Years ago, Elder Wilford W. Anderson gave a talk asking if when we danced, could we hear the music?  He recited the story of an elderly Native American visiting an emergency room and a young doctor asked, “How can I help you?” The elderly gentleman looked straight ahead and said nothing. The doctor tried again, explaining that he could not help him if he wouldn’t speak to him.

The elderly man then looked at the doctor and asked, “Do you dance?” “No,” said the doctor, “I don’t dance. Do you dance?” The elderly gentleman nodded yes. Then the doctor asked, “Could you teach me to dance?”  “I can teach you to dance, but you have to hear the music.”

How many times in our lives do we dance but never hear the music. As the elderly Native American knew, it’s hard to dance without music. In terms of the gospel, we can learn the steps in our minds, but we hear the music with our hearts. The dance steps of the gospel are the things we do; the music of the gospel is the joyful spiritual feeling that comes from the Holy Ghost because of our actions. As we experience the music, it often brings a change of heart.

I liken this to Family History; we can go through the steps without ever hearing the music, without ever experiencing the joyful spiritual feelings that can accompany our actions. But if we are sensitive to the Spirit as we “dance” with family history, we will be able to hear the music and know that this work is ordained of Heaven. The Spirit will confirm to each of us that those we are discovering, blessing and getting to know are real, and do want our help!

If we can “dance” and “hear the music” in our FamilySearch efforts, it will make all the difference for each of us. I hope that we will all listen for the music and not just mechanically go through the steps without ever listening for the music!

The joy of the dance will only be experienced when we come to hear the music.

– Doug Nielsen, Director, Granite FamilySearch Center