Tip of the Week: Have Patience

This week's tip of the week is to have patience.

Family History requires a lot of patience. You aren't always going to find names or records the first time (or even the first few times) you do family history. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes, other times it takes weeks, months, or even years to find the information you are looking for. When you are struggling to have patience with family history work, please remember that Heavenly Father has a plan and a timeline for you. He knows what blessing are in store for you. Trust in His timing for you. He will bless those that have patience and have faith in Him.

"Patience is a divine attribute. The Book of Mormon invites us to “come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men.” (Mosiah 4:6.)" -Russell M. Nelson, "These... Were Our Examples"

"Patience—the ability to put our desires on hold for a time—is a precious and rare virtue. We want what we want, and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter. Nevertheless, without patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect. Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Continue in Patience"

"Patience may well be thought of as a gateway virtue, contributing to the growth and strength of its fellow virtues of forgiveness, tolerance, and faith." -Robert C. Oaks, "The Power of Patience"

"Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than his." -Neal A. Maxwell, "Patience"

"I learned that patience was far more than simply waiting for something to happen—patience required actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results didn’t appear instantly or without effort. There is an important concept here: patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!" -Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Continue in Patience"

Family History for the Whole Family

Family history for everyone! This video is a fantastic example of how to engage your whole family in family history! We are all called to the work and we can all feel the spirit of Elijah when we participate in family history work.

Tip of the Week: Go and Do!

This week's tip of the week is to go and do!

If you're anything like me, you may have spent hours researching, adding, fixing, checking, and finding; however, you have yet to actually take the names to the temple. Doing all of the online work is usually more convenient because it's quick. You can pull out your phone anytime and spend a few minutes doing family history work. Now this is necessary, but it doesn't fully accomplish the work unless you actually print those names, take them to the temple, and do the ordinances. This means you have to take the time and make the effort to go spend time at the temple. This part of family history work may not be as convenient, but it is so worth it. The Lord has commanded that we do our part in family history work. Your ancestors are waiting for you. They are counting on you. Don't make them wait anymore. If you have found them, commit to go and do their work!

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." -1 Nephi 3:7

"Our testimonies must run deep, with spiritual roots firmly embedded in the rock of revelation. And we must continue to move the work forward as a covenanted, consecrated people, with faith in every footstep, “till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”" -M. Russell Ballard, "The Truth of God Shall Go Forth"

"Whatever our calling, regardless of our fears or anxieties, let us pray and then go and do, remembering the words of the Master, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who promised, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” -Thomas S. Monson "They Pray and They Go"

"My advice to you is to go and do what you’ve been instructed to do. You’re responsible. The work of the Lord...is upon your shoulders. May the Lord give you strength and courage and understanding and the realization that you’re members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." -N. Eldon Tanner, "Go and Do the Work"

"If you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you" -Henry B. Eyring, "Trust in God, Then Go and Do"

"“The family [is] the most important organization in time and all eternity; … the preservation of family life in time and eternity takes precedence above all other interests. … Because of this confidence in the perpetuity of the home and family into the eternities, we build our most elaborate and expensive structures—temples of God … so that man, woman, and their children may be bound together by covenant in an everlasting union which will transcend all the limitations of this mortal sphere.” (“America’s Strength—The Family,” unpublished transcript of an address given as part of the National Family Night Program, Seattle World’s Fair Coliseum, 23 Nov. 1976, p. 5.)" -L. Tom Perry, "Let Us Go Up to the House of God"

I am so grateful for the opportunity to participate in temple ordinances for myself and my ancestors.