This semester I had the opportunity to take this genealogy class. I was originally enrolled in another class at the same time but decided to switch to family history because I was afraid of the requirements of the other class. Little did I know that the requirements of this class would be more challenging; I am appreciative though that I took this class because it has been so much more rewarding than my other class probably would have been. The things I have learned in this class I will not forget; they have inspired me to be in the spirit of Elijah. I feel closer to my ancestors and I have a greater appreciation for the work that is done in the temple.

I was aware when I first started this class of all the requirements. At first I was overwhelmed and frustrated with myself that I switched to this class, but when I first walked into the door I went to the teacher to ask him questions about the class because I had missed the first day. I actually ended up talking to the teacher that teaches in this class before the family history class. I told him how I had switched classes and how I felt like I was doing the right thing by switching into the family history class. He said to me “You know, often times when a student comes into a family history class, it is because someone on the other side of the veil has prayed them there.” That really touched me. Since both beginning this course and receiving my mission call, I have been very aware that the adversary is aware of the choices I am making and I know he has been doing everything he can to stop me from both doing the work for those who have passed on and doing those things that would help prepare me for my mission. But the blessings I have received have been far greater then the struggles. I went back home for a weekend in May because one of my closest friends got married. During the entire time I was home, besides helping out and being a part of my friends wedding, I was gathering information with my mom about my Grandma Pearl for my research paper. I was also gathering organized some stuff for my mission and gathered censuses that my mom has collected over the years. My mom was so helpful to me and the time I spent with her gathering information allowed me to feel closer to her. One day I called my mom and asked her if she had ever done indexing. My reason for asking her was because I thought she could help me with the assignment in class to do indexing. I was surprised when she informed me that she did not actually know how to do indexing but that someone was going to teach her the Monday before and the plan fell through. I was pleased and excited to inform her that I was required to teach someone how to do indexing for my genealogy assignment. That was also very exciting to her. I went to the Family History center and received instruction on how to index and was able to teach my mom how to index. It was a very enjoyable experience. I’m especially grateful for the time I’ve been able to spend with my mom before my mission and I feel like our relationship with each other has grown stronger through genealogy work.

I remember in relief society one day a sister saying how by doing genealogy work we will receive so many other blessings. The sister related how she had a rebellious son and how she decided to begin doing genealogy work. As she got more and more into the work, she started noticing changes in her son. Slowly he became less and less rebellious. She felt the spirit testify to her that this blessing had come from her willingness to do genealogy work. I also feel the powerful truth of this statement that if we do genealogy work we will be blessed more then we can imagine!

I love a story that Brother Groberg shared in a talk at a fireside on February 27, 2004.

Let me give three personal examples of influences from the past, the present, and the future. First, the past: as a mission president in Tonga I needed to visit some elders on a distant island. The only boat available was old and dirty. Jean was nursing our three-month old daughter, Gayle, but she wanted to come along, so she made arrangements for someone to watch the older girls and we took passage on what the locals called “the rolling tub.” I arranged for the only so-called room on the boat, which was nothing more than a small enclosure with two narrow planks against one wall called “bunks.” We stayed on deck as much as possible as the air was so bad in the tiny room. The roughness of that voyage was unbelievable. The waves crashed across the deck, making it slippery and cold. Even though the air was much better on deck, for safety’s sake I felt we should stay in our bunks. Jean tried to lie down with Gayle on the lower board I tried to stay put on the upper one. The rolling and jerking of the boat became so violent that we were often thrown out of our bunks and smashed against the floor and the opposite wall which was only a couple of feet away. I was afraid I might come crashing down on Jean and the baby if we were thrown from our bunks at the same time. The best thing I could think of was for Jean and the baby to stay on the lower bunk and for me to sit on the floor with my back against their bunk, with my feet braced against the opposite wall. This way I could be somewhat stationary, and when Jean and the baby were pitched to the open side of the bunk they would roll against my back rather than onto the floor. The floor was hard, wet, and cold, and my legs and back were cramped from the constant strain. It was a long, miserable night. Gayle clung tenaciously to Jean and was able to nurse and sleep on and off. I wondered how long I could hold out. All during that long dark night we were in constant turmoil. The pitching boat, the pounding waves, and the shrieking wind tore not only at my comfort but at my faith. Why is all this happening? I wondered. At one point during the night I turned and looked at Jean and Gayle and felt the trauma and pain they were experiencing. I wanted to get them out of this situation, but there was nothing I could do. I asked: “Why did I bring Jean and the baby? Why is this happening? If the Savior calmed the Sea of Galilee, why not calm this sea?” On and on went the questions. I was hurting, and suddenly a wave of self-pity started to enter my mind. At that precise moment, another influence flooded my mind. It was as though someone were talking to me who was close to me, someone I knew from somewhere. I couldn’t tell who, but I knew it was a faithful woman who knew me and loved me. Her influence filled my mind in a peaceful yet firm way, and I clearly felt the message: “Do not complain. You have no right to complain. You should be grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord, to help build His kingdom. No sacrifice is too great for His sake. Think of what He did for you. Don’t complain. Don’t even think of complaining.” These impressions filled my heart and mind. What a blessing and comfort they were! I was still terribly uncomfortable and seasick, my back and legs still hurt, the night was still dark and the sea was still rough, but for some wonderfully beautiful reason the thought of complaining left me entirely. Like a cloud of darkness, it had been chased away by a flood of goodness and light. I knew I had been helped by an outside force. I closed my eyes and thanked God for His goodness and help and asked for His protection as we continued our voyage. I expressed my deep appreciation for whoever had influenced my thinking so positively that frightful night. We landed safely the next morning. Years later I was reading a history of my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Susan Burnett Brunt. She was born in London but as a youth went to New Zealand, where she married and had several children. She and her husband heard the Latter-day Saint missionaries in Kaipoi, near Christ church, around 1870 and were converted. As was the custom in those days, the missionaries asked them to gather to “Zion.” Accordingly she and her husband began making arrangements to leave New Zealand for Utah. They had difficulty selling their farm so it was determined that she would take their four small children and go by boat to San Francisco and on to Salt Lake City. Her husband stayed to settle affairs in New Zealand and followed a year later. I pondered on the faith of that young mother with four small children heading out alone from New Zealand to her desert Zion in Utah. Who knows the hardships, the trials, the discouragements she passed through? Then something really caught my attention. It was a brief comment that at one point on their voyage to San Francisco the boat encountered extremely rough seas and she and the children became very ill. The picture of that moment filled my mind. I could literally see them tossing, both physically and emotionally, on that merciless sea. She was alone and discouraged and almost felt to complain, but as she prayed she remembered that she was a member of God’s true church and was on her way to Zion. She was helped to realize that no problem was too big and no sacrifice too great as long as she attained her Zion. She promised herself she would never complain, or even think of complaining, and prayed that none of her posterity would either. I was spellbound. I looked at a world map and traced the probable route of her ship. She would have been in almost exactly the same location on the same ocean as Jean and Gayle and I were, only she was there nearly a hundred years earlier! I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for the faith of this good woman that I didn’t know what to do. I realized there really wasn’t anything to do except express my appreciation and increase my determination never to complain about anything I was asked to do in the Savior’s cause. I expressed those heartfelt feelings of gratitude through prayer. As I did I felt again some of the same love and peace I had felt on that turbulent ocean in Tonga those many years before. Once again I saw Jean’s uncomplaining face through that tumultuous night. Then I saw her smile as she first stepped ashore the next morning. It melted me to tears. As I basked in its warmth I thought I detected a faint wisp of another smile and was confident it belonged to my greatgrandmother Brunt. I wondered: “Are there such things as spiritual genes? Are there spiritual pools of traits that can help shape us, similar to the way physical genes do?” I didn’t have an answer, but I was sure that the best thing we could do for our posterity is to be faithful ourselves. I know every person has his or her own moral agency and can accept or reject help offered them. But what a great blessing it is if the available “pool” of help contains much of faith and devotion and goodness. How important to build as much goodness and faith as possible in our lives! Not only will it help us now but it has the potential of being helpful to others down the stream of time.

The story from Elder Groberg shows how we are able to receive powerful blessings by doing genealogy work. The experience that he had drew him closer to his ancestor. A scripture from Alma 37:33 relates “And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.” In application to genealogy work this scripture clearly states that we are preparing for eternity while on this earth. Those who have passed on need our help to receive the blessings that we are able to receive; they cannot receive those blessings without us. Likewise according to scripture we are required to perform that labor and the way we prepare ourselves for eternity is by working on genealogy and performing ordinances in the temple.

For the first time in my life I have been able to make a plan to go to the temple every week. Since I’ve been doing this I have felt so blessed. A few of the weeks I haven’t been able to go to the temple because of circumstances but every time I’ve gone my mind has been drawn to the work being performed. Some individuals have been waiting for hundreds of years for their ordinances to be performed so they can receive the blessings of this earth.

I have a testimony that this work is so important and that the blessings from doing genealogy work in unlimited! If we are willing to serve those who have passed on and are in need of our assistance we will feel happier and have the spirit in more abundance!