Temples and Family History

      Family History work is a big part of our Church and our doctrine. The LDS Church is very much a family-oriented church and our core doctrine is that the families can be together forever. With the work we do in the Temples allow our families to be sealed together for eternity. So, in order for all the families to be together we must first find the names of our ancestors so that we may be able to perform baptisms for them within the Temple. And just to clarify, being baptized for those who have died does not "make them Mormon". Those in which we are doing the work for still have the ability to accept or deny the ordinances. 
      There are other ordinances we perform in the temples as well. We do not talk about these other ordinances outside of the temple, not because they are meant to be kept secret but that they are sacred and we do not want them to be ridiculed and mocked. The ultimate goal of the Church is for all people to be able to partake of the knowledge we gain through all the temple ceremonies.
      The first time most members go to the Temple they go to perform baptisms for the dead. I have been able to do this ordinance in the Temples for about 2 years now and I have loved having the opportunity to do this work for my deceased relatives and for other people's family members as well. However, I have been studying about the Temples more recently because I am preparing myself to be able to do the other ordinances hopefully in the near future.
      In my studying, I found a book written by an apostle of the Church entitled The Holy Temple by Boyd K. Packer. Within this book, President Packer explains the connection of Family History work and Temple Work. Of course, I knew of the connection between the two with my past experiences performing the ordinance of baptisms for my family, but it wasn't until reading his book that it really hit me that I really need to work more on Family History. Being a convert I have had plenty of names to find and baptisms I could perform, but I have let this work fall to the back of my mind.