Good morning all. How are things today? I got a chance to mow my lawn yesterday, an increasingly less probable event as we head deeper into fall. How about you?

Yes, Tina. It's always nice to have a chance to take the kids to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins for Halloween.

Tom. I agree, I have known several near fundamentalist families that think Halloween is evil and not to be celebrated by a family truly possessing the Spirit. Seems kind of odd to me and perhaps a consequence of such thinking is instilling the magical mindset more deeply in the children. Like you, I kind of feel sorry for the kids. But you do have to recognize that the parents really believe that they are doing the right thing.

Well, that kind of flows into the topic of our lesson today, temple and family history work. The good news is that even though there is a significant amount of magical thinking that could be part of this lesson, our focus may be to acknowledge it, but turn to aspects that are perhaps more important for our families and children in particular. Today we will talk briefly about the spirit of Elijah and then more about temple and family history work.

What is the spirit of Elijah? Does Elijah come around whispering things into our ears? "Do your genealogy!" "Go to the temple!" "Obey your church leaders so you can get a temple recommend!" Perhaps if you change bishops, Elijah comes around and says, "Your last bishop didn't mind if you paid tithing on net, you new bishop wants you to pay tithing on gross, so pay on gross so you can get a temple recommend." Is that what this is all about?

Yes, Samantha. Correct, in Malachi, we read the words that tell us that Elijah will come before the Second Coming of Christ and turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the children to fathers. And my favorite part is that if not, the earth will be smitten with a curse. This kind of highlights the heavy-handed, curse-threatening God of the Old Testament. And you are also correct that Joseph put the same words into the D&C, section 110.

Yes, Brent. We are regularly taught that this scripture or related set of scriptures relates to temple work and family history, but like you, I suspect that this is a uniquely Mormon interpretation of this scripture.

Any other insights?

I have often wondered how other Christian churches and Judaism interpret this scripture. I had wondered whether or not Malachi had seen a particular societal shift in which parents were distant from the children. Although it does not relate to the people of Malachi, I understand that the people of Sparta had a very different family structure, which was largely reproductive in nature and without strong family ties. Perhaps Malachi saw something similar occurring among his people. I went to a Christian website to get an understanding of what it is that they might think about this verse. The description there points to proper parent child relationships and how that is important. That is clearly different than the traditionally taught Mormon perspective. Okay, let's move on.

What of temple and family history work? What does that usually mean to you?

Yes, Sally. Yup, attending the temple and doing genealogy.

You are being quiet Randy, what do you think? Journals and history. I like that. To what aspects of journals and history are you referring? Well, yes, you are right, there are many different aspects of these topics, but what are the main ones in your thinking? Compiling journals and histories of ancestors, understanding general period histories, and recording our own personal histories. Very good, thanks.

Another comment Randy? Yes, aspects of the temple are troubling to some members. I remember your telling me that you and your wife were excluded from the temple marriage of your daughter because instead of paying tithing, you paid your obligation to the hospital, necessary to avoid bankruptcy.

Yes, Tamy. I know that some think that the stress on temple attendance is to guide members deeper and deeper into blind obedience. In fact, many people do find tremendous spiritual benefit from attendance, but many do not. To your point though, there is a quote by Elder Packer in the lesson that I will share.

"No work is more of a protection to this church than temple work and the genealogical research that supports it. No work is more spiritually refining. No work we do gives us more power" ("The Holy Temple," Ensign, Feb. 1995, 36).

What do you think of this quote?

Yes, Scott. I had caught this as well. Temple work is a protection to the church. As you said, that could be interpreted as a protection to the institutional church and effectively extracts the obedience of the members. This is a sensitive topic for us in our class.

Okay, I would like to acknowledge that many of us have concerns about temple ordinances, temple attendance, temple recommend questions, etc. These concerns are real. But let's move into a different space. Does doing temple work help you feel connected to your ancestors?

Yes, Sally. Interesting, you feel that there were times when you had really studied your ancestors' lives and then did temple work there was more of a sense of purpose? Very good.

Yes, Brent. Yes, I have had that experience as well when performing baptisms for the dead. The name Jose', without a last name, shows up 25 times in a row. That didn't really help me feel connected to my ancestors.

Yes, Gloria. You thought the Adam in the movie you saw last was hot? Okay. And it caused a warm sensation? Where? Okay, thanks for sharing Gloria..., did you take your medication this morning? Yeah, I've heard the debates about which of the Eves were the hottest and how the guys hoped that this time in the Garden of Eden scene, the greenery, would move, just a bit... Where were we?

Sam, I know that you attend the temple occasionally. Why is it that you go? You appreciate the symbolism and ritual aspects of the ceremony. Anything else? I think that is important. You are able to separate the mythical from the literal. Many don't know how to do that, but since you can, you can find peace in the temple ceremonies. Thanks for sharing.

What about genealogy? Do you enjoy it?

Tamy. You enjoy the research process and the investigation.

What about you Tom? You don't enjoy it. You would rather slowly beat your head against a brick wall.

Yes, Randy. You enjoy tying the family members back to the period history. Occasionally finding a relevant, well-kept journal or diary would really bring that to life. That would be interesting.

Yes Sally, that is a good question. Much of the earth's population has come and gone with no record. Written languages evolved over different time periods in different areas of the world. Some of the oral traditions can be helpful, as it was with Alex Haley's book, Roots, but I suspect that the usefulness of the oral traditions is limited.

Do you really feel that your ancestors will be lost if you don't do your genealogy?

Tom? No.

Sally? No.

Anyone? No.

What about our own personal histories?

Yes, Randy. Very interesting. The journals that you have found from your ancestors have inspired you to write your own journal for your posterity. But don't we just live boring lives?

Interestingly, there can be profound learning from the mundane activities in life.

So I have a question. When I was a teen, I took a family history class at church, and I was told that we should be selective with what we put in our journals. We should never say something like, "I smoked pot tonight, and it made me feel really good, but I also felt guilty because I'm supposed to bless the sacrament tomorrow." I was taught that we didn't want to let our kids know that we were less than perfect... I wonder if Elder Packer wrote that lesson manual. If it ain't faith promoting, it ain't proper history. What do you think about this topic?

Yes, Samantha. Oh my! That is funny. You wrote about smoking pot with your friends, right before Sunday school and running to 7-11 to get burritos and chocolate milk? Okay..., moving on.

Back to you Randy. Thank you. You found that the challenges that were shown in the journals and the paths that the people took to overcome their challenges were the most inspirational and important parts of the journals that you have read. I tend to agree.

Yes, Samantha. Wow..., were it not for your grandmother's honest journal, your mother would have never known who her biological father was. That could have important familial health information implications.

I do think that each of us, living our ordinary lives have learned things that are important. We can write these things down and share them with our posterity, or we can let the experiences of our lives turn to dust with us as our bodies are eventually laid to rest. I think there is wisdom and merit in keeping a good journal.

Any other thoughts before we close? Thanks Tamy! Your pumpkin, chocolate chip cookies are tops. Hey everyone, I have to clean up, so save me a couple.

Gloria, would you give the closing prayer? Please keep it clean...

See you next week.