Lesson 39: The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn to Their Fathers

What does it mean that Elijah would "plant in the hearts of the children the promises of the fathers"?

President Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “What was the promise made to the fathers that was to be fulfilled in the latter days by the turning of the hearts of the children to their fathers? It was the promise of the Lord made through Enoch, Isaiah, and the prophets, to the nations of the earth, that the time should come when the dead should be redeemed” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 2:154).



On 3 April 1836 in the Kirtland Temple, the prophet Elijah appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. 

What was Elijah’s purpose in visiting Joseph and Oliver? 
Why would the earth be "utterly wasted at the Lord's coming" if we didn't have the sealing power?
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught that without the sealing power, “no family ties would exist in the eternities, and indeed the family of man would have been left in eternity with ‘neither root [ancestors] nor branch [descendants].’ Inasmuch as … a sealed, united, celestially saved family of God is the ultimate purpose of mortality, any failure here would have been a curse indeed, rendering the entire plan of salvation ‘utterly wasted’” (Christ and the New Covenant, 297–98).



Doctrine and Covenants 128:18
"...For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect...."
What does it mean to be "perfect"?
How do we help our ancestors become perfect?

While serving in the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Wilford Woodruff taught: “For the last eighteen hundred years, the people that have lived and passed away never heard the voice of an inspired man, never heard a Gospel sermon, until they entered the spirit-world. Somebody has got to redeem them, by performing such ordinances for them in the flesh as they cannot attend to themselves in the spirit, and in order that this work may be done, we must have Temples in which to do it” (in Journal of Discourses, 19:228–29).

How do our ancestors help us to be perfect?

President Smith recognized the need for temples throughout the world. At a 1906 conference in Bern, Switzerland, he stretched out his hand and declared, “The time will come when this land will be dotted with temples, where you can go and redeem your dead.”1


President Hinckley is another prophet who has expanded our understanding of temple work. When he became President of the Church in 1995, there were 47 temples in operation. About two and one-half years later, he made the following announcement:
“There are many areas of the Church that are remote, where the membership is small and not likely to grow very much in the near future. Are those who live in these places to be denied forever the blessings of the temple ordinances? While visiting such an area a few months ago, we prayerfully pondered this question. The answer, we believe, came bright and clear.
“We will construct small temples in some of these areas, buildings with all of the facilities to administer all of the ordinances. They would be built to temple standards, which are much higher than meetinghouse standards. They would accommodate baptisms for the dead, the endowment service, sealings, and all other ordinances to be had in the Lord’s house for both the living and the dead. …
“… We are determined … to take the temples to the people and afford them every opportunity for the very precious blessings that come of temple worship” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 68–69; or Ensign, Nov. 1997, 49–50).
In April 1998, President Hinckley announced a goal to have 100 temples in operation by the end of the century (see Conference Report, Apr. 1998, 115; or Ensign, May 1998, 88).

How has the increase in temples affected you? How has it affected others you know?

So What -- Because of what we learned today, what will we do differently in our family history and temple work?


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