Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 39
Our Heritage: Pages 98-99
Our Heritage: Pages 101-2
Our Heritage: Pages 105-7
SEEK YOUR ANCESTORS IN ORDER TO BESTOW UPON THEM THE PRIESTHOOD ORDINANCES
Joseph Smith received revelation before the church was organized about the importance of binding families together for eternity and necessity of the restoration in order to obtain the sealing powers of the priesthood. We read in the Joseph Smith History:
38 And again, he [Moroni to a young Joseph] quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
39 He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming
Elder Jeffrey R.
Holland taught that without the sealing power,
“no family ties would exist in the eternities, and indeed the family of man would have been left in eternity with ‘neither root [ancestors] nor branch [descendants].’ Inasmuch as … a sealed, united, celestially saved family of God is the ultimate purpose of mortality, any failure here would have been a curse indeed, rendering the entire plan of salvation ‘utterly wasted’” (Christ and the New Covenant, 297–98).
Elijah the Prophet
Bible Dictionary on Elijah
"The Prophet Joseph Smith said that Elijah held the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood and was the last prophet to do so before the time of Jesus Christ."
Background on the Prophet Elijah
Doctrine & Covenants 2
Doctrine & Covenants 110: 13-16
President Wilford Woodruff: "Somebody Has Got to Redeem Them"
Our Heritage Ballard Story: Page 99
According to Elder
Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve,
Our Heritage Woodruff Revelation: Page 101“events of that historic year [1894] established family history research and temple service as one work in the Church” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 114; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 85).
President Wilford Woodruff 1892--Age 85
President Woodruff was devoted to the work of redeeming the dead.
President of the St. George Temple
*First temple where endowments for the dead were performed in this dispensation.
*Visited by spirits of many "eminent men" who had died but wanted to be redeemed.
During his ministry:
* Members served genealogical missions
* 1894 Genealogical Society Organized
President Joseph F. Smith Revelation Moved the Work of Redeeming the Dead Forward
Our Heritage J. F. Smith Revelation: Page 106
On 4 October 1918, just weeks
before his death, he said in general conference:
“I have been undergoing a siege of very serious illness for the last five months. … I have not lived alone these five months. I have dwelt in the spirit of prayer, of supplication, of faith and of determination; and I have had my communication with the Spirit of the Lord continuously” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1918, 2).
This statement came the day after President Joseph F. Smith received the revelation that we have in Section 138 of the Doctrine & Covenants which is a record of the Savior's visit to the spirit world.
Doctrine & Covenants 138
Doctrine & Covenants 138
Joseph F. Smith ca 1916--Age 78
President Gordon B. Hinkcley: "We Are Determined to Take Temples to the People"
When he became
President of the Church in 1995, there were 47 temples in operation. About two
and one-half years later, he made the following announcement:
“… We are determined … to take the temples to the people and afford them every opportunity for the very precious blessings that come of temple worship” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 68–69; or Ensign, Nov. 1997, 49–50)
In April 1998,
President Hinckley announced a goal to have 100 temples in operation by the end
of the century (see Conference Report, Apr. 1998, 115; or Ensign, May 1998,
88).
Conclusion
"No people in history have ever had the opportunity to do so much for so many people as we do today."
Related Videos (Click on the picture to go to the link)
The Dead Awaited the Atonement (0:34)
Their Hearts Are Bound to You (3:15)
Saviors on Mount Zion (3:42)
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