Family History Thoughts

 

Throughout my life I’ve discounted encouragement to become involved in Family History thinking previous relatives had already found any ancestors that could be found on my family tree. However, a few years ago, I took an ancestry.com DNA test. There’s a feature on Ancestry called ThruLines that provides generations of direct ancestors through connecting DNA. I’ve been able to use this to confirm information, make corrections and add additional notations to familysearch.org. An added and unexpected benefit has been to make sweet connections with relatives. 

 

Family History work has been fascinating and I'm starting to understand why the elderly have always seemed to be enamored with it. Beyond a simple birth and death date, each individual experienced heartbreaks and loss, had weaknesses and failures yet also loved and were loved, had courage, fortitude, commitment and strength. It's been humbling to get a small glimpse into their encounters with God and our mutual need for His great plan of redemption. 

 

At times, it's challenging to think that an all-powerful, intelligent, Creator of worlds without end could possibly care about me. However, He is aware of everyone who has ever been on this earth and it brings comfort to know He will still love me even after the here and now. I feel God is pleased when I make efforts to find those who have passed on. 

 

It’s also been a reminder to record the countless, simple day-to-day experiences, so easy to discount, that have brought me joy and fulfillment. So many cherished memories: Singing songs with my mom as a little girl, basketball games with my dad and brothers, a fire and blanket on snowy winter nights. Later, weddings and facing the unknowns of new homes and new places. The painfully obvious realization that I was out of my element at the demands of nurturing a new life but then getting the hang of it, then getting really good at it. The unexpected sudden surge of gratitude for my own mom for keeping me alive for the first few months of life when I became a sleep deprived mom myself. Babies learning to crawl, jump over puddles and attempts at cartwheels, making Valentines, bike rides, climbing trees, teaching children to read and then frequenting the library enough to be on a first name basis with the librarians. Children mastering the art of riding a mattress down the stairs on rainy days. The perfect moonlit nights looking out the window at the stars and tucking toddlers in with their favorite lullabies. The heart wrenching good-byes as people who loved me have passed on holding an elderly wrinkled, bruised hand to say goodbye but holding even more tightly to the scripture, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" That kind of love changes you. It becomes a part of who you are. The songs, the stories, the times I felt God's rescuing hand; my own encounters with His goodness. I feel God's love when I look for my ancestors and when I take the time to record my own memories. I can't recommend Family History enough! 

James' Talk 1/29/23

 In his talk, "A Home Where the Spirit of the Lord Dwells.", President Eyring emphasizes the importance of creating a spiritual environment in our homes so we can protect and increase feelings of love. He said, “You will find some of your greatest joys in your efforts to make your home a place of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and a place that is permeated with love, the pure love of Christ.”

 

President Eyring warns of tactics that the adversary will use to keep the Spirit from being in our homes. He tells us to watch out for patterns of contention, pride and sin. He points us to the fall of the righteous people of 4 Nephi: 

 

Pride crept in. 

The people stopped sharing what they had with each other.

They began to see themselves in classes above or below each other.

They began to diminish in their faith in Jesus Christ.

They began to hate.

They began to commit all kinds of sin.

 

President Eyring counsels that building faith in Jesus Christ is the key to reversing spiritual decline in our homes. Helaman 5:12 says, 12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

 

I once heard an analogy comparing plants to our relationship with the Savior. Heliotropism is where some plants and flowers turn toward the sun. As the sun moves across the sky, the plants gradually turn so that they are always facing it. 

 

There are various ways that President Eyring suggests that we, like these plants can always face the Savior, inviting Him into our homes. 

 

1.   Gospel Learning: We can use the inspired church curriculum, Come Follow Me. We can follow President Nelson’s counsel and look for references to the Jesus Christ in the scriptures, especially in The Book of Mormon. 

 

2.   President Eyring counsels that kneeling together in family prayer can play a crucial part in making homes a sacred place and promises that, “Prayer in the family can reach across the world.” In Alma 19:23 the Lord promises Mosiah that he will be with Ammon according to his father’s faith. We learn that faithful prayer can bless those we love. 

 

3.   We may be surprised at how quickly the Spirit will return when we sincerely repent. The Washington D.C. temple was recently renovated and rededicated. The baptistry had to be completely gutted and rebuilt. Like the baptistry, some areas of our lives may need to be changed but with the Savior we can do that and rededicate our lives to God’s work. “Because none of us is perfect and feelings are easily hurt, families can become sacred sanctuaries only as we repent early and sincerely. Parents can set an example. Harsh words or unkind thoughts can be repented of quickly and sincerely. A simple “I am sorry” can heal wounds and invite both forgiveness and love. The Prophet Joseph Smith was a model for us as he dealt with vicious attacks, with traitors, and even with disagreements in his family. He forgave quickly, even though he knew the attacker might attack again. He asked for forgiveness, and he gave it freely.”

 

4.   President Eyring notes that “the temple is the best opportunity to gain a feeling for and a love of heavenly places.” I remember a meaningful experience when my family was visiting temple grounds on a Sunday afternoon a few years ago. When we stood by the doors of the temple, I felt the Spirit in a strong and discernable way. Temples help us feel the love and peace of Jesus Christ that we want in our homes.

 

President Eyring acknowledged that, “Some have tried with full heart for that blessing of the loving Christ-centered home, yet it has not been granted. He once told an apostle “because of choices some in our extended family had made, I doubted that we could be together in the world to come. The apostle replied, “You are worrying about the wrong problem. You just live worthy of the celestial kingdom, and the family arrangements will be more wonderful than you can imagine.”

 Elder Kim B. Clark suggested we ask ourselves two questions. 

1. What am I doing that I should stop doing?

2. What am I not doing that I should start doing?

The Lord can lovingly help us establish the kind of lives and homes where we can feel the comfort and peace of the Spirit, a place where we can do His great work. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Parenting, Example

Families

President Brigham Young explained that our families are not yet ours. The Lord has committed them to us to see how we will treat them. Only if we are faithful will they be given to us forever. What we do on earth determines whether or not we will be worthy to become heavenly parents.

-Elder L. Tom Perry