The Easiness of the Way

As I listened to Elder Hallstrom today in a regional broadcast in Utah, I was impressed as he talked about the hastening of the work of the Lord in recent years.  In particular he spoke of the incredible advances in family history work and how much easier it is now to participate than it was only a handful of years ago.  I can attest to that—I worked on campus at BYU a decade ago and part of my job was doing family history work on French Hue a professor.  After finding the information about ancestors for whom you thought temple work had not yet been done, the process entailed populating PAF (Personal Ancestry File) software on the computer.  Then you would take that to a family history center where you would use another computer program (Temple Ready) to read your PAF information and convert it into a file that could then be taken to the temple.  I remember that this was sometimes a tricky process and you had to be careful to get everything just right in the software and follow all of the steps properly.  Finally after this you had to go to the temple itself and give them your file so they could print the actual ordinance cards.  What is the process now?  Input the information into Family Tree, request the ordinances, and print the cards, all at home.  Elder Allan Packer put it this way: “To assist members, the Church has gathered records and provided tools so that much of the work can be done in our own homes or in the ward buildings and the temple. Most obstacles have been removed. Whatever your past perception, it is different now!  However, there is one obstacle the Church cannot remove. It is an individual’s hesitation to do the work. All it requires is a decision and a little effort. It does not require a large block of time. Just a little time on a consistent basis will yield the joy of the work.”

                As I think about this and my own failure to participate as much as I should in seeking out my ancestors, I’m reminded of the story of the children of Israel and Moses who lifted up the serpent for them to look on.  Alma related the story this way to his son: “O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever” (Alma 37:46).  Surely that could be applied to us and family history work that the Lord wants us to participate in.  Even with the now great “easiness of the way” we let a hundred other demands on our time push it out of the way.  Indeed for us now “the way is prepared” and it is so easy for us to see our family tree online and jump in.  The other day I got an email from family search which pointed out a relative for whom I could submit temple work.  Now it really doesn’t get any easier than that—I had no research to do, I simply had to request the work and could print the card for him and I am working on getting the ordinances completed.  It was a reminder that I really need to step up my participation in my “preeminent obligation” (see here).

                In 2014 Elder Andersen spoke at a RootsTech Family History conference.  He gave these inspiring words of encouragement: “These are your days. You were born in a time of temples and technology. These are your days to more fully turn your hearts to your fathers and bring these saving ordinances to millions within our families….  As you seek to contribute to this sacred work, both by finding those needing ordinances and then beginning their work in the temple, your own knowledge and faith in the Savior will increase, and you will receive a more certain witness that life continues beyond the veil.”  As King Benjamin would say, “If you believe all these things see that ye do them” (Mosiah 4:10).  Indeed it is the “doing” that is needed.