The Spirit of Elijah

In 1844, Joseph Smith asked, “What is this office and work of Elijah?” The Prophet promptly answered his own question: “It is one of the greatest and most important subjects that God has revealed. …

“This is the spirit of Elijah, that we redeem our dead, and connect ourselves with our fathers which are in heaven. … This is the power of Elijah and the keys of the kingdom of Jehovah.” 27

Some among us still have neither perceived the Spirit of Elijah nor its power. Yet, we are bound by this warning:

“These are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over. … For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation … they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.” 28

Joseph Smith’s responsibility was to “lay the foundation” 29 for this great work. Important details were to be revealed later. At April conference 1894, President Wilford Woodruff announced this revelation: “We want the Latter-day Saints from this time to trace their genealogies as far as they can, and to be sealed to their fathers and mothers. Have children sealed to their parents, and run this chain through as far as you can get it. … This is the will of the Lord to his people.” 30

Russell M. Nelson, “The Spirit of Elijah,” Ensign, Nov 1994, 84

Hi everyone it's Tia. I am so excited about getting the work of Family History started in our ward! It is such an amazing, important and rewarding work. It can be one of the most exciting and challenging works you have ever done. That's why it is so important that we help and encourage each other with what we know and all of our experiences. This blog is meant to help out with that. We live in a world full of amazing technology, we can do things that our ancestors never dreamed possible! I truly believe that with all of these modern marvels we have been given comes a GREAT responsibility! It is up to us to help our ancestors by using the technology we have to find them, and give them the chance to have their essential ordinances. In reality we are giving them the chance for eternal life, eternal happiness. A chance to live with their loved ones forever! Let's remember what life is all about and get started! How can ANYONE be too busy to give someone such a precious gift. We should not procrastinate such an act, for we never know when tomorrow will be too late. True it is challenging and will take much faith and persistence, but we don't have to do it on our own! We have so many resources. The best and most important one being the Spirit of Elijah. So my first challenge to all of you and to my self is to start praying for the Spirit of Elijah in all of your personal and family prayers. D&C 27: 9

9 And also ^aElijah, unto whom I have committed the keys of the power of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the ^bfathers, that the whole earth may not be smitten with a ^ccurse

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I have a friend named Rosana. She lives in Chile and is an amazing example of one who truly has the Spirit of Elijah. She has such an enthusiasm for genealogy! She once told me a story about a class she was teaching family history to. They were all college students with very busy schedules. They were in her family history class at church, but had no desire to do their family history on their own time. She loved genealogy, but didn't feel like she was getting through to this class at all. One Sunday she started the class with a prayer asking that the Spirit of Elijah be with them. She ended the class asking them to do one thing, pray for the spirit of Elijah in every prayer they said. She told them they didn't even have to do any genealogy that week if they didn't want to. The next Sunday when she asked them how their week went, they all seemed to have about the same response. They couldn't get genealogy out of their head. They found themselves in class during the week thinking about their ancestors that they didn't even know. All they wanted to do was learn about them and find their connection. That class caught on fire with family history. By sincerely praying for the spirit of Elijah, they found the joy and need in searching out their ancestors and doing the work for them.

I know by doing this we too will have an overwhelming desire and need to do family history! I am so excited for all of us!