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Act. Index 2023
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.
From Come, Follow Me:
What blessings have you received from the Melchizedek Priesthood and “the ordinances thereof”? (Doctrine and Covenants 84:20). How has the Melchizedek Priesthood helped you come unto Christ?
“ Following the dedication of the first temple of this dispensation in Kirtland, Ohio, three prophets—Moses, Elias, and Elijah—restored “the keys of this dispensation,” including keys pertaining to the gathering of Israel and the work of the temples of the Lord (see Doctrine and Covenants 110)...” Dallin H. Oaks, The Melchizedek Priesthood and the Keys
"Just think of the excitement and urgency of it all: every prophet commencing with Adam has seen our day. And every prophet has talked about our day, when Israel would be gathered and the world would be prepared for the Second Coming of the Savior. Think of it! Of all the people who have ever lived on planet earth, we are the ones who get to participate in this final, great gathering event. How exciting is that! ...I testify that the gathering is now, and it is real." President Russell M. Nelson, Worldwide Devotional for Youth
If you have received your patriarchal blessing, note what you are told about your part in the gathering. “Through our patriarchal blessings, we are shown how we fit into the Lord’s plan to gather Israel by learning of our tribe; we are given personal counsel, admonitions, and promises; and we are taught about the unique gifts and talents Heavenly Father has given us to serve Him.” Read more in this article: Understanding Your Patriarchal Blessing.
Make a list of what you need to do to receive the promised blessings. Keep it handy to review and pray about often. When appropriate, share your blessing with your family, and encourage those members who have not yet received a patriarchal blessing to do so. You can also Request an Ancestor's Patriarchal Blessing to study as a family.
Study about the gathering of Israel in these latter days, and decide how you can be involved through temple work, family history, and missionary work. Make a plan!
As members of the Church, we are all responsible to help God gather His children. Here are some of President Nelson’s invitations:
To brethren:
After some 4,000 years of anticipation and preparation, this is the appointed day when the gospel is to be taken to the kindreds of the earth.This is the time of the promised gathering of Israel. And we get to participate! Isn’t that exciting?
To sisters:
My dear sisters, we need you! We “need your strength, your conversion, your conviction, your ability to lead, your wisdom, and your voices.” We simply cannot gather Israel without you.
To Millennials:
"Spend more time on your knees in prayer, more time in the scriptures, more time in family history work, more time in the temple. I promise you that as you consistently give the Lord a generous portion of your time, He will multiply the remainder."
To youth:
"You—my dear, extraordinary youth—were sent to earth at this precise time, this most crucial time in the history of the earth, to help gather Israel ... There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that. There is nothing of greater consequence. Absolutely nothing. This gathering should mean everything to you. This is the mission for which you were sent to earth."
So much of what you are doing may be part of the gathering.
“When we speak of gathering Israel on both sides of the veil, we are referring, of course, to missionary, temple, and family history work. We are also referring to building faith and testimony in the hearts of those with whom we live, work, and serve. Anytime we do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—to make and keep their covenants with God, we are helping to gather Israel.” President Russell M. Nelson, Let God Prevail
See also:
You might try the following "practice sharing the gospel" activity using family history as a finding and retention tool. Invite other families to join in the fun if you would like.
From Come, Follow Me:
You might invite family members to share spiritual experiences when they felt “illuminated” with truth. How can these experiences help us “cast not away therefore [our] confidence” in times of trial or doubt?
“When personal difficulties or world conditions beyond our control darken our path, the spiritually defining memories from our book of life are like luminous stones that help brighten the road ahead." Neil L. Andersen, Spiritually Defining Memories:
See related family history activities to Elder Anderson’s conference talk in Week 43.
See also: The Power of Personal Journals Is Enduring, and O Remember, Remember.
How can you help your family members learn from the faithful examples mentioned in Hebrews 11? It might be fun to act out the stories of some of these examples. You can review some of these stories in Old Testament Stories. Or perhaps your family could discuss the examples of other faithful people you know—including ancestors, Church leaders, and members of your community.
You could create a collection of the stories of the first converts in your family lines. Find family history stories (see10 Ways To Discover, Gather, and Share Ancestor Stories). If you don't have many stories from the lives of your ancestors available, learn from conversion stories and other stories from the lives of our church leaders. Read more here. You may want to put these stories in your memories on FamilySearch and attach them to your tree. Find instructions in this FamilySearch article. The Family History Guide gives step-by-step instructions for preserving your photos and stories in Project 2: Memories.
See more illustrations in this blog post: A Miracle In Denmark.
Watch President and Sister Nelson's RootsTech 2017 presentation (story at 2:13) in which Sister Nelson describes the experience of creating a storybook illustrated by her great nieces and nephews, ages 3-18, about their 4th great grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth.
Discover ancestor stories on the FamilySearch Fan Chart along with family lines, birth country, sources, photos, research helps, and ordinances. You can print a chart with any of this information. Make a fan chart "place mat" or frame and hang a chart on the wall for fun! Play Fan Chart Bingo (see Week 9, 2020), or toss dice onto the chart and share a fact or story about the person they landed on. If you don't know much about that relative or ancestor, this is a great time to use the ideas here to discover more about him or her!
Find ancestor stories by clicking the Memories tab on the FamilySearch Person page for each ancestor. Check out the following sites for more options: Women of Faith, Military Records of Your Family's War Veterans, My Pioneer Ancestors, Missionaries, and more on the FamilySearch Discovery page.
The All The Stories site is a free way to synchronize with FamilySearch all the stories of your direct ancestors and their siblings, up to 9 generations back. It is a searchable list of any story anyone has placed on your part of the tree, along with how you are related to that ancestor, and how long the story takes to tell.
(Click to enlarge)
With the FamilySearch Memories Audio app or the Record My Story feature on FamilySearch Discovery, gathering, recording, sharing, and preserving has never been easier. Read more here.