Tips, Ideas for Involving Leaders and Latter-day Saints in Temple and Family History Work

When it comes to temple and family history work, feelings of confusion, overwhelm and a general lack of knowledge or motivation are common obstacles, noted Scott and Angelle Anderson, volunteers for The Family History Guide, in a virtual RootsTech class published March 5.

In this and other classes, presenters at RootsTech addressed these concerns, providing tips and ideas for leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to participate in uniting families eternally.

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“To you that have these callings and these opportunities to help others, what a privilege. We know there are challenges, we know there are difficulties, but as we really focus on the purpose of family history, miracles happen,” said Scott Anderson.

Focus on the Savior

In a March 8 panel discussion for those with temple and family history callings, North America manager of FamilySearch Tamra Stansfield said that, as with all things, temple and family history work should focus on the Savior.

Quoting the words of Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, General Authority Seventy, found in the August 2024 issue of the “Liahona” magazine, Stansfield said: “Ofttimes, we focus first on genealogy, which leads us to our ancestors, which leads us to participating in ordinances and making covenants in the temple, which then binds us to the Savior.”

“That is wonderful, but we should flip that script,” Stansfield said, continuing to read the words of Elder Hamilton. “The Savior comes first. We seek a closer relationship with Him, so we go to the house of the Lord and receive ordinances and make covenants with Him, binding us to Him. Then we enable that for our deceased ancestors by seeking them out and performing temple ordinances for them.”

Stansfield testified that following this pattern — a pattern which is similarly described in the Church’s General Handbook — will help leaders and Latter-day Saints come unto Christ, make and keep sacred covenants through temple ordinances, discover their deceased ancestors and perform ordinances on behalf of them.

Discover as Wards, Families and Individuals

“Family history in the past was defined in a narrow way,” said Scott Anderson, speaking to listeners worldwide. “Find names, take them to the temple and teach other people to do the same.”

Now, he explained, family history is about discovery. “It’s about your mom, it’s about your dad, it’s about your grandma, about your grandpa, but mostly about you: discovering who you are.”

To help members cultivate a spirit of discovery, Scott and Angelle Anderson recommended that Church leaders consider initiating one or more temple and family history “campaigns” in their wards or branches, such as:

• Encouraging members to fill out four generations on their FamilySearch family tree.
• Inviting them to engage in family history five minutes a day for 21 days, whether it be through genealogy or sharing stories with friends and family.
• Providing opportunities for members to record their own stories via Memories on FamilySearch or the Together app.
• Creating a social media account where members can share theirs and/or their ancestors’ stories.

“Recording stories captures the essence of our family history,” said Scott Anderson. “And to have the whole ward sharing their experiences on social media, it encourages and allows others to get excited about this work too.”

For families and individuals, Scott and Angelle Anderson said there’s a variety of ways they can begin to “catch fire of what family history is really about.” One example they gave is the Family History Fun Basket where families and individuals can gather; draw simple activities or questions out of a hat, jar or basket; and learn more about each other through the activities they perform.

Serving as volunteers for the Family History Guide, Scott and Angelle Anderson also pointed listeners to the guide’s website and YouTube where other free resources and ideas catered to families, individuals, youth and children are available.

Calling Helps and Resources

During the March 8 panel discussion, Merrill White and Glenn Adamz — FamilySearch area managers in North America — emphasized a few tools to help bishoprics, elders quorum and Relief Society presidencies, and those with temple and family history callings lead ward efforts.

Among these was section 25 of the Church’s General Handbook which provides detailed instructions on how to organize temple and family history work at the ward level. Having recently inquired about the success of members participating in temple and family history work in Laie, Hawaii, White said all of their efforts followed the instructions in the General Handbook.

“They were not doing anything extra,” he said. “They were just doing exactly what’s in the handbook…, and it made a huge difference.”

Thus, White encouraged listeners to study and follow the handbook, also inviting them to study the websites and resources they’ve specifically designed for Church leaders and temple and family history consultants.

Another “great help” for those serving within temple and family history, Adamz said, is the Family History Activity Report which helps leaders track engagement through statistics and compare it with past years. A guide to understand the report, how to access it and who has access to it is available by signing in on FamilySearch.