THE HOPES AND ASPIRATIONS OF EDWARD BUNKER AND MARY MATHIESON MCQUARRIE
To all Family Members, January 1983
I consider it a great honor to be the presiding officer of the Family Organization of Edward Bunker and Mary Mathieson McQuarrie. Their family is a family of great and important children. We have progressed forward through several generations since they were here. We now number into the thousands. They set a standard for their children and all of their posterity. That standard was so important to them that they made it the foundation of their hopes and desires, their relationships and family life, their activities and labors. That standard became to them more important than any other consideration. When we read and study what is available about them, we find that each of them were willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary to adopt that standard and have it become their way of life and their hope for the future. They found a perfect way of life in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and wanted this for their family in all of the generations to come.
We are now organized in an ancestral family and we note that within this organization there are many grandparent families and immediate families who claim the inheritance of a noble birthright which in part dates back to these two wonderful ancestors of ours. We have not only inherited their name, we have the gift of their example, their teachings and their influence as it is handed down to us. It is our desire to perpetuate their influence in the lives of all of their posterity and carry on in the work which is of great concern to them. Their interest and desires for their family have not faded. If anything it has intensified. The salvation of all members of this great family is at stake.
It is important that we assume our responsibility to extend the knowledge which conveys their desires, their hopes, and their undying responsibility for the continuation of their family as is to be extended on into the eternities. When I read the biographies and writings which have been handed down to us as a part of our great heritage, it becomes obvious to me that these noble parents of our ancestral family had intended that these writings should all be kept and prepared as a part of our sacred family records. President Spencer W. Kimball has said, “We have asked the members of the Church to further the work of turning the hearts of the children to the fathers by getting their sacred family records in order,” and again, “those who keep a book of remembrance are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives.”
I rejoice in this counsel. I know that it is true for I am greatly motivated to live up to their standard of righteousness, their example, and their hopes and expectations as I feast upon their words and what has been said of them. We have been given the responsibility to keep family records so that our families and those of the generations to come can have the knowledge of the earlier generations. It would be a great loss to our children if we failed to provide for them a record, not only of their ancestors, but also of our lives and God’s dealings with us. We refer to these sacred records as our Books of Remembrance and it is our desire that we fulfill the desire of our ancestors and the counsel of our prophet by extending a record that is worthy of them. This record should find a proper place in each of our homes and become an important part of our most sacred possessions. For it to be sacred it must be used and made a part of our regular reading and studying.
Our Books of Remembrance are not just an organized accumulation of histories, writings, pictures and journals. Of great importance is our genealogy. Much work has been done by some of our family so that we can have the genealogy of those who have gone before us. We see volumes of pedigree charts and family group sheets. They need to be organized and used to guide us. Genealogy is, by its very nature, a family labor. As we participate in it, we open the way for eternal blessings to flow in the lives of both the living and deceased members of this family. It will not be the function of this family organization to gather together frequently as we hope will be done in our immediate and grandparent families, but we do desire to be effective in coordinating genealogical activity on those lineages which all of the members of our Ancestral family organization have in common. By our working together members can make great progress in their research on these lineages. By organizing our efforts we can share in the financial burdens, we can use to the maximum advantage the various members of the family who have research and record abilities and we can perform the work in the temples for our ancestors whose names have been properly prepared for these sacred ordinances.
I feel that our parents of the past generations are most anxious that we in this generation and the generations to come do not let their interests and their work die. They want us to keep this family alive and geared to the work they started. They want the Gospel of Jesus Christ to become paramount in all of the avenues of our interest and concern as we carry on in maintaining their goals and aspirations. They want us to strengthen our family bonds of righteousness so that we can be sealed together and partake of the great blessings of eternal life.
We must not fail them for in failing them we fail ourselves. We must see that their lives were lived for us. They pointed the way and set the standard. They have great expectations that their efforts shall not have been in vain. Their hope is that we will be a united family in time and eternity. They want a family that is not created by birth alone. They want their family to be forged by time, patience, service and sacrifice.
Let us remember that the plan that our Father in Heaven prepared for His children is family centered. It is a plan for our salvation. It is designed to help us create eternal family units of our own. Let us work together that the Holy Spirit of promise may place a stamp of approval upon our sacred ordinances that shall seal us together eternally. Sincerely your president,
Ferren W. Bunker
Source:Brent Bunker