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Everlasting Mirrors

Yesterday, I couldn’t work on my projects any longer and so I quit everything and went to the temple with T.J.

We decided to do sealings. There was just a small group of us in the sealing room. The sealer was so talkative, it was pretty entertaining. All of the names were names he had done and so with each couple, he would tell us their story, which was really interesting. As I waited while other couples performed the work, I stared across the room into the everlasting mirrors, which are symbolic of us being linked  to all of those who have come before us and all of those who come after us.

With each sequential mirror, I went back through my family in my head. Me. My mom. Penny, my Grandmother. My Great-Grandmother… What was her name, again? Was it Pearl? Was it Bessy? Was it Moo?” I couldn’t believe it. There were thousands of mirrors in that reflection. And when I related them to my family tree, I could only go back to my grandmother by name?

Lately at church, the theme has been genealogy and temple work. Last week our Bishop asked us, “What if you went to the temple and there were no names for you to perform the work for?” He went on to tell us that they are starting to run out of names for the women, and that we must start finding our own names.

From my Bishop’s question and my experience at the temple last night, I’ve decided it really is time to start working on my family history. It is embarrassing that I cannot even give the name of my great-grandparents.

There is a lot of work to be done. And if your families work is finished, then help me with my family’s. I like the commercial for ancestry.com that say, “You don’t have to know what you’re looking for, you just have to start looking.”

The blessings that come from the temple are incredible. Not only for those whom the work is being performed for, but also for us and our families. It allows us to be with our families forever and it brings peace into lives, a peace you cannot find anywhere else. For those few hours in the sealing and celestial rooms, I was able to leave everything outside the temple and put my life in an eternal perspective. Christ needs to be the center of our lives. When when we put him first and have faith, everything will fall into place and our families will be eternally blessed.

If you would like to learn more about temple work, visit Mormon.org and watch this video.

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4 replies
  1. mom
    mom says:

    So loved this entry, and thrilled that you’re anxious to work on your family history. When you’re home, I’ll show you how you can get started. And your great grandmother was Bessie Penn (not Pearl, who’s nickname was Moo- she was Bessie’s sister). Bessie’s mother was Cora Swinford. And just thinking about all of them, makes me really long to see them someday.

    Reply
  2. mom
    mom says:

    So loved this entry, and thrilled that you’re anxious to work on your family history. When you’re home, I’ll show you how you can get started. And your great grandmother was Bessie Penn (not Pearl, who’s nickname was Moo- she was Bessie’s sister). Bessie’s mother was Cora Swinford. And just thinking about all of them, makes me really long to see them someday.

    Reply

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