Are Your Ancestors Waiting for You?

Our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, has told us, “We invite all of God’s children on both sides of the veil to come unto their Savior, receive the blessings of the holy temple, have enduring joy, and qualify for eternal life.” Most members recognize how important it is to go to the temple in order to become closer to the Lord through the covenants they make and how important it is to be sealed together as a family for eternity. Many try to return to the temple as often as circumstances allow. However, observations by our leaders and temple ordinance workers in Accra indicate that very few of the African members are returning to the temple to perform ordinances and make those same covenants on behalf of their personal ancestors.

The temple work to make eternal connections to their ancestors is left undone. Their ancestors continue praying and waiting for someone to do work on their behalf. Just as you hope and desire for your living family members to join the Church, your ancestors may already have been converted and want to be baptized and enjoy temple covenants and be sealed eternally with their family and descendants so they too can return to God’s presence.

Joseph Smith received revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 128:15 teaching how important this work is. “My dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.” So, if our salvation is dependent on that of our ancestors, is it important to help them receive these promised blessings? YES! How do we do that?

The new FamilySearch Africa website or app has a special feature, “Prepare a Name for the Temple,” specifically developed to help new members and those who have not yet done temple work for their first three generations of ancestors. It helps determine if their closest deceased ancestors have received all their temple ordinances, thus granting them the blessings to progress back to their Heavenly Father. If not, feature helps you prepare names for the temple work so you can help them receive these eternal blessings. It starts with deceased ancestors’ names you previously added into FamilySearch or any you added using the new Create a Beautiful Family Tree feature to see if they need their temple work done. For members who need to find ancestors beyond three generations, use the FamilySearch Tree app or website.

In order for temple work to be prepared, enter the specific information required:

You select or add someone to your tree based on their relationship to you or your parents.

You add their personal information, including their name (women should use birth names if known).

If you know it, you should add their birth date and location. If you don’t know the exact date, estimate “About”, “Before” or “After” date (e.g. Your grandfather died about 7 years ago and was about 70 years old when he died, so he was born 2024-7-70= About 1947. The location should use as much information as possible, such as country, state or region, and city. Pull-down menus should be used to select the closest match to the location, but at least the country should be added.

Similar information is required and entered for their death date and location. At a minimum the estimated death year and location are needed.

If it appears there is a duplicate record for your ancestor in FamilySearch, perhaps that your parents, siblings or relative have previously entered, it will ask to confirm if they are the same person and will match the person with records already in FamilySearch. Otherwise, it will ask you to add them as a new relative. You can add ancestors, including siblings, aunts and uncles, for three generations.

At this point, you are ready to print a name card to do their temple work or share and send it to the temple. The Area Presidency desires members to do work for their own ancestors. If possible, do the temple work for your own ancestors or share the names with members of your ward or stake who have opportunity to go when you cannot. If there is no temple nearby, consider sharing names with the temple. Use the app to print the name cards for yourself or to share with a friend or to share them directly with the temple.

As you personally do work for your ancestors in the temple, you can experience the same joy and happiness as if one of your living family members or friends accepts the gospel and is baptized or goes to the temple to be sealed as a family. You become part of their heavenly celebration and are building those eternal links of connection to your ancestors.

Remember and ponder these powerful promises of President Nelson:

“Understanding the spiritual privileges made possible in the temple is vital to each of us today. …

“Here is my promise. Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world’s mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement or help you understand God’s magnificent plan more. Nothing will soothe your spirit more during times of pain. Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing!

“The temple is the gateway to the greatest blessings God has in store for each of us, for the temple is the only place on earth where we may receive all of the blessings promised to Abraham.”

“The Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty. And if you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of it.”

Are you ready to help in God’s work so you and your ancestors can receive His blessings for eternity?