Mortal life is bubbling over with divisive commentary. Endless news streams are riling us up and lulling us away, leaving us parched for peace. A rising tide of doubt, fear, and worry threatens to pull us under, but there is a hand that rescues. His hand, the one that heals brokenness and saves sinking souls, beckons all to drink His living water.
But how do we reach His hand, the one embedded in every page of scripture? Where do His beautiful truths, filled with hope, peace and joy, intersect this world churning in chaos? There is a work, a place, a peace, beyond this world’s pull- a place where this absolute truth echoes across eternity: “the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” (Russell M. Nelson, in Conference Report, Oct. 2016, 82).
Gathering Israel is THE Most Important Work
Years ago, a dear sister wrapped her gentle, but firm arm around me and pulled me into a great work that has changed my life forever. I found my focus. “Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel.” (Russell M. Nelson and Wendy Nelson, “Hope of Israel,” Worldwide Youth Devotional, June 2018). As I became immersed in His glorious work, it allowed me to more fully feel His loving hands, His supernal joy, and His abiding peace with the constancy I had been craving.
My first feeble attempts were met with equal parts of opposition and angels. Distractions and doubts blared loudly, desperate to keep the heavens shut, while gentle whispers pulled back a thinning veil. But if I kept trying, no matter how many mistakes or missteps I made, these ancestor angels wouldn’t give up on me. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “If you live up to your privilege, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates…” (Joseph Smith, in Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, 28 Apr. 1842, 38).
I learned early on that when I needed extra heavenly help for a loved one or strength to balance life’s demands, I simply immersed myself in the grand work of gathering Israel.
The Temple Brings Peace and Revelation
More time in His temple, providing vicarious ordinances for my sought-out ancestors, made my path feel solid once again.
Elder Dale G. Renlund promised, “If you have prayed for any of these blessings, participate in family history and temple work. As you do so, your prayers will be answered. When ordinances are performed on behalf of the deceased, God’s children on earth are healed.” (Dale G. Renlund, in Conference Report, Apr. 2018, 47).
Most often, the blessings were small, tender mercies that testified of His Love and awareness: time-saving thoughts, sweet reminders, little witnesses of His goodness and grace. None of these were life-altering, but they were powerful in their quiet consistency. However, there were many miracles, some life-saving and heart-changing.
One experience exemplifies the profound power of sacred ordinances to heal on both sides of the veil. My Grandma Isabelle was a dear soul. Many of my cherished childhood memories were created by her kind hands and the warm, delicious smells of her kitchen, and the fresh, washed sheets she tucked me into. Oh, how I loved her! As I began my adventures with family history, I started with Grandma Isabelle.
As she shared her memories, my heart broke. I learned that my great-grandmother Helen hadn’t wanted my sweet grandma — she left her as a baby, abandoned and alone, a wound still raw ninety years later.
No, I did not like great-grandmother Helen. Thankfully, little Isabelle had grandparents who loved her, and that filled my heart with gratitude. Naturally, when we were preparing to seal my grandma to her family, she chose to be sealed to these kind grandparents. They had raised her. She did not want to be sealed to a mother who didn’t want her, the illegitimate child, or to stepfathers who had children of their own.
Grandma Isabelle worried about other things, too. She was the second wife to two husbands, both of whom were sealed to their first wives. Yes, she was sealed to my Grandpa Angus, a good man, but her childhood insecurities ran deep. I hugged her tight and bore solemn testimony that in our Heavenly Father’s kingdom, only wonderful things awaited a woman as good, and kind and loving as my Grandma Isabelle. Because she had kept her covenants, all would be well!
In the weeks leading up to the joyous day when Grandma Isabelle would be sealed to her family, we completed the work for her grandparents, uncles and half-siblings, who had all predeceased her. But there was one final endowment left to be done: that of great-grandmother Helen. I didn’t want to do her work. She was mean and cruel. But we were in the temple, sealing their family, and she was their daughter. I went early to do her endowment, albeit begrudgingly.
Never Give Up on a Child…or an Ancestor
Then the miracle happened. The moment I sat down in that beautiful creation room of the temple, her presence washed over me. The warmth was indescribable, filling every fibre of my soul. Her sorrow and regrets for unforgiven sins were powerful and raw, but as quickly as those feelings came, they were gone! Gone. Swallowed up, and only love remained, unearthly in its intensity. Beyond my mortal mind’s comprehension, His Atonement, woven through the covenants made, reached through the veil and healed my heart. Months of bitterness and harsh judgment vanished, and only love remained. In my mind, I heard her voice pleading: “Please tell her I love her; tell her I am so sorry! Just tell her. Please!”
Great-grandma Helen stayed with me through the entire temple experience. My silent tears fell, tears of joy and wonder.
As I entered the celestial room, I was met by the temple president. There had been a misunderstanding. Grandma Isabelle could not be sealed to her grandparents while she was still living. She could only be sealed to her legal parents. I took a slow, deep breath. And then I felt Great-Grandma Helen urging me forward.
The Veil Parts and a Family is Made Whole
As I entered the sealing room, I could see Grandma Isabelle, beautiful and warm, beckoning me to her. As I knelt quietly in front of her, the words flowed through me, but they were Helen’s: “Grandma, your mom is here. She is so sorry. She loves you, and she wants you to be sealed to her.” The words poured out, as did the Spirit. Tears filled our eyes, and Grandma Isabelle felt the miracle too.
“I know!!” she quietly cried, “I know she loves me! I know! I want to be sealed to her, too!” The Spirit filled the room, and every eye was wet with understanding. Angels on both sides of the veil were healed, branches and roots, whole at last. His promises are sure!
“And this, I believe, is one of the profound meanings of that long, laborious allegory in the book of Jacob, the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees…if you take a tame branch and graft it in to a wild tree, in due time, if that branch is strong enough, it will heal and regenerate to the very roots. You will then have been an instrument in the sanctification even of your forebears.” (Truman G. Madsen, “The Temple, Where Heaven Meets Earth” [2008], 84-85).
The miracle lived on. Grandma Isabelle never spoke harshly about her mom again. She was even able to recall a few tender, motherly moments from her childhood, long-buried by bitterness and hurt. Our family was healed, root and branch, united by eternal bonds, sealed in His holy house.