Connecting through Covenants: Strengthening Your Family

My 11-year-old daughter waited patiently for the computer screen to show the relationship between her and the relative she was planning to be baptized for in the temple the next day, 5 January 2023. It would be her first time to do ordinances in the temple. My daughter was thrilled to be going to the house of the Lord and even more thrilled at the idea that she would be taking a name of someone she was related to.

As the screen popped up, she reached with her finger to follow the line. “Oh, it’s Grandpa’s line!" she squealed in complete delight. “And look, it’s also Great-Grandma Jackson’s line!”

Her finger continued to follow the line of ancestors until it landed on the person she would be baptized for, an 8th cousin. It was quite a distance, but it didn’t matter. She was related, and by the next day, that relative would have a chance to make a baptismal covenant, with my daughter as the proxy. As we followed the same process with three other relatives, she watched with great anticipation to see how she was related to each of them.

“I bet Grandpa will be pretty happy tomorrow,” she said with a big, emotional grin. Her grandpa had passed away in December 2020, but my daughter feels a strong bond with him, and doing baptisms for his family members in the temple would strengthen that bond.

For her, it was a monumental moment—going to the temple for the first time and feeling family close on the other side of the veil. She invited her siblings who lived close enough to attend the temple with her. It was a day to be remembered and cherished for a long time.

Covenants Bind Us on Both Sides of the Veil

In preparation for that day in the temple, we reflected on her own baptism, remembering how she made precious covenants and was invited to always remember the Savior Jesus Christ. We talked about how her ancestors would have the chance to make those same covenants and receive that same invitation.

In the April 2023 general conference, Elder Benjamín De Hoyos of the Seventy said, “Let us remember that family history is more than just looking for names, dates, and places. It is uniting families and feeling the joy that comes from extending to them the ordinances of the gospel.”

Making My Own Connections through Covenants

I have felt the words of Elder De Hoyos to be true many times in my life. My father was a convert to the Church, and so I knew that when the time was right, I would have many names to research and take to the temple.

I had grown up going to an old family cemetery in the rolling hills of East Texas, and, as a child, I didn’t think much of those visits. As a young mom, my family still visited that same old cemetery each time we visited my Texas family. The experience became more tender and touching when my grandma was buried there, along with some other relatives I had grown up knowing and loving.

Each time I go to Texas and visit the cemetery, the moments I have come to cherish most are when I find the graves of the ancestors for whom I have completed temple ordinances and covenants in the house of the Lord. The first time I visited the cemetery after completing some family ordinances, I felt like headstones stood out to show me who those ancestors were, and the people buried there became real people to me. I then started finding names at the cemetery that I had not yet done work for and began to research those names to see if their work was done.

In doing this work, I felt a sense of connection that I had never felt before. I felt the presence of my ancestors near, and the Holy Spirit lingered strongly with me as I completed those ordinances and uttered those covenants in their behalf in the temple.

I find that when I am in the temple doing work for my family members, I find more power and strength to live my covenants with more faithfulness. I love what Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve had to say about this very thing in the April 2023 general conference: “Our covenants give us power to stay on the covenant path because our relationship with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father is changed. We are connected to Them by a covenantal bond.” Our families are bound by covenants, and so is our relationship with our Savior and our Father in Heaven.

The Power of Covenants Can Strengthen Family Relationships

Not only are covenants felt on both sides of the veil, but they can also strengthen relationships in our earthly families. When we make eternal covenants, those relationships can gain meaning and power that we can rely on daily.

In the 2023 Temple and Family History Leadership Instruction, Elder Kevin S. Hamilton of the Seventy talked about how we are not alone when we are on the covenant path.

“As I think about the image of the covenant path, I picture the Savior next to us, yoked to us, bound to us, walking with us along that path through all the ups and downs and all the challenges of life. He’s right there.” Having that help from the Savior also helps our family relationships and strengthens those bonds.

In the October 2022 general conference, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said that ‘“happy and forever” isn’t just for fairy tales. He added, “True, enduring joy and eternity with those we love are the very essence of God’s plan of happiness. His lovingly prepared way can make our eternal journey happy and forever.”

I have felt that joy as I have participated in family history work on my own and in greater measure with my family. My now 12-year-old daughter and I still treasure our moments when we find the names of family members that we can take the temple, and we feel feel that sweet anticipation of discovering how we are related. I feel sure that is not only her grandpa who is smiling from heaven; a whole host of family members are smiling, who we will be reunited with again.