Memorial Day was established to cause us to remember and honor those who have gone before us.

After the Civil War, there were those who wanted to remember and honor fallen Union soldiers. Eventually that sentiment expanded to include all those who had died in any war. And today Memorial Day is a national holiday where we remember all those that we have loved and lost.

Personally, when I visit family graves, my memory is renewed with love for them, even those I didn’t know. And for those I did know, life’s experiences with them return. Their hallowed graves touch this child’s heart and turn it to his father’s each time I go.

So in the Spirit of Memorial Day, may I share something with you that you may not have considered before?

We are the children of the Prophets, and I promise you it matters a great deal to our ancient fathers that we do not forget them and their legacy.

Now, there were many, but I’ll mention just a few. Some 700 years before Christ, the Great Isaiah was killed for his testimony of the Messiah. He died a martyr – a witness. Then Peter, the Savior’s chief apostle, was crucified upside down, also for being of Christ. James was run through with a sword. Paul was beheaded. Nearly all of the Savior’s apostles died violent deaths for their witness of Christ. They gave their lives, effectively sealing, making permanent, their testimonies for all time. (Hebrews 9:16-17)

My friends, the single greatest expression of testimony is for the witness to voluntarily give his life for it. Now these were not the last martyrs.

June 27, 1844, an enraged mob stormed a small jail in Carthage, Illinois. When their fury was through, two innocent men lay dead; two men who bore the same witness as Peter and James, and died for the same reasons. And their innocent blood is now an ambassador.

Please, now, in light of what I’ve said, think about the Savior’s words through Malachi: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their Fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5-6)

Memorial Day originated to honor those slain for freedom. Well, what of those slain for the word of the Lord? I can’t go to the graves of the ancient ones, but I can go to their testimonies. The Holy Scriptures cost the lives of the best men of their times. Therefore, it behooves us as grateful children that we turn our hearts to our prophet Fathers with a greater reverence for the written memorial they left us. And when we do, we will be led to Him who will bring life again to all men.