Salvation of the Dead and the Living
"If we can look back through the generations, we see those who helped us to get where we are now—those who forged the way before us, whether they were members of the Church or not. And in the restored gospel we realize even more deeply our responsibility to link them to us through the ordinances of the temple. In a letter from the Prophet Joseph Smith to the members of the Church, we read: 'These are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over. . . . For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, . . . they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect'
(Neil L. Andersen, "Looking back and looking forward," New Era, Aug. 2009)
Family Connections
"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."
(Russel M. Nelson, "Generations Linked in Love", Ensign May 2010)
Forge a Continuous Chain
"In the great vision in the Kirtland Temple, Elijah the prophet appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and committed the keys of temple work and the sealing power into Joseph Smith's hands. This fulfilled Malachi's prophecy that Elijah would be sent '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' (see D&C 110:14–15).
"So what does this mean? To turn our hearts to our fathers is to search out the names of our deceased ancestors and to perform the saving ordinances in the temple for them. This will forge a continuous chain between us and our forefathers eventually all the way back to Father Adam and Mother Eve.
"The heart of an 11-year-old boy was turned to his fathers during a family home evening when the children assembled personal books of remembrance. Young Jeff wanted to accompany his mother to the National Archives. She was afraid he might disturb the other researchers there. But he persisted, and she relented and took him with her. Four hours into their research, he exclaimed, 'Mama, I've found Grandpa!' Indeed, he had found his great-great-great-grandfather. However, it doesn't always work that way. In a letter to the Family History Department, someone wrote: 'We lost our grandmother. Will you please send us a copy?' "
(James E. Faust, "The Phenomen That Is You," Ensign, Nov. 2003)
Morning of the Resurrection
"I quote a letter dated January the 17th, 1889. . . . It concerns my great-grandfather, who was the first of our line in the Church, and who died a few days later, Jonathan Taylor Packer. This letter was written by a daughter-in-law to the family.
"After describing the distress and difficulty he had suffered for several weeks, she wrote:
" 'But I will do all I can for him for I consider it my duty. I will do for him as I would like someone to do for my dear mother, for I am afraid I shall never see her again in this world.'
"And then she wrote this: 'Your father says for you all to be faithful to the principles of the gospel and asks the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob upon you all, and bids you all goodbye until he meets you in the morning of the resurrection.
" 'Well, Martha, I can't hardly see the lines for tears, so I will stop writing. From your loving sister, Mary Ann Packer.'
"I know that I shall see this great-grandfather beyond the veil, and my grandfather, and my father. And I know that I shall there also meet those of my ancestors who lived when the fulness of the gospel was not upon the earth; those who lived and died without ever hearing His name, nor having the invitation to be baptized."
(Boyd K. Packer, "The Redemption of the Dead," Ensign, November 1975)
Provide Ordinances for Ancestors
"In [an] epistle, written one hundred and fifty years ago, Joseph Smith stated: 'The Saints have the privilege of being baptized for . . . their relatives who are dead . . . who have received the gospel in the spirit . . . through . . . those who have been commissioned to preach to them. . . . Those saints who neglect it in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation.' (History of the Church, 4:231; italics added.)
"The prophet Elijah committed the keys for vicarious work to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple (see D&C 110:13–16) to fulfill the Lord's promise that 'he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers' (D&C 2:2).
"Through further revelation to Joseph Smith and subsequent prophets, there has come an understanding of and provision for temple work and the family history effort that supports it. Every prophet since Joseph Smith has emphasized the imperative need to provide all ordinances for ourselves and our deceased ancestors."
(Richard G. Scott, "Redemption: The Harvest of Love," Ensign, Nov. 1990)
The Visitor in the Night
"The Perry family history records [a] remarkable event:
" 'On a beautiful farm in the state of New York, Gustavus Adolphus Perry and his good wife, Eunice Wing, with their three sons, Orrin Alonzo, Lorenzo, and Henry Elisha, and their four daughters, Rosalie Alvira, Alvina, Amanda, and Lucy, were living very peacefully and happily. Close to the year of 1830 (we do not know the exact date) one evening after a light snow had fallen, the family was all in for the night. It was dark and the latchstring was drawn in so no one could enter the house. Then suddenly without warning, a stranger walked into the home and greeted them with these words: "God bless you." He spent the night with them explaining the principles of the gospel and told them of a new book called the Book of Mormon and quoted passages from the same. He then told them on what pages they were to find the quotations and that elders would soon visit them. The messenger disappeared in the morning just as suddenly as he had appeared the night before, leaving no tracks in the freshly fallen snow. They inquired of their neighbors to see if anyone had seen him. They had not, and no trace of him could be found.'
"This good family was ready for the gospel when it came to them, and they joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832."
(L. Tom Perry, "The Value of a Good Name," New Era, Feb. 2009)
History of Sacrifices
"The Perrys were like other families who joined the Church in the early 1800s. They moved from their home in upstate New York to Ohio, and then on to the gathering in Missouri. Forced from their Missouri home, they moved to Illinois. Again driven from their home, in the very cold winter of 1846, they made the painful trip across Iowa to settle in the Lake Branch at Winter Quarters. Here Gustavus served as a counselor in the bishopric until they were instructed in 1852 by Brigham Young to close the ward, join a wagon train, and make the long trek across the plains. . . .
"Each of us has these special accounts in our family histories of the sacrifices that were made for us to be blessed with a knowledge of the gospel. In some families, you may be the first member to join. You become its pioneer family. Therefore you have the obligation to record in your history who brought the converting power of the gospel to you."
(L. Tom Perry, "The Value of a Good Name," New Era, Feb. 2009)
Trace Your Genealogies As Far Back As You Can.
"Among the first in this dispensation to sow seeds of interest in family history were the brothers Orson and Parley P. Pratt, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Their efforts resulted in a Pratt family genealogy and the performance of temple ordinances for about 3,000 of their ancestors.
"Yet there were many Church members who did not fully understand the responsibility for their own kindred. President Wilford Woodruff was so concerned that he made the issue a matter of fervent prayer. Then, at April 1894 general conference, he presented a revelation to the membership of the Church. From it I quote: 'We want the Latter-day Saints from this time to trace their genealogies as far as they can, and to be sealed to their fathers and mothers. Have children sealed to their parents, and run this chain through as far as you can get it. . . . This is the will of the Lord to his people'
(Russel M. Nelson, "A New Harvest Time," Ensign, May 1998)
“Very simply, the Spirit of Elijah is the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of Elijah will influence anyone who is involved in this work. That, for a young person in the wickedness in the world in which we live today, is one of the greatest safeguards against the temptations of the adversary. The Spirit of Elijah will not only bless you, it will protect you.” —David A. Bednar (lds.org, experiences)
“We are here to participate in the work of salvation. That’s who we are, that’s why we’re here on the earth. ... You were prepared for this day. The time is now.”—Elder David A. Bednar (lds.org, Family History-Home)
"In my own family, some of our most sacred and treasured experiences have occurred when we have joined together in the temple to perform sealing ordinances for our deceased ancestors. . . . The all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the Church are those blessings which we receive in the temples of God." Thomas S. Monson (Ensign May 2011)
"If I were a bishop again, my approach would be to charge the high priests group leader with the responsibility to lead out in the ward council on this subject. I would ensure that we had one or more . . . family history consul-tants who were ‘people persons’ who could work under his direction. . . . I imagine that in the course of a year we could help at least ten families. In five years, we could have a corps of fifty families active at some level in family history and its attendant temple work. That to me would be a successful, well-run program." Elder D. Todd Christofferson (
President BoydK. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the role of ordinances and covenants:
“Ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into [God’s] presence. To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality. Once we have received them for ourselves and for our families, we are obligated to provide these ordinances vicariously for our kindred dead, indeed for the whole human family.” (Ensign, May 1987)
Elder Boyd K. Packer, who was then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, said: “One day while pondering prayerfully on [the enormity of the task of redeeming the dead,] I came to a realization that there is something that any one of us can do for all who have died.
“I came to see that any one of us, by himself, can care about them, all of them, and love them. That came as a great inspiration, for then I knew there was a starting point. “Whatever the number, we can love them, and desire to redeem them. Any one of us has within us the power to expand our concern to include them all. If a billion more are added, we can care for them also.
“If the numbers seem staggering, we will move ahead. If the process is tedious, we will move ahead anyway. If the records have been lost, if the obstacles and opposition are overwhelming, we will move ahead anyway” (That They May Be Redeemed [address delivered at regional representatives’ seminar, Apr. 1, 1977)
“Our efforts to promote temple and family history work should be such as to accomplish the work of the Lord, not to impose guilt on his children. . . .
“. . . We should understand that in the work of redeeming the dead there are many tasks to be performed, and that 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. . . . Our effort is not to compel everyone to do everything, but to encourage everyone to do something” Elder Dallin H. Oaks ( “Family History: ‘In Wisdom and Order,’” Ensign, June 1989)
“This work, unselfishly given in behalf of those on the other side, comes nearer to the unparalleled vicarious work of the Savior than any other of which I know. The great and important work of teaching the gospel of Christ to the people of the world is incomplete, at best, if it does not also provide for that teaching to those in another sphere and making available to them those gospel ordinances required of all if they are to move forward on the way of eternal life” Gordon B. Hinckley (Ensign, Nov. 1985)Elder Henry B. Eyring counseled: “You begin by doing simple things. Write down what you already know about your family. You will need to write down the names of parents and their parents with the dates of birth or death or marriage. When you can, you will want to record the places. Some of that you will know from memory. But you can also ask relatives. They may even have some certificates of births, marriages, or deaths. Make copies and organize them. 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.
“You can start searching in the first few generations going back in time. From that you will identify many of your ancestors who need your help. Someone in your own ward or branch of the Church has been called to help you prepare those names for the temple. There they can be offered the covenants which will free them from their spirit prisons and bind them in families—your family—forever”. (Ensign, May 2005)
Elder David B. Haight: “A nonmember in Wisconsin, with other family members, has been stymied by lack of information on her great-grandfather. She decided to try [one of the Church’s family history databases] and, after some searching, discovered her great-grandfather, the very one she had been looking for for many years. Shortly she had transferred to her disk several thousand additional names and over 1,300 marriages on this previously ‘dead-end’ line. She too is entering thousands of additional names on other lines to contribute to [the Church’s database]” (Ensign, May 1991)
Elder Richard G. Scott said: “Recently a friend of the Church, tenderly holding a five-inch-high stack of information, said with obvious gratitude, ‘The Church placed my life’s work in a computer where it will be permanently recorded and available for others to use.’ That spirit is spreading throughout the world, where friends who wish to show their gratitude for using Church resources are now generously donating their laboriously compiled family history information to share with others”. (Ensign, Nov. 1990)
- Elder Russell M. Nelson said: “I remember vividly an experience I had as a passenger in a small two-propeller airplane. One of its engines suddenly burst open and caught on fire. The propeller of the flaming engine was starkly stilled. As we plummeted in a steep spiral dive toward the earth, I expected to die. Some of the passengers screamed in hysterical panic. Miraculously, the precipitous dive extinguished the flames. Then, by starting up the other engine, the pilot was able to stabilize the plane and bring us down safely.
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