“The
great and dreadful day of the Lord is the end of the world. Jehovah,
the Messiah, will come in glory. The wicked will all be destroyed. We
live in the last days. Time could be running out for us to do what we have promised to do.” Elder Henry B. Eyring “Hearts Bound Together”.
Happy Sunday!
Here’s
a few more points worth pondering about temple work and the blessings
(again my own work and research includes my own bold and/or highlights
below):
1. Time could be running out
– “The great and dreadful day of the Lord is the end of the world.
Jehovah, the Messiah, will come in glory. The wicked will all be
destroyed. We live in the last days. Time could be running out for
us to do what we have promised to do.” (Note: this was in 2005, has
time gotten any shorter since then - 10 years’ time) “I will see those
missionaries in the spirit world, and so will you. Think of a faithful
missionary standing there with those he has loved and taught who are
your ancestors. Picture as I do the smile on the face of that missionary
as you walk up to him and your ancestors whom he converted but could
not baptize or have sealed to family until you came to the rescue. I do not know what the protocol will be in such a place, but I imagine arms thrown around your neck and tears of gratitude. If you can imagine the smile of the missionary and your ancestor, think of the Savior when you meet Him. You will have that interview…
He has trusted you by letting you hear the gospel in your lifetime,
giving you the chance to accept the obligation to offer it to those of
your ancestors who did not have your priceless opportunity. Think of
the gratitude He has for those who pay the price in work and faith to
find the names of their ancestors and who love them and Him enough to
offer them eternal life in families, the greatest of all the gifts of
God. He offered them an infinite sacrifice. He will love and appreciate those who paid whatever price they could to allow
their ancestors to choose His offer of eternal life…. There are more
temples across the earth than there have ever been… The Lord has poured
out knowledge about how to make that information available worldwide
through technology that a few years ago would have seemed a miracle…
With those opportunities there comes greater obligation to keep our
trust with the Lord. Where much is given, much is required. After you
find the first few generations, the road will become more difficult. The
price will become greater. As you go back in time, the records become
less complete. As others of your family search out ancestors, you will
discover that the ancestor you find has already been offered the full
blessings of the temple. Then you will have a difficult and important
choice to make. You will be tempted to stop and leave the hard work of
finding to others who are more expert or to another time in your life.
But you will also feel a tug on your heart to go on in the work, hard as
it will be. As you decide, remember that the names which will be so difficult to find are of real people to whom you owe your existence in this world and whom you will meet again in the spirit world.
When you were baptized, your ancestors looked down on you with hope.
Perhaps after centuries, they rejoiced to see one of their descendants
make a covenant to find them and to offer them freedom. In your
reunion, you will see in their eyes either gratitude or terrible
disappointment. Their hearts are bound to you. Their hope is in your
hands. You will have more than your own strength as you choose to labor
on to find them.” Elder Henry B. Eyring “Hearts Bound Together”.
2. More power – “No work is more of a protection to this Church than temple work and the family history research that supports it. No work is more spiritually refining. No work we do gives us more power. No work requires a higher standard of righteousness.” President Boyd K. Packer “The Holy Temple,” Ensign, Oct. 2010, 35
3. Experiences – “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.”
President Thomas S. Monson In Conference Report, Apr. 2011, 87; or Ensign, May 2011, 93
4. Blessed and protected – Temple and family history work can bless and protect you and your family.
President Boyd K. Packer promised: “The Lord will bless us as we attend
to the sacred ordinance work of the temples. Blessings there will not
be limited to our temple service. We will be blessed in all of our affairs. We will be eligible to have the Lord take an interest in our affairs both spiritual and temporal. . . . “Our labors in the temple cover us with a shield and a protection, both individually and as a people”
(The Holy Temple [1980], 182, 265). As you prepare your family history
and go to the temple for your ancestors, you will feel the influence of
the Holy Ghost more powerfully in your life. You will be strengthened to do this work and the other tasks of your life more efficiently. As you do the work of the Lord, you will know Him better and become more like Him. (Member’s Guide to Temple And Family History Work – 2009)
I am so grateful for my wonderful wife. She is such a great genealogist. She has been able to find the records of literally thousands of my ancestors. I, being the first generation in my family to join the church, could not have asked for a better companion than the one I have for this and all other reasons. I have been able to get all of these ancestor's temple work done with the help of many people in our ward and stake. The blessings describe in your post above are absolutely real and wonderfully true! Our ancestors cannot become forgiven for any of their sins until their temple work is done. Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. Our ancestors are burdened with the shame and guilt of their mistakes and remain in spirit prison until their temple work is done. Many of them have accepted the gospel and desire with all of their hearts to join with the saints in paradise, but they cannot without our help. Maybe that is why we are called the posterity of our ancestry. They are waiting for us to get off our posteriors and get their much needed temple work done.
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