Recently
I sat in front of a microfilm reading machine for the first time. I
was looking for my third-great-grandmother who was born in Germany in
1859. I have not found her yet, but I did find many more people that
share her last name and are probably connected to her somehow.
I
have wanted to look into this family line for a while because we
don’t have any information about her parents, husband, or any
previous generations. I was intimidated because I don’t speak
German and thought I would never be able to understand any of the
records.
To
my surprise, I found that with a few key vocabulary words (like those
for birth, marriage, and death) I really just need to focus on
looking for people’s names.
With
the help of a couple of experienced friends I learned how to read the
microfilm, got some tips on handwriting style in that time, and came
across an entry for my great-aunt who I did already know about, but
did not have complete information on.
I
can’t really explain the rush of adrenaline I felt as I looked
at her name written in that birth register from 150 years ago. I
still only know her basic statistics but I feel just as thrilled to
find her as if I had discovered I was related to a modern-day
celebrity.
I
have wondered why there is such a pull to find our ancestors and why
that connection means so much to us. We have been told by modern
prophets in The Family: A Proclamation to the World that the
family “is ordained of God” and
that “the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the
eternal destiny of His children.”
Joseph
Fielding Smith taught in 1911 that, “There must be a welding, a
joining together of the generations from the days of Adam to the end
of time. Families will be joined and
linked together, parents to children, children to parents, one
generation to another, until we shall be joined together in one great
grand family with our father Adam at the head, where the Lord placed
him. … This is a glorious doctrine, one of the grand
principles of truth revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”
The
Lord has provided a way that we can all be linked together. It is
through the sealing power of the priesthood. This is what we do in
our temples. This is why we say that we have been sealed in the
temple, not just married. The marriage is a mortal connection and
commitment. The sealing is an eternal one.
Some
may wonder about those who were born before the gospel and priesthood
power were restored, or about those who have not heard the gospel, or
about those who never had a chance to be baptized. We know that our
Heavenly Father is always fair and would not deprive His children of
blessings because of circumstances they cannot control.
This
is why we have been given temples as a place to not only seal
ourselves as husbands and wives and families, but also seal those who
have died without having this ordinance.
The
pull to know our ancestors is now commonly called the spirit of Elijah.
According to Elder Russell M Nelson, it is “a manifestation of
the Holy
Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family.
Hence, people throughout the world, regardless of religious
affiliation, are gathering records of deceased relatives at an
ever-increasing rate.”
With
some fairly basic information we are able to take the name of
ancestors to the temple and stand in their place as they receive
ordinances. Ordinances are actions that have a spiritual meaning.
They are done according to God’s instructions through His
priesthood, and usually require that we make promises to our Heavenly
Father.
The
ordinances required for our salvation are called saving ordinances
and take place in temples. They are a tangible way that we show the
Lord our commitment to follow Him.
Elder
D. Todd Christofferson said, “The vicarious ordinances we
perform in temples, beginning with baptism,
make possible an eternal welding link between generations that
fulfills the purpose of the earth’s creation. Without this,
‘the whole earth would be utterly wasted at [Christ’s]
coming.’”
Once
these ordinances are complete we are worthy of eternal life with our
families. Eternal life was the purpose for creating this Earth and
sending us here to unite our spirits with a body. So if we were not
working towards providing the opportunity for these saving ordinances
for all that have lived before us, the earth literally would be of no
use, or wasted, as mentioned in the scriptures.
Even
when the temple ordinances are complete our family’s history is
much more personal than names and dates on pedigree charts. We find
that we have an emotional connection as well as a biological one.
When
my mother was growing up she knew that she had an Uncle Eddie, her
grandmother’s brother, who had died before she was born. Nobody
in the family talked about him or how he died, but she knew that he
had died when he was young.
She
went looking for information on him at the family history library and
found an obituary in The New York Times. The article told how
in September of 1916, thirteen-year-old Eddie and five of his
neighborhood friends were out in a boat rowing on the Hudson River
and became tired.
The
boys decided to row to shore and carry the boat back home to Brooklyn
over the Brooklyn Bridge. When they got to shore a menacing man was
standing there with a large wooden board and told them they could not
get out there. They took the boat back onto the river, got caught in
a current, and were then hit by a barge. Four of the six boys
drowned, including Eddie. It is a tragic story.
However,
knowing how Eddie died explained a lot of things for my mom. She now
understands why the family didn’t talk about him. All of the
boys had lived on the same street and seeing those families every day
must have reminded them all of the tragedy constantly. Making the
subject off-limits was probably how they managed their pain.
It
was also now more apparent why her grandmother had seemed emotionally
distant. She had lost her only brother and sibling when they were
both teenagers. Life must have never been the same. Her parents had
lost their only son and she could not fill that void for them. It
must have been extremely difficult.
An
additional blessing of learning about our family’s history is
knowing how life experiences affected who our family members were. It
can also soften our hearts to understand how the past plays out in
the personalities of those we know now.
Elder
David A. Bednar talks a lot about family history and encourages the
youth to get involved. In a conference address he said this to them,
and I’m sure it applies to people of all ages:
I invite the young people
of the Church to learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah. I
encourage you to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare
yourselves to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord
for your kindred dead. And I urge you to help other
people identify their family histories.
As you respond in faith
to this invitation, your hearts shall turn to the fathers. The
promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be implanted in your
hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with its declaration of lineage,
will link you to these fathers and be more meaningful to you.
Your love
and gratitude for
your ancestors will increase. Your testimony of and conversion to the
Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be
protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you
participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in
your youth and throughout your lives.
I
encourage all of us to take Elder Bednar’s challenge. The
website he references in this talk, lds.org/familyhistoryyouth,
is a great place to find out how to get started on your family history. You
can watch videos on how to get started on FamilySearch.org, and how
to take names to the temple or add photos and documents to your
family tree.
Also
learn how to print a fan chart and how to start indexing.
Elder
Bednar’s promised blessings of protection from the adversary,
and a deep conversion to the Savior are enough to make it worth
looking into your family history. Give it a try.
Amy Stevenson grew up in central California but ventured to Utah to receive a bachelor's degree
in human development from Brigham Young University. She has been using her degree every
day since then as a stay-at-home-mom to her son and three daughters.
She believes that parenting is more than telling children, "Be good!" It is about surrounding
ourselves with good things, and then acting in a way that reflects the good we have found. She
has always enjoyed discovering how people become who they are and has a blog where she
shares clean, good, uplifting ideas and resources for children and families in hopes of helping
them become their best selves.
Along with her husband and children she has lived in nine different cities in three states, which
has taught her that people are good everywhere and there is something to learn from every
experience. She and her family now live in Simi Valley, California -- and hope to stay there.
Amy serves as a ward missionary and teaches the gospel principles class.