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New in FamilySearch
New in FamilySearch
Register for RootsTech 2024! Sessions from Febr 9 - March 2. Why? RootsTech is the premier event to celebrate your heritage and other meaningful connections through a deeper understanding of family history and genealogy.
Many of us have considered using services like Legacy Box to transfer precious memories on photos, home movies, VHS tapes and other formats to digital media. Did you know that FamilySearch has equipment that you can use to do that transfer by yourself, and for free? Check out the details for Memory Lane on this blog page or on the Memory Lane page at FamilySearch.org!
The Family Tree FamilySearch app is trending. Read reviews here.
You can stay up-to-date with changes on FamilySearch at their updates page on the FamilySearch Blog. More records are being added to the FamilySearch database nearly every day. The Lord continues to further his work on both sides of the veil in new and exciting ways!
A Temple Christmas
A Temple Christmas
We liked this short essay from Emily Belle Freeman on the contributions of two people in Luke who recognized the Lord immediately when he first visited he temple:
…Within the sacred account found in Luke 2, two characters are mentioned who are often overlooked - Simeon and Anna.
I often find myself pondering why their simple stories are so often left out when the Christmas story is read, and I have wondered on numerous occasions why their figurines are not found in any Nativity collections. Simeon and Anna's stories are similar, and they play an important role in the celebration of the birth of Christ. The lessons contained within each are almost repetitive - one right after the other - each a powerful reminder of how we can become true followers of the Good Shepherd, what we need to do to prepare our hearts to recognize Him, and the gratitude that comes in that instant.
Simeon was an older man who was just and devout. He had been promised that he would not die before seeing the Lord and his heart was filled with that longing. It was the spirit that prompted him to go to the temple on the day Mary and Joseph came to present their son to the Lord. It was there that he discovered the Christ child and “he took him in his arms and burst into rapt thanksgiving.
What can we learn from Simeon? Three life-changing lessons: he longed to know the Lord, he visited the Temple frequently, and in the very instant he recognized the Lord, he expressed gratitude immediately. We too can follow Simeon's example - we can long to know the Lord and prepare so that He will be instantly recognizable, we can feel closer to the Lord as we visit the temple frequently, and we can remember to express gratitude in those moments when we see His hand in our lives.
Anna, a widow of great age, was also in the temple on that day. Having been widowed for eighty-four years, she had led a life of mourning. We are told that she never left the temple, in fact, “it was her constant and loved resort.” Anna’s days were filled with service to God and much fasting and prayer. Just like Simeon, “deepest in her soul was longing.” Service, prayer, and fasting had prepared her heart to receive the Lord. On that day, filled with inspiration, she, like Simeon, was able to recognize the Lord “and in that instant gave thanks” (Luke 2:38) .
Both Simeon and Anna were true followers of Christ. They had prepared their hearts to instantly recognize the Lord. Both knew how to receive and act on promptings from the spirit, they understood the power the temple has to bring us closer to Christ, and they both expressed humble gratitude for the testimony they had been given. I love that their recognition was instant and that their gratitude was immediate. Their stories must not be overlooked; the lessons are far too valuable. From them we learned the importance of gratitude within the celebration.
Emily Belle Freeman, “Celebrating A Christ-Centered Christmas,” Deseret Book, 2010, pp. 78-81.
Your Story Is Worth Remembering
Your Story Is Worth Remembering
A RootsTech Film
“Remember” is the theme of RootsTech 2024 . The mission of the RootsTech team this year is to help inspire people all over the world to remember and share the precious moments and people that shape their lives. Register for RootsTech 2024 here.
Everyone has a story that is worth remembering. This short film shows how ordinary, everyday people come to recognize the real value of their story:
In a world that often celebrates the extraordinary, watch as five individuals who've led seemingly ordinary lives through their own eyes, are reminded of the indelible mark they’ve left on the hearts of their loved ones. We filmed their family members answering the question, “What makes your parent/grandparent extraordinary. The responses we received were nothing short of breathtaking— personal memories, touching anecdotes, and deep reflections shared together. Through the lens of personal stories, we recognize the transformative power of personal memories and experiences, and remember the importance of cherishing and celebrating the unsung heroes in our lives. Everyone's story is worth remembering.
A Thanksgiving Message for Christmas
A Thanksgiving Message for Christmas
I think the following article from The Church News can prompt quite a few thoughts this holiday season. I was thinking about: 1) How the role of the individual and the role of Heavenly Father in our covenantal relationship is influenced by our feeling of "transcendent" indebtedness as described Sister Nelson (below); and 2) that Heavenly Father has an expectation that faithful disciples of Jesus Christ will arrive at the truth through both study (intellectual reasoning) and prayer (spiritual guidance).
D & C Section 93 reveals that the glory of God is intelligence, or in other words, light and truth. The house of the Lord, the temple, is the place where we can come, if we are prepared, very close to God to partake of his glory; it is the best place for us to get answers to questions posed by both our spirit and our mind. I found a recording of a talk given by Elder Richard Scott that suggests some ways we can avoid the trap of "ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth." (See Elder Scott's address below).
A new Brigham Young University study found that those who express indebtedness — a recognition that the good things in their lives come from God and from other people — have higher levels of empathy and are more likely to offer love and service than those who express only gratitude.
The university reported that BYU doctoral graduate Jenae Nelson, who is now a postdoctoral research associate at both Baylor University and Harvard University, co-authored the new study with BYU psychology professors Sam Hardy and Dianne Tice.
She said gratitude is often secularized to focus on material things and can even become prideful, such as social media posts boasting about new cars, homes or other possessions.
Indebtedness, on the other hand, is “inherently social” because it is experienced between people. Someone might look outside and feel grateful for a sunset, Nelson said; but expressing gratitude to God for the sunset creates a feeling of transcendent indebtedness.
Nelson clarified the difference between indebtedness and transcendent indebtedness. The former can feel transactional, like a relationship that ends when one party pays back the other; but the latter is more akin to what children feel towards parents, she said. Children can’t pay their parents back for raising them, but they might pay that goodness forward by honoring their family name or by caring for their aging parents.
“Gratitude without indebtedness is really shallow,” Nelson said. However, “if you only feel indebtedness, but you don’t feel gratitude, it’s more likely to be that transactional indebtedness that you’re feeling. ... It’s the merging and the pairing of these two [gratitude and indebtedness] where we really see the benefits of gratitude come through.”
This isn’t the first time Nelson has studied gratitude. In 2021, while a doctoral candidate at Brigham Young University, she participated in two bodies of research that first suggested the importance of indebtedness.
In one body of study, researchers examined the life circumstances of BYU students and how that related to gratitude. For example, if students were struggling to pay bills or pass classes, were they less grateful?
Students who expressed gratitude to God despite their challenges were able to maintain their gratitude, Nelson said at that time.
The second body of study had a more nationally representative sample. It found that gratitude and indebtedness to God led to more empathy, more charitable giving and more pro-social behavior.
Nelson recalled another interesting finding from her previous gratitude research: the tendency among nonreligious people to express gratitude towards nature, science or something else beyond themselves.
People of all different backgrounds, she said, are finding ways to express indebtedness and gratitude.
“I think [that] is really profound and speaks to... how much our gratitude is a part of our divine nature,” Nelson said.
Renovation
Renovation
From a Nov 9 email from the temple presidency to temple workers:
It is incredible the pace of the progress. We are beginning week 14 and have seen progress with all portions of the work.
The exterior stonework on the tower is complete. It is wonderful to see lights shining on the angel Moroni again.
The roofing work will be complete by the end of the week.
The wall and floor tile in the worker changing area is substantially complete.
The floor tile in the non-patron area will be complete this week.
Wallpaper in the baptistery and around the recommended desk is complete. All other wall areas will be prepped and ready for wallpaper by the end of the week.
The HVAC system will be starting soon. All major components are installed, and the associated controls are being connected. Hopefully, live testing will begin this week.
Please continue to pray for the workers and for the progress of the work, we have seen miracles.
Brother Sattler's volunteer calendar is available here for those of you who field questions about service opportunities during the renovation period.
Picture from Nov. 11, 2023...Moroni is back and looks great!
The Power of Sealing
The Power of Sealing
In a weekly letter to temple workers, members of the temple presidency and the matron and her assistants offered the following remarks about the sealing ordinance. I know that it hits home to many moms and dads in our wards, especially during the holidays. Can you use it as you counsel members about President Nelson's admonition to "think celestial?"
Brothers and Sisters:
We want you to know that you are in our thoughts and in our prayers daily. We so appreciate your goodness and your desire to know and follow the Lords will. Your faithful service in the temple is a demonstration of your desire to do as the Lord has commanded and prophets have encouraged for years. We are so fortunate to be involved in this sacred work, work that is so sacred that it takes place only in the House of the Lord.
We should all be comforted by the words of Elder Richard H. Winkel as shared in his October 2006 General Conference talk. Some of us, who have children that have chosen a different path, at least for a time, should be particularly comforted by his message.
“The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught more comforting doctrine—that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain.” [Orson F. Whitney, in Conference Report, Apr. 1929, 110.]
Isn’t this statement encouraging news for parents whose children are sealed to them?”
The video and the text are in the Gosple Library app and the church website. The YouTube video is below:
How To -- Finding The Truth
How To -- Finding The Truth
At this time of year, when we focus on the birth of the Savior, I am inclined to think about my relationship with him - I would like to think that I can find ways that I can consistently learn more about him throughout all the seasons of the year. As the world's confusion and turmoil around me seems to grow increasingly turbulent, knowing what is true about the Savior and his creations brings me peace.
A man who knew about these things was Elder Richard G. Scott. He was a scientist, and worked as a nuclear engineer for Naval Reactors (a U.S. government agency).
I ran across this address entitled "Truth" which he delivered to an audience of BYU students in 1978. In it, Elder Scott draws on his rich experience with the scientific method to argue that both intellectual work and spiritual work are necessary to find truth. President Kimball had just revealed a few weeks before that all worthy male members of the church were eligible to receive priesthood and temple blessings. I remember that was a time of turmoil for many in the church - most were in favor of it, but quite a few struggled. The talk was timely. I hope that you may get some good from it too. True, it is 45 years old, but like most truths, it ages well!
Let me pull out a few quotes that are typical:
Each one of us wants to be a self-sufficient self-starter in life. We realize that to avoid undue dependence on others we must have a platform of absolute truth, something unshakeable that provides a foundation when all things whirl and conspire about us....I have found in my life two ways to find truth—both useful, provided we follow the path and the laws upon which they are predicated.
...The first let us call the scientific method. That involves a group of facts and statistics, combined and analyzed, from which is distilled a theory or a postulate or what might be called a principle. Often the reverse is true: we advance a principle, then perform experiments to establish its validity. The scientific method is a sound and most valuable way of arriving at truth. There are two limitations, however, with that method. First: We never can be sure we have absolute truth, though we often draw nearer and nearer to it. Secondly: Sometimes, no matter how earnestly and sincerely we apply that principle, we come up with the wrong answer.
...That brings me to the second way of finding truth, and that is simply to go to the origin of all truth and ask. This differs from the scientific method in that certain principles must be applied. You have observed that scientists who in their private lives may do anything but follow gospel standards can be successful in the scientific method of evaluation. This is not so when we talk about finding truth—pure truth—directly from the source. Two ingredients are essential: first, faith—unwavering faith; second, obedience—a willingness to apply true principles and to keep God’s commandments, that we may open the avenues of clear communication with God. Through such communication we can receive a positive, certain knowledge about a decision with which we have labored, about which we have asked, and for which we have sought confirmation from the Spirit. Such communication can so powerful as to be undeniable. We can be certain that it is true as private inspiration comes directly from the Lord.
...As you prepare for your future in the academic and professional worlds, or as you embark now to serve the Lord, remember that God will grant truth as we live to merit the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in our lives. I know this. I know that pure truth flows from God.
Last Friday President Kimball, his counselors, and the Quorum of the Twelve announced to the world a new revelation. I know positively that that revelation came from God. I know that because of the application of the principles that I have discussed. I know positively that the Lord gave that revelation to the President. Now countless spirits who otherwise would not have had the blessing of the priesthood—those who are beyond, those who are here, those who are yet to come—will enjoy the blessings that only can be obtained in the temple because a prophet so lived his life as to be an instrument in the hands of God to bring new truth to His children on earth.
...As I read and ponder the scriptures daily and with sincere faith earnestly seek my Father in prayer, peace will envelop my being. This, coupled with full obedience to the commandments of God and selfless service to and genuine concern for others, will purge fear from my heart and condition me to receive and to interpret the divine aid given to mark my path with clarity. No friend, bishop, stake president, or General Authority can do this for me. It is my divine right to do it for myself. I will be at peace; I will be happy; I will have a rewarding, productive, meaningful life.
For me, the question that comes up is this: how can leaders in this season of renewed focus on the life and teachings of the Savior, use the teachings of the temple, the center of which is Jesus Christ, whose doctrine is true, teach this "divine right" in support of increased spiritual self-reliance? Can the members of our wards and stakes embrace peace and happiness this Christmas while accepting responsibility for a productive, meaningful life; and not only at Christmas but throughout the year?
It is my prayer that each of us can, with divine help, find all of the truth that is necessary for putting our feet on the right path, so that it may be said of each of us, as Dickens said of Scrooge: "Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew."
The YouTube video of the talk is below.
The video and the full text are availabe from the BYU speeches archive.
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