My Forever Family
|
Back Row: Sara , Chip, Rachel
Becky, Miles, Jared, Jennifer
Mom and Dad
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and also a volunteer Family History Center Specialist, I often get asked the question, "Why does the LDS Church do so much genealogy work?" Salt Lake City has the largest genealogy collection in the world and the Church sends missionaries out to collect more. Family History Centers are in almost every LDS church building now and are used by non-members and members everywhere.
My first answer to this question is simply," We believe that families are forever". Our life didn't begin at birth and doesn't end at death. We are spirit children of our Heavenly Father and he sent us here to learn to live by faith and grow in knowledge and experience. We are part of an eternal family .
Why do Latter-day Saints do genealogical research? We do it to identify our ancestors so that they might be sealed forever in the Temple. We read in Matthew 16:19 " and I give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven....." It is a labor of love to search out and find my ancestors and go to the Temple for them as they are sealed to their spouse and parents.
I have had such wonderful experiences while searching for my ancestors. I have felt their spirit close to me . I know that this work is true and was restored to the earth by our Heavenly Father and his Son , Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith.We are living in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Time.
Malachi 4:5-6
" 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 hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse"
Elijah has returned to the earth.Since that time
genealogy research has prospered and grown.
My family has been sealed forever and I am forever grateful
for this
Song playing is "Now and Forever" LDS Site- Why We Do Family History Work Learn More About the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints