Personal Covenants and Family History Work

President Russell M. Nelson summarizes what the Lord expects from each of us in the following quotes:

“The Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.” So we should strive to do our part to help gather Israel.

He made a critical connection between gathering Israel and temple covenants and our personal salvation when he said:

“We invite all of God’s children on both sides of the veil to come unto their Savior, receive the blessings of the holy temple, have enduring joy, and qualify for eternal life.”

“Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that.”

To qualify for eternal life, the covenants we make in the temple are the next step for adults over 18 years old who desire to receive and honor sacred temple covenants throughout their lives. Covenants are made between God and individuals in His holy house and are bound or sealed on earth and in heaven by the Holy Ghost. Each of us should recognize the importance of going to the temple and making further covenants with Heavenly Father. For worthy adults who have not yet been to the temple to receive their endowment, that should be among their highest goals going forward. Just receiving this ordinance opens the door to tremendous spiritual blessings from God.

Sealing in marriage is a three-way covenant between a husband, his wife, and God and is the ultimate temple covenant that can be made in this life. The power of godliness is manifested further as the marriage covenant becomes binding not only for a husband and wife but for any children born to them after temple marriage and for any living children sealed to them.

Families are the most important organization found on earth. Without families, Heavenly Father’s spirit children would not be able to be born on earth, giving them the opportunity to progress and become like our Heavenly Father.

President Nelson taught: “What is required for a family to be exalted forever? We qualify for that privilege by making covenants with God, keeping those covenants, and receiving essential ordinances.” Many of you recognize this pattern as what we call the covenant path. There is no other path to provide these blessings to us.

You may have noted that President Nelson referred to helping people receive these covenants on both sides of the veil—that is, for the living and those in the spirit world. Many of you have deceased siblings, parents, grandparents, and other relatives who never received these ordinances or their associated covenants. You can bless their lives by helping them receive these covenants.

For our deceased ancestors to receive salvation, they must receive the same ordinances that we have the opportunity to receive while living on earth. Until our deceased ancestors have an opportunity to accept the ordinances performed on their behalf in holy temples, they are essentially in spiritual bondage. They cannot progress until they are free to move forward by receiving those ordinances. Ideally, when possible, one of their ancestors will prepare and perform that proxy temple work. This creates welding links for each family, back generation by generation to accomplish God’s work of salvation and exaltation. Note that you cannot perform proxy ordinances other than baptism for your deceased ancestors until you yourself have received your temple endowment. Your eternal progression is required if you want to help your ancestors with their eternal progression.

The Savior gave His life as a vicarious atoning sacrifice for us, allowing us to overcome death, sin, and burdens that we could not overcome on our own. Similarly, if you perform these temple ordinances on behalf of your ancestors, you take a step closer to becoming like the Savior. As any of us sacrifice and do proxy ordinances for our ancestors that they cannot do for themselves, we “truly become saviors on Mount Zion for our own families in order that we, with them, might be exalted.”

As you move forward, ponder the significance placed on this work by our beloved Prophet Joseph Smith: “My dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living 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” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:15).

Are you willing to receive sacred covenants and sacrifice to become more like the Savior so you, together with your deceased ancestors, can be exalted and live eternally with our Heavenly Father?