We just finished the webinar with my dear sis in law Claudia of http://sudweeksfamily.com about family history and temple work. She has so many powerful stories and quotes that I feel on fire to do more temple and family history work. I loved hearing all her stories! These were personal stories she shared of having help from an unseen world to help her and her friends find names they were looking for. Some of the help came in the form of dreams with symbolism. There is no doubt in my mind that people who died are not gone just gone ahead. They live on as spirits and God is real, watching over us all.

She shared a precious story about my grandmother that I don’t remember her telling me. She had a dream about my grandma after grandma died. In the dream she had a long visit with her. When Claudia woke up she heard music playing in her head. She didn’t know what the music was from. She hummed the music to a musical friend who told her the music was from the Narnia movie. The lyrics are in the video clip below. They are about not having to say goodbye, because “you’ll come back when it’s over.” Needless to say, I was in tears. I do miss Grandma. She died when I was pregnant with my baby #5.

My three oldest children have set such a great example for me in doing temple work. When Valor lived here, the year before he left for college, he would drive to the temple himself and do baptisms at least once a week. During the summer, his commonwealth school friends would do a morningside once a week and then go to the temple together. This year my two other youth have asked to go when we are going to Bountiful. Sometimes they will go during a break of their commonwealth school day on Thursday. My daughter even rides the bus when I can’t drive her and goes to the Salt Lake Temple, at least once a week.

It’s such a testimony to me that God love us and wants everything connected. He uses the tree imagery to show this: the tree imagery is found in in the family tree, the olive tree, which is the House of Israel, the tree of life in Lehi’s vision, the tree of testimony in Alma’s sermon in the Book of Mormon, and in mothering, with the breast ducts and the placenta vessels looking like trees.

I used to think that family history work  was boring and for ancient people but I now feel it is exciting, now that I know who I am descended from and have heard their stories. I know that it is for anyone, no matter the age.The youth are meant to be the family history generation and as moms we are the mentors of the family history generation. If we are excited about the work, the excitement will rub off on them. As we do this work we will have the help from heaven to protect us in these last days.

I love hearing stories of God working in people’s lives, by sending angels to arrange “coincidences” so that people who have passed away are not forgotten, by allowing records to surface through miracles, so that people can learn their names, and ultimately find out their stories and have their temple work done.

Here are two books full of stories to inspire you. You can get them at http://truemiracleswithgenealogy.com, I will be reviewing them on this blog after I finish reading them and be doing a giveaway soon.

Here are a few quotes to inspire you:

A Bond that Ties Generations Together
“There really can be a bond and a sense of belonging that ties together generations. … This bond gives us a sense of identity and purpose. Our ties with the eternal world suddenly become very real, sharpening our life’s focus and lifting our expectations. … We can discover within ourselves a reservoir of patience and endurance that we never will find without the deep commitment that grows from a sense of real belonging. Exerting such immovable loyalty to another person teaches us how to love – indeed, how to be more like the Savior. Our sense of belonging to one another…foreshadows our belonging in the eternal family of God. Our willingness to discipline our individual desires enough to honor [our] loved ones prepares us to belong to Him who is our Father.” Bruce C. Hafen, Liahona, June 1998, 16

Spiritually Refining
“No work is more of a protection to [us] than…genealogical research. … No work is more spiritually refining. No work we do gives us more power.”  Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple, p. 265

Heaven is Like the Ideal Home
“I know of no other place where happiness abides more securely than in the home. It is possible to make home a bit of heaven. Indeed, I picture heaven as a continuation of the ideal home.” David O. McKay, Ensign, May 1964, 5

Help from Beyond the Veil
“Whoever seeks to help those on the other side receives help in turn in all the affairs of life…Help comes to us from the other side as we give help to those who have passed beyond the veil.” John A. Widtsoe, Ensign, May 1980, 40

Our Love Perpetuated Into the Eternities
“The spirit world is not far away. … Sometimes the veil between this life and the life beyond becomes very thin. This I know! Our loved ones who have passed on are not far from us. … Jesus said to His Apostles, ‘The works that I do shall [ye] do also; and greater works than these shall [ye] do; because I go unto my Father’. (John 14:12) Because He lives, the love and family association we cherish on this side of the veil may be perpetuated into the eternities.”  Ezra Taft Benson, Tambuli, Apr. 1994, 3.

A Feeling of Inspiration
“Revelation comes to individual[s]…as they are led to discover their family records in ways that are miraculous indeed. And there is a feeling of inspiration attending this work that can be found in no other. When we have done all that we can do, we shall be given the rest. The way will be opened up.” Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Nov 1975, 99

Help From the Other Side
“Those who give themselves with all their might and main to this work…receive help from the other side, and not merely in gathering genealogies. Whosoever seeks to help those on the other side receives help in return in all the affairs of life.” John A. Widtsoe, Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, July 1931, p. 104

Promptings of the Spirit
“In this day and age of computer technology and computer wizardry there are things which do and do not work. We cannot overcome the promptings of the spirit and expect to find our ancestors. If we ignore that, above all else, we will not have the experiences which we continue to have if we listen to the promptings and go when and where we are told to go.” David E. Rencher, AG, FUGA, http://familyhistory.byu.edu/resources/firesides/2004-11-12.pdf

Decide to Do Something Significant
“Set aside those things that don’t really matter in your life. Decide to do something that will have eternal consequences. Perhaps you have been prompted to look for ancestors but feel that you are not a genealogist. Can you see that you don’t have to be anymore? It all begins with love and a sincere desire. … This is…a monumental effort of cooperation on both sides of the veil where help is given in both directions. It begins with love. Anywhere you are in the world, with prayer, faith, determination, diligence, and some sacrifice, you can make a powerful contribution. Begin now. I promise you that the Lord will help you find a way. And it will make you feel wonderful.”  Richard Scott, Ensign, Nov. 1990, 7

And here are some places to start your work:

http://lds.org/familyhistoryyouth This has videos to teach you the basics.

http://familysearch.org the Church’s database

http://new.familysearch.org where you can see your family pedigree and what names have already had temple work done

http://easyfamilyhistory.com I love this site! It’s where I got all the quotes from above. It has lots of links and resources .

http://lostcousins.com You can find distant cousins you didn’t know you have! I am going to go there and figure out how I am related to Elder Holland, since we are both descended from Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island.

http://createfan.com this site allows you to make a 9 generation pedigree chart in the shape of a fan. So cool! It just sucks all the names you have from familysearch.org so it’s really fast, and amazing! You don’t have to write the names in yourself.  treeseek.com is the companion web site. You can also do pedigree charts and name clouds. Fun!

http://findagrave.com This site has pictures of gravestones. I was thrilled to find one of my 2ggrandfathers is buried not far from where I live, and to see a picture of his gravestone.

http://billiongraves.com This is one is similar to findagrave.com but it might exceed the database of findagrave.com. That’s because it has the feature of people being able to take pictures of gravestones from their smartphones and then upload the photos right to the site.

http://namesinstone.com This one has actual maps of cemeteries.

 

Start today! It is so addicting and fun! and you don’t have to be a grandma to have the time and desire to do the work. If I can do it while homeschooling 7 kids, anyone can.

You will attract more time and resources that you need to accomplish your desires. Claudia shared the story of her friend Kim Sorenson, who dedicated one hour a day to family history work while her youngest child was taking a nap. Kim found names and did temple work. Later she needed to buy some jeans for her son the Saturday before he left for Scout camp. Kim felt she might have to go to the mall and spend three hours driving there, do the shopping and then traveling back. But before the mall trip, she was guided to turn on a certain street and there was a garage sale. Right in the middle of the garage she found a pile of jeans all her son’s size. She bough all the pants for the price it would have cost buy one pair at the mall. Her son loved them all, which was a miracle in itself. So Kim was blessed with the rest of the three hours to enjoy her family , instead of having to go to the mall. She attributed the guidance she received to an angel helping her because of the temple work she had done. She set aside “her best hour” of each day, when her baby was napping, and she got the blessings.  I love stories like that! You can read the whole story here http://www.lds.org/ensign/2006/08/blessings-for-my-ancestors-blessings-for-me?lang=eng

If anyone wants a link to the recording, please comment below. I am not sure how much I will sell the recordings for but will let you know after I decide. The webinar is full of so many inspiring stories and ideas about connecting kids to family history, you will want it!