Weekly Family History Activities

April 8–14: The Lord Labors with Us

Jacob 5–7

From Come, Follow Me :

There are many, many people who haven’t yet heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you ever feel overwhelmed by the immensity of the task of gathering them into the Lord’s Church, what Jacob said about olive trees in Jacob 5 has a reassuring reminder: the vineyard belongs to the Lord. He has given each of us a small area to assist in His work—our family, our circle of friends, our sphere of influence. And sometimes the first person we help gather is ourselves. But we are never alone in this work, for the Lord of the vineyard labors alongside His servants (see Jacob 5:72). God knows and loves His children, and He will prepare a way for each of them to hear His gospel, even those who have rejected Him in the past (see Jacob 4:15–18). And then, when the work is done, all those who have been “diligent in laboring with [Him] … shall have joy with [Him] because of the fruit of [His] vineyard” (Jacob 5:75).

Family History as a Finding Tool in Missionary Work

In a presentation given at RootsTech 2017, President Russell M. Nelson observed, “People have an inborn desire to know something about their ancestors. That becomes a natural opportunity for our missionaries.” 

See also: Kathryn Grant, The Power of Family History in Missionary Work. 

Many people desire to know of their heritage. As they learn about those who went before them, they may become interested in knowing about eternal families and what the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches about sealing families together. 

Elder Bednar explains: "Missionary work and family history and temple work are complementary and interrelated aspects of one great work, 'that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him'" (Ephesians 1:10) "... 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." Missionary, Family History, and Temple Work

Gather your family or a group together. Divide into companionships, and have some of the family or group members be “people you meet.” Practice door or street approaches with this guidance from Preach My Gospel: "Talk to people about their families. Help them see how the restored gospel can be a blessing to their families. Offer to help them find the names of grandparents, great-grandparents, or other ancestors. Enlist the help of ward temple and family history consultants."

Roleplay with your family or with other group members (or invite friends to do this activity with your family) a situation in which you are helping someone create a FamilySearch account and helping that person to fill in in four generations. Perhaps you know someone who actually needs to create an account.

Making phone calls to relatives to gather information for the fan chart is a great way to begin to fill ii in, if needed. Once four generations are filled in with basic information, any other family names and information on that chart that have been submitted by others will automatically fill in! This can be very thrilling!

See the following video for instructions. 

Surname Meanings

Find the meaning and origin of your surname (last name) at Surname Search — FamilySearch.org. Before looking, have fun letting family members or others guess what the meaning of your surname might be. 

See: Cool Features on the Family Tree App

Practice helping others find the meaning of their surname. Check out how Elder and Sister Bednar used this idea for street contacting in London:

Family History As A Retention Tool

Practice using The Family History Guide as a resource to explain how to find and record information about ancestors. Practice what you might say to new converts about the temple blessings available to them, their families, and their ancestors. 

See the story of a new convert and her experience with family history: Week 11.

Share with those in your family or group how the temple has blessed your life and the lives of your loved ones. Everyone can be invited to share, also.

First Convert Stories

You may want to consider creating a collection of the stories of the first converts in your family lines and have family members illustrate them. Find family history stories using the suggestions in 10 Ways To Discover, Gather, and Share Ancestor Stories. If you don't have many stories from the lives of your ancestors available, you could learn from conversion stories and other stories from the lives of our church leaders. Read more here. 

You may want to put these stories (and the stories of your living family members) 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 about this family history story in this blog post: A Miracle In Denmark. Perhaps this story will inspire you to find and illustrate your family history stories.

Stories illustrated by anyone, of any skill level, can be copied for gift-giving, shared for bedtime stories, or used as coloring books. These stories can help us all make connections to those who have gone on before. See Week 7 for ideas to illustrate conversion stories. One young man gave drawing lessons to improve the skills of his cousins who were the illustrators.

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Jacob 6:4–5

The Lord remembers His people in love and mercy

From Come, Follow Me :

In the story of the olive tree, how did the Lord of the vineyard extend his “arm of mercy”? (see, for example, Jacob 5:47, 51, 60–61, 71–72). How has He done this for you?

Gratitude Journal

In his October 2007 General Conference address, O Remember, Remember, Henry B. Eyring relates why he began writing things down and the blessings of recognizing the Lord's hand in his life. 

Consider keeping a gratitude journal. A family journal can be a wonderful experience also, and will help your family review and remember how the Lord extends his “arm of mercy” in your lives. 

“So many wonderful things are ahead. In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power that the world has ever seen. Between now and the time He returns “with power and great glory,” (Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:36), He will bestow countless privileges, blessings, and miracles upon the faithful.” President Russell M. Nelson, Overcome the World and Find Rest

You can record your journal entries using the FamilySearch Memories app or the Record My Story feature.

You can also scan or take a photo of hand-written journal entries to preserve in Memories on FamilySearch, or type directly into a document. See instructions in The Family History Guide here. 

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Your Personal History



Write one brief story about your life as you study each Come, Follow Me lesson. By the end of the year, you will have compiled 50 stories to add to your personal history. Save as a story (also consider audio-recording it) and add it to your FamilySearch memories to preserve it. Use your own questions or those from (or inspired by) the #52 Stories Project below. For example:

• What has inspired you to do family history and temple work?
• Write about any experiences helping others find and take names to the temple.
• What are you doing to prepare for April Conference 2024?
• What have you learned about the restoration from accounts your ancestors (or early church members) have recorded?