by Glenn Steenblik
We often consider this season of the year as a time of “Back-to-School,” a time to get back in the groove so to speak. We have enjoyed a “sensational” summer, with family outings, gatherings, experiences, adventures, and a host of marvelous events, not the least of which was the total eclipse of the sun. Now it is time to get back to business and reengage with family history work.
You may be interested in knowing that the Church has recently revised some of the statistical information gathered relating to the activity of family history work. Six general indicators are currently being tracked:
- Number of members submitting names to take to the temple.
- Percent of members who have the 1st generation ancestors in the tree on Family Search.
- Number of members logging into Family Search.
- Number of members who have added an ancestor to the tree.
- Number of members who have added a memory to the tree.
- Number of members who have indexed this year.
Each of these areas comes with challenges and opportunities. Some of our wards/stakes are doing very well in some areas, yet need improvement in others, as statistics are kept from year to year.
Please consider one or more of these six areas of focus and see if you and your family members can get down, or back to business once more. It’s “Back-to-School” time, time to focus.
As Elder Quentin L. Cook emphasized in an address in 2016, “Of those who passed on before us, we read in the Doctrine and Covenants that ‘we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect’ (D & C 128:18). What does this mean? We find the answer in scripture.”
“And now, 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.” (D&C 128:15)
“Their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation,” means that the salvation of the whole human family is interdependent and interconnected–like the roots and branches of a great tree.”
May we continue to work on perfection, ours and theirs.