It was a hit at our house. And being Mormon, I couldn’t help but notice the way it mirrors in some ways the importance that we also place on knowing and caring about our ancestors.

In the movie, deceased family members in the afterlife continued looking out for their family on Earth, and could visit them once a year on the Day of the Dead, as long as their picture was displayed and their family did not forget about them.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also revere our dead, and are famously obsessed with identifying and making connections with those who have lived before. We have family history centers all around the globe, and maintain the world’s largest collection of genealogical records, over 3.5 billion, in a vault in Utah.

Why?

What Happens to Us After We Die?

Just like in the movie, we also believe that those who have died lovingly watch over us from “the other side,” and look forward to the day when we will all be united again. When we die, our spirits separate from our bodies and go to a temporary resting place, either one of joy and peace, or sadness and regret depending on how we lived our lives on Earth, until they rise again in the resurrection, never to experience physical death again. The righteous, through the grace and atonement of Jesus Christ, will then be able to receive eternal life- or life with our Heavenly Father.

How Do Our Ancestors Fit Into All of This?

Also like in the movie, we believe that we can do things on Earth to help and serve those who have passed on.

Most Christian faiths believe that baptism is necessary for salvation, since this ordinance is referenced more than 80 times in the New Testament. But what about those who never had the opportunity to receive it: like babies who died before baptism, or the millions who have lived in non-Christian nations or cultures over the centuries? We believe they will have the chance to be baptized as well. The Apostle Paul spoke unmistakably about this doctrine:

“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?” – 1 Corinthians 15:29

Far from them being unlucky or even damned, we believe that our Heavenly Father is perfectly loving and merciful, as well as perfectly just, and that we, the living, can perform saving ordinances on their behalf in holy temples. For this reason, Mormons spend a great deal of time and untold resources searching out our deceased family members, in order to perform baptisms, gospel instruction, marriages, and family sealings in the temple. We believe that someday, with the Lord’s help, this work will be extended to all the generations back to Adam, connecting the entire human race in one great family.

These ordinances are not a way of “forcing” anyone into our church, but are performed out of love, and are then available if they choose to accept them. It is entirely their choice.

Why is Family History Important?

I guess the reason that “Coco” struck such a chord with me is that everything we do in our church revolves around family. I don’t believe that heaven is simply a harp-filled, cloud-constructed eternity, and that idea never really appealed to me anyway. What matters most to me is my family, and much like Mama Imelda and her husband, heaven would not be heaven for me without them beside me.

So why is family history important?

It is important because we believe that families can be together forever, that the dearest relationships we form in this life were given to us by God and are meant to last much, much longer than “’till death do us part.”

And just as the skeletal ancestors in “Coco” searched every corner of their world to find and help their lost family member, we also search every corner of our world to find those who went before us, those to whom we owe so much, and help them.

It All Starts With You

Family relationships are some of the most important you will ever make, but in addition to serving our dead relatives, what about our living ones? There are all different types of families, including estrangements, divorces, single parents, and difficulties of all sorts. But no matter what your own family situation, you can start today to build or rebuild positive relationships with your family members, work your way towards forgiveness, and make family a top priority in your life. You cannot control what they do, but you can control what you do.

The gospel of Jesus Christ will help you do this. He will increase your capacity for patience, for forgiveness, and love, and help you know how to act as you sincerely reach out with prayer and faith and work to strengthen your family both in this world and the next.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Here are additional resources on afterlife and family history that you might be interested in:
• What happens when we die?
• FamilySearch.org: Free Family History and Genealogy Records

And feel free to contact us if you have more questions about our beliefs.

The post A Mormon’s Take on “Coco”: The Afterlife and Eternal Family appeared first on morefaith.ph.

1. KEEPING A JOURNAL IS ENCOURAGED BY CHURCH LEADERS

Many times, our church leaders have taught the importance of keeping a personal journal, and asked us to do it. President Spencer W. Kimball said, “Every person should keep a journal and every person can keep a journal.” Many of our church leaders have testified of the blessings of keeping a journal and encouraged us to have our own as well.

2. HELPS YOU ACQUIRE SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE

Journaling is a brilliant way to capture your ideas and thoughts because it can keep them alive until you can put them into motion. Inspiration from the Holy Ghost can be received at the most unexpected times, and writing it down on paper helps you retrieve your thoughts whenever needed. Elder Richard G. Scott taught us that, “Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need.”

3. GETS YOU THROUGH TOUGH TIMES

One of the most effective ways to help you through difficult times is to write those experiences down in your journal. Putting your thoughts on paper is so much more emotionally beneficial than you might have imagined. Writing things down clears your mind and helps you get more of a sense of the situation you’re in. As President Henry B. Eyring taught, a daily habit of journaling helps us “strengthen our testimonies”, and “improve throughout this life.”

4. HELPS US KEEP THE LORD IN OUR REMEMBRANCE

President Eyring has said, “Living as we do with a veil over our eyes, we cannot remember what it was like to be with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ…this is why forgetting God has been such a persistent problem among His children since the world began.”

He shared that in order to battle this tendency, we have to “find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness.” Keeping a journal is a way to do just that. When we record great moments in our lives and look back on it, we are reminded of Him and how His kindness constantly blesses our lives.

5. JOURNALLING CAN BRING BLESSINGS TO OUR POSTERITY

Sometimes the idea of keeping our own personal record is uninteresting, simply because “details about our otherwise monotonous lives” might seem like they will have little to no effect on our posterity.

President Kimball said, “If you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, children, grandchildren, and others, on through the generations.” By writing our personal and family histories, we are developing a true and eternal perspective of life. It can give us deep spiritual insight into the purpose of our lives here on Earth.

We are all unique children of our Heavenly Father and so our experiences will also be unique. My parents’ feat of recording our childhoods, has shown us three siblings that we all had different experiences growing up. We are encouraged to record our own unique stories for future generations to unearth and learn from.

President Kimball stressed, “Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it.”

The post 5 Reasons Why You Should Keep A Personal Journal appeared first on morefaith.ph.

Generations before us

One of the greatest responsibilities that the Lord has laid upon us is to seek after our dead and perform saving ordinances for them. Prophets are stressing the importance of this work because “they without us should not be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:40) and “neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (D&C 128:15). If we choose to do family history work, we are linking our families together forever. Those who have gone before us who did not get the chance to receive the gospel need us to perform the saving ordinances for them. It is only through us that they will be given the chance to be baptized and sealed to us as a family. Those who have gone before us reside in the spirit world where they have the chance to hear the gospel. Although they can accept it, they cannot progress until the saving ordinances of the gospel are performed for them in mortality. Thousands of years have passed since the world began and many of our ancestors have been waiting, some perhaps for centuries, for the temple ordinances to be done for them. So we simply cannot afford to sit comfortably while they wait for their deliverance.

Of course we can perform ordinances for others whose names are already available in the temple but it’s no substitute for what we have to do—to seek our own dead and perform saving ordinances for them.

Generations after us

As we seek our dead, we must also spend time seeking after those who are still living. The work of sealing families together is not only about “turn[ing] the heart of the children to their fathers” which means sealing our dead to us, but also about “turn[ing] the heart of the fathers to the children,” which means sealing generations after us in our family chain (Malachi 4:5–6). It is also our responsibility to teach our children the gospel of Jesus Christ, pass on our beliefs and share our faith—teachings, beliefs and faith that they will pass on to their children, and on to future generations after that.

One of the most important principles that we can pass on to our posterity is the love that we have for family history work. The work that we do now for this great cause can immensely affect how our children view family history work. Introducing and involving them early in this work will help them understand the value of sealing families together for eternity and will increase their love for their forefathers. And the blessings that we receive through our obedience to this commandment will extend not only to our children but stretch to include all the generations after us.

The hours and effort that we put into finding our dead and teaching our children the gospel of Jesus Christ not only build but also strengthen the eternal chain of our families. When we fail to do these things, we are breaking the chain. The choice is ours, so what will we choose?

The post Build or Break Your Chain of Generations: The Choice is Yours appeared first on morefaith.ph.

I was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My parents were baptized in the church before they were married. I have belonged to the Mormon faith for as long as I can remember. However, despite being raised in a different religion, I still can’t help but be grateful for my Catholic ancestors. They have,undoubtedly, shaped who I am today.
When my parents decided to accept the invitation to become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my grandparents were unsure of their choices. My fathers’ parents were active members of the Catholic faith and were leaders of a group called “Couples for Christ.” Despite my grandparents’ confusion, my parents went on to be baptized.
Fast forward a few years and we were born. I can still recall the happy childhood memories that we had in our grandparents’ home. Inevitably, there were times when I noticed some differences, such as the way we conducted our prayers. My grandparents make the sign of the cross, something that my 1st grade classmates also did whenever we prayed at school, and whenever I woke up early, I would often see them kneeling and praying the rosary.
However, despite the differences in our respective faiths, my Catholic grandparents imparted to me valuable lessons that I still carry with me to this day.
The Value of Prayer
“Kahit anong mangyari, apo, pray lang always. Nakikinig ang Diyos sa’yo. Magdasal ka lang parati.” I can’t count the times that I have heard this reminder from my Lolo and Lola. Their faith in the power of prayer was so strong; it was evident in the way they lived their everyday lives. Whenever we shared our plans, hopes, and dreams with them, they would always respond with “Sige, ipagdadasal natin yan.” Their example will always remain a sweet reminder to me of how prayer indeed gives help.
The Importance of Family
The Filipino culture is known to emphasize the importance of the family.. Kahit anong mangyari, importante ang pamilya. I am confident that the Catholic faith,, a prominent fugure here in our country, has greatly contributed to this precious tradition. To my Catholic ancestors, respecting elders, honoring parents, bringing honor to family, and living the values of a good Christian family member were very important. Despite their age, my grandparents always made sure that we knew how much they loved us. In their latter years, even with physical difficulties, they would often come to events that were important to us. Through and through, pinakita nila that family is important.

The Blessings of Honesty
My grandfather lost his job when he was just in his 40s, because he did not want to take part in a scheme that he considered dishonest. He quit his job to protect his integrity even though it meant that his family will have financial constraints. My grandfather’s example in upholding honesty is a powerful lesson to this day. Because of his honest dealings with other people, he was richly blessed until his last breath.
Serving the Lord
Being members of “Couples for Christ,” I was able to see how my grandparents served others. They were always so concerned for their brothers and sisters. They held prayer meetings at home, they welcomed anyone who was hungry or thirsty, and they loved to talk to people. They enjoyed life the most when they served other people and the Lord.
How to Love
Perhaps the best thing that my Catholic ancestors gave me was the endless example of how they showed their love. They loved, not only in words, but in actions. To them, love was praying for their children and grandchildren, giving surprise gifts, offering useful advice, telling people they loved them, and being completely selfless despite their age. I am eternally grateful for their examples.

I am a Mormon in the Philippines. Statistically speaking, I belong to the 6% who does not belong to the Catholic faith. Because of this, people always assume that I don’t know a lot about the Catholic religion. Little do they know that I was also taught by Catholic grandparents, whom I love and respect with all my heart.
Daily, I am surrounded by the almost 86% of the Philippines who are Catholic. Like my ancestors, these wonderful Catholic people are also strong examples of faith that I try to follow in my life. Indeed, I am grateful that the Philippines is the largest Christian nation in Asia, thanks to the Catholic faith. And because of this, living my beliefs isn’t that hard anymore.
Yes, I am a Mormon and I am eternally grateful for my Catholic ancestors.
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