LDS Beliefs

References

* JST= Joseph Smith Translation

** From the Book of Mormon

++ LDS Scripture given through Joseph Smith and other prophets

## (In the Pearl of Great Price)

Genealogy

A record tracing the line of descent in a family. Where priesthood offices or certain blessings were restricted to a particular family, genealogies in the scriptures were very important.

In the restored Church today, members of the Church continue to trace their family lines of descent, in part to properly identify deceased ancestors so they can perform saving ordinances in their ancestors’ behalf. These ordinances are valid for those deceased persons who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ in the spirit world. See Doctrine and Covenants 127 and 128.

See "Why do Mormons Build Temples"

We associate Family History (Genealogy) with the concept of the Spirit of Elijah. One might say that if someone has the "spirit of Elijah" they have a thirst to find their ancestors.

The Spirit of Elijah
Russell M. Nelson, “The Spirit of Elijah,” Ensign, Nov. 1994, 84

In 1844, Joseph Smith asked, “What is this office and work of Elijah?” The Prophet promptly answered his own question: “It is one of the greatest and most important subjects that God has revealed. … READ MORE...

An Old Testament prophet who returned in the latter days to confer the keys of the sealing power on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. In his day, Elijah ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel (1 Kgs. 17- 2 Kgs. 2). He had great faith in the Lord and is noted for many miracles. He prevented rain for three-and-a-half years. He raised a boy from the dead and called down fire from heaven (1 Kgs. 17- 18).

The Jewish people still wait for Elijah to return, as Malachi prophesied he would.

He remains an invited guest at Jewish Passover feasts, where an open door and a vacant seat always await him.

(Malachi 4: 5) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

The Prophet Joseph Smith said that Elijah held the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood and was the last prophet to do so before the time of Jesus Christ. He appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and conferred the keys of the priesthood on Peter, James, and John.

(Matt. 17: 3) And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

He appeared again, with Moses and others, on 3 April 1836, in the Kirtland Ohio Temple and conferred the same keys upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.

++ (Doctrine and Covenants 110: 13-16)

13 After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:

14 Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

15 To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—

16 Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.

All of this was in preparation for the second coming of the Lord, as spoken of in Malachi 4: 5-6.

(Malachi 4: 5-6)

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

The power of Elijah is the sealing power of the priesthood by which things that are bound or loosed on earth are bound or loosed in heaven.

See ++ (Doctrine and Covenants 128: 8-18)

Chosen servants of the Lord on earth today have this sealing power and perform the saving ordinances of the gospel for the living and the dead.

(D&C 128: 8) Now, the nature of this ordinance consists in the power of the priesthood, by the revelation of Jesus Christ, wherein it is granted that whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Or, in other words, taking a different view of the translation, whatsoever you record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, and whatsoever you do not record on earth shall not be recorded in heaven; for out of the books shall your dead be judged, according to their own works, whether they themselves have attended to the ordinances in their own propria persona, or by the means of their own agents, according to the ordinance which God has prepared for their salvation from before the foundation of the world, according to the records which they have kept concerning their dead.

Malachi prophesied of his return in the latter days.

Mal. 4: 5-6 (3 Ne. 25: 5).

He appeared in the Kirtland Ohio Temple in 1836.

D&C 110: 13-16.

We talk of having the Spirit of Elijah when we have a thirst for doing Genealogy.

The LDS Church runs one of the largest Genealogical libraries in the world. This library contains records from all over the world.

Visit the family history website run by the LDS Church.

References: mormon.org | Articles of Faith | lds.org | scriptures.lds.org