"Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?”1 Corinthians 15:29

For those who believe that life ends at death it is easy to see why they would not see the need to baptize the dead. I could not live thinking that everything I have would be gone at my death. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we have the knowledge that life does go on and baptizing our dead is making sure that they are able to accept the covenant and be sealed to their families.

Almost a year ago I was able to be part of the new direction that made it possible that priests could now baptize for the dead in the temple. I was the Baptistry Coordinator at the time and what a special experience it has been to see these young men perform this ordinance for those who have passed. I have loved being a part of that most wonderful ordinance and the spirit is so amazing when patrons come and do the baptism for a husband, wife, or other close family members. That is one of the reasons I love doing Family History. Is to make that experience possible.

As I worked on projects this week my mind kept going back to 1 Nephi. It helps that I am 1) working on learning Spanish by reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and English and 2) following the prophet's counsel to read it by the end of the year. Back to my point...it was so important for Lehi and his family to have a record of his genealogy and the scriptures that Nephi was commanded to kill Laban to get them. You can also see that those who did not have these records dwindled in unbelief. The Lamanites and also the Jaredites.

It is so important for families to be together and to know where you came from. More and more as I learn about Family History and work in the temple my testimony grows.The whole purpose of this life is to create eternal families. Working on my own line and eventually helping others, is becoming very important to me.

"You will be tempted to stop and leave the hard work of finding to others who are more expert or to another time in your life. But you will also feel a tug on your heart to go on in the work, hard as it will be." Henry B. Eyring

I am fairly new to Family History. It has not been a life long endeavor to find my family since so much of the work as been done. Now, under the direction of a loving Heavenly Father, I am learning how to find ancestors for myself and others. My experience with this quote from President Eyring is my 5th GG.  Thomas Curtis.   He is one of many brick walls that our family is hitting in England in the 1700's. However every time I sit down to see what I can do on another line, I keep coming back to Thomas. And I am not alone. He is yelling very loudly that he wants his work done and wants it done now. There is progress and but it is slow, however I do feel the tug on my heart to find him, verify the information, and get the work done for him and his family.

This has been an interesting week for me. I was planning on working on RootsMagic during my summer break so that I would have a heads up the the class. Dave had bought the book with his own version and I was looking through and becoming rather confused. I am glad that I decided to wait and see what the class would offer.

So far, in just the first week of working with RM I am very impressed. I thought I would be working in FamilySearch or Ancestry and transferring information to RM. Now I can see some the possibilities and am very excited. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks and seeing what else I can learn.