Every General Conference the Lord tells us again what is important and what is not.
And there is a regular feast of things to listen to and to act upon. All of these things have at their center the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a hope of things to come.
For my birthday, my wife put a picture on the wall, next to my bed, of two men running, with looks that can only be described as anticipation. The men in the picture are the apostles, Peter and John. They are running toward what we now know is an empty tomb. And the artist has painted them at the moment that they realize that the women who reported it were right. They see for themselves the stone, rolled away. And the dawning we see in their faces is captured in the title of the painting, “Hope”.
Hope is ours because the tomb is empty. And all the promises that God has made toward us are fulfilled. We now know that the day will come when all the tombs will be empty.
My purpose today is to take some things that we have received in Conference and present them such in a way that what has been said before, might become new in our minds. And I want to give us hope that we can accomplish what God has said we must be doing.
These thoughts were put together for a talk about Family History Work. And when we talk about Family History we mean more than genealogy. We mean gathering records, ancient and modern, that can save our families, the members that are living, those that are dead, and those who are yet to come.
When the Lord gets here we will have a thousand years to get all the records together and do the work for the dead. But he has started us out working on it now.
Why? Because the point of restoring the Gospel to the earth before His return is to prepare a people who will be ready for His coming. These times are not survivable without a spiritual shield to match the tests of our day.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “[the mission of the Church has been] organized to include three dimensions: proclaim the gospel, perfect the Saints, and redeem the dead. As we know, these three dimensions are interlocking and inseparable.” (October 1989 Conference, “Family History: 'In Wisdom and in Order'”)
We can say that perfecting the saints is accomplished not only by Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching, holding Family Home Evening, but by writing personal histories, sharing our testimonies, seeking out our kindred dead and doing temple ordinances for them.
We also need to understand the scope of what we have been asked to do and how we may already be participating. Quoting Elder Oaks again:
“Some members may feel guilty about not furthering the mission of the Church when they are actually doing so. This kind of guilt comes not from insufficient efforts, but from insufficient vision. For example, a mother with several young children may be furthering the mission of the Church most profoundly in all three of its dimensions in her own home when she helps her children to prepare for missions, when she teaches them to revere the temple and prepare to make covenants there, and when she shows them how to strive for perfection in their personal lives.”
So we are busy in so many ways in this work that we shouldn't feel guilty. But we also need to acknowledge our own limitations. Elder Oaks' talk is entitled “Family History: 'In Wisdom and in Order'”. He says,
“On the question of how much and what each member can do in individual efforts, in addition to his or her Church calling, we should be guided by the principle taught in King Benjamin’s great sermon. After teaching his people the things they should do to 'walk guiltless before God,' including giving to the poor, he concluded: 'And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.' (Mosiah 4:27.) Similarly, as the Prophet Joseph Smith struggled through adversity to translate the Book of Mormon, the Lord told him: 'Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end.' (D&C 10:4.)
“Guided by these inspired words, leaders should encourage members to determine, according to the promptings of the Spirit, what temple and family history work they can do 'in wisdom and order' consistent with their own 'strength and means.' In this way, if we are 'diligent unto the end,' the work will prosper. The list of ways to further the work is long, and the consequences of a broad-based multitude of individual efforts by Church members are far-reaching.”
I have thought more about the importance of personal histories in the last few years. And when my daughter, Joanna, was in the MTC (Missionary Training Center), I began to write the first draft of my personal history. Many of us have been inspired by Nephi's words, “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents...” (1 Nephi 1:1; The Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ) But we get bogged down in the details that come later. But I have a suggestion for you. Those words are part of Nephi's small plates. That means that it only contains the spiritual experiences and enough of the rest of the story to hold it together.
I did that with my own story, and as each piece was finished I would send it to my missionary. I called them my small plates and tacked them on to the end of each letter I sent.
I have since taken the framework of the small plates story and gone back to put in odd little details that are really just a memoir. But I got the most important part in first: my testimony.
If your children are small, and still a handful, take time, after their bedtime, to write in a journal those little things they do that remind you of yourself when you were small. Later you can go back and turn them into the treasures you want them to have.
These things are part of how we bind our families together in trying times. President Monson has reminded us over and over to focus on what matters most. Family is at the top of the list.
More importantly, the Lord has a plan to bind us to Him while we bind ourselves to each other. That is why Home Evening is what it is. That is why Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching are what they are. To do them right He is part of the equation. And when we take the Spirit to be our Guide and learn to depend on Him then we are ready for any storm that comes, even storms that are already upon us.
And the work for our Dear Ones who have gone on before is of the same character and purpose. We can't do it right except we are touched by the Spirit of God. It's not just the miracles that happen. Because testimonies are not about miracles. But it is because we come to realize more fully how much we need the Lord's help to do sacred things.
I don't have time to tell you stories about genealogical successes. And they are not as important as the temple experiences that come later. But remember also that the spiritual things are only for family. (Do you begin to see how this works?)
We are all given our own genealogical problems to solve and overcome. Come to the Family History Center, and we will help you all we can. But in the end, it is the Lord's work and He is the Helper that we all count on.
I want to tell you that there is hope for any lost name because they will be found. The Lord himself has paid for every one of us. He knows you, and he knows me, and his purpose is to bring to pass our immortality and our eternal life. (See Moses 1:39; the Pearl of Great Price)
I thought about telling you about technology and how we continue to progress. But what matters is that when this life over there is going to be a big party. I mean a big party. And we are going to have the most fun because we are going to know the most people there.
It's time to quote the Prophet Joseph Smith:
“Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:22)
The records we find and the records we create will get us through the times ahead. Because in the process of finding and creating we will bind ourselves together and bind ourselves to the Lord.
Remember the words of the hymn, “High on the Mountain Top”. (Hymns #5)
“Forever there, His ways we'll tread, And save ourselves with all our dead.”
I testify these things are true in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
