Family History: Discover, Gather, Connect

Local temple and family history consultants can help Church members and others to find the joy that comes from discovering, gathering, and connecting with ancestors, according to Elder Bradley D. Foster, General Authority Seventy and Executive Director of the Church’s Family History Department.

Everyone has stories from their family history. And wonderful things can happen when you start searching for and finding them.

“Our emphasis for the coming year is to help the consultants see their role in helping members to have this experience,” Elder Foster said. “We do that one by one. We go to [people] wherever they are, with a special emphasis on those who are turning 12 and those who are new converts.” Those two groups benefit quickly from seeing how temple work strengthens families through the eternities, and they often generate enthusiasm among their own friends and families.

Even those who are not members of the Church can have the discover-gather-connect experience through one-on-one assistance in any of more than 5,000 FamilySearch family history centers worldwide.