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Come, Follow Me is a resource offered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is designed to be used in the home to support personal and family scripture study to build faith in Heavenly Father and His plan of salvation and in the Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Come, Follow Me is self-contained and adequate, when used properly. Products and materials designed to supplement this resource, though they may be helpful in some instances, are not necessary for a successful home study program.
Ezra 1; 3–7; Nehemiah 2; 4–6; 8
The Lord inspires people to bring about His purposes.
From Come, Follow Me:
How do you see the Lord working through men and women around you, including those who are not members of His Church? What does this suggest to you about the Lord and His work?
Susa Young Gates, the daughter of President Brigham Young (1801–1877), once asked her father “how it would ever be possible to accomplish the great amount of temple work that must be done, if all are given a full opportunity for exaltation. He told her there would be many inventions of labor-saving devices, so that our daily duties could be performed in a short time, leaving us more and more time for temple work.” (Archibald F. Bennett, “Put on Thy Strength, O Zion!” Improvement Era, Oct. 1952)
President Spencer W. Kimball: “I feel that when we have done all in our power that the Lord will find a way to open doors. That is my faith. …I believe that the Lord is anxious to put into our hands inventions of which we laymen have hardly had a glimpse” (“When the World Will Be Converted.” Ensign, Oct. 1974)
Elder Richard G. Scott: “Many brilliant minds and sensitive hearts have harnessed advanced technology to provide personal computer helps to simplify family history work.” (Ensign, Nov. 1990)
President Nelson: ‘The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead.’ [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith.] New technology makes it easier than ever to fulfill that responsibility. (Generations Linked in Love, Ensign, May 2010)
There can be little doubt that the Lord has inspired men and women to develop these incredible technologies and inspired new inventions to bring about His work on an unprecedented scale.
What was temple and family history work like in the past? What new inventions and tools have helped you to do the work in your lifetime?
Click on FamilySearch "In-Home Activities" and take a look at All About Me. This is a fun guessing game to help us all realize how quickly and dramatically things change in our lives, and especially how technology has developed, and how opportunities to serve others in temples have escalated since your birth year.
What about what life was like for living relatives and ancestors the year they were born and any other year of their lives? What was life like for them when they were your age? The birth year for the game can be changed right on the page!
Capture these conversations by learning how to record stories and preserve and share photos.
Try using the Get involved App. Help people lost to history get found by their families. FamilySearch explains: “Our computers find names in old documents, but they often make mistakes. Reviewing the names and fixing the mistakes is an easy way to help others discover their ancestors.”
Read more in this article: FamilySearch's Use of Artificial Intelligence and Handwriting Recognition.
When Elder David A. Bednar said, "Your fingers have been trained to text and tweet to accelerate and advance the work of the Lord—not just to communicate quickly with your friends," he was talking to the youth of the church!
I invite the young people of the Church to learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah. I encourage you to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare yourselves to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord for your kindred dead (see D&C 124:28–36). And I urge you to help other people identify their family histories.
As you respond in faith to this invitation, your hearts shall turn to the fathers. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and be more meaningful to you.
Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase. Your testimony of and conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary." General Conference October 2011, The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn
Get to know The Family History Guide to be able to help others do temple and family history work - it is truly your new best friend! It absolutely lives up to its mission to “greatly increase the number of people actively involved in family history worldwide, and to make everyone's family history journey easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable.”
Be sure to check out this section: Youth Home | Youth: Latter-day Saints and A Great Work.
Temples can bring me joy.
From Come, Follow Me:
How did the Jews show their joy for the temple as it was being rebuilt and then as it was dedicated? What are we doing to show our joy for the temple? (see temples.ChurchofJesusChrist.org). How can you demonstrate your gratitude to the Lord for temples?
For modern examples of rejoicing at the building of temples, see the videos “Practice, Celebration, Dedication: Temple Blessings in El Salvador” and “The Laie Hawaii Temple Youth Cultural Celebration” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
Elder Matthew Cowley, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, once recounted the Saturday afternoon experience of a grandfather as hand in hand he took his small granddaughter on a birthday visit—not to the zoo or to the movies but to the temple grounds. With permission of the groundskeeper, the two walked to the large doors of the temple. He suggested that she place her hand on the sturdy wall and then on the massive door. Tenderly he then said to her, "Remember that this day you touched the temple. One day you will go inside." His gift to the little one was not candy or ice cream but an experience far more significant and everlasting—an appreciation of the house of the Lord. She had touched the temple, and the temple had touched her. (Thomas S. Monson, "Blessings of the Temple," Ensign, October 2010)
One idea is to visit a temple (if you live close enough) to talk about the peace being in the temple can bring, and how doing work there for the dead blesses those on both sides of the veil. Share stories from your family history about the temple and how it has blessed your ancestors and you.
Enjoy watching videos of temples or seeing pictures of temples, and talking about ways to increase temple blessing in your lives. You might want to share stories, photos or videos you have of temple marriages in your family. You could also plan a celebration of your own when a temple is announced or dedicated.
Make a collection of the stories of how you and those you love have been blessed by temple worship. Share with your family. This collection would make a beautiful gift for anyone preparing to go to the temple for the first time.
You can scan or take a photo of hand-written testimonies to preserve in Memories on FamilySearch. See instructions in The Family History Guide here. Record using the FamilySearch Memories app or the Record My Story feature.
You can also share these memories from FamilySearch via text, email, etc. by tapping the "share" symbol. Your testimony may contain the very words that will help strengthen someone’s testimony of the temple. Read more here and sing “I Love to See the Temple.”
Discover specific temple details in My Ancestors's Temples. You will need to have a free FamilySearch account and four generations entered into the family tree.
Sign Up for Free Partner Memberships
As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you qualify for a free basic membership with Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast, and other family history sites. You can build family trees on these sites and search a wide variety of records collections they provide. Learn more here.