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Weekly Family History Activities



A Come, Follow Me Companion
for Book of Mormon


Week 21: May 20–26 | Mosiah 18-24




"We Have Entered into a Covenant with Him"

Mosiah 18–24

From Come, Follow Me :

Consider how deeply the believers described in Mosiah 18 felt about Jesus Christ. They had to meet secretly, at great risk, to learn about Him (see verse 3). And when given the chance to show their commitment by the covenant of baptism, “they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts” (Mosiah 18:11).
The account of Alma and his people in Mosiah 18; 23–24 shows what it means to “come into the fold of God” (Mosiah 18:8). When Alma’s people were baptized, they made a covenant with God to “serve him and keep his commandments” (Mosiah 18:10).






Baptism Memories

Take turns telling about your baptismal day. Where were you baptized and by whom? Who was there to share your baptism? What do you remember about that day? How did you feel when you were baptized? Who attended your baptism? Help younger children and others who have not yet been baptized express their feelings about looking forward to that day. What does baptism mean to you?



Capture these stories as they are being told, using the FamilySearch Memories App, or use Record My Story (see this blog post). You might want to create a folder, book, or digital file of baptism memories of family members. Upload the photos to FamilySearch Memories. This would be a beautiful gift for anyone of any age preparing for baptism or just a wonderful way to share memories with those you love.






Baptism for the Dead

"What a marvelous thing that is that you ... can stand in the place of some great man or woman who at one time lived upon the earth but who is now powerless to move forward without the blessing that you can give to him or her. … There is no greater blessing. ... And it will be your privilege and your opportunity and your responsibility to live worthy to go to the temple of the Lord and there be baptized in behalf of someone else." Gordon B. Hinckley, Baptism for the Dead



You and your family may enjoy reading a printed baptismal program or searching for other documents about an ancestor's baptism. Where was he or she baptized? At what age? Who performed the baptism and confirmation? How are you related to this person? If related, can you find him or her on the family tree?

To find those persons in your family tree without the ordinances of baptism and confirmation, find step-by-step instructions in the Church of Jesus Christ section of The Family History Guide. Here you will find links to the following and more:

Use "Ordinances Ready" to find family names for the ordinances you choose to perform. Print out these names so you are ready to go. Find joy in accepting the challenges given by Elder Neil L. Andersen and Elder Dale G. Renlund "to find as many names for the temple as ordinances performed in the temple." If you need additional help, check out these blogs: Ordinances Ready on the FamilySearch App and Request Temple Ordinances for Family Names.

Watch the video below to learn more.



View your relationship to each person for whom you will be performing proxy ordinances, and learn about them through the links provided. There is no requirement to do any verification on the records found. It is simply taking this information an optional step further in order to help your research. Read Using Ordinances Ready to Discover New Research Opportunities to see how this tool can help.

Check out Youth: Latter-day Saints and FamilySearch In-Home Activities.





Mosiah 18

From Come, Follow Me :

We need each other. As members of Christ’s Church, we covenant to serve God by helping and serving one another along the way, “bear[ing] one another’s burdens” (Mosiah 18:8–10). Alma’s people definitely had burdens to bear, just as we all do. And one way the Lord helps us “bear up [our] burdens with ease” (Mosiah 24:15) is by giving us a community of Saints who have promised to mourn with us and comfort us, just as we have promised to do for them.



Family history can open doors for ministering to others. Choose someone to help receive promised blessings for participation in temple and family history work such as:

  • Increased understanding of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice
  • Increased influence of the Holy Ghost to feel strength and direction for our own lives
  • Increased faith, so that conversion to the Savior becomes deep and abiding
  • Increased ability and motivation to learn and repent because of an understanding of who we are, where we come from, and a clearer vision of where we are going
  • Increased refining, sanctifying, and moderating influences in our hearts
  • Increased joy through an increased ability to feel the love of the Lord
  • Increased family blessings, no matter our current, past, or future family situation or how imperfect our family tree may be
  • Increased love and appreciation for ancestors and living relatives, so we no longer feel alone
  • Increased power to discern that which needs healing and thus, with the Lord's help, serve others
  • Increased protection from temptations and the intensifying influence of the adversary
  • Increased assistance to mend troubled, broken, or anxious hearts and make the wounded whole

Dale G. Renlund, Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing

Read more: Ministering through Family History.




Creating a FamilySearch Account and “Family Tree”

Help others create a family tree on FamilySearch. Many family history activities require a FamilySearch account. See Create Account, and FamilySearch Project 1, Goal 1.



See Add Ancestors: Project 1, Goal 7. Building your own tree will help you find where you connect to FamilySearch's global family tree. With one connection, your small family tree could suddenly stretch back hundreds of years! See also How to Start a Family Tree on FamilySearch. 

You may want to explore the Memories App for iOS and Android. Also learn about the Family Tree App for doing family history on your phone.

See also:



The Family History Guide also has instructions for creating your family tree on Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FindMyPast. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can sign up for these sites for free. See FamilySearch partner accounts. Learn from The Family History Guide here.




Ministering to Others Through Family History



There are so many family history activities to help others in their temple and family history journey once they have four generations filled in on FamilySearch. 

Family history activities resources:




Temple Preparation

To help others learn about the temple, you could use Your Path to the Temple.

Review Know Before You Go: Temple Baptisms and also try some of the activities from FamilySearch In-Home Activities to prepare to go to the temple to do ordinance work for the first time. Search for more activities in the Weekly Family History Activities. 



Support newly baptized members, attend the temple with them if possible, and help them do vicarious work for their own ancestors! 

See:



Take someone 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. Enjoy watching videos of temples or seeing pictures of temples, and family temple marriage stories. Ministering to others could include going to the temple together to do ordinances for the dead.



Your Personal History



Write one story about your life as you study each Come, Follow Me lesson. Write about the day you were baptized and the feelings you had that day.


  • What are you doing to keep the promises you made at baptism?
  • How have you been converted?