Weekly Family History Activities

Week 25: June 12–June 18, New Testament

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.

Luke 22; John 18

"Not My Will, but Thine, Be Done"

From Come, Follow Me

As you continue reading the New Testament, watch for evidence of Peter’s ongoing conversion. Also note ways he accepted the Lord’s charge to “strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32; see Acts 3–4).

Record Personal Testimonies of Christ

How do we share our testimonies of the gospel? How do we assure that our children and grandchildren know how we feel about the gospel of Jesus Christ? Have we recorded our testimonies and those of other living relatives to share what we know to be true and to give our posterity the strength of our conviction?

To help solidify and express your testimonies, and to create an opportunity for those you love to be influenced by your testimony now and in the future, you can preserve a hand-written document by uploading it as a photo, and you can record your personal witness of Jesus Christ on FamilySearch using the FamilySearch Memories Audio app or the Record My Story feature on FamilySearch Discovery. You can also share the document or audio recording with others via facebook, email, etc. by tapping the "Share" symbol.

Recording can be done individually or in a family setting or with others. You may want to help young children write, illustrate, or record what they feel about Jesus.

Your testimonies may contain the very words that will help family members strengthen their own testimonies.

"'And we write according to our prophecies' [2 Nephi 25:26] suggests the wisdom of making a permanent record of our testimony of Christ. We understand that the testimonies we bear are 'recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over [us]' (D&C 62:3). Our own descendants and others may look upon and rejoice over our witness of Christ written or recorded for their benefit." Todd D. Christofferson Becoming a Witness of Christ

See also Luke 22:39–46 and consider including accepting President Nelson’s invitation as you prepare to share and record your testimony.

From Come,Follow Me:

President Russell M. Nelson invited us to “invest time in learning about the Savior and His atoning sacrifice” Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives.

Luke 22:42 “Family members could share experiences when they learned to say, “Not my will, but thine, be done.”

Testimonies of Ancestors

You and your family might enjoy creating a booklet or a collection of any testimonies of the Savior that you possess from the records of your ancestors. Consider making a collection of the stories of the first converts in your family lines. See Ten Ways To Discover, Gather, and Share Ancestor Stories.

Take time to read the stories of your ancestors and inspire your family with their faith.

The Living Christ

As an individual or as a family, you may want to audio or video record the reading of The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles. You could also audio record it directly to FamilySearch using the FamilySearch Memories Audio app or the Record My Story feature on FamilySearch Discovery. You could record excerpts or read it all. If you are recording as a family, you could take turns reading sections. You might also want to record your feelings about the proclamation.

(Click to enlarge) Print copies here.

Luke 22:31–32

From Come, Follow Me

How might Peter have felt to know that Jesus had prayed for him and his faith? Who can we pray for, “that [their] faith fail not”? (verse 32).

In addition to praying for those we love to stay strong in the faith, we can create experiences for them to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost bearing powerful witness of the Father's plan of happiness. President Russell M. Nelson has explained that the “Spirit of Elijah” is “a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family. He states, “Hence, people throughout the world, regardless of religious affiliation, are gathering records of deceased relatives at an ever-increasing rate” A New Harvest Time

Helping Others Experience the Spirit of Elijah

"I invite the young people of the Church to learn about and 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. Your testimony of and conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives. Parents and leaders, please help your children and youth to learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah." David A. Bednar, The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn

To help the younger generation learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah, first help them see themselves in the content of eternity, and help them come to know and love the Savior. Then, invite the spirit of Elijah into their hearts.

“Imagine your image reflected back and forth between two mirrors of eternity. In one direction, picture yourself as daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughter; in the other direction, smile at yourself as aunt, mother, grandmother. How quickly time passes! In each time and role, notice who is with you. Gather their photos and stories; make their memories real. Record their names, experiences, key dates. They are your family—the family you have and the family you want.

As you perform temple ordinances for family members, the spirit of Elijah, ‘a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family,’ will knit the hearts of your fathers, mothers, and children together in love.” Elder Gerritt W. Gong.“ We Each Have a Story

Check out the FamilySearch Activities (access more activities when you sign in to your FamilySearch account). Click on the links below to explore ways to get to know your ancestors - to turn your heart and the hearts of your family members (and others) to them.

Have fun with the FamilySearch The Year I Was Born activity. Click "All About Me - What's special about my birth year?" at the bottom of the page to go to the digital activity. The birth year can be changed right on the page! Have fun exploring the birth year of your ancestors and living family members to get to know them better.

In addition to playing the game (which can go on for a long time, it is so much fun), FamilySearch suggests:

For children: With a parent's help, learn about important events or inventions from the year you were born. What inventions have come since your birth?
Try to find photos or documents of when you were a newborn. Ask a parent or other family members about what you were like as a baby.
On FamilySearch, find an ancestor you'd like to learn more about. Look up his or her birth year. Using a search engine, learn what world events or inventions happened that year. How was life different back then?

Another idea is to interview living relatives to see just how different life is now from the year they were born. Capture this conversation by learning how to record stories and preserve and share photos.

Interview living family members. Ask questions and preserve the answers! Check out The 52 Stories Project for weekly ideas for questions. Watch this video for inspiration.

Record as you interview! Use your phone to record stories and upload documents and photos. Explore the Memories App For IoS and Android. Find instructions here.

The Memories Gallery is a place where all of the photos, stories, documents, and audio recordings that you add to FamilySearch are collected. With the FamilySearch Family Tree app and FamilySearch Memories app, gathering, recording, sharing, and preserving oral histories has never been easier. Read more here and in The Family History Guide here. A new feature allows you to add audio to individual photos.

In the video below, several cousins work together to discover information about their great-grandparents. This is a fun activity that can be repeated for any ancestors or living relatives!

See the Activities Index of The Family History Guide for hundreds of ways to turn hearts toward ancestors, living family members and to help all family members and friends experience the Spirit of Elijah!