Today’s youth are being confronted on every side with complex social issues, moral challenges, and significant temptations. As President Thomas S. Monson has taught, “decisions determine destiny.” So how can the youth survive and thrive in these tumultuous times that were foreseen by prophets long ago?
One of the ways youth can fortify their spirits is to claim blessings promised by Church leaders if they participate in family history and temple work. What are these promised blessings?
- Elder Dale G. Renlund: “I extend the promise of protection that’s been offered in the past. . . . I promise you protection for you and your family as you take this challenge to find as many names to take to the temple as ordinances you perform in the temple, and teach others to do the same. . . . If you accept this challenge, blessings will begin to flow to you and your family. . . . You’ll find not only protection from the temptations and ills of this world, but you’ll also find personal power, power to change, power to repent, power to learn, power to be sanctified, and power to turn the hearts of your family together and heal that which needs healing.”
- Elder Richard G. Scott: “Do you young people want a sure way to eliminate the influence of the adversary in your life? Immerse yourself in searching for your ancestors, prepare their names for the sacred vicarious ordinances available in the temple, and then go to the temple to stand as proxy for them.”
- Elder Quentin L. Cook: “If the youth in each ward will not only go to the temple and do baptisms for their dead but also work with their families and other ward members to provide the family names for the ordinance work they perform, both they and the Church will be greatly blessed.”
- Elder Russell M. Nelson: “Consider the spiritual connections that are formed when a young woman helps her grandmother enter family information into a computer. . . . When our hearts turn to our ancestors, something changes inside us. We feel part of something greater than ourselves.”
- Elder David A. Bednar: “I encourage you to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare yourselves to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord for your kindred dead. . . . “As you respond in faith to this invitation, your hearts shall turn to the fathers. . . . And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives.”
- Elder Allan F. Packer: “Like partaking of the sacrament, attending meetings, reading the scriptures, and saying personal prayers, doing family history and temple work should be a regular part of our personal worship. The response of our youth and others to prophetic invitations has been inspiring and proves this work can and should be done by all members at any age.”
Sister Elaine Dalton, former Young Women General President, sums up the youth’s call to action nicely: “This is our day, and temple work is the work that we have been prepared to do. It is a work for every generation. . . .
“[The youth] have been reserved for these latter days, and they have a great work to do. And not only do they have a great work to do there, but the temples will also be a refuge for them that will protect them from worldly pressures and influences.”
As the youth claim these promises, they will be strengthened and receive a greater portion of the Spirit to guide them back to the temple again and again.
You may also like:
Youth Temple Challenge: Promised Blessings
Youth in Action: Finding Family Names
Youth in Action: The Time Is Now
