Sunday Afternoon April 2010
Genealogy has always overwhelmed me. I even took a class devoted to it in college but seemed to just get by with work that others in my family had already done. I need to repent of that and spend some time figuring it out. The church's new website Family Search has really made it simple for anybody to do.
My neighbor was telling me that their daughter - age 12 - gets on and finds names for them all the time. Either for her to go to the Temple and perform baptisms or for the adults to take.
" Because of the importance of this work, the Church has built temples closer to the people, and family history research is being facilitated as never before. Methods to find and prepare names for temple ordinances are also improving. At the October 2005 conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced an exciting step forward in family history and temple work. He said: “One of the most troublesome aspects of our temple activity is that as we get more and more temples . . . across the earth there is duplication of effort in proxy work. . . . We, therefore, have been engaged for some time in a very difficult undertaking. . . . The solution lies in complex computer technology.”
Since then, not only has duplication been reduced, but procedures have been simplified so that virtually every member of the Church can participate in temple and family history work. Gone are the days when this sacred work was done only by specialists. No matter your situation, you can make family history a part of your life right now. Primary children can draw a family tree. Youth can participate in proxy baptisms. They can also help the older generation work with computers. Parents can relate stories of their lives to their posterity. Worthy adult members can hold a temple recommend and perform temple ordinances for their own kin."
I love how at the beginning of this talk Elder Nelson talks about his great-granddaughter and the love and connection we feel for our families. I know that if we studied and learned more about our ancestors and their stories that we would feel this same connection.
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