day-of-the-dead
A notice from the Church’s Mexico Area Presidency about Day of the Dead celebrations in 2023 reads, “They deserve to be remembered.”2023 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.
By Mary Richards, Church News
Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, celebrations are being held this week — where family members who have died are remembered.
The Mexico Area presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent a letter to members of the Church in Mexico inviting them to take part in activities to help them remember their ancestors and help them on their path back to Heavenly Father through temple and family history work.
“One way to remember them is to use the FamilySearch’s Family Tree app to record their names and connect them with the rest of their family,” said the letter, as reported in the Church’s Mexico Newsroom.
In the app, members of family groups can collaboratively add and share memories with one another about living or deceased relatives. They will also be able to collaborate with one another on adding facts and sources for a living relative.
Then, users can use the “Ordinances Ready” option to take those names to the temple and perform ordinances for them.
The letter from the area presidency quoted President Russell M. Nelson’s invitation to gather Israel from his 2018 Worldwide Youth Devotional:
“That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.”
In a social media post this week, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson also invited people to reflect on their ancestors during Día de Muertos celebrations.
“I love the tradition of remembering our loved ones,” she said.
When she was recently in Mexico City, she saw an exhibition in the visitor’s center next to the temple celebrating Latter-day Saint pioneers and was grateful for their examples and sacrifice.
“I think often of my own grandmothers who sacrificed to receive bachelor’s degrees. Their sacrifice instilled in me a desire to be educated and self-reliant,” she said. “What have your loved ones taught you? How has their faith strengthened your testimony?”
