

                President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said:  “When we research our own lines we become interested in more than just names….  Our interest turns our hearts to our fathers – we seek to find them and to know them and to serve them.”

                I have noticed a difference in the level of excitement in those people who are actively searching for their ancestors and those who belong to families where much of the work has been completed.  I belong to the latter type of family.  All eight of my great-grandparents joined the Church and did their own genealogy to the extent that they could.  My paternal grandmother and my father did extensive genealogy work on their lines; my mother and some of her family did much research on their lines.  My older brother is searching manually for “holes” in our family history – forward, backward and sidewise - and is actually working on a program with the Church to do this work faster.  What I am saying is “the work is done” basically.  I know the names and where they fit in the family, but I do not really know the people.

                I have a couple of friends who are also sisters; they are the only members of their family who are members of the Church.  They are actively seeking their ancestors.  I have noticed that they know the people – not just their names.  They have worked to find members of their family and prayed diligently for divine help.  When my friend talks about her ancestor it is as though she is talking about a dear friend!  I envy the relationship she is developing with her ancestors.

                I know the importance of family history work, and I know there are many ways to do the work.  I am concentrating on the “living” rather than the “dead” in my family and doing all I can to help us be an eternal family. I encourage you to actively seek out your family members, whether living or dead, and develop strong and loving bonds with them.  I know families can be together forever!  I know that family history work strengthens families and thus strengthens communities and nations.

Salvation for Our Dead

                    We have a loving Father in Heaven who desires that all of His children return to His presence.  In order to help us accomplish this task, He organized a plan and explained it to us while we were still spirits living in His presence.  He told us that He would send each of us to earth for the purpose of gaining a physical body and developing those attributes that we needed.  He told us that our time here on earth should be used to prepare ourselves to return to His presence in the Celestial Kingdom.

                    The requirements for obtaining exaltation and entering the highest degree in the celestial kingdom include many ordinances that must be done on the earth.  Because billions of people have died without any knowledge of these saving ordinances, Heavenly Father provided a way for all his children to receive them.  President Joseph Fielding Smith calls this plan of salvation for the dead "one of the grandest, most reasonable, and soul satisfying doctrines ever revealed to man" (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954-56], 2:143). 

                    We can better understand and appreciate this doctrine by actually participating in the work of salvation for ourselves and our ancestors.  One of the most important things we can do is to learn and understand that our Father in Heaven loves each one of us so very much that He sent His Son to earth to die for us.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, gave us the greatest of all gifts when He made it possible for us to return to our Father's presence. 

                    "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

"And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end, you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God" (Doctrine and Covenants 14:7).

We can help our Father to bless His children by providing temple ordinances for our ancestors, either by participating in the actual ordinances at the temple or by finding and submitting information so the ordinances can be done by others.  In doing this, we are helping to make "the greatest of all the gifts of God" available to those ancestors.

                    The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that we must learn certain principles and perform certain ordinances in order to enter the Celestial Kingdom.  Our fourth Article of Faith states:  "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are:  first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

                    Everyone needs these principles and ordinances in order to enter the Celestial Kingdom, but many people departed this earth without even hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  God would not be a fair God if He did not provide a way for all of His children to receive the same blessings.  This is the reason why we do family history work.  Our dearly departed ancestors can learn faith and repentance in the spirit world, but they cannot receive the ordinances of baptism and the laying on of hands for the gift of Holy Ghost there.  The ordinances are necessary to enter the Celestial Kingdom, but they must be performed on earth.

                    Jesus Christ taught the importance of being baptized by water and the Spirit:  "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).

                    Many billions of people have lived on the earth and then died without being taught the gospel and receiving these ordinances.  If these people never receive earthly ordinances, they will be unable to enter the celestial kingdom, regardless of their righteousness.  However, Heavenly Father's plan of salvation applies to all his children, and He has provided a way for these people to hear the gospel and receive the ordinances, even though they were unable to do so when they were on the earth.

                    We have the opportunity to help those who have died without gospel ordinances through doing family history work.  Elder

Royden G. Derrick, who was a member of the Seventy, shared the following family story:

                    "When I was a young child, our family was anxious for the return of Uncle Orson.  My mother had deep feelings about the matter, which she implanted in her children.  For some reason I always watched for Uncle Orson to come to the back door of our home.  I remember on a number of occasions when a peddler would come to the back door.  I would pull on my mother's dress to get her attention and ask, `Is this Uncle Orson, huh?'  But the answer was always no.

                    "… Uncle Orson was born in 1881.  Fourteen months later his father died, leaving him without the guidance of a father during those critical early years.  When he was 17 years old, he, with a group of other boys his own age, went to Saltair, a dance pavilion on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.  Before the evening was over, they became drunk and ended up in the county jail.

                    "The following morning, parents and family members came to the jail house and obtained their sons' releases.  Many of them put their arms around their sons and built them into pillars in the community.  But unknown to my grandmother, Uncle Orson was released from jail, given a one-way ticket to the Northwest, and told never to return.

                    "Mother said that on occasions she would hear her mother sobbing in her bedroom during the night.  When she went to her mother's side, her mother would say, `I wonder where my wandering boy is tonight.'

                    "Uncle Orson likely worked in the lumber camps of the Northwest in an atmosphere that was not conducive to living the principles of the gospel.  If he were living today, he would be very old.  It is most likely that he has gone to the world of spirits by now….

                    "My good friend, Joseph S. Nelson, died a few months ago at age 86.  He was a great missionary during his life.  He served four missions….  I've been searching the scriptures to find [what he is doing now] - and here he is:

                    "`I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead' (D&C 138:57)….

                    "I have loved Uncle Orson from childhood because I inherited a longing for him.  I want so much to buy him a return ticket home to his eternal family….

                    "I wonder if my good friend Joe Nelson might find Uncle Orson and teach him the gospel truths that his father would have taught him in mortality had he been here to do so" ("Find Them," New Era, Sept. 1981, 4-6).

                    Doctrine and Covenants 138:30 tells us that missionary work is being accomplished in the spirit world:  "But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead."

                    The gospel of Jesus Christ is taught to the spirits of our departed ancestors.  Even if these spirits accept the gospel, they can progress no further unless the earthly ordinances are performed for them here on earth. We can perform these ordinances for them in the temple.  This work is referred to as vicarious work.  To do something vicariously means that a person does something in place of someone else.  The person doing the work or activity for another person is called a proxy.  In the temple we can be baptized and receive other ordinances for people who have died without receiving the ordinances.  We are the ones who go down into the waters of baptism or who have hands placed on our head, but they are the ones for whom the ordinances are in effect.  We do the ordinances, but those who are dead can exercise their agency in choosing whether or not to accept the work being performed. 

                    Ordinances performed for the dead in the temple include baptism, confirmation and bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordaining to the priesthood for the men, endowment, marriage, and sealing of children to parents.  Any worthy member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who is at least 12 years old can receive a recommend from the bishop and go to the temple to be baptized and confirmed for the dead.  Those who are at least 18 years old and have received their own temple ordinances can return to the temple to receive other ordinances for the dead. 

                    The Lord has declared that we are each responsible for helping our own ancestors to receive the ordinances of the temple.  The first step in doing this vicarious work is to find out who our ancestors are.  The information we need to know about them in order to do their temple work is each person's name, sex, and at least one identifying date, such as a birth or death date; however, we are encouraged to find as much information about them as we can possibly find.  Other helpful information includes birthplace, parents' names, marriage date, spouse's name, and place of death.  All this information should be as accurate as possible.

                    We can gain this information by asking living relatives for information and copies of records that they may have; doing research at family history centers or on the Internet; writing letters to request copies of birth certificates; looking at census records; and going to cemeteries. 

                    When a person has the necessary information on an ancestor, he or she can submit the ancestor's name to the temple.  If family members want to do the temple work for their own ancestors, the information is held in reserve for them to do it.  If family members are unable to do the work or are unable to do the work in a reasonable length of time, they should release the names so that other members of the Church can perform the ordinances.

                    In addition to doing the work for our own ancestors, we can assist other people in accomplishing their family history work.  After I wrote my first essays about very important people for this blog, I realized that people may be using my blog to find information about their ancestors and I started to include as much genealogical information as I found.  When I attend the temple and do not have the name of an ancestor to perform the work for, I often help friends with their family history work.  The following story illustrates other ways we can help others with their genealogy.

                    While 11-year-old Cindie and her father were taking a walk together, they found an old tombstone.  They cleared the moss from it and found the following inscription:

                    MARYANN DEMING

                    Wife of Rufus Deming

                    died Jan. 5, 1855

                    in the 56th year

                    of her age

                    "Cindie said, `Oh, dad, I can just see what happened.  There were Mormon pioneers crossing the plains, and poor Maryann [died], and her husband and children were heartbroken, and they buried her here and sadly left her and went on to Utah.  It was so tragic!'"

                    Cindie's dad replied, "`I don't think so…. The Mormon pioneers didn't pass through Lake County, California, in 1855 or any other time.  More likely she and her family were here as part of the gold rush or to find a good farm or something like that.  But I'm sure you're right about her family being very sad when she died.'"

                    Cindie was very excited about the thought of using this information to help Maryann's descendants do her temple work:

                    "`Oh, dad, I can just see it now:  one of her great-grandchildren has been looking for her records for just years and years, and they need her death date, and they're praying that someone will find her tombstone and send in the information to the [Family History] Library.'"

                    Cindie and her parents spent three days collecting information from local cemeteries.  They then compiled a book and sent it to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

                    "A few weeks later … Cindie came home from school to discover an impressive-looking envelope in the mailbox.  Excitedly, she called [her father at work] and read, `The Genealogical Society wishes to thank you for your 41-page booklet, Cemetery Inscriptions of Lake County, California.  You have provided important information which we did not have in our collection - information which will no doubt be very useful to many of our patrons in the years ahead.  We congratulate you, at age 11, on having your own author card in our card catalog'" (Terry J. Moyer, "An Author Card for Cindie," New Era, May 1981, 14-17).

                    Even though Maryann Deming was not one of Cindie's ancestors, she was excited to find the tombstone and was inspired by the Spirit to help Maryann's descendents.  When we have the spirit of family history work, there is much we can do to help our ancestors and others.

                    The ancient prophet Malachi wrote, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:

                    "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:5-6). 

                    Our hearts are turned to our fathers as we learn about our ancestors and dedicate ourselves to do temple work for them and for others who have died without the gospel.  Our hearts are turned to our children as we teach them gospel principles, keep our journals, and write our own life stories. 

                    By being baptized for the dead, we help them fulfill the principles and ordinances of the gospel.  This work blesses us as we obey the Lord's commandment to turn our hearts to those who have died without the gospel.

                    President Joseph Fielding Smith stated, "By this means [doing temple work for the dead] we may help to save those who have gone before and in our limited way become saviors to many people.  How great shall be the satisfaction of the man and the woman who have performed those ordinances for their dead, when they stand in the presence of their dead, and see their joy and hear expressions of gratitude" (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:143).

                    I testify that doing temple work for our dead ancestors is extremely important.  They need us and we need them in order to become perfect.  I know that searching for information about our ancestors and doing their temple work brings us closer to them.  This means that we already have relationships with them.  This earth was created for the purpose of creating eternal families.  By doing temple work for our dead, we are sealing families together.  I know that families can be together forever through the plan of our Heavenly Father!

Turning Our Hearts to Our Fathers and Children

                   What do you know about your ancestors?  How does your knowledge of your ancestors turn your heart to them?  If you could sit down with your ancestors and talk with them, what would you want to ask them?  What would you like to have your great-great-grandchildren know about you?  The answers to most if not all of these questions are found in doing family history work. 

                    Everyone can do family history work.  Making our own personal records and getting to know our family members, both past and present, can be enjoyable and rewarding.  Family history records comprise numerous different types:  birth, marriage, and death certificates; photographs, family histories, journals, books of remembrance, or scrapbooks.

                    When we do family history work, we act under the Spirit of Elijah to learn about our ancestors and to prepare records for our posterity.  The prophet Elijah was the last prophet before the time of Christ to hold the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood.  This priesthood power allows us to be sealed to our family members for eternity.  Another Old Testament prophet by the name of Malachi prophesied that Elijah would return in the latter-days.

               "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:

                    "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."  (See Malachi 4:5-6.)

This passage of scripture contains a prophecy that Elijah would return to the earth to restore the sealing power.  This prophecy was fulfilled on April 3, 1836, when Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple in a succession of visions.

                    "After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:

                    "Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi - testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come--

                    "To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse--

                    "Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors."  (See Doctrine and Covenants 110:13-16.)    

 

                    The phrase "turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers" means to seal us to all our ancestors - our "fathers" - and to all our posterity - our "children" - forever.  Because of the sealing power of the priesthood and temple ordinances for the living and the dead, families can be bound together for eternity.  Turning "the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers" also refers to the love we feel for our ancestors when we learn about them.

                    President Gordon B. Hinckley stated:  "There are millions across the world who are working on family history records.  Why?  Why are they doing it?  I believe it is because they have been touched by the spirit of this work, a thing which we call the spirit of Elijah.  It is a turning of the hearts of the children to their fathers" ("A Century of Family History Service," Ensign, Mar. 1995, 62).

                    The following story about a couple named Fred and Marion illustrates the power of the Spirit of Elijah in bringing family members together.  Fred and Marion have a plaque hanging in a prominent spot in their home.  The plaque is written in beautiful script and reads, "God is the head of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation."  This inscription brings a wonderful spiritual atmosphere into the home.  It also aids the family in remembering the story behind the thought. 

               Marion's ancestors were pioneers.  She grew up hearing and reading stories about how her grandparents and great-grandparents loved the Lord, were converted to the gospel, and overcame trials on the journey to Utah. 

                    When Marion married Fred, she was very interested in learning about his ancestors and heritage.  Fred's mother had come from England as a young child with her parents, who were the only members of their families to join the Church.  Fred's mother had been so young when she came that she grew up with little knowledge about her grandparents.  An occasional letter was the only link between families for many years.

                    Marion and Fred wrote to ask relatives in England for information about Fred's mother's grandparents and the old family home.  They learned of a kind grandmother, very proper in her black satin dress and gold brooch, and of Sunday visits to a tidy cottage where children had to remember their manners and sit quietly on the prickly horsehair-covered chairs.  The family honored the Sabbath by attending church and refraining from any unnecessary labor.

                    One elderly cousin wrote of an inscription, written in an old style of lettering that had hung above the fireplace of his parents' humble cottage.  The inscription had remained vivid in his mind, although time had dimmed his recollection of other events.

                    Marion was excited when she read the letter and the words of the inscription.  Here was a clue to help her identify with her husband's heritage.  His great-grandparents' home had been one in which God had been revered, and seeds were planted there that would eventually prepare souls to accept the restored gospel. 

                    This simple inscription has helped Marion and her family to feel a closeness to Fred's ancestors.  By preserving the inscription on a plaque, this family has developed a new perspective of reverence toward God and appreciation for their ancestors  (See Preparing for Exaltation, 262-263).

                    There are numerous ways to do family history work and learn more about our ancestors.  1) We can ask our living ancestors - parents, grandparents, etc. - to tell us about their parents and grandparents.  2) We can write letters to our grandparents and ask them to share some stories about themselves, their children, their parents, or their grandparents.  We would be wise to ask them to include details such as dates, places, and names of people in the stories.  Any replies to our requests should be kept in a safe place.

3) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has many Family History Centers.  Anyone living or traveling near these centers may go there to use the computers and other resources to find the names of more ancestors.  4) We can prepare a pedigree chart of your family.  5) If we have ancestors from a different country, we can read about the customs of that country and learn about how our ancestors lived.

               The following story illustrates how each of us can do family history work and reap rich rewards.  "Linda was a convert to the Church.  She envied her friend's Latter-day Saint pioneer heritage and the many pages of pedigrees, biographies, and stories he had in a book of family records, but she could see nothing very exciting or glamorous in learning about her own ancestors.  Then her friend said something that made her look at her situation in a different light.

                    "`Linda, I envy you!'  …  My friend closed his book and continued, `All the work that's in here was done by someone else….  But you - you get to start fresh and snoop around for yourself!  Just think how close that will bring you to your mothers and fathers!  You'll really get to know them!'

                    "Knowing my mothers and fathers!  I had never thought of it that personally before.  Mothers and fathers don't have to be glamorous or royal - they just have to be mine and I theirs!  I repented of my envy and scurried home with the spirit of Elijah fluttering around me and some blank pedigree charts in my hand.

                    "I filled in the information for my parents and me but didn't have much beyond names for my grandparents.  Then I remembered some old boxes of family things my mother mentioned once.  In the basement covered with dust and smelling like the 19th century, two cigar boxes lay wedged in behind some old tires.  I had found treasure chests!  I sat down on the cold concrete, surrounded by hardware and hoses and mold, and began to get acquainted with my ancestors.  In those boxes I found a 1907 newspaper clipping of my great-grandfather's obituary, my granduncle's report card from Sweden in 1883, a 14-inch swatch of my grandmother's golden hair, an envelope with five generations of parents' names diagrammed on the back, lots of unlabeled photographs, and a small, brittle bundle of Swedish letters from my great-grandfather to my great-grandmother when they were courting in the 1860s.   I offered a teary prayer of gratitude there in that damp, musty sanctuary, and I knew I was not alone in that prayer or that place.

                    "I studied those treasures in the months that followed.  I pumped my mother for anything she could recall about her family.  She helped me label photographs and sort out relationships.  I studied old Swedish customs.  I examined old maps of the areas where my family had lived.  I listened to Swedish folk music.  I even learned a little of the language.  I discovered what kinds of people my ancestors really were:  Gerda, my mother's mother - the sensitive, industrious, beautiful nurse; Carl Johan - the stationmaster with the flowing beard who would give advice and settle disputes like a lawyer; Maria Christina - the sturdy, stocky, devoted wife of Carl Johan and a diligent student of the scriptures; Agnes Sigrid Alfreda who had volunteered for the earliest experimental polio immunizations and was unfortunately left crippled; and my dear great-great-grandfather Anders who wrote in 1880. `If I am now welcome I intend to travel to see you if the Lord will grant me health, and take with me my fishing yarn and the material for wooden clogs.'  I love them all as living people, as my parents" (Linda K. Hoffman, "Gerda, I Love You, or The Spirit of Elijah Is for Simple Folk Too" New Era, Aug. 1976, 28-30).

                    In addition to learning about our ancestors, we can keep our own personal records.  The scriptures tell us that we will be judged out of the books that are kept.  By keeping our own personal records, we can determine that the records are true.  Our own records comprise a very important part of family history work.  Our future generations will have a difficult time turning their hearts to us if they know nothing about us, but our own records will help our family members to know more about us in the future.

               Have you ever wondered what information you would give to your children and grandchildren?  Have you considered that the way you face challenges may help your posterity to face their own challenges better?  Could knowing about you and your experiences help your posterity in their lives?

                    President Spencer W. Kimball stated:  "We may think there is little of interest or importance in what we personally say or do - but it is remarkable how many of our families, as we pass on down the line, are interested in all that we do and all that we say.  Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us - and as our posterity read of our life's experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us.  And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted" (Ensign, Nov. 1979, 5).

                    Our journals should include a record of our daily lives as well as personal experiences and feelings, testimonies, difficulties, family events, missionary calls, joyful occasions, and funny events in our lives.  Our journals do not need to be fancy, and our words in them do not need to be extraordinary.  We do however need to record memories that will be valuable to us and to our posterity.  Even things that seem insignificant now, like the clothes we wear, the food we eat, and the things we do at school, may be important to us and to others in the future. 

                    President Spencer W. Kimball counseled:  "Get a notebook my young folks….  Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies" ("The Angels May Quote from It," New Era, Oct. 1975, 5).

                    I have a dear friend who is an outstanding journal keeper who has kept a journal for many years.  She often shares passages from her journals that are uplifting to other people, particularly her posterity.  She is a great example to me and a great strength to her family. 

I have also been influenced by family members who keep journals, and I have kept a daily journal for many years.  My journal entries help me to remember my past experiences and my growth and development.  My journal is also a place where I can write about experiences and feelings that are difficult to share with other people.  I am always amazed how the feelings come back while reading past entries.

My grandchildren often ask me for stories about my childhood.  I recently spent several days writing about my life as a child and youth on my family farm.  I really enjoyed this experience and feel that I had inspiration from God while doing it.  I believe that my Father in Heaven brought past experiences to my memory in order for me to have them in my record.  These stories will one day be a gift for my grandchildren.

I know the importance of turning our hearts to our "fathers" and to our "children" and work on my family history and personal records.   I encourage you to get a notebook and start keeping a journal.  I also encourage you to learn about your ancestors and save any important pieces of information in a book of remembrance, scrapbook, or file.  I know that we will all be blessed by turning our hearts to our fathers and to our children.

Temples and Family History

                    Temple work and family history help us to obtain and keep eternal perspectives.  Eternity is plainly shown when we stand before the mirrors in our temples.  The mirrors on opposite walls reflect images back and forth into what seems like eternity.  By looking into the mirror in front of us, we are reminded of all the generations of our posterity following us.  When we turn around and look in the other mirror, we are reminded of all our ancestors who preceded us.

                    In the October 1902 General Conference, Joseph F. Smith, then President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, expressed the hope that one day we would "have temples built in the various parts of the [world] where they are needed for the convenience of the people." 

The hope of President Smith and other prophets is currently being fulfilled because temples now dot the earth.  The Church now has 134 temples operating throughout the world with more in the planning and building process.  Every temple has the same functions and identical ordinances and blessings.  Each one is a house of God.

President Thomas S. Monson reported in the April 2011 General Conference that "Eighty-five percent of the membership of the Church now live within 200 miles (320 km) of a temple, and for a great many of us, that distance is much shorter" (Ensign, May 2011, p. 92).

He also said, "Temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting.  They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service."

I remember when President Spencer W. Kimball encouraged parents to plant the love of temples in the hearts of their children.  He said, "It seems to me it would be a fine thing if every set of parents would have in every bedroom in their house a picture of the temple so the boy or girl from the time he is an infant could look at the picture every day and it becomes a part of his life.  When he reaches the age that he needs to make this very important decision, it will have already been made" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 301).

We teach our children from the time they are babies that temples are important and sacred buildings.  Our Primary children sing about temples.  The following song was written by Janice Kapp Perry, "I Love to See the Temple," Children's Songbook, 95).

I love to see the temple.

I'll go inside someday.

I'll cov'nant with my Father;

I'll promise to obey.

                    The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that we have a Heavenly Father who wants all of His children to return to His presence.  The gospel also teaches that the Atonement of Jesus Christ provides the means to be resurrected and to live forever with our families in God’s presence.  In order to put the Atonement into effect in our lives, we must obey all that the Savior commands.  His commandments include being baptized and confirmed as well as receiving the temple ordinances.

                    Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have each been baptized and confirmed by one holding proper priesthood authority. Each adult member also may go into the temple to receive the saving priesthood ordinances performed there.

                    Many people have lived on the earth that did not have these same opportunities.  They did not live at a time or in a place when the gospel was available to them.  Because Heavenly Father loves all of His children and wants all of us to return to live with Him, He provided a way for those who have died without baptism or the temple ordinances to receive them.  Members of the Church act as proxies to perform temple ordinances for our ancestors.

                    Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are special buildings built and dedicated to the Lord. Worthy Church members have the opportunity to go inside the temples to receive sacred ordinances and to make covenants with God.  These ordinances and covenants, like baptism, are necessary for our salvation and must be performed in the temples of the Lord.

                    Part of the temple experience is instruction about Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Visitors to the temple gain better understanding of our purpose in life and our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  There we learn about our life before we came to earth, why we are here, and what life after death is like.

                    All temple ordinances are performed by the power of the priesthood.  Ordinances performed on earth by this power are sealed, or bound, in heaven as the Savior taught His Apostles, “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).

                    The temple is the only place where families can be sealed together forever.  Baptism and all other ordinances prepare us for marriage in the temple where a man and a woman are joined as husband and wife for eternity if they honor their covenants.

                    When a man and a woman are married in the temple, any children born after the sealing are automatically part of their eternal family.  Couples who were previously married by civil authority can receive these same blessings by preparing themselves and their children to go to the temple and be sealed to each other.  Parents who legally adopt children may have those children sealed to them.

                    Many of our ancestors died without the opportunity to hear the gospel on earth and now live in the spirit world where they are taught the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Those who accept the gospel there in the spirit world are waiting for the temple ordinances to be performed for them here on earth.  We can feel the joy of our ancestors as we perform these temple ordinances for them.

                    In order to do temple work for our ancestors, we must identify them by doing family history.  When we have sufficient information, we can take the names of our ancestors to the temple to be sealed into the family relationship.  The experience of doing temple work for an ancestor is a special and sacred experience.


                   Families can be together forever when they are sealed together by temple ordinances.  Becoming a forever family is not easy, but it is worthwhile.  "Together Forever" tells how to become eternal families.

Journals

Families are strengthened when individual members keep journals. Some people write in their journals daily, but others simply keep notes and then write in their journals weekly or monthly. I’ve found that I remember events better if I write daily. A friend of mine received temporal blessings for writing in her journal daily. Candy’s son David was involved in an automobile accident, and Candy wrote about it in her journal. Later when David was called into court, Candy’s journal entry was admitted as evidence that helped David in his claim.

In visiting with my siblings about events that happened in our childhoods, I learned that each of us remembers specific events very differently. This could happen because we were each involved differently in our own individual way during the event. It could also happen because memories have a way of changing if there is no written word to use as a reference point. Because traditions and memories of our experiences form a part of our history, we should be certain that we are remembering them accurately.

It is important to have traditions as well as to remember our history correctly. This is one reason why progressives want to change the history and traditions of our nation. In May 2008, Michelle Obama said, "Barack knows that we are going to have to make sacrifices; we are going to have to change our conversation; we're going to have to change our traditions, our history; we're going to have to move into a different place as a nation."

What did she mean when she said that we would have to change our conversations, our traditions, and our history? We change the conversation when we put a different slant on the words. We change traditions when we stop repeating the stories of our national heritage, when we take prayer out of the schools, when we stop pledging allegiance to the flag and start pledging allegiance to the earth. Another way to change history is to say that white things are now black and black is now white. For example, President Obama has said that we are no longer a Christian nation. How can he say that when 92 percent of Americans believe in God? How can he say that when 83 percent of Americans believe that public schools should celebrate religious holidays? How can he say that when 66 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday honoring the birth of Jesus Christ?

In order for us to remember traditions and history correctly, we need to write down our experiences and the events that are happening around us. We need to write history as we see it happening in order to have a foundation to judge what other people say and write. Keeping journals is a good way to strengthen our families and nations.

Scottish Heritage

I recently attended a book club meeting with some friends where we learned about Robert Burns, the Scottish poet. We enjoyed a nice evening where we read and discussed several of his poems, sang a few of his songs, and dined on authentic Scottish food. We came to the conclusion that Burns' most famous work is "Auld Lang Syne." "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min'? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days of o' lang syne? For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne, We'll tak' a cup of kindness yet, For auld lang syne." One of my dearest friends of more than thirty years lived in the area around Edinburgh, Scotland, until she was nearly fifteen years old. After coming to the United States, she tried to lose her Scottish accent, but she still has more than a touch of it. Her accent really came out when she was reading some of Burns' poetry. The Scottish food was interesting and sort of bland. My friend made some dishes that she learned from her mother. I found a recipe on the Internet for Scotch Eggs (boiled eggs, shelled, incased in ground pork or ground turkey with spices, and baked. Other dishes were clapshot (a dish made by boiling and mashing together potatoes and turnips - probably my favorite of the evening), individual meat pies (ground beef enclosed and baked inside a shell, and shortbread. The evening was very enjoyable with good friends, good food, and Robert Burns. I'm not too much into poetry, but I am one-quarter Scottish. This evening gave me a desire to know a little more about Scotland and my Scottish grandfather who died before I was born. As soon as I returned home, I turned to my encyclopedia and read about Scotland. Then I pulled out my family history books to read again about my grandfather. I learned that he attended public schools in Scotland until he passed the sixth grade at age 12. My great-grandparents joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before my grandfather was born. They wanted to gather with other members of the Church in America and left their native Scotland in 1883 when my grandfather was 13 years old. On the day they sailed from Cowdenbeath, Fife, Scotland, the schools and the mines were closed so that the people could tell them goodbye. They sailed with 1700 other members of the Church and took 13 days to reach America. In America, my grandfather cut wood, worked in a copper mine, and worked for the United States government with the Indians. He loved to tell stories, had a hearty laugh, and was "a prince of a man" according to my father. I haven't spent much time thinking about my grandfather and what his childhood in Scotland was like, but now I have questions. How did he feel about moving to America? Did he speak with a Scottish accent? What foods did he eat as a boy? What did he do for fun? Why did my mother not include more Scottish food in our diets? Maybe she fixed other Scottish food, but her shortbread is the only one I recognize as being Scottish. I am also wondering if I got my love for plaids from my Scottish ancestry. Maybe this evening with Robert Burns will propel me into family history! At the very least, I need to ask my older siblings to tell me about our Scottish grandfather.