In a day when so many people seem so disconnected–rootless, even–searching for your family’s identity is more important than ever. Church leaders from the very beginning until now have taught that family history not only has power to do something for the dead, but it also has power to bless the living. President Boyd K. Packer said, “Family history . . . has a refining, spiritualizing, tempering influence on those who are engaged in it” (“Your Family History: Getting Started,” Ensign, Aug. 2003, 17).
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” —Marcus Garvey
Imagine stepping back into the young Joseph Smith’s shoes when he first heard Moroni’s words quoting Malachi: Do you think he had even a clue as to what the angel meant? We do today, with hundreds of temples dotting the earth, with even more underway in places no one would have ever expected: Dubai? Shanghai?!
Amazing, isn’t it?
Just as the Prophet Joseph Smith predicted, the work is rolling forth. And only the Latter-day Saints have the keys and the privilege to do vicarious work for their “family tree.”
Roots and branches. That’s the essence of the Restoration. Thank goodness for all the tools now at our disposal, thanks in large part to new technology and innovation by the Church to link families together. In this podcast, Latter Day Radio has a new guest, Jason Harrison, from the Church Genealogy Library in Salt Lake City to share his knowledge of the latest developments available to us to link the past with the present. Listen and learn!
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