Friday, March 13, 2015

Special Edition!!!

I know, I posted only yesterday, but I wanted to share something really neat. My cousin, Lily, who is a family history guru, has started a blog on the Spirit of Elijah and how youth can get involved, their purpose in being here on earth in the last days, etc. Anyway, I was very impressed by her thorough knowledge and explanation. You can read her blog here.

Well, I am very excited for this new resource to help youth in their quest to find their ancestors, but I also noticed that this correlates closely with some Personal Progress Experiences. And, of course, I am always looking for fun ways to get involved with Personal Progress. ;)


When you participate in family history, you come to understand your identity and individual worth. Visit with your living relatives to learn as much information about your family history as possible. Then complete a pedigree chart of your family and list the temple ordinances that have been completed for each person.

Well, this is pretty self-explanatory, at least to me, but if you have questions, please ask in the comments!

Knowledge Elective Experience #4 says:


Select a gospel principle you would like to understand better (for example, faith, repentance, charity, eternal families, or baptismal covenants). Read scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets that relate to the principle. Prepare a five-minute talk on the subject and give the talk in a sacrament meeting, in a Young Women meeting, to your family, or to your class. Record in your journal how you can apply this gospel principle in your life.


If you are curious about genealogy (the fancy-schmancy word for family history), you can research that using the resources they have suggested and prepare your talk on what you have learned!


Good Works Elective Experience #6 says:


Spend at least three hours giving service outside your family. Ask your ward or branch Relief Society president or a community leader for suggestions for service. For example, you might take care of children while parents attend the temple; collect, make, or recondition toys or games for a nursery; accept an assignment to clean the meetinghouse; or perform errands for or read to a homebound person or others in need. Record in your journal the reactions of the person you served and possible goals for future service opportunities.


Family history is SERVICE!!!! Finding names, taking them to the temple, and doing their ordinances may be the one of the biggest, most important services you will ever do for other people. I mean, it's their SALVATION we're talking about here, people! Who KNOWS how long people have been waiting to cross from Spirit Prison into Spirit Paradise?! 


You can also do family history and temple work for a project in many of the values. Be creative!

If you want to get more involved in the work of salvation for the dead (who are NOT actually dead!), familysearch.org is a wonderful resource! Create an account (or log in with your LDS account) and start searching! I promise that you will experience the Spirit of Elijah for yourself and feel your ancestors smiling down on you. 


Here are some great recent conference talks on family history. You don't have to read them all in their entirety, but skim over them and if something catches your eye, read it!


Elder Bednar's "The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn" from the October 2011 General Conference is probably my favorite: The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn. If you don't read the whole of this one, please read these:



now invite the attention of the young women, young men, and children of the rising generation as emphasize the importance of the Spirit of Elijah in your lives today. My message is intended for the entire Church in general—but for you in particular.

Many of you may think family history work is to be performed primarily by older people. But know of no age limit described in the scriptures or guidelines announced by Church leaders restricting this important service to mature adults. You are sons and daughters of God, children of the covenant, and builders of the kingdom. You need not wait until you reach an arbitrary age to fulfill your responsibility to assist in the work of salvation for the human family.

The Lord has made available in our day remarkable resources that enable you to learn about and love this work that is sparked by the Spirit of Elijah. For example,FamilySearch is collection of records, resources, and services easily accessible with personal computers and variety of handheld devices, designed to help people discover and document their family historyThese resources also are available in the family history centers located in many of our Church buildings throughout the world.

It is no coincidence that FamilySearch and other tools have come forth at time when young people are so familiar with wide range of information and communication technologies. Your fingers have been trained to text and tweet to accelerate and advance the work of the Lord—not just to communicate quickly with your friends. The skills and aptitude evident among many young people today are preparation to contribute to the work of salvation.

invite the young people of the Church to learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah. encourage you to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare yourselves to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord for your kindred dead (see D&C 124:28–36).And urge you to help other people identify their family histories.

As you respond in faith to this invitation, your hearts shall turn to the fathers. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and be more meaningful to you. Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase. Your testimony of and conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding.And promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives. 

Elder Cook's talk, "Roots and Branches" from the April 2014 conference is a popular one: Roots and Branches.

And Elder Richard G. Scott's "The Joy of Redeeming the Dead" from the October 2012 conference--The Joy of Redeeming the Dead.

Thanks for reading my rambling!

9 comments:

  1. Wow, Annalee, thanks so much! I got your messages last night and I really appreciate your support. Thanks for making me feel so good about myself. You are amazing!

    Love,
    Lily

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    1. Thank you for your example! I honestly can't describe how awesomely you wrote that post!

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  2. Yay for young people getting involved in family history!

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  3. You are both amazing young women, with amazing goals and blogs!!! Keep up the good work!

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  4. You are a great example of a 'builder of the kingdom'. Great job!

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  5. This is a great endeavor, Annalee! You never cease to impress me! I look forward to reading more on your blog...

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  6. I very much enjoyed reading your post! It inspired me!

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  7. Hi Annalee! Can I share your blog with the Beehives I teach in my ward?? You're amazing and I'm excited to continue reading and learning from you!

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    1. Go ahead! I want this blog to be as helpful to as many people as possible! P.S. You didn't tell me you taught Beehives! Cool!

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