Recorded in the 31st Ward newsletter, The Voice of the Thirty First Ward, William wrote under the title, An Experience of Inspiration, My Dear Brothers and Sisters: I would like you to know that it is my testimony to you that great satisfaction and inspiration can come from doing the work for your ancestors–both the research and the temple ordinances. These noble people are anxious to have the saving ordinances of the gospel performed for them. They have a right to expect you to do this work for them. They may even appear to you as in the following experience:
One of the teachers on my faculty came early one morning. Entering my office, he said, “Brother Tolman, when I arrived home from school yesterday, I entered by way of the kitchen. My mother, who had died ten years ago was seated at the table. Very surprised and startled, I said, ‘Mother, what are you doing here?’ She didn’t answer my question, but told me she had come to tell me that there were some things that I should be doing that I had neglected and should be concerned about now. She continued to give me counsel. When she finished, she left my presence. I am worried. I am not sure what she is referring to. Can you help me find the work I should be doing?”
Being at the time on the Church Priesthood Genealogy Committee, the thought came naturally into my mind and I said, “Have you completed the temple work for your own parents?”
“No, I haven’t.”
We concluded that that must be it, and he went to work. It was no easy task, for he spent six months completing the sheet. It was a happy day for him when he went to the house of the Lord and turned the key for his own parents to receive eternal life which is the greatest of all the gifts of God. Surely it is a joy to become a Savior on Mt. Zion as we do for the dead that which they cannot do for themselves.
Sincerely your brother,
William O. Tolman
(Contributed by the Thomas Tolman Family Organization. Excerpt from William Odell Tolman: Patriarch, Genealogist, Teacher compiled by Loraine Tolman Pace, First Edition, 2009, page 566).
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