September 12 — As I was flipping through my bible today, I landed on First Peter. In chapter one, I noted and highlighted verses 22-23.
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
I noted beside these verses that we are saved through Jesus, not by family (seed).
After finding that verse, I wanted to do a quick search to see what quotes I could find from Mormon Leaders who spoke on this doctrine, and boy, did I find some creepy quotes.
These quotes come from an article on LDS Daily titled “Turning Hearts: 10 Shareable Quotes about Temple and Family History Work”.
Uniting Families Through Temple Work
“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.” (Benjamín De Hoyos, General Conference, April 2023)
Researching your family history becomes important to you once you join the Mormon Church. Especially if you come from a family that wasn’t members of the Church, as I did. You look forward to going to the temple to perform the ordinances on their behalf, because you’re taught this is what you must do for them. This is all motivated by feelings, as Mr. Hoyos stated.
Feeling Love from Deceased Loved Ones
“As we contemplate what those before us have gone through that we might be here, as we sense their faith and courage and feel their love for us and our love for them, we realize what is really important.” (John H. Groberg, April 1980 General Conference)
As a Mormon, I heard countless stories of people who had experiences with the dead, and they felt their loved ones’ presence in the temple. They would say things like “I know they were there when I was performing their temple work.” “I could feel they accepted the work I did for them.” Some even spoke about seeing deceased loved ones in the temple.
While Mormons acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross to make it possible for us to be saved, it’s not all that is needed to be done. According to Mormonism, it’s the temple and ordinances performed there that truly save people.
Influence of the Deceased
“Don’t underestimate the influence of the deceased in assisting your efforts and the joy of ultimately meeting those you serve. The eternally significant blessing of uniting our own families is almost beyond comprehension.” (Quentin L. Cook, General Conference April 2014
The desire Mormons have to communicate with the dead is something I will never understand. Necromancy, divination, and sorcery are just a couple of words the bible uses to describe what they’re doing. They don’t seem to understand that the influence they are seeking originates from a dark place.
Those who are deceased aren’t going to assist them with their genealogy work. 2 Corinthians 5:8 tells us,
“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
I pray that Mormons would accept Jesus and the work he did for us on the cross and know that is all they need for salvation.
In Christ,
Melissa Grimes
References —
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