Tip of the Week: The Importance of Family

This week's tip is to understand the importance of family!

Family history work is ALL ABOUT FAMILIES! The idea of families is one of the most important aspects of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Understanding the importance of families is necessary for understanding the basics of this gospel.

"THE FAMILY is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities" (The Family: A Proclamation to the World).

"Being part of a family is a great blessing. Your family can provide you with companionship and happiness, help you learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and help you prepare for eternal life. Strong families require effort. Your family will be blessed as you do your part to strengthen it. Be cheerful, helpful, and considerate of family members...Show love for your family members each day. Share your testimony with your family through words and actions. Your righteous example can make a difference in strengthening your family" (For the Strength of Youth- Family).

“President Brigham Young explained that our families are not yet ours. The Lord has committed them to us to see how we will treat them. Only if we are faithful will they be given to us forever. What we do on earth determines whether or not we will be worthy to become heavenly parents.” (The Importance of the Family, L. Tom Perry, May 2003)

"The Church tries to help us make our mortal families reflect the beauty and happiness of the larger eternal family unit. It might be said that everything we do as a church and as individuals is to strengthen the family unit, both here and hereafter. Indeed, the family unit is where most of the important lessons of life are learned and practiced." (The Family- Now and Forever, Terry J. Moyer, June 1993)

Video- Unto All the World: Putting "Family" Back into Family History

I know that when we understand the importance of families we will be blessed with knowledge and the ability to understand the importance of family history work. I am so grateful for my family and my opportunity to grow closer to them though family history work. 

3 Nephi 18:21
D&C 31:2 
Abraham 2:11

Tip of the Week: Take Baby Steps

This week's tip is to take baby steps!

You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time. Family history is an elephant. There is so much to do! But it is impossible to complete it all at once. We have to take baby steps. Slowly but surely we will be able to accomplish all the Lord asks of us as long as we are trying! All the little things will add up. 


So what baby steps can you take?

1. Pray. Pray for the desire to find your ancestors. Pray to feel the spirit of Elijah. Pray to be guided to those who need you. Pray to have success in your work. Pray to be an example to your family and friends. Pray to have the determination to not give up. Pray always!

2. Find help. Whether you have never done family history before and don't know what you are doing or you have done family history before and you are just stuck, there is someone who can help. Find out who in your ward, branch, or stake can help you. Contact someone at Family Search through their online help options or by calling directly. Go on lds.org and type in "family history" in the search bar. There are always loving people ready and willing to help you. 

3. Pull out the books. Find and open up those dusty old scrapbooks and journals from your crazy great aunt (or whoever kept records for your family). Look through the pictures, notes, and words of those who have passed on before you. They are the reason you are here today. Become familiar with the people, the dates, the places, and the events. You need this information to complete their family history work as well as yours! If you don't have access to records or no one ever kept any in your family, start writing down things you remember about family members who have passed on and record their history for them! 

4. Write your own books! We have records of our ancestors because someone wrote them down. If your histories are never written, your descendants will never know of your records. If you don't currently have any journal, scrapbooks, memory books, etc. start making them! It does take time and effort but if you take baby steps and just start small, all of it will add up. For example, if you don't have a lot of time to journal, try to write down one miracle you see each day or even each week. Then when you get the time you can start to elaborate on some of the things you wrote.

I know that the Lord will direct our steps when we go to Him with sincere righteous desires. I know that we are each called to participate in family history work in any way we can. I know that we will be blessed with power, guidance, and comfort when we put our full effort in doing our best. I know that we can each develop a strong and sure testimony of family history work if we just have the desire to and we don't give up!

Job 23:11

Psalms 37:23

Psalms 18:36

Proverbs 16:9

Tip of the Week: Family History for Family Home Evening

This week's tip is to incorporate family history into family home evenings!

Family home evenings are a fantastic time to show your family the importance of family history and encourage your family to participate in it! Family history is all about your family! Why not spend time growing closer to your ancestors along with your family here on earth?

"In a world of turmoil and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to make our families the center of our lives and the top of our priorities. Families lie at the center of our Heavenly Father’s plan. This statement from “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” declares the responsibilities of parents to their families: “Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.”" -L. Tom Perry, "The Importance of the Family," Ensign, May 2003

“We counsel parents and children to give highest priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities. However worthy and appropriate other demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the divinely-appointed duties that only parents and families can adequately perform.” -First Presidency letter, February 11, 1999.

FHE Family History Ideas

Songs: 

• Families Can Be Together Forever

• Family History-I Am Doing It

• I Have a Family Tree

• Here We Are Together

• The Hearts of the Children

• Truth from Elijah

• The Lord Gave Me A Temple

Activities/Games: 

• Families Are Forever Pedigree Chart

• Family Interview Printable

• Can You Hear Them? Do I Look Like My Ancestor? All About Me!

• Also check under the "Activities" tab!

I know that when we make families a priority we will receive the blessings God has promised. I know that family home evening should be highly valued and implemented whenever possible. I know that our families extend from our ancestors to our descendants and that we can grow closer to them and our Savior, Jesus Christ, when we participate in family history work. 

3 Nephi 18:21

D&C 93:40

Mosiah 4:14-15

Tip of the Week: Record Your Stories

This week's tip is to record your stories!

Last week I posted about sharing your ancestors' stories. This week's post goes right along with that. You can find and share your ancestors' stories because they recorded them. Your descendants will only be able to find and share your stories if you write them down! You can do this by journaling, scrapbooking, making videos, making time capsules, etc.

My Family Booklet is a great way to make recording your history easier. On Family Search you can fill out an online booklet or order a hard copy of it. You can also help transfer information to other people's booklets. On the site it says, "The My Family: Stories That Bring Us Together booklet is an engaging way to capture and preserve your family story. We'll help you record family information, including adding photos, dates, and precious family stories." 
Click on the link and go try it out!  My Family Booklet 

There's also an awesome list of writing prompts to start writing your own history found here.

We can also keep a journal and write our family histories to turn the hearts of the living toward the living--as well as the hearts of the living toward their ancestors. It is all about linking our family, generation by generation, in eternal bonds. As we do so, we become “saviours … on mount Zion.” -Hugo E. Martinez, "Our Personal Ministries," Ensign, November 2014

They had often borne testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, which we can now read in their precious journals. -Mervyn B. Arnold, "What Have You Done With My Name?," Ensign, November 2010

I am grateful for a teacher who encouraged his students to keep a journal of the whisperings or promptings of the Spirit in their lives. He directed us to note what we felt and what resulted. Little things became evident. -Sydney S. Reynolds, "A God of Miracles," Ensign, May 2001

I personally believe that the writing of personal and family histories will do more to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to children than almost anything we can do. I am sure you will never turn your own children’s hearts more to you than you will by keeping a journal and writing your personal history. They will ultimately love to find out about your successes and your failures and your peculiarities. It will tell them a lot about themselves, too. They will get a great desire to raise a family of their own when they see what a great blessing they were to you. -Hartman Rector Jr., "Turning the Hearts," Ensign, May 1981

I know that keeping records of our own lives will bless us and our descendants, and that our descendants will have the opportunity to learn from us just as we have learned from our ancestors. I know that through recording stories we will grow closer to our families and we will have a better understanding of the work we have been called to do.

Ezra 4:15
Exodus 24:4
Daniel 12:1
2 Nephi 5:29
Alma 37:2

Tip of the Week: Share Stories

This week's tip is to share stories!

One of the best ways to help you come to a full understanding of the purpose of family history is studying the stories you discover while doing family history work. Sharing those stories is also a wonderful way to include others in this great work! Families can bond, hearts can be touched, and minds can be opened through sharing the stories of your ancestors.

The lives led by our ancestors have determined in many different aspects how our lives are unfolding today. We are influenced by the actions and characteristics of our forebears. Blessings we receive in our lives today may be a direct result of the sacrifices and faith of those who lived before us." -Sharon G. Samuelson, "A Good Name – A Priceless Possession," BYU Speeches, September 2004

"Our young people are excited to learn about the lives of family members--where they came from and how they lived. Many have had their hearts turned to the fathers. They love the stories and photos, and they have the technological expertise to scan and upload these stories and photos to Family Tree and connect source documents with ancestors to preserve these for all time." -Quentin L. Cook, "Roots and Branches," Ensign, May 2014

"Because we face challenges every day, it is important that we work on our spiritual stamina every day. When we develop spiritual stamina, the false traditions of the world, as well as our personal daily challenges, will have little negative impact on our ability to endure in righteousness. Great examples of spiritual stamina come from our own family histories. Among the many stories from our ancestors, we will be able to find examples that demonstrate the positive characteristics of endurance." -Richard J. Maynes, "The Strength to Endure," Ensign, November 2013

There is a short list entitled, "4 Fun Ways to Make Your Family History Come to Life," by Hadley Duncan Howard. I've attached the link here. 

I know that finding and sharing personal stories from our ancestors will bring us closer to to them and our living family members. I know that learning from their life experiences will help us learn and grow. I am so grateful for my ancestors and their incredible stories. 

Alma 37:2
Abraham 1:31
Mosiah 24:6
Moses 6:5

Stuck? Don't Give Up!

Have you gotten to a point in your family history work where you just feel too stuck? Does it seem like there's too much to do? Not enough you can do? Don't give up!! 

It's super easy to get to a point where you feel like you're stuck and can't do anything else. Family history work can be overwhelming! However, you must remember that you are doing the work of the Lord. He will always provide a way. Pray about what you should do next! Ask for help! You will receive the help and answers you righteously desire. I know that we are in the hand hands of God and He will provide a way for us to accomplish His work. Happy Sunday!

Tip of the Week: Prepare for the Temple

This week's tip is to prepare for the temple!

Attending the temple is the last step in doing family history work for an ancestor. Being worthy of and making time for the temple is necessary! Past and present prophets and apostles continually counsel us on the importance of the temple. 

"Temple work is an act of service. The temple is a place where we have an opportunity to do something for others...President Hinckley has suggested we not focus so much on the personal benefits of attending the temple but rather focus on temple work as “work.” While the personal blessings resulting from temple attendance are numerous, we must not lose sight of the fact that it is work and requires commitment and duty." -"The Doctrine of Temple Work," David E. Sorenson, Ensign, October 2003

"What a remarkable and wonderful thing it is that those who are living may administer the blessings of earthly ordinances in behalf of those who have gone beyond and who lived without an opportunity to hear the gospel or accept it. There is no compulsion on the other side to accept on the part of him or her for whom the ordinance is performed. But there is a compulsion laid upon us by Him who provided the plan, to extend the opportunity to those who have left this life. The work so performed is both remarkable and singular. It is a great work of love, freely performed and freely offered." -"Temples and Temple Work," Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, February 1982

"Genealogy and temple work—you can’t have one without the other. They are two inseparable parts of one divine decree the Lord has given us to aid in the redemption of the dead. The process of identifying one’sfamily should be much more than a hobby to a Latter-day Saint. From an eternal perspective, to consider the word genealogy and not its partner temple work—or to think of temple work and disregard its twin, genealogy—makes no more sense than to try to play a game with only half a ball."-"Genealogy and Temple Work," George D. Durrant, Liahona, April 1984

"Most of our temples could be much busier than they are. In this noisy, bustling, competitive world, what a privilege it is to have a sacred house where we may experience the sanctifying influence of the Spirit of the Lord. The element of selfishness crowds in upon us constantly. We need to overcome it, and there is no better way than to go to the house of the Lord and there serve in a vicarious relationship in behalf of those who are beyond the veil of death. What a remarkable thing this is. In most cases, we do not know those for whom we work. We expect no thanks. We have no assurance that they will accept that which we offer. But we go, and in that process we attain to a state that comes of no other effort. We literally become saviors on Mount Zion. What does this mean? Just as our Redeemer gave His life as a vicarious sacrifice for all men, and in so doing became our Savior, even so we, in a small measure, when we engage in proxy work in the temple, become as saviors to those on the other side who have no means of advancing unless something is done in their behalf by those on earth." -"Closing Remarks," Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, November 2003

Here's the link to a fantastic little piece answering the question, "How can the temple bless you?"

I know that temple work is so important! I'm so grateful for the opportunity we all have to attend the temple for ourselves and our ancestors. I have a testimony of the blessings that come to you and those around you when you are worthy for the temple and make time for the temple.

John 11:25-26
1 Corinthians 15:22
1 Corinthians 2:11-16
D&C 93:20