The temple will be closed for the next four and a half months. Jo works in the temple office leadership. She has taken some calls from patrons who want the temple presidency to cordon off just a small section of the temple so that they can do some ordinance work. Of course, the answer is "no." The ordinances are prescribed by the Lord to be done in a certain way, and in a certain environment in these latter days; following the direction of the Lord, the temple department executes each of His commandments with exactness. What a great example for each of us!

The search for a balance between the personal need to assert independence and the need to submit to divine direction has challenged members of the Lord's church from its beginning. The temple endowment addresses it, and certainly it is a major theme not only in the Book of Mormon but in all of the scriptures.

We know that Lord has directed us to search out our ancestors. We have a challenge I think in the months ahead with the temple closing in that it will be easy to slip into "vacation mode" and forget about that direction. As you know, it has never been easier to do genealogy research. In fact, our brothers and sisters at FamilySearch do a lot of the heavy lifting so that we don't have to, in terms of establishing inter-generational relationships for our families. If that is true, and if it is true, as we have seen, that we have an increase in both attendance at the temple and  the number of patrons who bring their own family file cards to the temple, how can we as leaders help our members to maintain the effort needed to continue their temple and family history work? I think too, that in considering this question we should also be thinking about those in our units who are the bulk of our membership - the ones who make up most of that sticky statistic in the Family History Activity Report - the four-generation chart.

We think that there are some understandings that can play into making it more likely that these charts become meaningful to our members. Please consider the following. 

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The Importance of Example

Each of the ward leaders in the ward council should have already had a family history experience with a ward family history consultant. If not, they should arrange for one soon. The members of the various leadership councils in each stake should also have had a family history experience with a ward family history consultant or a stake family history consultant. Here is an example  of one of those experiences. Take a look at this more detailed look at the organization of such an experience from FamilySearch genealogist Tamra Stansfield.

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The Importance of Stories

At the Fankhauser family reunion last May, I told some stories about my great-grandmother and my grandmother. That retelling of a part of our family history generated a lot of questions and prompted the telling of many other memories from within the group - those discussions were lively and filled with a genuine and authentic respect for our shared heritage.

In a RootsTech video, Rhonda Lauritzen shares many examples of the blessings that can come from establishing that connection through an oral history. 

In a related article, she mentions a recent study from Emory University which concludes that young people have the power to overcome obstacles and feel confidence when they know where they come from, and further, to gain strength and perspective in their own struggles from the stories of loved ones who struggled too, perhaps in a similar way. It suggests 5 questions that are essential to this process as they elicit a memory - a story to share - and usually generate more memories and more stories, "that all may be edified [built up] of all (D&C 88:122):"

- Do you know where your grandparents grew up?

- Do you know where your mom and dad went to high school?

- Do you know where your parents met?

- Do you know of an illness or something really terrible that happened in your family?

- Do you know the story of your birth?

Here is a FamilySearch activity that might help. How about an EQ or RS activity using this approach to telling our own story? I think that a youth group would like it, too. A great advantage to this is that each person who participates will have to have a FamilySearch account. TFH consultants could be standing by to help with that. Also, those who are in that small percentage that go to the temple regularly could be standing by to help, too. In fact, it's likely that not more than a few of them will have recorded any of their own stories. Have you? I haven't - I need to.

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The Importance of Doctrine

One of the things that we learn in the temple is that repitition has value. Likewise, we teach, and we teach, and we teach. Then maybe after the seventh hearing someone listens. On my part, it takes about that many times before something sinks in. I am so grateful for repentance and for divine mercy. 

Here is what President Eyring said in the Saturday morning session of the April 2017 General Conference: 

"... interest in exploring one’s family history has grown exponentially. At ever-increasing rates, people seem drawn to their ancestry with more than just casual curiosity. Genealogical libraries, associations, and technologies have emerged around the world to support this interest. The internet’s power to enhance communications has enabled families to work together to do family history research with a speed and thoroughness never before possible.

Why is all of this happening? For lack of a better term, we call it the “spirit of Elijah.” We could also equally call it “fulfillment of prophecy.” I bear testimony that Elijah did come. The hearts of the children—of you and me—have turned to our fathers, our ancestors. The affection you feel for your ancestors is part of the fulfillment of that prophecy. It is deeply seated in your sense of who you are. But it has to do with more than just inherited DNA.

For example, as you follow the promptings to learn about your family history, you may discover that a distant relative shares some of your facial features or your interest in books or your talent for singing. This could be very interesting and even insightful. But if your work stops there, you will sense that something is missing. This is because to gather and unite God’s family requires more than just warm feelings. It requires sacred covenants made in connection with priesthood ordinances.

Many of your ancestors did not receive those 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 in behalf of your ancestors."

That is the general case. More specifically, Elder Renlund has taught that there is an inspired plan for organizing the work. The following clips show that plan. The second one is an expansion of the first, with a focus on the key importance of the ward council.

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Now Back To The Four-Generation Chart

What are the reasons behind the direction for each member to have a four-generation chart of his genealogy?

This limited chart helps you focus on things that you probably know. It includes you, your parents, your grandparents, and your great-grandparents. That is a total of fifteen possible entries. It's likely that you have information about these people that are pertinent to the requirements of a genealogy chart, such as: full names, birth dates and locations, marriage dates and locations, and, when events dictate, death and burial dates and locations. 

In a 2014 general conference talk, Elder Quentin L. Cook said, “In the worldwide membership of the Church, fifty-one percent of adults currently do not have both parents in the Family Tree section of the Church’s FamilySearch Internet site. Sixty-five percent of adults do not have all four grandparents listed.” All these years later, is there still work to be done? I think the FHAR indicates that yes, there is. 

Each name on the chart represents a real person, each of whom has a divine right to accept saving and exalting ordinances. President Howard W. Hunter testified: “The dead are anxiously waiting for the Latter-day Saints to search out their names and then go into the temples to officiate in their behalf, that they may be liberated from their prison house in the spirit world. All of us should find joy in this magnificent labor of love” (“A Temple-Motivated People,” Ensign, Feb. 1995, 5).

Revelation and inspiration are available to those who are involved in this work. President James E. Faust (1920–2007) of the First Presidency explained: “The process of finding our ancestors one by one can be challenging but also exciting and rewarding. We often feel spiritual guidance as we go to the sources that identify them. Because this is a very spiritual work, we can expect help from the other side of the veil. We feel a pull from our relatives who are waiting for us to find them so their ordinance work can be done” (in Conference Report, Oct. 2003, 59; or Ensign, Nov. 2003, 55).

According to President Woodruff, "We have been called as Saviors upon Mount Zion, while the kingdom has been the Lord’s. These are glorious principles. To be saved ourselves, and to save our fellowmen, what a glorious thing! What is gold and silver; what are the riches of this world? They all perish with the using. We pass away and leave them. But if we have eternal life, if we keep the faith and overcome, we shall rejoice when we go upon the other side of the veil. I rejoice in all these things. There is hardly any principle the Lord has revealed that I have rejoiced more in than in the redemption of our dead; that we will have our fathers, our mothers, our wives and our children with us in the family organization, in the morning of the first resurrection and in the Celestial Kingdom. These are grand principles. They are worth every sacrifice." (Wilford Woodruff, Deseret Weekly, August 30, 1890, 308.)

What of the objections? There are as many objections as there are people. Here are some basic categories though:

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To sum up

The four-generation chart can be a way to increase spirituality of members in the ward. There is a clearly established pattern for increasing the dedication to the principles of family history work. This pattern has been revealed to his servants, the apostles, and they have in turn revealed it to us, the members of his church.

Related FamilySearch activites, such as the Record My Story activity referenced above, can be used in group settings as prelude to in-home visits from family history consultants. This fits the inspired pattern of home-centered, church-supported efforts. Further support for family history efforts depends on involvement from the ward council, which can identify where resources can be applied most effectively.

Preaching from the pulpit in support of the four-generation chart, desired behaviors modeled by church leaders, support from the inspired deliberations of the ward council, the involvement of ward family history consultants, and the active support of family history activities by ministering brothers and sisters, are fundamental elements in increasing the numbers of completed four-generation charts in the ward.

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