Your Ancestors are Reaching for You, Here's How to Reach Back By Wallace Goddard

 

Your Ancestors are Reaching for You, Here’s How to Reach Back

By Wallace Goddard · January 11, 2021

 

I remember driving Grandpa Goddard up Emigration Canyon to home teach the Ramseyer family. I was a glib 16 and he was a mature 85 years old. Every month we went to visit the Ramseyers, and it seemed that every month he told the same stories from his mission to Germany. I would sigh and the Ramseyers would nod patiently.

Because I was just a dumb kid, I didn’t pay much attention to Grandpa’s stories. I wasn’t interested. Now I can’t remember any of them. And I am old enough to wish I knew much more about my grandfather—as an esteemed scholar, a Church leader, a respected professional, a committed family man, and a fine Latter-day Saint. I would now give anything to hear Grandpa tell those stories one more time.

I think there is a reason that the whole earth will be smitten at the Lord’s coming if we have not bound our hearts to those of our ancestors. We need our ancestors. They are our connection to heaven and history.

Let’s jump from our provincial, earthly perspective to the heavenly perspective for a minute. Imagine that you have passed to the other side of the veil and are looking down on earth on your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. What is your attitude toward them? Would you beg Heavenly Father to allow you to look after them, sending messages of encouragement and inspiration for living? Wouldn’t you do everything in your power to help your descendants in their mortal journeys?

When I depart this world, I will be asking the heavenly scheduler to let me look after my grandson Ian to be sure he is happy and hopeful and to look after Eliza to connect her with good people and uplifting experiences. I want to be sure that Sam is growing and Anna Claire feels safe and loved. I will be looking after every beloved child, grandchild, and great-grandchild with more power and wisdom than I ever had on earth. You can see why we should turn our hearts towards those heavenly beings who are looking after us.

Our ancestors are in heaven looking down on us and wanting to help us with every challenge we face. They are our heaven-assigned ministers. Just because we don’t know them yet, doesn’t mean they don’t know us. They are deeply invested in our lives and want to uphold and strengthen us as we make our journeys through life. As we connect with them, we draw heavenly power into our lives. When we make them a part of our lives, we live more joyously and purposefully.

So, I am repenting of my youthful disinterest in my grandfather’s life. Over the last few weeks, I have been typing every word of J. Percy Goddard’s missionary journal into my computer. I hope I can find the stories that were so important to him—the stories that I once dismissed. I hunger to have them back. I want to connect with Grandpa!

We may think of family history as something both mysterious and tedious. Until we do it. When we start connecting with ancestors, we find deep personal satisfaction and great excitement. There is hardly anything more rewarding.

All of this connecting starts closer to home than we might imagine. Family history starts with keeping some kind of record of our own lives. As we make a record and review it, we will see God’s participation in our lives. Family history also includes being curious about the people we think we know. Do we ever ask our own parents, “What are the five most important things you have learned in your life?” “Who are the people who changed your life?” As we take an interest in the people who gave us life, we learn more about their hearts. Then we can ask questions about grandparents and great-grandparents. We can ask to see pictures and hear stories. Our hearts will be tied to those who came before us, and whole new vistas will open for us as we climb the family tree.

When I was a young adult, I started to ask a few questions about our ancestors. I remember interviewing Aunt Ruth with whom Grandpa Goddard lived the last years of his life. She lit up as she talked about her father. I was starting to get the bug. Then, years later, Aunt Ruth asked me if I would like a dusty old box of Grandpa’s papers. It had sat in her basement for decades. No one had opened it. No one cared about it.

I took the box home and started to sort through it. There were old, dusty newspapers that had no obvious connection to the family. There were business letters and Church correspondence. I sorted them into piles. Every once in a while I found a treasure. I found a poem that Grandpa had written to Grandma. I found letters and pictures. As I found more treasures, it became more engaging than watching Nicolas Cage in National Treasure.

Then the greatest treasures! I found letters from my great-grandpa to his teen son at home while he was serving a mission to New Zealand. Imagine holding letters from the 1890’s between two admired ancestors! The letters invited me into their lives, their concerns, their goodness, and their love. Grandpa is now a vital part of my life.

In the thirty years since Aunt Ruth gave me that box of dusty papers, I have also become best friends with my great-grandfather. I have come to know and love my Grandma Goddard who died when I was a baby. I have come to cherish every object that was passed on to me—including Grandma Wallace’s cookie jar, a vase from my great grandmother, and an opal tie-tack from my grandfather. I feel surrounded and protected by their love.

I have learned more compassion as I discovered some of my ancestors’ mistakes and limitations. If we don’t condemn them for their imperfections, but instead give thanks to God, we may learn from their mistakes and be wiser than we would otherwise be. (See Mormon 9:31)

The formula for connecting with ancestors is surprisingly simple. The blessings are highly predictable. Are you interesting in finding more meaning and connection in your life? Here are a few ideas to help you. 

1. Turn toward your ancestors. Be open to being taught and blessed by them.

2. Ask questions. Ask relatives what they know about your ancestors and their stories. Ask about their papers and keepsakes.

3. Check Family Search. If you don’t already have an account, open one and enter what you know about your ancestors. It will connect you with a world of relatives.

4. Do those things you feel directed to do. You may feel drawn toward one ancestor or another and you may feel directed to do one thing or another. As you follow impressions, you will bind your heart to your ancestors. The blessings don’t come without making an effort, but when the blessings come, they are in vast disproportion to our meager efforts.

5. Using your talents, share with family members. You may create a display in your home or write stories about ancestors’ experiences. Step by step you will be led to the next things you should do.

As you do these things, you will be creating eternal bonds. You will be binding hearts. You will feel joy.

In future articles, I will share ideas about gathering, organizing, and sharing the treasures of your family story. I hope you will join me on this joyous journey of binding and healing hearts.

Thanks to Annie Foster for her insightful contributions to this article.

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Angelic Assistance in Priesthood Blessings by Anne Hinton Pratt

 

Angelic Assistance in Priesthood blessings

By Anne Hinton Pratt · January 13, 2021

 

Cover image via Gospel Media Library.

As beloved children of the Most High God we have profound connections and privileges that at sacred moments are revealed to our awareness.  One of these occasions comes when priesthood blessings are bestowed.  Sometimes these blessings are assisted by angels…

Room Filled with Angels

Charles Harper shared a poignant experience of being succored by angels in giving a priesthood blessing.  He wrote,

 “My parents were on their way to visit my father’s family when dad had a heart attack. We are converts to the church, and dad and I were the only ones in the family who were blessed with the priesthood. I received a phone call asking that I come and give dad a blessing. 

“I felt so alone in the hospital room as I laid my hands on his head to give the blessing, but as I did, I became aware that the room was filled with priesthood holders who were there to be part of the blessing.

“My mother’s efforts to find ancestors had resulted in the ordination of several departed family members who were there to help me anoint and bless dad. I didn’t see them, but I could feel them and knew they were there.” [1]

Authority of Departed Family Members to be Involved in our Lives

When angels come help or succor us in any way, it’s because they have been given God’s divine authority to do so.  Thomas S. Monson quoted Joseph F. Smith’s witness about angels when he wrote,

“…authority that has been given in this day in which we live by ministering angels and spirits from above, direct from the presence of Almighty God.”[2]

The fact is our family is “family” whether on this or that side of the veil.  They seem to keep tabs on us and in our extremities and are often given permission to succor and help us.

“Looking for Something,” Brian Kershisnik, 2016. Used with permission.

Departed Grandfather Giving Blessing to Concerned Granddaughter

A good friend Matt Hill told me about a time his sister asked him to give her a priesthood blessing.  She was not yet married and was preoccupied that she was getting older with no spouse.  She wanted direction.  As Matt put his hands on her head and began the blessing, he strongly felt their grandfather give the blessing through him to her.   He writes,

“The message was simply to relax, and that in due time things would play out, and she WOULD find her mate.  Eventually that is what happened, and she did get married. The message, however, at that time was exactly what she needed to hear to bring her hope and it was delivered by her loving grandfather from the other side.”[3]

How touching for her to know that her Grandfather cherished her enough to give her specific words for her life through her brother.

Angels in Priesthood Circle

Bill Brough shared an intimate awareness he had during his son’s priesthood ordination.  He wrote,

“Over the last twenty years or so I have had numerous experiences where I have felt the presence of a family member at spiritual times. In one, I was ordaining my teenage son a priest. That was an occasion I would have wanted to share with my own father, who had ordained me, and so whose priesthood lineage was also mine, and was likewise my son’s. But my father had recently passed away, as had my son’s maternal grandfather a few year’s prior. As I stood in a priesthood circle, with one hand on my son’s head and the other on another priesthood bearer’s shoulder, I suddenly realized that his two grandfathers were, in fact, part of that circle as well, invisible to my eyes but present nonetheless.

Somehow, I could feel them, in a way that can’t be explained, and made a point of saying so in my son’s ordination, so he would know that his relatives on the other side were involved in his life.[4] 

These are experiences that are poignant and tender and are forever emblazoned in the memory of those who are blessed to have them.

In the following account, a preborn spirit witnessed a priesthood blessing that aided him in fact, coming to mortality.

Son Observing Priesthood Blessing Before He Was Born

Ronald Barnes told me about an unusual experience he had.  He wrote,

 “My wife, Colleen, and I had two daughters, Tara and Laura, when she was pregnant with our third child. Several times during the pregnancy, Colleen felt that there was something wrong with the baby. Each time I blessed her with a priesthood blessing that everything would be alright. When our son, Michael, was born, it was discovered that there was a knot in his umbilical cord. Had it tightened; he might not have survived.

“When our son, Michael, was about 6 years old he told us about an event that happened before he was born. At first, he said he was surrounded by a pink light, then he was in our living room, observing the rest of us. We were dressed in our church clothes. Michael’s sisters were sitting on the couch, and I was standing before Colleen with my hands on her head as if I were giving her a blessing.

“I believe that he saw one of the times that I blessed his mother-to-be because she knew something was wrong with him. I feel that the blessing he saw actually saved his life.”[5]

Although Michael apparently wasn’t a part of the blessing, he as a pre-mortal being, was there as a witness.  Pre-mortal as well as post-mortal family members want to be a part of our lives.

Healing Blessing from Deceased Brother

Debra McCracken told me about a marvelous realization she had during a priesthood blessing.  She said,

“Several years ago I tripped and fell while walking back from lunch where I worked. It was extremely painful and I had to have surgery to partially replace my right shoulder. I had several setbacks and extended hospitalizations and rehabs. During my second rehab stay a close family friend and my husband came to give me a blessing one night. I was tired and in pain and wondering how I was going to continue with recovery. As they laid their hands on my head, I felt the blessed and familiar feeling washing down through my body that the Holy Ghost can

give, and I sensed four men standing behind me, not two. I felt that one of them was my father, who had passed away a few years previously,–but who was the other man?  Suddenly I was overwhelmed by the realization that it was my baby brother who died the same day he was prematurely born many years ago.  I had never seen him, but always thought of him as a baby.  I realized it was him; an adult in the spirit world, and he was assisting in my blessing. This has been one of the most spiritual and comforting experiences of my life.”[6]

Loving Associates on Both Sides of the Veil

A beautiful quote from Elder Holland gives an echo to these stories when he said,

“…the Holy Ghost, angels in Heaven, family members on both sides of the veil…All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey…”[7]

They are given to us as spiritual companions, and sometimes, we can feel them with us…

In this final moving story, a departed father comes directly to keep a promise…

Departed Father Comes to Keep His Promise and to Heal Son

Don Woods relayed a stunning experience of his departed father returning to give him a priesthood blessing. He and his father had been very close.  On the night before he died, his father came to him at 1:30 in the morning telling him several things he needed to be doing in his life and informing him why he had to die at that time.  He told Don that he would be with him and help when he had medical emergencies.  Later Don became extremely ill with cystic fibrosis and had a severe bowel blockage.  He wrote,

“In August 1992, when I was in so much pain… (morphine shots administered every two hours were not helping), one night at three in the morning, I cried out: ‘Lord, what did I do wrong?’ I also cried: ‘Dad, you promised you would be here!’ Suddenly my father was at my bed and I felt him put his hands on my head. Within a few seconds, there was a feeling as if someone were pouring something warm over my body. It cascaded from my head to my toes, and the pain left. My father smiled and then he left. The next day I began passing the stones.”[8]

I loved each of these profound stories. It appears that events that are important to us, especially life-threatening ones, alert the angelic realm.  Consider the possibility that your departed love ones have and will come from beyond the grave to observe and strengthen you in your times of need.  It’s one of the privileges we can live up to as beloved children of the Most High God.[9]

You can CONTACT Anne at annehpratt@hotmail.com

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[1] Charles Harper, personal correspondence. Story used with permission.

[2] Thomas S. Monson, “Willing and Worthy to Serve,” Ensign, May 2012, 66.  Original quote from Gospel Doctrine, p. 139-40. Italics added.

[3] Matt Hill, personal correspondence.  Story used with permission.

[4] Bill Brough, personal correspondence.  Story used with permission.

[5] Ronald Barnes, personal correspondence.  Story used with permission.

[6] Debra McCracken, personal correspondence.  Story used with permission).

[7] Jeffrey R. Holland, “None Were with Him, April Conference, 2009.

[8] Don Lynn Wood, http://uvicf.org/tributes/DLWoopdStory.html.

[9] “If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.”

– Joseph Smith, History of the Church (directed to the members of the Relief Society), 4:605.

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Story from Elder Dale G. Renlund Family History and Temple Work

 In 1999 a young man named Todd collapsed from a ruptured blood vessel in his brain. Although Todd and his family were members of the Church, their activity had been sporadic, and none had experienced the blessings of the temple. On the last night of Todd’s life, his mother, Betty, sat at his bedside stroking his hand and said, “Todd, if you really do have to go, I promise I’ll see to it that your temple work gets done.” The next morning, Todd was declared brain dead. Surgeons transplanted Todd’s heart into my patient, a remarkable individual named Rod.

A few months after the transplant, Rod learned the identity of his heart donor’s family and began to correspond with them. About two years later, Todd’s mother, Betty, invited Rod to be present when she went to the temple for the first time. Rod and Betty first met in person in the celestial room of the St. George Utah Temple.

Sometime thereafter, Todd’s father—Betty’s husband—died. A couple of years later, Betty invited Rod to vicariously represent her deceased son in receiving his temple ordinances. Rod gratefully did so, and the proxy work culminated in a sealing room in the St. George Utah Temple. Betty was sealed to her deceased husband, kneeling across the altar from her grandson who served as proxy. Then, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she beckoned for Rod to join them at the altar. Rod knelt beside them, acting as proxy for her son, Todd, whose heart was still beating inside Rod’s chest. Rod’s heart donor, Todd, was then sealed to his parents for all eternity. Todd’s mother had kept the promise she made to her dying son years before.

But the story does not end there. Fifteen years after his heart transplant, Rod became engaged to be married and asked me to perform the sealing in the Provo Utah Temple. On the wedding day, I met with Rod and his marvelous bride, Kim, in a room adjacent to the sealing room, where their families and closest friends were waiting. After briefly visiting with Rod and Kim, I asked if they had any questions.

Rod said, “Yes. My donor family is here and would love to meet you.”

I was caught off guard and asked, “You mean they’re here? Right now?”

Rod replied, “Yes.”

I stepped around the corner and called the family out of the sealing room. Betty, her daughter, and her son-in-law joined us. Rod greeted Betty with a hug, thanked her for coming, and then introduced me to her. Rod said, “Betty, this is Elder Renlund. He was the doctor who took care of your son’s heart for so many years.” She crossed the room and embraced me. And for the next several minutes, there were hugs and tears of joy all around.

After we regained our composure, we moved into the sealing room, where Rod and Kim were sealed for time and all eternity. Rod, Kim, Betty, and I can testify that heaven was very close, that there were others with us that day who had previously passed through the veil of mortality.

God, in His infinite capacity, seals and heals individuals and families despite tragedy, loss, and hardship. We sometimes compare the feelings we experience in temples as having caught a glimpse of heaven.¹³ That day in the Provo Utah Temple, this statement by C. S. Lewis resonated with me: “[Mortals] say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it,’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. … The Blessed will say, ‘We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven.’”¹⁴

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/04/family-history-and-temple-work-sealing-and-healing?lang=eng