Latter-day Saint Topics

"Find your grandfathers and grandmothers and your distant cousins who have gone before you. Take their names to the temple with you." (Neil L. Andersen, “Spiritual Whirlwinds,” Ensign, May 2014, 21)

"As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives." (David A. Bednar, "The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn," Ensign, November 2011, 27)

"It is no coincidence that FamilySearch and other tools have come forth at a time when young people are so familiar with a wide range of information and communication technologies. Your fingers have been trained to text and tweet to accelerate and advance the work of the Lord." (David A. Bednar, "The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn," Ensign, November 2011, 26)

"[Family history work] is a vital part of the work of salvation and exaltation. You have been prepared for this day and to build up the kingdom of God. You are here upon the earth now to assist in this glorious work." (David A. Bednar, "The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn," Ensign, November 2011, 27)

"Don't underestimate the influence of the deceased in assisting your efforts and the joy of ultimately meeting those you serve." (Quentin L. Cook, "Roots and Branches," Ensign, May 2014, 46–47)

"If the youth in each ward will not only go to the temple and do baptisms for their dead but also work with their families and other ward members to provide the family names for the ordinance work they perform, both they and the Church will be greatly blessed." (Quentin L. Cook, "Roots and Branches," Ensign, May 2014, 46)

"Family history centers are now in our homes." (Quentin L. Cook, "Roots and Branches," Ensign, May 2014, 46)

"The eternally significant blessing of uniting our own families is almost beyond comprehension." (Quentin L. Cook, "Roots and Branches," Ensign, May 2014, 47)

"Family history work, heaven-blessed by technology, has dramatically increased in the past few years. We would be unwise to become complacent about this divinely appointed responsibility and expect that Aunt Jane or some other committed relative will take care of it. Let me share President Joseph Fielding Smith's jarring comments: “None is exempt from this great obligation. It is required of the apostle as well as the humblest elder [or sister]. Place, or distinction, or long service in the Church . . . will not entitle one to disregard the salvation of one’s dead." (Quentin L. Cook, "Prepare to Meet God," Ensign, May 2018, 114; Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie (1955), 2:148–49)

"You hold in your hands the happiness of more people than you can now imagine." (Henry B. Eyring, "A Priceless Heritage of Hope," Ensign, 22)

"Remember that the names which will be so difficult to find are of real people to whom you owe your existence in this world and whom you will meet again in the spirit world. When you were baptized, your ancestors looked down on you with hope. Perhaps after centuries, they rejoiced to see one of their descendants make a covenant to find them and to offer them freedom. . . . Their hearts are bound to you. Their hope is in your hands. You will have more than your own strength as you choose to labor on to find them." (Henry B. Eyring, "Hearts Bound Together," Ensign, May 2005, 80)

"One of the most troublesome aspects of our temple activity is that as we get more and more temples scattered across the earth there is duplication of effort in proxy work. People in various nations simultaneously work on the same family lines and come up with the same names. They do not know that those in other areas are doing the same thing. We, therefore, have been engaged for some time in a very difficult undertaking. To avoid such duplication, the solution lies in complex computer technology. Preliminary indications are that it will work, and if this is so, it will be a truly remarkable thing with worldwide implications." (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Opening Remarks," Ensign, November 2011, 5–6)

"We are going to make mistakes, but none of us can become an expert in family history work without first being a novice. Therefore, we must plunge into this work, and we must prepare for some uphill climbing." (Thomas S. Monson, "Hastening the Work," Ensign, June 2014, 4)

"In the last year [2013] the number of members submitting names for temple ordinances is up 17% over last year. It has gone from 2.4 to 2.7 percent of the members. While normally a 17% improvement is thought of as impressive it also says that there are over 97% of members who are not regularly submitting names for temple ordinances. This is a call for a change." (Allan F. Packer, "Spiritual Passport," [address given at RootsTech 2014, Feb. 2014], Salt Lake City)

"No work is more of a protection to this Church than temple work and the family history research that supports it. No work is more spiritually refining. No work we do gives us more power. No work requires a higher standard of righteousness. Our labors in the temple cover us with a shield and a protection, both individually and as a people." (Boyd K. Packer, "The Holy Temple," Ensign, October 2010, 35)

"The whole chain of God's family shall be welded together into one chain, and they shall all become the family of God and His Christ." (Joseph F. Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, 411)

"Through our efforts in their behalf their chains of bondage will fall from them, and the darkness surrounding them will clear away, that light may shine upon them and they shall hear in the spirit world of the work that has been done for them by their [people] here, and will rejoice with you in your performance of these duties." (Joseph F. Smith, in Conference Report, Oct. 1916, 6)

"When the Gospel is preached to the spirits in prison, the success attending that preaching will be far greater than that attending the preaching of our Elders in this life. I believe there will be very few indeed of those spirits who will not gladly receive the Gospel when it is carried to them. The circumstances there will be a thousand times more favorable." (Lorenzo Snow, "Discourse by President Lorenzo Snow," The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, no. 4, vol. 56 [Jan. 22, 1904], 50)

"Each of us will be greatly blessed if we know the stories of faith and sacrifice that led our forefathers to join the Lord's Church." (William R. Walker, "Live True to the Faith," Ensign, May 2014, 99)

"The process of finding our ancestors one by one can be challenging but also exciting and rewarding. We often feel spiritual guidance as we go to the sources which identify them. Because this is a very spiritual work, we can expect help from the other side of the veil. We feel a pull from our relatives who are waiting for us to find them so their ordinance work can be done." (James E. Faust, Ensign, November 2003)

"We want to sacrifice enough to do the will of God in preparing to bring up those who have not had the privilege of hearing the Gospel while in the flesh, for the simple reason that, in the spirit world, they cannot officiate in the ordinances of the house of God. They have passed the ordeals, and are beyond the possibility of personally officiating for the remission of their sins and for their exaltation, consequently they are under the necessity of trusting in their friends, their children and their children's children to officiate for them, that they may be brought up into the celestial kingdom of God." (Brigham Young, Discourses by Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 622–623)

Alvear, Cristina—My Family History Challenge
Barney, L. Michael—10-Generation Phone Call
Bednar, David A.—Mission, Fam. History, Temple
Bednar, David A.—Hearts of Children Shall Turn
Church News—President and Sister Oaks Share Personal Experiences during Family Discovery Day
Clifford, Shane—An Adopted Son's Family History Journey
Cook, Quentin L.—Roots and Branches
Cook, Quentin L.—The Joy of Family History Work
Cook, Quentin L.—Prepare to Meet God
Ensign—I Am Not a Son
Ensign—I Find Joy in Family History When ...
Eyring, Henry B.—The Promise of Hearts Turning
Eyring, Henry B.—Gathering the Family of God
Foster, Bradley D.—Family History: Peace, Protection, and Promises
Greener, Glen—Family History Sustained Me
Greenhalgh, Jana—Family History Treasure Hunt
Harris, Amy—How Family History Changes Hearts & Minds
Hovley, Margaret—Family History at Your Fingertips
Hovley, Margaret—Sweeten the Sabbath with Family History
Johnson, Kimberly—From Family History to the Temple
Lewis, Constance Palmer—Starting from Scratch
Moss, Carol Brennan—Fam. History for the Rising Generation
Moss, Carol Brennan—Touched by the Spirit of Elijah
Nelson, Russell M.—Generations Linked in Love
Nelson, Russell M.—Open the Heavens through Temple and Family History Work
Odekirk, Sally Johnson—Youth and Family History Come Together
Odekirk, Sally Johnson—Youth and Finding William
Packer, Alan F.—The Book
Puscasu, Amneris—The Old Family Album: The Power of Family Stories
Renlund, Dale G.—Family History and Temple Blessings
Renlund, Dale G.—Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing
Scott, Richard G.—Joy of Redeeming the Dead
Wixom, Rosemary—Temples, Taproots, and Family Trees
Zanini, Yuri Siqueira—Searching for Ancestors and Finding Truth

A Sacrifice of Time
A Story You Need to See
And the River Will Grow
Connected to Eternal Families
Create Your Own Spiritual Dynamite
Discover Your Family History, Discover Your Story
Sharing the Temple Challenge
Elder Renlund Promises Power with Temple Challenge
From the Head to the Heart
Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing
Looking Back Prepares Us to Go Forward
One Great Work of Salvation
The Promised Blessings of Family History
The Taproot that Anchors Us
The Temple is about Families
The Essentiality of Family History Work