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.
Forgiveness brings healing.
From Come, Follow Me:
Joseph recognized that although his experience in Egypt had been difficult, "God meant it unto good" (Genesis 50:20). Has your family experienced any trials that God turned into blessings?
In his conference address titled Family History And Temple Work: Sealing And Healing, Elder Dale G. Renlund shares that family history and temple work is not only for the dead, but blesses the living as well. "[As] we participate in family history and temple work today, we also lay claim to 'healing' blessings promised by prophets and apostles."
"If you have prayed for any of these blessings, participate in family history and temple work," Elder Renlund said. "As you do so, your prayers will be answered."
Copy each of the blessings listed below on small pieces of paper and put them into a basket. In a group or as a family, take turns drawing them out one-by-one and discussing the reasons why you would want that particular blessing in your life.
After the discussion activity, ask, "What one thing can we do to have these incredible blessings in our lives and in the lives of those we love?" Refer to Elder Renlund's talk (see above). Make plans together to do more temple and family history work to receive these blessings.
President Russell M. Nelson invites us to make the Sabbath a delight by spending time doing family history: "Searching for and finding family members who have preceded you on earth—those who did not have an opportunity to accept the gospel while here—can bring immense joy." The Sabbath Is A Delight
The Sabbath is a great day to find and enjoy stories - especially about those you plan to do temple work for and those you have done work for. See 10 Ways to Find Ancestor's Stories, and the FamilySearch Fan Chart which features family lines, birth country, sources, photos, research helps, and ordinances. You can print a chart with any of this information. Make a fan chart "place mat" or frame and hang a chart on the wall for fun! Play Fan Chart Bingo (see Week #9, 2020), or toss a die onto the chart and share a fact or story about the ancestor it landed on. Learn more about that ancestor!
Find ancestor stories by clicking the Memories tab on the FamilySearch Person page for each ancestor. Check out the following sites for more options: Women of Faith, Military Records of Your Family's War Veterans, My Pioneer Ancestors, Missionaries, and more on the FamilySearch Discovery page.
The All The Stories site is a free, searchable site that will synchronize with FamilySearch all the stories that anyone has uploaded of your direct ancestors and their siblings - up to 9 generations back (along with how you are related to that ancestor, and how long the story takes to read).
With the FamilySearch Memories Audio app or the Record My Story feature on FamilySearch Discovery, gathering, recording, sharing, and preserving has never been easier. Read more here.
See also Family History on the Sabbath, and any of the Weekly Family History Activities that work well for the sabbath. Find more Sabbath day activities in Week #2 2026.
An idea to help us all do temple and family history work more consistently comes from an address Sister Wendy Nelson gave to the sisters of the church in a women's conference talk in 2015. She offered the invitation to busy, overburdened sisters to do some temple and family history work each day for 21 days and then to watch what happened. She was concerned that adding one more thing to their list of things "to do" would make them even more burdened but the opposite was true for all who participated. Even a few minutes per day helped them to see miracles in their lives and the lives of their families. Although this challenge was given to sisters of the church, it is applicable to everyone. Here are the links to the PDF and the video of Sister Nelson's talk:
Check out Five-Minute Family History Activity Ideas for Latter-day Saints. For more ideas from a ward who did the 21-day challenge, click here.
See also The Family History Guide activities for families, individuals, youth (and the special Youth: Latter-day Saints page), and children. Check out the BYU Family History Technology Lab, and the In-home and Online Activities on FamilySearch.
You may also want to join the Facebook group for The Twenty-one Day Family Connections Experiment (a family history project) and select a plan to follow for ideas and motivation. Read more about it here.
Check out Weekly Family History Activities - A Come Follow Me Companion for family history activities correlated to each Come, Follow Me lesson. These fun and easy activities can enrich your home-centered gospel study, while aiding your family in reaping the benefits and blessings of incorporating more family history into your lives.
See also:
As a family, find ancestors you can go do baptisms or other ordinances for in the temple (see Ordinance Work For The Dead). Also, if you haven't used Ordinances Ready yet, learn how here and read Ordinances Ready—Inspiring Members Around the World.
Read how to verify names and relationships here.
From Come, Follow Me:
As you read about Judah’s blessing in Genesis 49:8–12, remember that Jesus Christ was a descendant of Judah. What do you find in these verses that reminds you of the Savior? (see also Revelation 5:5–6, 9; 1 Nephi 15:14–15; Doctrine and Covenants 45:59; 133:46–50).
Reading these blessings might inspire you to review your patriarchal blessing—or, if you don’t have one, to receive one. What words and phrases in your blessing turn your thoughts to Jesus Christ?
Many personal messages from the Lord are found in patriarchal blessings.
Read more in Understanding Your Patriarchal Blessing.
In addition to studying your own patriarchal blessing, you can read and study those of your ancestors. Discovering how the Lord loved, guided, and blessed your ancestors for their obedience can provide perspective and motivation to also be obedient.
See this website to order copies of your deceased ancestors' patriarchal blessings.
From Come, Follow Me:
Joseph recognized that although his experience in Egypt had been difficult, “God meant it unto good” (Genesis 50:20). Has your family experienced any trials that God turned into blessings?
In addition to sharing experiences with each other of how you and your family members have experienced trials that turned into blessings, you might consider making a list of how your ancestors did this. What did they do in their lives that you can look to as examples of faith and fortitude? Consider also writing letters of gratitude to them and preserve these in FamilySearch memories. (See also Week #42 in Weekly Family History Activities)
Learn the Basics - The Family History Guide has a page that helps you get started with basic concepts in family history research. Check out the tips in Project 4: Discover, Goal 2, Choice A in the United States page.
