I wrote a talk yesterday that I didn’t really like. Craig said it was just fine. I was resigned. I woke up this morning with a whole different plan. I’m grateful the Spirit continued working with me until I got what I was supposed to do.
I will be basing my talk on Elder Cook’s most recent conference address. He reminded us that President Nelson has invited us to “prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ by walking the covenant path.”
Walking - a word that requires that we get moving, have a destination and actually go somewhere. The new Sunday schedule turns time over to us to allow us to plot our course and to get moving.
There are four objectives outlined by Elder Cook.
- Deepen conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen faith in Them.
- Strengthen individuals and families through home-centered, Church-supported curriculum that contributes to joyful gospel living.
- Honoring the Sabbath day, with a focus on the ordinance of the sacrament.
- Helping all of Heavenly Father’s children on both sides of the veil through missionary work and receiving ordinances and covenants and blessing of the temple.
I. Deepening our conversion to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. In our family, we have not been very good at Family Home Evening lessons. But we have been fairly good at family gospel discussions. They have been informal around the dinner table, in the car, or during family projects. As parents they have been super fun because we get to hear what our kids think about eternal subjects. As we share our feeling about Heavenly Father and Jesus, the Spirit bears witness to our souls and our testimonies deepen and become more powerful. Our kids are much more likely to share in our family setting than perhaps in a classroom setting. Family sharing is good practise for class room and world venues. Living in California, like we did until just recently, gave good opportunities for the boys to share eternal truths. And our daughter, who is less-active, has had many opportunities to share where she is. She has sometimes called to make sure of her answers, and those conversations are always sweet and powerful. I’m sure Colorado will give Boaz plenty of chances to share as well.
II. Strengthening individuals and families through home-centered, Church-supported curriculum that contributes to joyful gospel living. I am so excited about the curriculum. The idea of Craig, Boaz and I reading the New Testament together with actual questions and pertinent quotes sounds fun to me. Our family is smallish. We are on the decreasing end of children in the home. Craig and I have talked about using this time as a way to increase our membership in our ward family by inviting others into our home to share our gospel study. This would contribute to our joyful gospel living. Each family or individual experiences joy in different ways. This program is flexible enough to meet the needs of each individual as they search for ways to increase their joy in the gospel.
III. Honoring the Sabbath day, with a focus on the ordinance of the sacrament. Our idea of honoring the sabbath day has evolved as we have grown. There is less worldly distractions and more of family time together. Our newest evolution has included the new habit of making sure we are writing letters to our sweet missionary. I am trying to focus on having worthy things to say and not just sending letters reporting life. It is a good way to increase our worship of Heavenly Father and the Savior. Gospel discussions can only increase this joyful service exponentially.
IV. Helping all of Heavenly Father’s children on both sides of the veil through missionary work and receiving ordinances and covenants and blessing of the temple. I remember when President Nelson defined his role as helping children of our Heavenly Father on both sides of the veil. This has always been the case with prophets, especially in these modern times with the emphasis on temple work, and the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants that clearly explain what is going on over there. But President Nelson has captured our thoughts and imaginations with his way of speaking about it.
I have a few family stories. My grandfather started doing genealogy until he found out his ancestors were Tories and moved to Canada to remain loyal to England during the Revolutionary Period in our history. I’m sure it didn’t help that his wife, my grandmother, had ancestors that fought in the War and she was a member of the Daughters of the Revolution. We will not always agree with what our ancestors did. But as we are kind to them and try to understand them, instead of judging them, we may understand better what life is all about. Individuals trying to make the best decisions they know how in difficult times and seasons.
Both my grandmothers were very involved in genealogy and growing up I thought it was mostly done by them. I thought genealogy was an “old person” thing to do. But we no longer hand copy family group sheets and have huge pedigree charts that are bigger than our dining room table. Now the work has been simplified and enhanced by computers and tablets.We can coordinate our research with relatives we never knew we had. We can see images of the actual certificates that document the lives of our people. It can be a very exciting thing.
I have a Miss Sarah Moore, who lived in Pennsylvania in my family tree. The end of her life is very well documented. But there is no documentation or even rumor of her birth or parents. She has become a brick wall to me. Her name is irritatingly common. How many Sarahs lived in Pennsylvania in the early 1800s? I have searched what I know how to search. Clearly I have things to learn so I can find her.
A fairly distant cousin of mine was tried, convicted and executed for murder in the 1950’s. We will discover black sheep. This cousin of mine was buried with his parents who mourned for him. It was before DNA. I am intrigued a bit and want to know a bit more. I ache for his parents. It is important that he be claimed as family, even if he was rightly convicted in this life.
Family history is history of families. All the great things they did. The great places and events they were a part of. And the numerous tragedies that make up this earthly life. We have the opportunity of cleaning up the lines. Because we are all amateurs and learning as we go, mistakes will be made, and have been made. We also have access to more records. Using those records, we can make better decisions about our families.
Of course the focus of genealogy is to take our people to the temple. Craig, Boaz and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the temple yesterday. Spending time in the temple allows us to clear the worldly cares and feel Heavenly impressions more clearly. We can refocus on the real purpose of life. We can be the means of extending eternal blessings to those that have gone on before us. We can be reminded of our spiritual gifts and the blessings we enjoy in the midst of trials and uncertainties. We are doubly blessed as we attend with dear friends.
Getting up and walking this covenant path will bring blessings. Elder Cook said, “We are confident that members will be blessed in extraordinary ways. Sunday can be a day of gospel learning and teaching at church and in the home. As individuals and families engage in family councils, family history, ministering, service, personal worship, and joyful family time; the Sabbath day will truly be a delight.
