Mal. 4: 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
Let’s talk Family History! The spirit of Elijah just touched my day. Here I am … taking seriously the suggestion to pray about it before I write and as the prayer crosses my mind the phone rings…… interrupting the prayer. Hmmm. Checking Caller ID – it’s a lady from church and I figure I’ll answer it. I’ve invited her to lunch and we need to decide on a time. While on the phone I comment on her interesting accent, ask her about her hometown and inquire as to what brought them to this area in the first place. She tells me that among other reasons, that they were led here to do family history work – she tells me of the amazing breakthroughs and the feelings of the Spirit that come along with family history. Well this is the moment I realize this is the answer to my prayer on what to write about today. I’m getting to know a new friend with a fire about genealogy! What a blessing!
The message about how our redemption will come about in these latter days is in Doctrine and Covenants 138: 46-47 And Malachi, the prophet who testified of the coming of Elijah—of whom also Moroni spake to the Prophet Joseph Smith, declaring that he should come before the ushering in of the great and dreadful day of the Lord—were also there. The Prophet Elijah was to plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to their fathers…
The whole world is turning to genealogy! With the internet at our fingertips, it’s a mouse click away to ask someone in Cork County Ireland about their grandmother’s sister’s husband. As Mormons we’re asked to do work in Temples to seal families together for all time and eternity. What an important duty! This again is the plan of salvation. We can return home with our Heavenly Father. Everyone, every person who has ever lived. If it’s bound on earth then it’s bound in heaven (Matthew 18:18) It’s no surprise that with the upgrades in technology over the years, the electronic genealogy movement has taken off.
I have a testimony of genealogy. When I hit a brick wall with finding people in my family who traveled to America, I was prompted to look in their country of origin. I Googled the last name I was looking for, found three personal emails of people who had information about the name and I wrote to all three of them. By the end of the week, one man had sent me the names for all my lost relatives who stayed behind in Germany. Their work is now done. I feel as if I was led to find those names. Everyone will be led back to the promises of our fathers. The tremendous joy I feel when a family has the opportunity to be connected again is a wonderful earthly experience. Imagine what it must be like in the Celestial Kingdom!
The Genealogy section of this website has tremendous information to guide in your family history or genealogical search.
