She turned her music up, and for a moment, let the angst seep into her, but she still felt unsettled. She grabbed her sleek, new, pink iphone, and was going to open up groupme until she realized Sheila would be there.
She flopped into the chair, folded her knees under her, and thought for a bit. She needed to settle down. Then something happened she couldn't explain. She felt like she needed to open the Family Tree App and go to the Ancestors with Tasks section. She didn't know why, but felt it was important. And there was an unexplainable peace that baffled her even as it comforted her.
In the Spirit World, Unknown to Helen, Constance was waiting for the right moment. She was finally used to being able to float above the floor, and in fact, she was remembering more about before she had been born on earth lately, but she still had a hard time with the fact that people on earth couldn't see her-only other spirits could. She turned to the glorious spirit with bright white hair, named Dorothea, and watched her as she, with the power of the spirit, prompted Helen to open the family tree app.
"Why doesn't she respond as well to me?" For Constance, it was a question born of both curiosity and desperation. This feeling of separation from her Father in Heaven was so hard to deal with. Dorothea told her it was because it was the spirit of the Lord conveys messages the best, but that her time to have someone baptized for her, and receive the holy ghost was almost here. Then, when assigned to do work, she would have the spirit with her as well. Dorothea remembered how it had been for her before her temple work was done, and she could see Constance could sense that about her.
"How far are you with your proxy lessons," Dorothea asked. "I just have 3 left," said Constance excitedly, glad that Dorothea was also excited. "I have been soo waiting for this, and my parents have been sad that I haven't been able to experience more of this. I just know this gospel is true, I just wish I had been found when my parents accepted their ordinances." Dorothea smiled and said, "It's almost time."
Constance thought about how things had been when she first heard of the gospel, of how she had hoped for her name to be found and ordinances done. It had been almost 100 long years she had waited. She loved the spirit at church meetings, but it always left after the meeting finished.
"Go ahead to your next proxy lesson, Constance, and return here as soon as you feel the spirit calling you here." Constance suspected there was more to this, and excitedly said "Really?"
"Yes, really, you will get to help with this-The Lord has given his approval."
Her face flushed, Constance disappeared to go to her lesson, excited to tell the missionaries the good news.
Oblivious to what was happening in the spirit world, but feeling peaceful, Helen looked at the Family Tree App, at the couple Edward and Joan Button. She hadn't been able to find anything about them, but now as she was looking at the record, she noticed a Record hint on the side. It was a census record! Someone must have indexed a new record! She looked at it, and saw Edward and Joan's name, and then saw below it one name-Constance.
She excitedly tapped "review and merge," and saw the birth years matched up within one year with Edward and Mary, and that the towns matched up as well. She matched up Edward and Joan's records, attached it to theirs, and then clicked on Constance's name to add her as a daughter. There were no duplicates in Family Search. Just to be sure, she did a quick search, and couldn't find a Constance Button with that birthdate and location.
She added the name, added deceased (because no one is alive after 175 years), and then saw the temple ordinances tab light up. She reserved the ordinance, and knew she would be able to take this to the youth temple trip in a couple of weeks. She started to get excited. She had run into roadblocks with this, and now she was glad she had followed the challenge in that old story she read by President Monson.
He'd said that when doing Family History, you would run into roadblocks, and that if you would get down on your knees and pray, the Lord would open a way for you. And he had.
Her life mattered: As she was thinking that, She started feeling the spirit confirm that she had done a great work, and for a moment, she felt a joy beyond compare. She felt like for the first time her life mattered to someone else beside herself. She felt the Love of the Lord for her, but there was something else there. She felt that Constance understood her, her challenges, and that she would be able to get through them. She didn't know how, but somehow she just knew. She didn't feel so alone in the world, and she had more hope.
Close to Helen but unseen, Constance had returned from her proxy lesson a few minutes ago. Constance felt a connection to this girl, not just because she had been through similar things, but because of the spirit that had come to convey things to both of them. She now had a date that she would be able to be baptized, and was more settled. If only more of her ancestors could be found. Her heart longed for them to feel of this love. Dorothy said to her "It's time to go, dear, you will have a couple of weeks to finish preparing, then you will be able to go to the temple to accept your ordinances." Edward and Joan, her parents, had appeared, and hugged her tightly.
"We are going to be together forever as a family, and with the spirit, you will be able to help in the work of the Lord, said Joan, her mom. Edward was just silent, but what he didn't say spoke volumes.
Holding the App, Helen felt a peace that stayed with her for a long time, even though the impressions she had were subsiding. She would never be the same. The heavens felt close to her, and more real than ever. She knew in her heart that Jesus Christ was the Savior and Redeemer of the world, that this gospel and work were true, and more importantly, that she was helping others return to the presence of the Lord. She pushed away tears, and thought to herself "This is a happy time, Helen, what are you doing crying?" Then she realized that somewhere, some spirit was probably crying for joy as well...
Each one of us has our own story we can discover as we engage in Family History and Temple work. We can become whole, can become healed, and can help our dead return to the presence of the Lord. Even though the above story is fictionalized, it does share very real experiences that happen every day when you engage in Family History or Indexing.
Most importantly, this is his work. The work of Salvation is going on for both the living and the dead, and will continue without end until the end of the millenium, when the work will have been done for the entire family of man, and all will have heard the spirit testify of the Savior.
Some of the greatest joys I have ever had was when I engaged in this great work. I testify it is a healing, saving work, and is the work of the Lord.
Now if you have never done Family History before, don't worry, you don't need to be anymore. The Ancestors with Tasks section on the App is pretty self explanatory, however I have found that the Family Search Website Hints section is much easier to use. I'm not an expert, in fact, sometimes I feel like a beginner. Which is why the following ten minute Get started video is so easy to use.
One caveat. If you login and can't see your ancestors, you have homework-find out your parents and grandparents birthdates and places, and put them into Family Search. As soon as you get back to people who have passed away, it should connect you with your Family Tree. Then use this get started video
I'm going to close with this song from Youtube about the most sacred place on earth. The temple.
Start your story at Family Search, or on the Family Tree Mobile App.
Picture courtesy of LDS Temple Pics, available at their website
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