June 2013

Visiting teaching messages are currently focused on helping all sisters follow a higher path of discipleship. Visiting teachers can discuss these responsibilities with sisters they watch over, or they can teach a principle that will help sisters increase their faith, strengthen families, and give service.

Prayerfully study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit. Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters and to make Relief Society an active part of your own life. For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org

Joy in Family History

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Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught that the Spirit of Elijah is “a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family.”1

As members of Christ’s restored Church, we have the covenant responsibility to search for our ancestors and provide for them the saving ordinances of the gospel. They without us cannot “be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:40), and “neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (D&C 128:15).
Family history work prepares us for the blessings of eternal life and helps us increase our faith and personal righteousness. Family history is a vital part of the mission of the Church and enables the work of salvation and exaltation for all.

President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said: “When we research our own lines we become interested in more than just names. … Our interest turns our hearts to our fathers—we seek to find them and to know them and to serve them.”2

From the Scriptures
Malachi 4:5–6; 1 Corinthians 15:29; D&C 124:28–36; 128:15

From Our History
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead.”3 We can serve as proxy in the temple for our deceased ancestors and perform necessary ordinances for them.

Sally Randall of Nauvoo, Illinois, whose 14-year-old son died, found great comfort in the promise of eternal families. After her husband was baptized for their son, she wrote to her relatives: “What a glorious thing it is that we … can be baptized for all of our dead [ancestors] and save them as far back as we can get any knowledge of them.” Then she asked her relatives to send her information on their ancestors, saying, “I intend to do what I can to save [our family].”4

What Can I Do?
1. How can I help the sisters I watch over to do family history?
2. Am I recording my personal history?

Notes
1.  Russell M. Nelson, “A New Harvest Time,” Liahona, July 1998, 34; Ensign, May 1998, 34.
2.  Boyd K. Packer, “Your Family History: Getting Started,” Liahona and Ensign, Aug. 2003, 17.
3.  Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 475.
4.  See Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society (2011), 21.

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Sugardoodle

The Idea Door
Inkablinka

My happy tribe

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