Lesson Recap: Temples and Family History Work

Taught by Ellen King

Surely we on this side of the veil
have a great work to do.
~President Hunter

Why we have temples

President Hunter in an article titled A Temple-Loving People, said:

In the ordinances of the temple, the foundations of the eternal family are sealed in place. The Church has the responsibility–and the authority–to preserve and protect the family as a the foundation of society...All the priesthood temple ordinances are essential for the salvation and exaltation of our Father in Heaven's children.

...Surely we on this side of the veil have a great work to do...we must accomplish the priesthood temple ordinance work necessary for our own exaltation; then we must do the necessary work for those who did not have the opportunity to accept the gospel in this life.

Doing work for others is accomplished in two steps: first, by family history research to find our ancestors; and second, by performing the temple ordinances to give them the same opportunities afforded to the living.

Additional joy promised

Doing one or the other is a great work but President Hunter promises that in doing the family history research, and then perfoming the temple ordinance work we will "know the additional joy of receiving both halves of the blessing."

New.FamilySearch.org

[We then watched a 12 minute segment introducing the New.FamilyHistory.org. If you want to borrow this DVD talk to Ellen King.]

Family history work is easier than ever with the New.FamilySearch.org and the internet. Register today! You will need your membership number (on your temple recommend, or contact Bro. Hope) and your confirmation date.

You can begin entering information about your family, and then hook into work that has been done by others. It's all there in one place now.

• See what information the Church already has about you and your ancestors.
• Add new information and make corrections.
• Work with other relatives on shared family lines.
• Easily print out names to take to the temple.
• Do temple ordinances for your ancestors and see the completion online that same day.
• Add notes and sources.
• See duplicates and combine them.
• Upload work you have already done in Personal Ancestral File (PAF).

If you don't have a computer, and want to do this work, let us know. We can team you up with a partner.

Further research can be done on familysearch.org or at the Family History Library in Broomall.

Sisters, I promise you that if you put in a couple of hours a week on this, your lives will be blessed in ways you can't even imagine.