Family History: Are you doing it?

Alright, so many of you are probably too young to remember the song "Genealogy" that was in the Primary Children's Songbook. Which makes me old I guess. :)

But you're probably familiar with the updated and new version called "Family History - I Am Doing It". I'll always like the old song best, since that's what I grew up yelling singing at the top of my lungs during primary. (I'm sure the music leader loved that!) But I think the lyrics to the new one have much greater meaning and stress the real importance of family history work. One part in particular says:

"Fam'ly living now and the ones who've died

Can all be sealed to me,

And someday I'll meet ev'ry one of them,

I'm sure as I can be."

The standout line is that my family "can all be sealed to me". That's our ultimate goal right? The purpose of our lives is to make choices and make covenants that will lead us back to God so that we can live with Him and our families eternally. We must have the necessary ordinances of baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordination (for men), endowment, and sealing to live as exalted beings with God. And of course, we know that after we have received these ordinances for ourselves, we can (and must!) receive these ordinances vicariously in the temple for ancestors who have passed on.

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And the more time that goes on, the easier it is to participate in this great work.

When I was singing primary songs and entering Young Women's, computers were slow and sluggish. The internet was a new concept of communication and cell phones were made for calling - no texts, data, photos, etc. Sounds like I grew up in the dark ages huh!?!?! But fast forward just a decade or so and we have THE WORLD at our fingertips! On phones and devices the size of a wallet, we can look up endless amounts of information. 

Do you think it's just coincidence that we have such in-depth access to historical documents and information? That we just happen to have advanced technology that allows us to send data, take photos, upload info, and send it across the globe in seconds? And that it also happens to be a time in the history of the world when temples dot the earth and it's easier than ever for Latter-day Saints to perform work for the dead?

I don't think so.

So take a minute and think about how you can be more involved in your family history. I would recommend starting with Family Search and checking out your family tree for needed/missing ordinances. From there you can continue to expand your tree and gather information...it's actually really amazing what you can do!

Here is a video with some youth in Utah that share their experience with family history:

In the future I'll be sharing some tips and ideas that I have found helpful while working on family history!! And if you have any neat experiences, let us know! We'd love to hear!