Message from Sister Luciana Paz:

Hi sisters! I hope you are all doing well. I want you to know that the Relief Society Presidency loves you and we are thinking of and praying for you often.
I want to share a little message about Family History. We all know how important it is to help those that are on the other side of the veil. I want share part of Elder Bednar’s talk with you.

He said, “The Prophet Joseph Smith declared: ‘The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead. … For it is necessary that the sealing power should be in our hands to seal our children and our dead for the fullness of the dispensation of times—a dispensation to meet the promises made by Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world for the salvation of man. … Hence, God said, ‘I will send you Elijah the prophet’” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 475).

Joseph further explained:
‘But what is the object of [the coming of Elijah]? or how is it to be fulfilled? The keys are to be delivered, the spirit of Elijah is to come, the Gospel to be established, the Saints of God gathered, Zion built up, and the Saints to come up as saviors on Mount Zion [see Obadiah 1:21].’
‘But how are they to become saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples … and going forth and receiving all the ordinances … in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead …; and herein is the chain that binds the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, which fulfills the mission of Elijah.’ (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 472–73).

Elder Russell M. Nelson has taught that the Spirit of Elijah is ‘a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family’ (“A New Harvest Time,” Ensign, May 1998, 34). This distinctive influence of the Holy Ghost draws people to identify, document, and cherish their ancestors and family members—both past and present.

The Spirit of Elijah affects people inside and outside of the Church. However, as members of Christ’s restored Church, we have the covenant responsibility to search out our ancestors and provide for them the saving ordinances of the gospel. ‘They without us should not be made perfect’ (Hebrews 11:40; see also Teachings: Joseph Smith, 475). And ‘neither can we without our dead be made perfect’ (D&C 128:15).

For these reasons we do family history research, build temples, and perform vicarious ordinances. For these reasons Elijah was sent to restore the sealing authority that binds on earth and in heaven. We are the Lord’s agents in the work of salvation and exaltation that will prevent ‘the whole earth [from being] smitten with a curse’ (D&C 110:15) when He returns again. This is our duty and great blessing.”

“The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn” by David A. Bednar Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2011/10/the-hearts-of-the-children-shall-turn?lang=eng
 (You can read the whole talk if you click on the link)

I love this talk given by Elder David A. Bednar. I know that we need to be part of this work. Our Heavenly Father wants us to seek after our dead as Joseph Smith taught. I know that we have the covenant responsibility to search out our ancestors and help them by providing them with their saving ordinances. We can even help by indexing. If we do this, those that are searching for family documents will have the opportunity to find those documents easily because of our participation with indexing.
We as a Relief Society want to start working on family history step by step. We all know that temples are closed, but we can prepare and be ready for when they reopen. First, we want to invite all of you to create an account on FamilySearch.org. If you have an account in the church, you can sign in with the same account. We have a ward group called “Sunset Ridge 2nd ward”. We have 56 members in this group, but want to see all of you there. Please join us in this work.
We love you sisters and we miss you all.

PS: If you need help creating an account or signing in, contact me at #8018673144. I’ll be happy to help you.
Steps for joining the indexing ward group:
1.      Sign into your account.
2.      Click on indexing.
3.      Click on web indexing and scroll down.
4.      Click on Sunset Ridge 2nd ward group and scroll down.
5.      You can choose a beginner project or an intermediate project to work on.

Please help us finish the project!