3 Nephi 25 – Root and Branch

It’s interesting to me to look at the notes I’ve made in my margins through the years.  Root and Branch is synonymous with ancestors and children.  I think one of the most devastating thing I could go through would be to have a life without family – no parents or siblings; no children or grandchildren.  What would my life be like?  How would I fill my days?  Then I ponder what makes these people so precious in my life because some of them cause me a great deal of grief. 

I believe it would be the covenants I have made in the temple.  It is in knowing the Lord’s Plan and desiring to be part of that plan.  I can’t be part of that without my family – root and branch. 

So how do I ensure that I am with the root and branch in my life?  Family History and genealogy would be the answer for the Root.  The last verse in Chapter 25 says: 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. 

Who is he?  Elijah.  He has turned the keys in the latter days and there is a great movement in the world to find our roots.  Some people seem to be driven to it to the neglect of their “branch”.  I have a note in my margin: “Neglecting FHE is the same as neglecting genealogy”.  How am I doing in the department of Family Home Evening?  Do we study the gospel together?  Do we make a point of being together as a family on Monday evening?  This is a question that has always nagged me.  As our children were being raised, we were pretty diligent.  It is not as easy as empty nesters.  But I do my best on Mondays to try and engage us in a discussion of some kind. 

There is much to do in both arenas – root and branch.  I’m chipping away at Family History, and trying ever so hard to figure out the genealogy part of this.  What I have noticed now more than ever in my child-rearing years is that I want my children and grandchildren with me.  Oh sometimes they can be exasperating, and they are definitely work; but they are important to me and I want to create memories for all of us that make us want to be together through the eternities.  This is as important to me as genealogy to be sure.