Oil

On Sunday we had a sacrament meeting dedicated to Family History.  I thought I was going to get out of speaking because I figured everyone was sick of hearing from me, but I didn't escape.  We had 5 speakers and a musical number.  We rarely have musical numbers, so I was a bit surprised that one would be added to such a full program.  One of the speakers didn't show, but we still didn't have time for the last speaker to say much because on top of all that- we had a new member confirmation as well whose husband had vanished right before, so we had to wait on him being tracked down in the hallway with his toddler.  

Girls are notorious for going over in their talks, but I can't be blamed for that one.  Mine was short and sweet.  I had the hardest time writing it though.  Part of the problem is that I haven't really been home this summer.  Trying to write a talk on vacation is a little difficult.  Only having 5 min is even more difficult because I had to figure out my 1 main purpose because i didn't have time to cover everything I wanted to talk about.  

The cool thing was that all 4 of us talked about something completely different yet complimented each other and tied everything together.  Pretty amazing since we were all given the same direction and we didn't talk to each other.  

Anyway, I got home late saturday night with the focus of my talk (which isn't the direction I was expecting myself to go in-which is probably why I had such a hard time writing it- kicking against the pricks or something like that) written but not the polished, how does this all fit, pulled together.  Luckily my husband took pity on me and looked it over and told me how to fix it.  I was debating on whether or not to even write anything down, but I was worried about taking too much time so I needed to stick to writing something out.  Even as I read it again, I find tons of things I could fix and make better, but it was what it was:  

I want to talk today about getting oil in your lamp and why you cant give it to someone else.  We learn in the parable of the 10 virgins about spiritual preparedness and how it is represented by oil in our lamps.  This oil has to be accumulated on our own and cannot be given, it has to be obtained.  I know this because I can't even begin to describe the internal change that has occurred in me in an adequate way to have someone else understand because it is a road that all must travel alone.  The road I started down around three years ago laid the foundation for me to receive personal revelation that transformed my testimony to a true conversion.  I had my first conversion when i joined the church at age 19. through the years i have increased my knowledge and testimony but it was last year that i went through another life altering conversion which culminated for me as a result of my family history work. 

How can this be achieved and what does putting oil in your lamp have to do with family history?

"As we fast, renew our covenants durning the sacrament, and attend the temple, we further access the Spirit.  In these settings the Holy Ghost may manifest His influence with great impact...The Holy Ghost extends our vision and allows that eternal perspective to influence the decisions we make in our daily lives." ~ Keith K Hilbig emeritus member of the 70.

In 2009 I decided to start making myself into a more dedicated servant of The Lord.  I wanted to become more spiritually minded instead of carnally minded as mentioned in 2 Nephi 9:39.  I picked 1 thing, regular temple attendance, and started with that.  I did that for 2 years and I loved the changes I began to see in myself and wondered what else I could gain if I added serious and regular study of the standard works to the equation. My favorite scripture is Alma 32:27 that talks about experimenting upon the words of Christ and then "all things shall be made known unto you...……I first experimented with temple attendance and then with Regular scripture study, it was something I had attempted for years but finally began to achieve last year when I stayed up when my daughter went to seminary and used that time every morning.   I was again amazed at the way I began to see more clearly by adding oil to my lamp.  

The regular temple attendance and scripture study made me aware that I had still been leaving out doing the work for my own ancestors, especially with the quote from Howard W Hunter that was used last conference about only receiving half the blessing of temple attendance without doing our own work.  I went into the FHC with a pretty bad attitude and no information because being the only member in my family and not having many living relatives to get information from had made the task seem too monumental for me and kept me from giving it a real try.  Sister Gardner didn't let that deter her from helping me and in 1 hour she helped me to jog my memory and go back 4 generations on my fathers side.  I literally heard angels singing and I was given the confidence that family history was a doable thing because the fear of the difficulty of it was now gone.

When the church began encouraging members to take their own names to the temple and then involve our entire family in the process, I had been prepared to lead the way in my family through those drops of oil.  We really made an effort to work on FH together as a family this last year and it has helped us think deeply as individuals and as a family about what family history means for us.   We were truly blessed to see so clearly the promises made by Elder Bednar and others including our wonderful stake president come true in our home.  The changes in my kids and our family dynamic has been remarkable.  I have been witness to many miracles.  The phrase, we cannot be saved without our ancestors and they without us found in D&C 88 means that as we work to free our ancestors from the bonds of sin through those temple ordinances they in turn help us to endure to the end.  I had no idea the power that was available to all of Heavenly Fathers children.  I had no concept of true joy and how to attain it especially when we are living in a time with so much turmoil.  I was filled with darkness and dread until my eyes were open to the work our Father is about and how he accomplishes it.  

Ultimately the blessing of doing family history work is working together as a family to strengthen our testimonies in Jesus Christ and become converted. 

I know the power that is avail to us, if we will do a few simple things, that on the surface seem too simple to work-- much like tearing the walls down of Jerico with trumpets and walking:  we must, undergo a serious study of the doctrine, pray with real intent, go to the temple, do our family history, serve and love each other to the best of our abilities, share this message of hope with our neighbors: the gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to change us and just as I was changed forever at 19 when I became converted to the gospel, it has the power to continue to change us as our conversion deepens and strengthens like the roots of a sturdy tree. So, if we will do those things we will see mighty miracles as we are about our Fathers business and we will be filled with the pure love of Christ and radiate his message of  light and hope.