Hearts Turning

When I was a child I saw and listened to my grandmother tell stories about my ancestors and their lives.  She would share relatives she had discovered in her searching.  I love learning about these long ago family members and realizing that they lived, struggled, and endured.  What has given me courage through my own struggles is to remember them and how they were able to press forward through their trials and find peace and joy.

Grandma often told me stories about my Grandpa and his mission in England.

I was reading in 3 Nephi 25 and came across one of my favorite verses, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."  (verses 5 and 6)  This can also be found in Malachi 4:5-6.  Christ shared these words with the Nephites since they didn't have the teachings of Malachi.

Why was it so important for the Lord to share these prophecies with the Nephites?  Because the power that comes to all of us when we are sealed to our families from generation to generation is so important in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When I was little, people doing family history was something it seemed only the grandparents were doing.  How amazing to see that the hearts of the children are turning more and more to their fathers as the age of family history searchers become younger and younger.

We don't have to go to a family history library, or even travel the world to find our ancestors.  There is so much we can find right at our fingertips, through the computer.  I am so thankful for Family Search where I can look up and find more of my ancestors.  The more I know about them, the more they feel like friends that are waiting for us on the other side of the veil.

As I find the names of my family that are now passed, I can do a vicarious work for them in the temple so that they may have those ordinances which are necessary for their salvation.  When we get to Heaven I hope to see all my family there with me; not one empty chair.  I am thankful for all my family.  There is great peace and power that flows from the temple.  Here is a song that captures a lot of how I feel about the temple:

 

Each temple is a bit of Heaven here on earth where we can feel God's love for us and leave the cares of the world behind for a moment in time.  We can gain an eternal perspective that can strengthen us through our trials.  As we leave the temple we take a bit of that power with us to go forward with the tasks of life.

I know the temple is the "House of the Lord" because the Spirit touched my heart and I know it is a holy place.