Come, Follow Me is a resource offered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is designed to be used in the home to support personal and family scripture study to build faith in Heavenly Father and His plan of salvation and in the Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Come, Follow Me is self-contained and adequate, when used properly. Products and materials designed to supplement this resource, though they may be helpful in some instances, are not necessary for a successful home study program.
Like Mary, we sometimes find that God's plans for our life are quite different from what we had planned. What do you learn from Mary about accepting God's will?
Stories of Acceptance
Watch the short video below for ideas, and consider taking turns reading or telling stories about times in your lives and in the lives of your ancestors in which God's will was followed. Record and attach to your family tree using the FamilySearch audio app. Learn more about how to use the app here and see examples in this blog post.
Family Lines and Stories
From Come, Follow Me :
As your family reads the genealogy of Jesus, you might explain that it traces His royal lineage through Joseph back to King David. This lineage was significant because it had been prophesied that the Messiah would come through the lineage of David (see Jeremiah 23:5–6). This could be a good opportunity to discuss your own family history and share some stories about your ancestors. How does knowing about your family history bless your family?
Perhaps you would like to share and record more family stories but need to know where to find them. See Ten Ways To Find Family History Stories. To review the benefits of knowing your family stories, see Bruce Feiler's The Family Stories That Bind Us. To learn about the blessings, you might watch Elder Renlund's general conference address (see below), and then talk about what these blessings would mean to your family.
You can then share (and record) with family members what you will do to access these blessings and encourage each other in your family history efforts. See this page for a list of the blessings and a related activity.
See also We Each Have A Story by Elder Gerrit W. Gong.
See Your Family Lines
Explore Your Fan Chart
Explore your FamilySearch Fan Chart: 1) Sign into your FamilySearch account; 2) Open your family tree; 3) In the Landscape menu (upper left), select Fan Chart; and 4) Check the "countries" option to see where your ancestors are from. For even more fun, learn about these countries (and how and where to research in them) in the Family History Guide Countries page. See F1-03 in The Family History Guide Activities section to explore how to use Google Earth to virtually visit these countries and find your ancestral places of interest.
If you need help with creating a FamilySearch account or navigating FamilySearch Family Tree, see Project 1 in The Family History Guide.
Patriarchal Blessings
"Every worthy, baptized member is entitled to and should receive a patriarchal blessing, which provides inspired direction from the Lord. Patriarchal blessings include a declaration of a person’s lineage in the house of Israel and contain personal counsel from the Lord. As a person studies his or her patriarchal blessing and follows the counsel it contains, it will provide guidance, comfort, and protection." Read more here, and in this article: Understanding Your Patriarchal Blessing.
Promised Blessings
Make a list of what you need to do to receive the promised blessings. Keep it handy to review and pray about often. If you would like, you can share parts of your blessing with family members. You can also request an ancestor's patriarchal blessing to study as a family. What promises were fulfilled for them? What do you learn from their lives?
To the Youth
Elder Bednar promises that your patriarchal blessing will become even more meaningful as you: “...experience the Spirit of Elijah. I encourage you to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare yourselves to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord for your kindred dead (see D&C 124:28–36). And I urge you to help other people identify their family histories. As you respond in faith to this invitation, your hearts shall turn to the fathers.The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and be more meaningful to you. Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase." (The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn, General Conference Oct. 2011)
See Latter-day Saint Youth for ways to search out and do work for your kindred dead and to help others do the same. Consider selecting an area to work on as a family this week, and inviting another family or friends to participate with you:
