From
Come, Follow Me :
Parley P. Pratt had been a member of the Church for about a month when he was called "into the wilderness" to preach the gospel (Doctrine and Covenants 32:2). Thomas B. Marsh had been a member for even less time than that when he was told, "The hour of your mission is come" (Doctrine and Covenants 31:3). Orson Pratt, Edward Partridge, and many others had likewise barely been baptized when their mission calls came. Perhaps this timing was all of necessity—in the fall of 1830, no one had been a member of the Church for more than six months. But there's also a lesson in this pattern for us today: if you know enough to accept the restored gospel by baptism, you know enough to share it with others. Of course we always want to increase our gospel knowledge, but God has never hesitated to call upon the "unlearned" to preach His gospel (Doctrine and Covenants 35:13). In fact, He invites all of us, "Open your mouth to declare my gospel" (Doctrine and Covenants 30:5).
Similarly, you might say: if you know enough about family history to be participating (or even dabbling) in it, you know enough to share it with others. You can share your current knowledge, however small or large, with others as you continue to increase your own knowledge and skills.
Share Your Knowledge
Watch how one family shared their knowledge of family history with a sister in their ward.
Discuss some ways you can share your knowledge of family history with others. What are some interesting ways you can introduce family history to others? Determine an individual or family that you will approach, when you will do it, and how you will do it.
Relative Finder
Does your family descend from royalty? Are you related to a prophet? Maybe you are related to a famous movie star. Become familiar with
Relative Finder and discover who you are related to. This is a fun way you can introduce friends and family to family history. You can help them discover if they are related to presidents, prophets, famous Americans, European royalty, or movie stars (just to name a few categories). Think of someone you can share this fun discovery experience with to help them become acquainted with family history. (Individuals will need information in their FamilySearch
Family Tree in order for this to work. If they have not added their information to Family Tree, you can
help them add it.)
Relatives Around Me
One approach you can use to introduce individuals to family history is to utilize
Relatives Around Me. When you are with a group of people (within about 100 feet of each other), have everyone sign into the
FamilySearch Family Tree app. Everyone will be able to see how they are related to others. Try it in church groups, out with friends, with co-workers or even with your neighbors as you are visiting. (If any individuals have not added their information to FamilySearch
Family Tree, the app won’t be able to find their relatives. To help these friends, visit the
Getting Started page. You can
help them add their families to the Family Tree.)
Doctrine and Covenants 30–36
I am called to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
From
Come, Follow Me :
Whether or not you have a formal calling as a missionary, the Lord wants you to share His gospel, and many of His words to the early missionaries of this dispensation are for you too. As you study Doctrine and Covenants 30–36, record what you learn about the call to preach the gospel. You could make a list of things the Lord asks of His missionaries (for example, see Doctrine and Covenants 30:8) and another list of things the Lord promises them (for example, see Doctrine and Covenants 30:11).
"The time has come for us to capitalize more effectively on the potent combination of the mighty change of heart, made possible primarily by the spiritual power of the Book of Mormon, and the turning of hearts to the fathers, accomplished through the spirit of Elijah. A yearning for connection to our past can prepare an individual to receive the virtue of the word of God and fortify his or her faith. A heart turning to the fathers uniquely helps an individual withstand the influence of the adversary and strengthen conversion ... The artificial boundary line we so often place between missionary work and temple and family history work is being erased; this is one great work of salvation." (David A. Bednar [
address given at the seminar for new mission presidents on June 25, 2013, Salt Lake City]). Read more in Kathryn Grant's
FamilySearch blog post.
How do your life experiences prepare you to serve? What experiences of your ancestor missionaries have influenced you? What was a mission like for your ancestor missionaries? How have missionaries in your family helped spread the gospel?
Missionary Relatives
Do You Have an Early Mormon Missionary in Your Family Tree? You can view your missionary relatives by
clicking here and then signing in to your FamilySearch account. You may be able to find call and acceptance letters, photos, or even missionary journals. See also
Missionary Heritage: Journals and Letters and
Celebrate Your Missionary Heritage. Explore this
Church History Database for more information on your missionary relatives.
Google Maps/Google Earth
View and share memories of family history sites, travels, missions, houses, (countries, counties, etc.) and places where family members have lived (or now live). Try
Google Earth and
Street View Stories to get started. (Watch this
Google Earth Basics video to learn how to use Google Earth or read
How to Use Street View in Google Maps for more information.) For more fun (and for research), use The Family History Guide
Countries page along with Google Earth (
see this blog post). (
Fulfillment of Promises in Your Life
Note: President Nelson encouraged us to do the following for six months, but it may be a wonderful opportunity to carry this invitation through your study of the Doctrine and Covenants this year:
"As you study your scriptures during the next six months, I encourage you to make a list of all that the Lord has promised He will do for covenant Israel. I think you will be astounded! Ponder these promises. Talk about them with your family and friends. Then live and watch for these promises to be fulfilled in your own life." (President Russell M. Nelson,
Let God Prevail, October 2020 General Conference)
As you read your Come, Follow Me lesson this week, identify promises the Lord has promised He will do for you and add them to your list. Find promises in
Doctrine and Covenants 29 and write or
audio-record about their influence in your life.
Suggestion for journaling this week: Find the promises in
Doctrine and Covenants 30-36. Write or
audio-record about their influence in your life, and share with your family.
