Eternal Keepsakes Bind Generations

“Families collect furniture, books, porcelain, and other valuable things, then pass them on to their posterity. Such beautiful keepsakes remind us of loved ones now gone and turn our minds to loved ones unborn. They form a bridge between family past and family future. Every family has other, more valuable, keepsakes. These include genealogies, family stories, historical accounts, and traditions. These eternal keepsakes also form a bridge between past and future and bind generations together in ways that no other keepsake can.”

- Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander, “Bridges and Eternal Keepsakes”, Ensign, May 1999, p. 84.

I Know Of No Age Limit

“I now invite the attention of the young women, young men, and children of the rising generation as I emphasize the importance of the Spirit of Elijah in your lives today. My message is intended for the entire Church in general—but for you in particular. Many of you may think family history work is to be performed primarily by older people. But I know of no age limit described in the scriptures or guidelines announced by Church leaders restricting this important service to mature adults. You are sons and daughters of God, children of the covenant, and builders of the kingdom. You need not wait until you reach an arbitrary age to fulfill your responsibility to assist in the work of salvation for the human family.” 

– Elder David A. Bednar, The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn, LDS General Conference, October 2011.

Memory Jogger Mondays ... Goal Accomplished

A year ago I made a goal to write a "Memory Jogger" personal history tidbit every Monday on my blog for one year. I accomplished that goal at the end of last month! 

There were weeks that I had difficulty with the topic and other weeks that I found I was busy doing other life things and didn't get my blog updated that week. For the most part, the questions that I used were simple to answer.

Here are the questions I utilized for this past year:

52 Questions in 52 Weeks: Writing Your Life Story Has Never Been Easier (2013 version)

52 Questions in 52 Weeks: Writing about Your Life Has Never Been Easier (2015 version)

Here are links to other resources that I plan to use someday in the future (maybe on this blog):

Creating A Personal History

Personal History Questions for Latter-day Saints

How have you been doing in recording your life history or keeping a journal?

See this post for more information about "Memory Jogger Monday": 

Writing a Personal History or Keeping a Journal

Without Any Expectation Of Thanks Or Reward

Provo City Center Temple - Stuart L. Gardner Photography

"That which goes on in the House of the Lord, and which must be preceded by research, comes nearer to the spirit of the sacrifice of the Lord than any other activity of which I know. Why? Because it is done by those who give freely of time and substance, without any expectation of thanks or reward, to do for others that which they cannot do for themselves."  

- President Gordon B. Hinckley, "A Century of Family History Service," Ensign, March 1995.

Motherhood, There is Nothing More Important

4 Generations: Leola Pierce Peterson (seated), Carol Ann Peterson Ohms (left),
Amy Ohms Archibald (right), and Emma Patience Archibald (infant)

"Yours is the grand tradition of Eve, the mother of all the human family, the one who understood that she and Adam had to fall in order that 'men [and women] might be' and that there would be joy. Yours is the grand tradition of Sarah and Rebekah and Rachel, without whom there could not have been those magnificent patriarchal promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob which bless us all. Yours is the grand tradition of Lois and Eunice and the mothers of the 2,000 stripling warriors. Yours is the grand tradition of Mary, chosen and foreordained from before this world was, to conceive, carry, and bear the Son of God Himself. We thank all of you, including our own mothers, and tell you there is nothing more important in this world than participating so directly in the work and glory of God, in bringing to pass the mortality and earthly life of His daughters and sons, so that immortality and eternal life can come in those celestial realms on high."

- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Because She Is a Mother," LDS General Conference, April 1997.

We Are Obligated To Provide Temple Ordinances For Our Kindred Dead

St George Utah Temple - Stuart L. Gardner Photography

“Ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into His presence. To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality.

"Once we have received them for ourselves and for our families, we are obligated to provide these ordinances vicariously for our kindred dead, indeed for the whole human family.

"Now, there are those who scoff at the idea of vicarious ordinances performed for the salvation of souls. They think it all to be very strange.

"No thinking Christian should be surprised at such a doctrine. Was not the sacrifice of Christ a vicarious offering for and in behalf of all mankind? The very Atonement was wrought vicariously.

"The Lord did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Is it not Christlike for us to perform in the temples ordinances for and in behalf of those who cannot do them for themselves?”

- Boyd K. Packer, “Covenants”, LDS General Conference, April 1987.