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Easy Ways to Minister to All Using Temple and Family History Experiences
Helping someone with their family history is a powerful way to minister. Whether they are a Church member or not, anyone can find joy in learning more about where they came from.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be an expert. This collection of activities can be a guide as you help bless Heavenly Father’s children on both sides of the veil.
Ministering through Family History
Helping someone with their family history is a powerful way to minister. As you connect others with their ancestors through family stories and details, you end up filling gaps in their hearts that they sometimes never knew they had (see Malachi 4:5–6).
Whether it’s a lifetime Church member or someone who has never heard of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, all of God’s children have a yearning to know about where they came from.
It often doesn’t take long to leave a deep and lasting impression, as demonstrated in the following stories.
Finding Family at 30,000 Feet
Recently on a flight home, I found myself next to Steve, who shared with me parts of his personal story. He had graduated from high school, entered the U.S. Army as a communications specialist at 18 years old, and soon began working at the White House, providing communications support to the President of the United States. From age 18 to 26, he served two U.S. Presidents. His stories were fascinating!
Jonathan Petty, Colorado, USA
Surrounded by New Family
Maria had been less active for more than 20 years. A few months ago, we spent a couple of hours with her in our home, exploring her family through census and other records. At one point she burst into tears exclaiming, “I’ve learned more about my family in two hours than I’ve known in my whole life!”
Carol Riner Everett, North Carolina, USA
Recipe for Ministering
Ashley, a sister I minister to, and I both have cookbooks from our grandmothers. Hers is from her great-grandmother, and mine is a book I put together when I inherited my Grandma Greenwood’s recipe box after she passed away.
Jenifer Greenwood, Utah, USA
Recipe for Ministering
Ashley, a sister I minister to, and I both have cookbooks from our grandmothers. Hers is from her great-grandmother, and mine is a book I put together when I inherited my Grandma Greenwood’s recipe box after she passed away.
Ashley and I both chose a recipe from our cookbooks, and we got together after work one night to try them out. She chose a blondie dessert recipe, so we made it first and put it in the oven. I chose “pink chip dip”—a staple at every Greenwood family party. Ashley’s daughter Alice helped us taste test the food. Then, because Ashley didn’t want her kids to eat all the blondies, she cut them up and delivered them to the sisters to whom she ministers.
The thing I loved most about our recipe night is that as we cooked and baked, we talked about all the regular ministering topics—her struggles and mine. But we also talked about our grandmothers and moms, which was tender for both of us.
Jenifer Greenwood, Utah, USA
Specific Ways to Help
Family history can open doors for ministering opportunities when it seems like nothing else will. Here are a few ideas you might try.
- Help them upload family photos to FamilySearch.
- Help them record and upload audio recordings of family history stories, especially ones that match photos.
- Create a fan chart or other printable family history document that you can give as a gift.
- Teach ways to capture their own history through keeping a journal in a way they enjoy. Audio journal? Photo journal? Video logs? There are many options for those who don’t prefer standard journal formats.
- Go to the temple together to do ordinances for ancestors. Or offer to do ordinances for their family names if they have more than they can handle.
- Get together to share family traditions.
- Take a family history class together.
- Find other ideas at ministering.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Invitation to Act
Consider those you minister to. How could you use family history to bless their lives?
Share Your Experiences
Send us your experiences as you have ministered to others or have been ministered to. Go to liahona.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and click “Submit an Article or Feedback.”
For full article click on the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2020/02/ministering-through-family-history?lang=eng