Temple and Family History Work—“How Are You Connected?”
Most people, hearing the question “How are you connected?” as it relates to temple and family history work, would either say, “I haven’t started my tree yet” or “Sure, in my family tree I’m connected with my parents or my children.” Some may even say, “I’m connected for multiple generations.”
But if you consider that the Prophet Joseph Smith taught there must be a “welding link” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:18) that is necessary to our salvation, that must be a strong connection. Have you thought about what deeper meanings “being connected” imply for us personally? Is it more than just a line connecting us to our parents?
How are you connected to the Savior?
The most important connection we make is our connection to Savior. The connections with the strongest links come as we go to the house of the Lord and personally make covenants with Him. Unless we break our covenants, those links will never be broken. The most important covenants made in this world occur when husband and wife make sacred marriage covenants that are a three-way covenant between themselves and God.
Children born to couples who have been sealed in marriage in the temple or sealed in the temple to their parents become part of this powerful covenant connection, meaning that if they too are faithful and righteous, they are bound to you as part of an eternal family. There are no connections on earth stronger than those made through covenants to God in the Lord’s holy temple. Only through these covenant connections can we return to God’s presence.
How are your ancestors connected to the Savior?
Likewise, we learn to become like the Savior when we return to His holy temple and perform ordinances on behalf of our ancestors. If they died without accepting the gospel or had no opportunity to make their own covenants, they are in a form of spiritual prison. It is labeled spirit prison because they are stuck and cannot progress further until temple ordinances and covenants are made in proxy on their behalf in God’s temples.
You draw closer to the Savior as you show love for each individual ancestor by being proxy for them in the temple, essentially performing a selfless act on their behalf that they no longer have power to do on their own. For us it is a small sacrifice.
One by one, generation by generation, you love and serve your ancestors, making connections with them and the Savior. We incrementally draw closer to the Savior as we follow the pattern He established by making the ultimate sacrifice for us, even the atoning sacrifice of His life for all humankind.
Connect to your ancestors by knowing who they are!
Consider for a minute: do I really know who my ancestors are? Think about a photo of some of your ancestors. You feel connected to them if you saw a picture of them, which connects back to memories you had with them when they were alive.
When you look at a photo of a group of people, you make immediate connection with those you recognize and have memories of. But what of the others in the photo? Imagine this is a photo of a family you found tucked away in your home and you recognize the girl in yellow as the cousin you played with when you were a little child. You are connected to her by your common memories. You recognize her parents and siblings but can’t remember their names. You don’t even recognize the other adults in the photo. Were they uncles, Church leaders, friends?
Not long afterwards, you have opportunity to visit your cousin. She helps you remember the names of her parents and siblings. You have made closer connections to those ancestors. She tells you the names of the two on the left and informs you, “They are my dad’s brothers, and the one on the far right is my mom’s brother and the other is a close friend.”
You now have made new connections to ancestors you didn’t know. You know their names and how they are related to you. You ask her, “Do you have photos of any other family?” She brings out her photos, and you can use your phone to take photos of more family members and make further connections. If she is a Church member, you can ask if she has done the temple work for them. Maybe you can go together to do the temple work.
If she is not a member, you might make stronger connections with her and your ancestors by sharing beliefs about the temple and eternal families and ask if she would allow you to give theses ancestors the opportunity to choose to accept those ordinances made on their behalf so they can continue progressing and forming eternal family bonds with their family, ancestors, descendants, and the Savior.
This process can be repeated for many ancestors. Pretty soon, you will have living relatives pointing out people you didn’t know, telling you what living relatives you can talk with to find out more about them. Soon you have many connections with ancestors you can bless by working with your family to get the temple work done on your ancestors’ behalf. Be sure to seek out your oldest living ancestors before their memories die with them.
Are you connected to your heritage?
Sometimes connections to our heritage can help us be better connected to our ancestors. What were the customs of your ancestors’ tribes or villages? Do your ancestors follow matriarchal or patriarchal lineage and ruling authority? What kinds of work or labor were most common? What foods were customary for celebrations and daily life? What kind of music, dancing, clothing, or other customs did your ancestors adopt and enjoy? What meaning or significance did they have? What were their favorite stories, sports, or other activities?
As you learn of and share these things with your own family, they have a sense of belonging that connects them to others and the lives of their ancestors.
An African proverb “When an old person dies, a library burns to the ground” can help us appreciate the wisdom, history, and knowledge that our parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles carried inside their hearts and souls that could enrich our lives. Have you connected with them so that the valuable knowledge of your ancestors can be passed on? Do you know their heritage and customs, how they struggled and progressed and overcame burdens, special stories or memories, and what things or experiences truly brought them joy in life?