Turning Our Hearts

In the celebration of the Jewish passover which is an annual festival where they remember and tell the tale of their escape from Egypt, they have a tradition of leaving a seat open for the coming of the prophet Elijah. This act is based upon a promise from the Lord in which he stated that before the Messiah (who in the Christian tradition is Jesus while Jews are waiting on the promised One) should come that He would send the prophet Elijah. The mission of Elijah at his coming would be according to Malachi, "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." This prophecy has come to pass. Not only did the Lord send Elijah, but also did Moses come and commit his dispensation and other prophets who held responsibilities in the Kingdom anciently. They committed the responsibilities to Joseph Smith in 1836. The promise of Elijah is that men and women would began to seek out their kindred dead. That people the world over would begin to wonder where they came from and seek their fathers.
We can see its fulfillment on TV, the Internet and other types of media. There are now TV shows dedicated to showing celebrities their ancestors and people sit down to watch it. Websites that focus on genealogy are either 1 or 2 in most traffic generated.  There is indeed a spirit in the world in which people want to know.
Elijah's coming wasn't simply to turn our hearts just for intrigue but that there was a sacred work that was to be done for those who did not have an opportunity in life to hear the message of peace. We find it taught in Paul's writing about baptism for the dead. Paul in teaching about the surety of the resurrection asks the people of his day in 1 Corinthians chapter 15:29, "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" Paul says that there are individuals going into the waters of baptism for those who have passed on. Thus showing that God is indeed merciful to all yet all must still obey the commands. The command is that all must repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.

Peter teaches that while Jesus was dead He went to the spirits in prison and taught those that died without a knowledge of His teachings."By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." 1 Peter 3:19-20... Here we see again that He is merciful and just in His dealings with His children. He has provided means that salvation can be brought to all who ever lived. In our day we too enjoy the blessings of helping our ancestors by going in to temples like the one at the bottom of this post.

The Lord said in Malachi that the earth would be cursed if not for this turning of the hearts and I wish to speak on this. It is indeed a curse to not know where you descend from. African Americans of all people feel this most. It is a great tragedy in which we find ourselves. Because of slavery I find it very difficult to trace my history. I am able to go back a few generations but all of a sudden a barrier is placed in the way. This is indeed a thorn in my flesh. That many of my people will go on waiting for the great work to be done for them. I pray for the day that we too can join the rest of the world in the joy of our heritage. 

There is so much more to the Gospel of Jesus Christ than baptism and church on Sunday. We are called to labor with our might in doing all that is necessary for the salvation of every soul. Father did not send us here to fail and His grace is sufficient. He has laid out a plan in the which everyone ever born will hear the message and have an opportunity to accept it. So the teen who dies in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul will too hear of Jesus and His message of peace. He lives and loves us and has prepared the way.

Cardston, Alberta