For the year 2022, our ward has the Temple and Family History Plan called, “Past, Present and Future.” Our Elders Quorum counselor asked a few of us in the ward, who serve as Temple and Family History consultants, to help. Each of us has been assigned one of the topics for four months during the year. With this emphasis in mind, I have looked for opportunities to stand as a witness of the blessings that come from doing temple and family history work.
Last month we had the privilege of going to the temple with our oldest grandchild for his first time since he turned 11 years old and perform baptisms for some of our ancestors. It was an experience to cherish!
At the next Fast and Testimony meeting I stood and spoke of the blessings we had felt together with his parents. Our grandson repeatedly said, “I feel so happy.” We realized the promise that temple and family history work has “the power to bless the living!”
Because of that meeting, a brother approached me and said he had felt he needed to get going on his family history work. I invited him to join me at the Family History Center. We began with taking a look at his first four generations. I showed him how helpful it is to work from his four-generation fan chart (see: https://www.granitefhc.com/master-the-maze/). We checked for standardized dates and places, duplicates, sources and temple ordinances. It was enlightening to see what had been done and what could yet be accomplished.
As we finished up, I reminded him of “Ordinances Ready.” He told me that he and his wife often used this feature on FamilySearch. In consulting with patrons, I like to encourage them to take few minutes to learn something about the ancestor they will be taking to the temple (see: https://www.granitefhc.com/are-you-ready-for-your-ancestors-ordinances/).
We looked up the individual whose name appeared when he requested an endowment. Following the link to his person page in FamilySearch, we discovered that more vital information needed to be entered. We also discovered that the temple work needed to be done for his wife as well! Now he and his wife will go as a couple to do the work for the couple in his not-so-distant family. As we finished our session, the Spirit witnessed to us both that there are many blessings to be claimed by engaging in this work.
This experience resulted in “standing as a witness” of this work. May each of us find opportunities to share our testimonies of Temple and Family History Work and await the welcomed results!
-Janet Helland, Patron and Consultant Services, Granite Family History Center