Called to Remember

By Michael R. Morris

Church Magazines

Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our goodbyes are only temporary.

A few days after my father passed away, family and friends gathered for his funeral in Las Cruces, New Mexico. At my mother’s request, the grandchildren sang “Families Can Be Together Forever.”¹ After the closing song and prayer, the grandsons escorted my father’s casket to a hearse outside the chapel.

As the hearse pulled away, one of my younger brother’s toddler grandsons called out, “Bye-bye.” We then traveled to the cemetery, where I dedicated the grave and the rest of us said, “Bye-bye.”

Afterward, I drove to my parents’ home. As I entered their cul-de-sac, I stopped for a moment. I thought about the many times over the previous 30 years I had pulled into their driveway, had dropped off our children to spend part of their summer vacation with Grandma and Grandpa, and had celebrated Christmas there.

As I relived memories, I was almost overcome by sadness. I realized that most of my grandchildren will never know the welcome sight of my parents’ home after an all-day drive. They will never smell the aroma of my mother’s cooking. They will never hear the laughter echoing from the walls of my parents’ home. They will never hike the nearby sand dunes with my parents, hunt crawdads with them, spend time in their mountain cabin, or attend their friendly ward.

For my grandchildren, my parents will be little more than fading names etched on gravestones. We still have my mother, but after she passes away, my grandchildren will probably never travel to southern New Mexico.

“The Heart of the Plan”

I’m thankful that these sad thoughts soon left. Almost as quickly as they came, peaceful thoughts from the Holy Ghost replaced them.

I thought of the plan of salvation and of the great welding link that connects us to our ancestors and our posterity. I thought of the blessings of family history and temple work. I thought of my responsibility to preserve memories and photos and stories. I remembered that the family I have here on earth, I can also have in heaven. And I thought of who makes that possible.

“The basis for every temple ordinance and covenant—the heart of the plan of salvation—is the Atonement of Jesus Christ,” said President Russell M. Nelson. “Every activity, every lesson, all we do in the Church, point to the Lord and His holy house. Our efforts to proclaim the gospel, perfect the Saints, and redeem the dead all lead to the temple. Each holy temple stands as a symbol of our membership in the Church, as a sign of our faith in life after death, and as a sacred step toward eternal glory for us and our families.”²

“You Can Change That”

At a family birthday party after my father’s passing, we watched an animated movie about a young boy named Miguel who finds himself temporarily in the land of the dead—the spirit world. To return to the land of the living, Miguel must reunite his family.

In the land of the dead, Miguel meets Hector. Hector cannot “cross over” to the other side because he is almost forgotten. The last living member of his posterity on earth who remembers him is losing her memory.

As Hector contemplates his fate, he tells Miguel, “When there’s no one left in the living world who remembers you, you disappear from this world.” But Hector tells Miguel he can change that.³

The movie reminded me of our calling as latter-day covenant Israel to remember, to research, and to redeem our dead. To fulfill our divine commission, we gather to the temple to perform vicarious ordinances. We gather on missions to invite people to come unto Jesus Christ. We gather to minister and serve and bless. And we invite others to gather with us as we share the Savior’s redeeming message.

In mortality we lose grandfathers and grandmothers, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, and sometimes even our own children. But our goodbyes are only temporary.

Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we will come forth in the Resurrection. Because of His Atonement, we will be reunited with those we “have loved long since, and lost awhile!”⁴

And because of His Atonement, our “heartache can turn to beauty and love and eternity.”⁵