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Participating in Temple and Family History Work

“Participating in Temple and Family History Work,” Topics and Questions (2023)

young men and women walking outside temple

Gospel Study Guide

Participating in Temple and Family History Work

An essential part of God’s plan

Imagine a beautiful tree that has roots digging deep into the earth and branches stretching in many directions. These roots and branches work together to help the tree grow and remain strong year after year.

Just like a tree, our families are united through roots and branches—or ancestors and descendants. Both are important in helping our families thrive. As we learn about our ancestors, we can receive strength and support. And as we do our ancestors’ temple work, they can receive important saving ordinances and covenants. Together, we help each other grow and flourish—not only in our own families but as members of God’s eternal family.

What Is Temple and Family History Work?

Temple and family history work is “a vital part of the work of salvation and exaltation.” Church members have the privilege and responsibility of participating in the important work of finding their ancestors’ names and then performing saving ordinances for them in temples. Those who are dead may choose to accept these ordinances in the spirit world. Through temple work, families are united and sealed for eternity. God invites all His children to receive these blessings and return to live with Him.

Topic overview: Family History

Related gospel study guides: Family, Temples, Covenants and Ordinances

Section 1

Family History Work Connects Us to Our Ancestors and Loved Ones

Bangkok Thailand Temple

When we learn, gather, and preserve information about our ancestors, we can feel more connected with those who have gone before us. President Russell M. Nelson taught: “When our hearts turn to our ancestors, something changes inside us. We feel part of something greater than ourselves.” Family history work can also strengthen our current family relationships. Sharing stories with family members about our ancestors can help us grow closer together and have a greater understanding of who we are and where we came from.

Things to think about

  • In his general conference talk “Roots and Branches,” Elder Quentin L. Cook encouraged families to gather to learn about the lives of their family members. These gatherings could include sharing family histories, stories, photos, or cherished possessions of parents or grandparents. Family members who are comfortable with technology, including youth, could then upload information and photos to their Family Tree. Consider organizing this kind of gathering with your family. What skills does each person have that could help you learn about your shared family history? Ponder how doing your family history together could help bridge generations and strengthen your connections with your loved ones. Then start taking simple steps to plan a family gathering of your own. You could also invite your family members to help you with the process.

  • The scriptures are full of examples of family history. Read Ether 1 for an example from the Book of Mormon. How is the prophet Moroni’s abridgment of the writings of Ether like doing family history? What truths do we learn from this chapter because it was written and preserved? (see Ether 1:35–37, 40–43). Ponder how you have been blessed by the “family histories” that are recorded in scripture. How could the generations that follow you benefit from your stories and those of your ancestors?

Activities for learning with others

  • When you think about family history, maybe your thoughts first go to research and historical records. But family history also includes learning about your living family members and discovering connections with your ancestors. Review together Elder Gerrit W. Gong’s talk “We Each Have a Story,” and then do a project that involves learning more about yourself, your family members, or your ancestors. You could draw or paint a tree with roots and branches that includes the names of your ancestors or make a book that captures some of their stories. Then discuss how doing family history connects you with your family, including those who have gone before you.

  • Elder Quentin L. Cook taught, “When we learn of the trials and hardships our ancestors faced, our love and appreciation for them is magnified.” You could learn about one of your ancestors and the trials he or she experienced and then share that story with the group. You might also show a picture or bring an object that represents your ancestor. Discuss how these stories have made an impression on you and helped you appreciate where you came from.

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Section 2

We Have the Responsibility to Participate in Temple and Family History Work to Help God’s Children Receive Eternal Life

family filling out their family history

God wants all His children to receive eternal life and has given them saving ordinances and covenants to help them return to Him. These ordinances and covenants are available in the temple, or the house of the Lord.

Many who have died did not have the opportunity to learn about Jesus Christ or to receive the saving ordinances of His gospel during their mortal life. They are waiting in the spirit world for those on earth to do their temple work for them. Those who are waiting for this work to be done may include our deceased family members. By discovering these ancestors’ names, we can then perform ordinances on their behalf in temples. In the spirit world, the deceased can choose to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ as well as these ordinances and receive salvation and exaltation and be united to their family for eternity.

Things to think about

  • Consider how receiving ordinances for the dead can help you feel more closely connected to heaven. Then read the two stories in Elder Gerrit W. Gong’s talk “Happy and Forever” about Church members who had unusually direct spiritual experiences by participating in temple and family history work. Ponder how your participation in temple and family history work could bring peace, hope, or healing in your life and help you learn more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

  • In his talk “Gathering the Family of God,” President Henry B. Eyring testified that the hearts of God’s children are being turned to their fathers (see Malachi 4:5–6; 3 Nephi 25:5–6; Joseph Smith—History 1:39). He said: “Many of your ancestors did not receive [saving] ordinances. But in the providence of God, you did. And God knew that you would feel drawn to your ancestors in love and that you would have the technology necessary to identify them. He also knew that you would live in a time when access to holy temples, where the ordinances can be performed, would be greater than ever in history. And He knew that He could trust you to accomplish this work [on] behalf of your ancestors.”

    How does God’s trust increase your desire to help your ancestors receive temple blessings from Him? How does His foresight strengthen your testimony that He has a plan for His eternal family? Ponder how you can more intentionally assist in God’s work, and then act on any impressions you receive.

Activities for learning with others

  • At a funeral on August 15, 1840, Joseph Smith taught that men and women could be baptized for the dead. This news was so exciting to the Saints that they “began almost immediately to be baptized for departed loved ones in rivers and streams near Nauvoo.” Consider reading “Letters on Baptism for the Dead” together to learn more about when the doctrine of baptism for the dead was given. Then discuss why both the living and the dead need each other. What does it mean that “we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect”? (Doctrine and Covenants 128:18). How does temple and family history work prepare the living and the dead for eternal life? You could also watch the video “What Are Baptisms for the Dead?” and talk about how participating in temple and family history work can bring the same kind of joy for you as it did for the early Saints.

  • Elder Dale G. Renlund taught: “As Church members, we do have a divinely appointed responsibility to seek out our ancestors and compile family histories. … It is breathtakingly amazing that, through family history and temple work, we can help to redeem the dead.” Review this talk together, and then as a group come up with a goal related to temple and family history work. For instance, you could each decide to bring a family name to the temple and do an ordinance for that ancestor. Or you could participate in indexing on FamilySearch to help others find the names of their ancestors. How does knowing that redeeming the dead is a divinely appointed responsibility deepen your desire to do temple and family history work? How have you felt guided by the Spirit in your efforts? Discuss your experiences with one another, and share what blessings you’ve received by fulfilling this important responsibility.

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