It's now been several months that this blog has been active, and as I have looked back, I hope that you have been able to feel a bit of the spirit of Elijah as you have read these stories, and have been able to find some tips to help you get started. Or at least, that it has inspired you to attend the temple more often using the Ordinances Ready part of the app. I wanted to share something personal with you in this post.
I'm not an expert, and you don't have to be either
I'll share something with you that may surprise you. I'm not an expert in genealogy or Family History. I rely on tips from Family Search-for most on the app, it is the "Ancestors with Tasks" section. And with all the tips I've given to people about the mobile app, you would think I know my way around a smartphone. But I don't own one. I have to use my wife's to figure out how to use the app, and then share it.
Typically I use the website. And with just a few instructions, I have been able to find many of my ancestors, from either my own direct line or from other posterity lines.
Here's the point. If I can learn to do Family History, so can you. As Elder Scott and other Apostles and prophets have said, you don't have to be an expert anymore. And you can do it at home.
Become involved in this great work. The first time I did temple work for my ancestors, I felt for the first time that my life mattered to someone besides just me. The spirit impressed upon me the reality of this work. I could feel the joy of those whose ordinances were being done. I wish all could experience that joy. Doing work for your own family amps the temple experience.
Blessings for engaging in this work
As I have engaged in this work, I have experienced blessings from beyond the veil that have strengthened my connection to the Lord, and have helped me to develop a greater love both for my ancestors, and for the Savior whose work this is. And there are blessings I will not go into that await all who serve the Lord in bringing his children to him. Some more about those promises are in other posts on this blog.
If the veil were rent today, we would see the Savior of all inviting us to engage in his great work. We would see the whole of humanity that haven't had their ordinance work done, and who are waiting for it to be completed before they can return to their heavenly home. I invite all to take the Savior's invitation, given through our prophet, to make a sacrifice of time to engage in this work of salvation. It doesn't have to be much, but it can change your life.
When the Heavens Open-concluding thought
I wanted to take a moment and offer a thought that fills me with joy. President Nelson has said, referring to Family History, that we are preparing the world for the Second Coming of the Savior. Is it possible that part of the reason there is more Family History and Temple work to complete is that, in addition to making sure the earth isn't smitten with a curse, our ancestors and relatives, once their ordinances are done, will be among those hosts of heaven who will appear with the Savior as he descends with his "chariot of fire," to help inaugurate his Millenial reign on the earth? Perhaps part of the reason we will sing and shout with the armies of heaven at that millenial day is, in addition to praises to our King, that those angels who descend will be people who we have found as we did Family History, and/or have done their ordinance work in the temple.
Take just ten minutes a week, maybe on Sunday after the Come Follow me Study. Make it a habit to try. It will be worth it. Prophets have promised that.
You can learn more and be entertained by other posts on this blog, and you can also Discover your story on the Family Tree Mobile App, or the Family Search website. To close, here is a song that best reflects the spirit inside the temple. It's always made me want to go.
Picture of the Oakland Temple courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Media Library
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