Turning the Hearts

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 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." (Malachi 4:5-6) This promise provides a simple formula - the more that we turn our hearts to our forefathers and foremothers, the more the hearts of our forefathers and foremothers will be turned to us. The angels that watch over and protect us, that speak the words of Christ to our minds and our hearts, that minister healing and comfort to our souls - these angels are our ancestors. The more we turn our hearts to temple and family history work, the more we focus on remembering and redeeming the dead, the greater the number and power of our ancestral angels we invite into our lives. They cannot be saved without us and we cannot be saved without them - this is not a meaningless platitude. The stronger and more tireless our efforts are for saving our ancestors, the stronger and more tireless will be our ancestors' efforts acting as guardian angels to save us. If we want more of heaven's help in our lives, one of the surest ways we can secure it is by turning our hearts to our fathers and mothers, so that they in turn may turn their hearts to us.