In the April 2018 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson pled with us to “choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.” He also provided a formula to receive personal revelation. He said, “Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and regular time committed to temple and family history work.”
Recently I have had the opportunity to spend a significant amount of time at the Family History Center and at the Draper Temple. As I contemplated all the tender mercies I have witnessed over the past year, I felt such gratitude to our Heavenly Father for allowing us to play such a significant role in the gathering of Israel today. In June, 2018, President Nelson stated:
“The 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. And if you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of it. You can be a big part of something big. Something grand, something majestic!”
“Just think of the excitement and urgency of it all: every prophet commencing with Adam has seen our day. And every prophet has talked about our day, when Israel would be fathered and the world would be prepared for the Second Coming of the Savior. Think of it! Of all the people who have ever lived on the planet earth, we are the ones who get to participate in this final, great gathering event. How exciting is that!”
I am so grateful to be alive today when new tools and resources are introduced daily to help us in our family history. We are also the witnesses of unprecedented temple building. The spirit that attends and the blessings that are derived from temple and family history cannot be duplicated anywhere else. What a tremendous opportunity we have to be part of the gathering, prepare the way for the Second Coming and receive the blessings that come from this great work. Are we lucky or what?
– David Castleton, Director, Granite Family History Center