ordinance are performed for the living and for the dead.
Teachings of George Albert Smith
1. In the temple we receive sacred ordinances, including ordinances that bind families for eternity.
**Ponder the feelings you have when you attend the temple, and think about the experiences that have strengthened your testimony that the temple is the house of the Lord.
2. Through temple work we make eternal blessings available to our deceased ancestors.
Each [temple] has been built to one great eternal purpose: to serve as a House of the Lord, to provide a place sacred and suitable for the performing of holy ordinances that bind on earth as in heaven—ordinances for the dead and for the living that assure those who receive them and who are faithful to their covenants, the possession and association of their families, worlds without end, and exaltation with them in the celestial kingdom of our Father.5
Grateful should we be for a knowledge of the eternity of the marriage covenant. If in this life only had we hope, we would indeed be of all men most miserable [see 1 Corinthians 15:19]. The assurance that our relationship here as parents and children, as husbands and wives will continue in heaven, and that this is but the beginning of a great and glorious kingdom that our Father has destined we shall inherit on the other side, fills us with hope and joy.6
If I were to think, as so many think, that now that my beloved wife and my beloved parents are gone, that they have passed out of my life forever and that I shall never see them again, it would deprive me of one of the greatest joys that I have in life: the contemplation of meeting them again, and receiving their welcome and their affection, and of thanking them from the depths of a grateful heart for all they have done for me.
**What can we do to encourage young people to prepare to be married in the temple?
**What are some simple ways for someone with many other responsibilities to participate in family history work? What can priesthood quorums and Relief Societies do to participate?
3. The Lord will assist us in searching for our kindred dead.
**How has the Lord helped you as you’ve tried to find information about your ancestors? What other blessings have you received as you have participated in family history work?
This is another "sweet treat Sunday". Read the lesson and leave a comment in the blog, or simply email me abbiefroerer@hotmail.com, and I will have a little something for you in class.
