Icelandic Ancestors & Welding Link

December 25, 2024

Icelandic Ancestors & Welding Link

Dear Elder Yu,

Icelandic Ancestors

This is the final inspirational thought from my Social Science Statistics instructor shared with us this semester. It is about his ancestors' stories. Like many multi-generation Mormons with roots based in Utah, his ancestry is not exciting. He has some good pioneer stories sprinkled in there, but the countries of origin of his ancestors are quite typical. A few branches go back to England, Scotland, Wales, and one great-grandmother from Norway. But he does have one side of his family that is rather unique. His Great-Great Grandfather and Grandmother immigrated from Iceland.

Now there are relatively few Icelandic-Americans out there. The reason is, that during the time that people were leaving the European nations in droves to come to America, very few Icelanders ever felt the need. Except for one group. A handful of them found Mormonism in the late 1800’s and moved to Utah. Thorstein Peterson was one of them. He was not even from ‘mainland’ Iceland. He was actually from a tiny island off the coast of Iceland called Vestmann Island. And this is actually where most of the converts were from.

When the Icelanders arrived in Utah, they were almost all sent to Spanish Fork to settle, and they maintained a nice little community. Today there is a monument to the Iceland pioneers in that town, and that is where my instructor stopped with his family on a trip through Utah a few years ago.

Now this might seem like a nice little story on the importance of Family History and the learning of ancestry. However, my instructor prefers to look at the present and future. While he was talking with his children about the sacrifices that these people made and the blessings that he has today as a result, he was struck with a thought.

Each of you can imagine your hometown. Now imagine what it could look like 100 years in the future. Now picture a family on vacation and stopping in your hometown. Perhaps they are traveling in an amazing hovercraft powered by water or maybe garbage. But this is a family that is full of solid citizens. Temple covenants bind this family. They are not perfect but are trying and they are built around love for each other. As they stop off in your futuristic hometown, the parents point out that one of their ancestors lived here. And because of the choices made by this ancestor, they can enjoy the blessings and covenants that they have.

A Welding Link

My instructor’s sharing reminds me of Elder David A. Bednar’s talk years ago, “A Welding Link” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/broadcasts/worldwide-devotional-for-young-adults/2017/09/a-welding-link?lang=eng which I would like to share with you. He discussed with the young adults the importance of being a “welding link” in their past and future posterity and active participation in the Church. The first time I listened and watched his devotional, I could feel the Spirit so strong that echoing in my mind that I needed to be the strong link, and the urge to do the family history work. The thing that I unanticipated was that I would be facing what I am facing now – my divorce. It needs both hands to clap. I think to be fair, your daddy is not the only one who is wrong in creating this in our marriage now.

As I restudy the talk, I feel an urge for you to learn from this simple and powerful devotional that might influence you and Annabelle in your good marriage, your own family, and every aspect of your lives:

“The very fact that I had not experienced righteous family patterns in my boyhood home created in me a strong desire to work diligently with Susan to make sure such patterns were always a part of the home we created together. As we counseled one another and pleaded for help in our prayers, we were inspired and blessed to help our children learn the principles of the Savior’s restored gospel. We certainly were not perfect parents, but we received the spiritual gifts we needed and found “help … beyond [our] own.”

“You and I are not trapped in our past experiences. We are not wholly and totally victims of our present circumstances or captives of our environment. The Holy Ghost will teach us all things that we should do, including patterns of family righteousness in which we have not previously participated. It begins with you! And with the Lord’s help, you can do it.”

“Some of you have had your hearts broken by family members or respected leaders who have not honored sacred marriage covenants. You may ask yourself, “If my parents or other couples I have known were sealed in the temple and their marriages did not succeed, what hope can I have that my marriage will last forever?”

“To you who have experienced the heartache of a divorce in your family or felt the agony of violated trust, please remember it begins again with you! One link in the chain of your generations may have been broken, but the other righteous links and what remains of the chain are nonetheless eternally important. You can add strength to your chain and perhaps even help to restore the broken links. That work will be accomplished one by one.”

“We are sons and daughters of God. According to the Father’s eternal plan of happiness, we are endowed with the gift of moral agency and are agents with the capacity to act. We are not merely objects to be acted upon. We are agents unto ourselves and should be anxiously engaged in bringing to pass much righteousness.”

“A fulfilling and happy marriage is not found; rather, it is created by a covenant-keeping man and woman. I fear some of you may be engaging in an endless search for something that does not exist. There is no perfect potential spouse who can safeguard you from emotional pain and spiritual anguish. But in the strength of the Lord, a faithful man and woman acting as agents can create the fulfilling marriage and the eternal family they hope and yearn to have.”

“Selflessly serving in a marriage relationship requires patience and persistence in a world that relentlessly encourages self-centeredness and selfishness. But it begins with you as you act and press forward with faith in the Savior, continually seek for heavenly help, and righteously exercise your moral agency. You can do it with the Lord’s help.”

The Promise and Blessings

“Becoming a welding link begins with you by doing the simple things Brother and Sister Call did to honor sacred covenants and teach their children to live and love the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.”

“Becoming a welding link begins with you by having the courage and faith in the Savior to turn right, just like Brother Antwi.”

“Becoming a welding link begins with you by trusting the Holy Ghost to teach you all things and illuminate your pathway, even when you do not know precisely beforehand where you should go and what you should do.”

“Becoming a welding link begins with you by diligently and valiantly chasing darkness from among you¹² and standing strong against the seductive evils of the latter days.”

“I invoke upon you an apostolic blessing, even that by the power of the Holy Ghost you may understand more fully the importance of your place in the chain of the generations. I know you will be blessed and strengthened as you strive to become a strong welding link. And I promise that with the help of the Lord you can do it!”

“Eternal family links are only welded together through priesthood authority and personal righteousness. Whatever bad things may have occurred in your family, I testify and promise that the Lord Jesus Christ is the source of the healing, renewing, and restoring that you need.”

“Weeping may have endured during the night of your adversity, but joy can come in the morning of your new life made possible by our Redeemer and Savior.”

Just remember that our choices will impact not only our own lives but the lives of many others.

Love,
Mommy

December 10, 2023. A reference to D&C 128:18. “It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time.” The blue circle represents a baptismal font; the small triangles represent the oxen; and the white circles in the background represent our deceased ancestors. Made with Figma and Affinity Photo.

#baptism #doctrine-and-covenants #family #family-history #genealogy

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