In excerpts found in The Holy Temple, President Boyd K. Packer wrote how he and Sister Packer felt the need to get their records in order. They were feeling the Spirit of Elijah, but wondered how, with their lack of time, they could begin the extensive work of family history.
President Packer was then traveling for the church and had major family obligations. Finding time to research and perform ordinances for deceased family members was difficult. Yet, he and Sister Packer felt “restless about this family history responsibility.”
Stepping forward with faith, President and Sister Packer began the work and found that, “Once we started, we found the time. Somehow we were able to carry on all of the other responsibilities. There seemed to be an increased inspiration in our lives because of this work (Packer 2019).”
Family history may seem like a daunting task, but when we begin with prayerful steps, and perhaps with the guidance of an experienced individual, the blessings that come from finding and doing the work of our ancestors will help us in this life and will also have an eternal impact.
Getting Started
In an interview with professional genealogist Charlene Van Duren from Missouri, USA, I received insights into the spiritual aspect of family history and how to get started.
As the work may seem overwhelming if you have not yet begun, Sister Van Duren says to “start with your own name. Find your birth certificate, then go from there. Begin with what you know, then find records for your immediate family, such as birth certificates, baptism certificates, and marriage licenses. As you see these names, you discover a sense of belonging. ‘I belong to them, and they are watching out for me.’”
To some, family history work is microfiche and stacks of books. Yet, there is technology available today that makes family history work efficient. There are digitized records, DNA, and online programs such as FamilySearch.
How does this technology help move the work forward? Sister Van Duren said of the technology, “it makes it easier. It explains things more. The answers are there. It fleshes people out better. You get to know them.” She continued, “[the work] is moving faster. For example, records previously not available for Berlin during the 1600s are now available. These records survived through war.”
Further, Sister Van Duren shared that discovering your history “grounds you, it tells you who you are. You learn of your ancestor’s trials and tribulations – of what they experienced during their lives – and it connects you. It makes you feel more grateful. [Names] become people, sons and daughters of God. These people had hopes, dreams, passions, hard times, and joyous times.”
The experience changes from simply finding a name for temple work to a more spiritual experience of knowing the person behind the name.
A Spiritual Partnership
The process of research is a partnership with those on the other side of the veil. Sister Van Duren researches for several clients, as well as for her own family. She has had countless experiences that have told her that she is not working alone. Inspiration comes, records that were not previously available are found, and the work moves forward.
In 2020, COVID-19 was prevalent, people were sick and no one really understood the illness. At this time, Sister Van Duren became seriously ill and her work was put on hold, yet that connection to others beyond the veil remained. One afternoon while lying in bed, weakened from COVID, a sense of urgency came over her. She felt drawn to her office, to her computer. There was work to be done.
She had had a client who’d passed away, and though he was no longer physically present, Sister Van Duren had been continuing research for his family as often as she could. That day in her office, she felt the presence of this man, as well as the presence of John, her beloved husband who had passed away a few years earlier, standing on either side of her.
She felt the “pull” to begin searching for records. And the records came! She worked for seven hours straight while record after record appeared on her screen. 85 records, previously unavailable, were discovered that day.
“I felt blessed with the strength to continue,” she said. “I had been searching for a very long time for records [for this family], and suddenly they opened right up, one after another. My printer never stopped running.”
Those 85 online records were not available the following day.
Family History as a Life-Line
When searching for others’ and her own ancestors, she says she feels “a strong bond with them. My love for them increases.” She sometimes feels their regrets. “I think of the choices they made, I feel their spirit, and I even feel their sorrow.” To Sister Van Duren, they are not just names on a screen, but brothers and sisters, grandparents, husbands and wives, children. They are people who lived and worked and loved. And they tell you more about yourself.
“[Family history] tells you who you are! It is a life-line. Family history gives you a sense of belonging, it reinforces bonds. You belong to a family that goes way back, and will continue forward. You are not alone! You have knowledge to keep you going, to keep you strong.”
I asked her to describe “the spirit of Elijah” for those who may have never experienced it before. She paused, then said emphatically,
“It is a part of my being! It is my comfort, my drive. It is my desire to find my family and others’ families. It is a strong pull, or sometimes a push! It is natural, not odd or weird. It is an eternal linking, an eternal saving.”
Hands, Minds, and Hearts
Whether you have never started or are a seasoned professional, doing family history work is a great responsibility, and an even greater blessing. As Sister Van Duren said, start with you, with what you know, and go from there.
In addition, family history work requires you to be in the right frame of mind. “You have to be in tune, with nothing clouding your mind. You have to seek the other side and push aside the world. You have to think on spiritual lines.”
By doing family history, you will bring incredible blessings into your life, and maybe you will even feel like Sister Van Duren. With great conviction, she proclaimed, “[Family history work] has given me a sense of belonging! It gives me something to hold on to and it lets me know who I am. It connects me with the other side. It fills me with greater love for my Heavenly Father and for Jesus Christ, and it brings me peace and joy.”
There are still many in the spirit world who desire to be linked eternally to their families. By finding them and performing sacred ordinances in temples, we can join families together forever. This gift is made possible by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose miraculous atonement and resurrection provided a way for us to be freed from the bondage of death and provided the opportunity for us to receive eternal life with our families. We are the hands, the minds, the hearts that are required to do the work of finding those who have gone before us.
May we invite the Spirit, seek those who wish to be found, and feel the light, love, and joy of family.
Packer, Boyd K. 2019. The Holy Temple. N.p.: Deseret Book Company.
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