Family History Sunday School: Lesson 1

I'll be posting the summaries from the Tengs on the Family History class for those of you who can't come!

Here is a quick summary of the main points from chapter 1 that we discussed today:

• Our life is a journey back to our Heavenly Father and to His celestial kingdom.
• Families are essential in Heavenly Father's plan of happiness and we are all a part of His plan
• Ordinances and covenants that we partake of within the walls of the Temple are "our credentials for admission into God's presence."
• We have been blessed with the fullness of the Gospel and it is our sacred obligation and privilege to perform proxy ordinances for our ancestors who have passed on
• Whenever we perform Temple and family history work, we become, literally, "saviors on mount Zion"
• Just as the Savior helped us overcome the barriers of sin through the Atonement, so do we help our ancestors overcome the barriers that are holding them back from returning to our Heavenly Father by performing their Temple work
• The keys of the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood were bestowed upon Elijah and Elijah restored those same keys to the prophet Joseph Smith during the restoration of the fullness of the Gospel to this earth
• The Family Stories that Bind Us - NY Times article
• Children that know their own family's histories will be better prepared to face the stresses and challenges that will surely come their way (applies to us adults too!)

 

Suggestions for improvement:

• Write down the spiritual promptings that have compelled you to be better about family history and positive experiences you have along the way so you have something to remind yourself to stay motivated

 

Assignments for upcoming week's lesson (taken from page 5 of the member's guide):

• "Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart" (Moroni 7:48) that we may be filled with the pure love of Christ for our ancestors. (I particularly like this one. Can you imagine if you felt for your ancestors the same level of love as you feel for your spouse or children or as the Savior feels for them? I know personally it would motivate my search for them and I'd make far less excuses.)
• Read chapter 2 in the member's guide-book