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

Purpose

To help class members understand the need to seek out their ancestors and receive priesthood ordinances in their behalf.

Preparation

• Prayerfully study the following scriptures and other materials:
  • Doctrine and Covenants 2; 110:13–16; 138;Joseph Smith—History 1:37–39.
  • Our Heritage, pages 98–99, 101–2, 105–7.
• Review the material for this lesson in the Class Member Study Guide 
• To gain a greater understanding of historical events related to the doctrine in this lesson, consider reviewing the following:
  • "Susa Young Gates and the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead": This article gives context for the vision that has been canonized as Doctrine and Covenants 138. 
  • "Glad Tidings: The History of Baptisms for the Dead": This seven-minute video discusses how Alvin Smith's death helped shape the questions that led to revelation on baptism for the dead.
  • "Ministry of Wilford Woodruff: The Work of the Temple": This two-minute video highlights Wilford Woodruff's teachings on redeeming the dead. 
  • "Ministry of Joseph F. Smith: A Vision of the Redemption of the Dead": This three-minute video introduces the vision recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 138. 

Discussion and Application 

1. Elijah: "The keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands."

Read D&C 2; 110:13–16; 138:47–48; Joseph Smith—History 1:37–39. 

• When the angel Moroni came to Joseph Smith, he said that Elijah would "plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers" (D&C 2:2;Joseph Smith—History 1:39). In this prophecy, the word fathers refers to our ancestors. What promises were made to our ancestors?
  
  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).
  
  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve said, "God made those promises to the ancient patriarchs—Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so forth—and we undoubtedly made them to our own lineal fathers and mothers, those who came to earth before the gospel was restored but whom we promised to provide its saving ordinances" (Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 297).
• 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? (See D&C 110:13–16; see also D&C 2; Joseph Smith—History 1:38–39.)
• Read Joseph Smith—History 1:37–39 and D&C 138:47–48. Why would the earth be "utterly wasted at [the Lord's] coming" if we did not 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).

2. President Wilford Woodruff: "Somebody has got to redeem them."

President Woodruff was devoted to the work of redeeming the dead and sealing families for eternity. During his ministry, many members of the Church served genealogical missions, and in 1894 the First Presidency directed the organization of a genealogical society (Our Heritage, page 101). 

According to Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve, "events of that historic year [1894] established family history research and temple service as one work in the Church" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 114; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 85).

The urgency of temple work for the dead

Read the story about Bishop Henry Ballard and his daughter from Our Heritage, pages 98–99.

For a period of time, President Woodruff served as president of the temple in St. George, Utah. It was in that temple that endowments for the dead were performed for the first time in this dispensation (see Doctrines of Salvation, 2:171). While serving there, President Woodruff was visited by the spirits of many "eminent men" who had died. 

Read the following account by President Woodruff:

"The spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, 'You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we … remained true to it and were faithful to God.' These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence [of the United States of America], and they waited on me for two days and two nights. … I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McAllister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others" (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, sel. G. Homer Durham [1946], 160–61).

• What can we learn from these two stories?
  
  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).

The need for us to be sealed to our parents and ancestors

Read the revelation that President Woodruff received about tracing our family histories and sealing children to their parents (Our Heritage, page 101).

• What does this revelation teach about families? How does the revelation help fulfill the prophecy about turning the hearts of the children to their fathers?

3. President Joseph F. Smith: "The eyes of my understanding were opened."

Read the following statement by President Woodruff:

"President [Brigham] Young, who followed President Joseph Smith, … laid the foundation of [the Salt Lake Temple], as well as others in the mountains of Israel. What for? That we might carry out these principles of redemption for the dead. He accomplished all that God required at his hands. But he did not receive all the revelations that belong to this work; neither did President [John] Taylor, nor has Wilford Woodruff" (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, 153–54).

President Smith, the sixth President of the Church, received a revelation that helped the work of redeeming the dead continue to move forward. On 4 October 1918, just weeks before his death, he said in general conference:

"I have been undergoing a siege of very serious illness for the last five months. … I have not lived alone these five months. I have dwelt in the spirit of prayer, of supplication, of faith and of determination; and I have had my communication with the Spirit of the Lord continuously" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1918, 2).

The day before President Smith made this statement, he had received a revelation that would expand the Saints' understanding of the redemption of the dead. This revelation is now section 138 of the Doctrine and Covenants. It is a record of the Savior's visit to the spirit world while His body was in the tomb.

• What was President Smith doing when he received the vision of the redemption of the dead? (See D&C 138:1–11. Read 1 Peter 3 and 1 Peter 4)
• Read D&C 138:12–19. Whom did the Savior visit in the spirit world?
  The Savior went to the spirits who:
  1. "Had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality" (D&C 138:12).
  2. "Had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God" (D&C 138:13).
  3. "Had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer's name" (D&C 138:13).
  4. "Had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ" (D&C 138:14).
  5. "Were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand" (D&C 138:15).
• To whom did the Savior not go? (See D&C 138:20–21.) What did the Savior do so the gospel could be preached to "those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth"? (See D&C 138:27–37.) Who preaches the gospel in the spirit world today? (See D&C 138:57.)
• Read D&C 138:22–24, 57–59. What are the differences between those in the spirit world who have been faithful in the testimony of Jesus and those who have not? What do these verses teach about the importance of teaching the gospel in the spirit world? How do these verses make you feel about your responsibility to provide priesthood ordinances for the dead?
  What experiences and feelings have you had as you have provided ordinances for the dead?

4. President Gordon B. Hinckley: "We are determined … to take the temples to the people."

Read President Joseph F. Smith's prophecy that the time would come when the land would "be dotted with temples" (Our Heritage, page 106).

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 temple construction affected you? How has it affected others you know? How will the accelerated building of temples affect those who have died without receiving the gospel?