In quick succession Nephi was shown three superlatives:  He was shown “the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches,” and was then shown its former captives establishing a nation greater than “all other nations” upon “the land which is choice above all other lands.”

“Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.”  (1 Nephi 13:5).

“Nevertheless thou beholdest that the Gentiles who have gone forth out of captivity and have been lifted up by the power of God above all other nations, upon the face of the land which is choice above all other lands ...”  (1 Nephi 13:30).

Those former captives were slaves.  They were my ancestors.  All of my ancestors from that era were captives and slaves.  They escaped captivity by sailing to America where they established a free nation where the Lord could bring about the restoration of the gospel.  Nephi “beheld that the power of God was with them.”  (1 Nephi 13:18).

Nephi saw in vision these Gentiles and their plight 2,200 years before their escape from bondage.  In telling what he saw he might have saved himself a considerable amount of laborious engraving if he had simply referred to them as “Gentiles.”  But he wanted to make a point.  He wanted us to understand that they were in captivity.  He thus repeatedly (five times) referred to them as “the Gentiles who had gone forth out of captivity.”  (1 Nephi 13:13, 16, 19, 29, 30).  He used the word “captivity” eleven times in chapters 13 and 14 of his book of First Nephi.

I live in this choice land and in a free country because of them.  I am enjoying the fruits of the restoration of the gospel because of them.  My happiness, prosperity, and freedom are because of them.  They suffered terribly and endured extreme hardships.  I owe everything to them, and to our Savior and Redeemer who brought them here.

My ancestors were slaves.  Am I owed reparations because of their servitude?

The thought is ludicrous.  I rather owe a huge debt to them for what they did for me.  I, therefore, do family history and temple work for them and for their descendants.  These are the reparations that need to be paid for the sufferings that they endured.

Alma repeatedly admonished his people, his sons, and us to remember the captivity of our fathers.  (Alma 5:6, 36:2, 28-29).  Are we doing it?

It is not our own greatness and wisdom that have made us so prosperous and happy as it is our ancestors' sacrifices.  Let us remember, and be grateful.  Let us not ignore them and leave them languishing in their spirit prison.  It is in our power to release them.

President Joseph F. Smith saw in vision the spirits of the dead “assembled awaiting the advent of the Son of God into the spirit world to declare their redemption from the bands of death.”  (D&C 138:16).  They were “rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance.”  (v. 18).

Our ancestors are doing the same.  Joseph Smith said that “they are not far from us, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and motions, and are often pained therewith.”  (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 326).

Why are they pained?  It is because they know that their posterity have the power to deliver them, yet are doing nothing.

These people endured captivity in life.  In death they still endure captivity in the spirit prison until their descendants set them free.

We are told that through the power of the Priesthood whatsoever is bound on earth is bound in heaven, and that whatsoever is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven.  We understand about sealings and binding, but what does the loosing refer to?  Joseph Smith explained that “There is a way to release the spirits of the dead; that is by the power and authority of the Priesthood—by binding and loosing on earth.”  (Ibid, pg. 192).  “As soon as the law of the Gospel is obeyed here by their friends who act as proxy for them, the Lord has administrators there to set them free.”  (Ibid, pg 367).

I think of two stories of which I'm aware that illustrate these principles.  These stories don't come from our general authorities but from individuals that I know.  They can't be considered as doctrine, but I think they accurately portray conditions on the other side of the veil.

My friend, as a young missionary, tracted a subdivision in California with his companion.  Nearing the end of the street they knocked on a door.  The man who answered was not interested in their message, but indicated that the people in the house across the street probably would be.

A woman answered that door when they knocked.  She had one question for them:  “Do you believe that there is anything that we can do for the dead?”

Being told that we do, indeed, believe that we can help the dead, she invited the missionaries in.  She told of a recurring dream she had, which troubled her.  In her dream she saw her deceased son sitting alone and despondent on a hill.  The despondent son told his mother, “You're the only one who can help me.”

“What can I do?” she asked the missionaries.

The woman, her husband, and a son joined the Church.  A year after their baptism they invited the missionary to go to the temple with them as their deceased son was baptized, endowed, and sealed to his parents.  The missionary got to act as proxy for the deceased son as he was sealed to the family.

The next morning the woman called the missionary to tell him of the dream she'd had the previous night.  She had seen her deceased son again.  He was smiling, happy, and surrounded by people.  He said, “Thanks, Mom,” and went away with the group.

Another friend told of his father.  In life the father was proud of the fact that he had thrown two missionaries from the Church off his porch.

This friend had dreams of his father in the spirit world.  Every day a vast concourse of people that “looked like a field of wheat” assembled at a wall.  A man would stand upon the wall and read a list of names.  The happy individuals whose names were read would separate themselves from the group, and were admitted through the wall.

The father was in the crowd, and was always morose-looking until his son had completed his temple work.  Smiling broadly, he was admitted through the wall.

Those two stories are apocryphal .  This next one is not.

Melvin J. Ballard was the apostle grandfather of Elder M. Russell Ballard, who passed away last November.  (2023).  Melvin J. Ballard was being witness for 1,000 baptisms being performed in the Logan Temple.  He wondered how those ordinances were being received on the other side of the veil.  A vision opened to him.  A staircase appeared on the opposite side of the baptistry.  Waiting at the base were many people dressed in white.  As a name was read in the baptismal font, a person would climb the stairs, watch the baptism, smile, and move on.  Elder Ballard testified that there was a person there for every name.  He, thereafter, went throughout the Church testifying that when we do work in the temple for our kindred dead, those individuals are present to witness what is being done in their behalf.

I love my children and grandchildren more than anything.  I realized that my grandparents of every generation feel the same about their descendants.  I, therefore, set out to find those people, and to document and to do temple work for all of the descendants of my second great grandparents.  I sifted through thousands of names.  I accomplished my goal.  I had huge feelings of satisfaction in the accomplishment, but I'm satisfied that my feelings don't compare to the joy that I brought into the lives of those ancestors.

Having accomplished that goal I expanded it to include all of the descendants of my 3^rd great grandparents.  We each have 16 sets of 3^rd great grandparents.  I'm currently working on the 11^th set.

The work is easy to do—just time consuming.  The information is all on my computer.  I can find everyone's names, birth dates, tombstones, marriage records, and put the people together in families.  Many of them have already had their temple work completed.  I correct their vital statistics, enter information that's not there, and go to the temple and complete their ordinance work.  The FamilySearch website says that my family and I have completed 1,400 ordinances or names.

My wife and I try to go to the temple every week.  We each do an endowment, and then try to either do an initiatory or a sealing session in addition.  We can usually complete at least a dozen or two dozen ordinances at each visit.  On one occasion we completed 44.

Imagine the collective joy that is generated on the other side of the veil!

I read some statistics that said that if one member of the ward leadership is actively engaged in family history and temple work, then 4% of the ward will also be involved.  If two members of the ward leadership are doing family history and temple work, ward involvement doubles to 8%.  If three members of the ward leadership are involved, then 12% of the ward follows suit.  If stake leaders are similarly working, ward involvement increases to 15%.

It dawned upon me that I am part of the stake leadership, so I thought it might be important for me to let you know what I am doing, and to let you know how much joy and satisfaction I'm getting out of the effort.

I am grateful that we have three temples that are within a 2 ½ hour drive from my home.  That's something I can do on a weekly basis.  For 10 years I got to serve as an ordinance worker in the Boise and Meridian Temples.  That was the best calling I ever had.

Somewhere I think that a record is kept of where the people live who attend the temples.  I hope that the regular temple attendance of my wife, you, and me is building up points that might possibly make construction of a closer temple possible.  I can't imagine how that might be, but who knows?  If we show the interest, God says that He grants blessings according to our desires.  (D&C 6:8).

I began this talk by telling about three superlatives I'd found in two verses of 1 Nephi, chapter 13.  I will end by bearing testimony to the superlative feelings that come from remembering the captivity of our fathers, and from our efforts to repay them for their sacrifices by releasing them from the spirit prison.

(Note:  As I prepared for sleep last evening I found those three superlatives as I read the Book of Mormon.  Just before 2:00 A.M. I awoke wondering what the three superlatives were.  I had to get out of bed and look them up.  Thoughts started coming which needed to be recorded before I forgot them.  I expected that I'd be back in bed in just a few minutes.  The Holy Ghost poured one thought after another into my head.  I love such episodes more than anything.  When I finished, I looked at the clock, and discovered that it was 5:00!  I nestled down under my blanket, and tried to sleep, but I had a lot of adrenaline going.  I finally got another hour of sleep, and got up at 7:00.)