LDS Family History the EASY Way
The Savior Did Say It Would Be Easy
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How many times have we heard in meetings and conferences, a speaker, flaming with the fire of missionary work, quote the Prophet Joseph Smith:
After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.
having heard not many weeks before someone else, equally aflame with the fire of family history work, quote the Prophet as saying:
The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead.
How can this be? How can two “folds” of the three-fold mission of the Church be the “greatest” or “most important” work that we can do? Is there a conflict here among the Prophet’s statements?
Not at all.
It’s merely a matter of “context”. What were the circumstances of the statements? When were they made?
The first statement (regarding missionary work) was made on April 6, 1837. The Church was in its infancy. Of course, the most important work to be done was to spread the Gospel! Elijah had just restored the sealing power one year earlier! The Nauvoo Temple (the first to be built with a baptismal font for ordinance work) hadn’t even been thought of, let alone built! Work for the dead didn’t begin until sometime between 1840 and October 1841.
Joseph’s statement about work for our dead wasn’t given until Sunday, April 7, 1844--two months before his death. By that time, the Nauvoo Temple was well underway. Baptisms were already being held in the dedicated font area. The great era of work for the dead had begun!
What greater missionary work can we do? I have never, ever, heard of one of my dead ancestors refusing baptism! In the October conference of 1893, President Lorenzo Snow said this:
I believe, strongly too, that when the Gospel is preached to the spirits in prison, the success attending that preaching will be far greater than that attending the preaching of our Elders in this life. I believe there will be very few indeed of those spirits who will not gladly receive the Gospel when it is carried to them. The circumstances there will be a thousand times more favorable.
STAY IN CONTEXT
Yes, staying in context is always important, lest we get carried away down a doctrinal path that may not be true. For example, if we read what the Savior said in the King James Version of Matthew 6:28-34,
--take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?--,
we come to the conclusion that we shouldn’t worry about where our next mouthful of food will come from. Sounds like a conflict with the Brethren’s counsel to store a year’s supply of food and clothing, doesn’t it? That’s because the Savior didn’t say that to the multitude. He spoke those words to the Twelve, who were being trained for proclaiming the Gospel without purse or scrip (compare the Joseph Smith Translation of Matt. 6:1 & 7:1). Jesus taught the same things to the Twelve disciples in the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 13:29)
WHY DO WE DO WORK FOR THE DEAD?
I want to emphasize the word “FOR” in the subtitle. That’s what this chapter is all about. Selfless service. In A Member’s Guide to Temple and Family History Work (a copy of which you should obtain from your bishop/branch president), Elder Boyd K. Packer declared:
Once we have received [temple ordinances and covenants] for ourselves and for our families, we are obligated to provide these ordinances vicariously for our kindred dead-- [Emphasis added]
Obligated? That’s a pretty strong term! It means “compelled”, “required”, “duty-bound”. Why? Why is there such a strong admonition for doing work for people we don’t even know? (Well, at least, we don’t remember them.)
It has to do with D&C 128:15. Therein, Joseph Smith (who was in hiding at the time) wrote the Saints in Nauvoo:
And now my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead-- that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers--that they without us cannot be made perfect--neither can we without our dead be made perfect. [Emphasis added]
We’ve all heard this quote before. And then someone will come along who preaches that we
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About the Book
This little book was written to take the mystery out of family history and to make it EASY – for new converts and “old timers” in the Church. It is also written so that any teacher can pick it up and teach eight family history lessons -- EASILY. Additionally, it is written for the priesthood leader, who wants an EASY way to get a family history initiative started under his stewardship. And, lastly, it shows the EASY (and only) way to perfection – through family history and temple work.
As is written on the cover of the book, our Savior said His yoke was easy, not hard or difficult [Matt. 11:30]. There is an EASY WAY to do LDS family history work. It’s all in the goal. Doing six generations of ordinances nowadays is a snap! You won’t become a “genealogist”, as the world sees it, but you will become a “savior on Mt. Zion.”
The Church is producing software and Internet helps for us nearly at light-speed! Well, there seems to be something new nearly every week, anyway. And temples have never been closer to us!
It’s never been easier in the history of this world.
About the Author
Chuck Call is an alumnus of Brigham Young University. Since the advent of the personal computer in genealogy, he has been deeply involved in his own family history work, and has taught Family History Sunday School classes in various wards in the Midwest for the past ten years. With a background of 12 years in family history research and 18 years in project management, his book is well-organized, informative and, best of all – exciting! He believes that genealogical work should be exciting and not just the arena of “old folks.” And he believes the Savior meant what He said – His yoke is meant to be
EASY