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I am a Primary teacher. I told my team-teacher that I just needed a break, so I went to Priesthood yesterday. It was meant to be. The lesson in Priesthood meeting was great because it was the chapter from the Pres. Benson Manual titled “Jesus Christ, Our Savior and Redeemer.” When the instructor asked about the importance of Christ being resurrected and what that means for all of us, some words from D&C 138 popped into my mind so I opened that section in my scriptures. I read the following portions to the class:
Quote:And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality…All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection…I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand.
The resurrection of Christ was very meaningful to those spirits who were waiting. I surprised myself by getting choked up as I read that, and all I could say to the class was, “That’s powerful.” I unexpectedly regained a part of my testimony!During my faith crisis, I have questioned why a great apostasy would take place and why so many people then and now do not learn the gospel during mortality, and it seemed that there should not even be a need to do work for the dead because God should be able to get the gospel to everyone while they are living.
Well, it still doesn’t completely make sense to me, but I received a spiritual witness that there really was “an innumerable company of the spirits” waiting for deliverance “through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ” and they “were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand.” Even though I have a very limited understanding of doing work for the dead, I can say that it’s legit.
Cool. Glad you had a good experience. We had the same lesson. I’ve had similar feelings while I’m doing the genealogy work for my family. There are times when names seem to “fall out” of the computer while I do the research.
They seem so familiar to me for some reason that I can’t explain.
My wife could care less. I think that’s true for a lot of us too.
I don’t know if helps to build my testimony or not. I do feel tied to people I’ve never met.
This is a curious practice or belief for a Christian organization.
It feels right, so I continue to do it.
I have done some indexing and I have to admit it made me cry. It was basically a few hundred death records. I noticed rather quickly the very large percentage that were only days old – a TON of them. Made me think how sad it must have been for so many babies died within days – not to mention the mothers that also passed away. And these people had to just keep going. Today we would be nudging someone that suffered that to go get some therapy. Some of these folks had to get right back at the business of staying alive. Dang we are blessed today. Mike, if you don’t mind me saying this, I would bet that such experiences havehelped to build your testimony. I would like to experience something similar. I appreciate what you and LookingHard have said. I kinda want to go to the temple now, which is a big deal for me.
Shawn, I would recommend taking a name of someone you knew. (Relative or friend.) That made a difference for me.
If you decide to do it, write about it.
I would like to know about your experience.
I was performing baptisms in the temple a few years ago, looked at the card to get the name, and saw only a first name. I remember distinctly that it was a common female name, but I don’t remember the actual name. I started to say the prayer, got to her name and started to say it – when suddenly I got a distinct impression that my brain translated as:
Quote:“Now she will be known fully.”
It surprised me, and I choked up a bit and had to pause to compose myself.
I can’t say I know, intellectually, that temple work literally offers salvation to others – but I do know it helps me feel connected to those who lived before me, and that is an important thing to me. I could choose to explain away that experience, but I choose not to do so. I choose to allow it to keep special possibilities open to me.
Shawn wrote:During my faith crisis, I have questioned why a great apostasy would take place and why so many people then and now do not learn the gospel during mortality, and it seemed that there should not even be a need to do work for the dead because God should be able to get the gospel to everyone while they are living.
Shawn, I have contemplated this a lot. The reality is that only a small fraction of our Father’s children have lived in mortality with even a small glimmer of knowledge of the gospel, let alone the fullness. I guess that makes work for the dead the single most important reason for the restoration.The reason I believe Father allows the vast majority of us to live mortality without knowledge of the gospel is that most of our spiritual siblings need a different kind of mortal experience than I do in order to learn what they need to learn. The variety of situations we are born into makes me believe that our mortal experience is very custom and personalized. It can’t be just random.
This reality also speaks to how important life in the post mortal spirit world is for most of Father’s children. There must be a lot of learning and growing in that realm.
I usually get good vibes doing baptisms for the dead, but only once have I had a positive feeling about endowment work and that was for my uncle – not even for my father or grandfather I’ve thought about this experience more and I realized the witness I received does not necessarily pertain to doing ordinances for the dead. Here’s what I wrote above:
Quote:I received a spiritual witness that there really was “an innumerable company of the spirits” waiting for deliverance “through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ” and they “were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand.”
I then related that witness to work for the dead on my own. I haven’t been to the temple.LookingHard wrote:I have done some indexing and I have to admit it made me cry. It was basically a few hundred death records. I noticed rather quickly the very large percentage that were only days old – a TON of them. Made me think how sad it must have been for so many babies died within days – not to mention the mothers that also passed away. And these people had to just keep going. Today we would be nudging someone that suffered that to go get some therapy. Some of these folks had to get right back at the business of staying alive. Dang we are blessed today.
I gave up death indexing. It cut me up – middle aged men killed in industrial accidents, seven year olds drowning…
I’m glad it’s not just me.
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