Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke during the Saturday afternoon session of April 2022 general conference. He encouraged listeners to connect with ancestors and descendants in uniting God’s family. The following is a summary of what he said.
Notable quotes from Elder Gong
“We each have a story. Come discover yours. Come find your voice, your song, your harmony in Him.”
“By birth or adoptive lineage, we are ultimately all connected in the family of God and in the human family.”
“Each of our stories is a journey still in progress, as we discover, create and become with possibilities beyond imagination.”
Summary of Elder Gong’s talk
“We each have a story. As we discover our story, we connect, we belong, we become.”
The total number of individuals who have lived on the earth is finite and countable, one person at a time. “You and I, we each matter.”
“By birth or adoptive lineage, we are ultimately all connected in the family of God and in the human family.”
Connecting with our ancestors can change lives. “From their trials and accomplishments, we gain faith and strength. From their love and sacrifices, we learn to forgive and move forward.”
“Each of our stories is a journey still in progress, as we discover, create and become with possibilities beyond imagination.”
How can we connect?
First, see yourself in both generational directions — child, grandchild, great-grandchild, then parent, aunt or uncle, grandparent, great-grandparent. “In each time and role, notice who is with you. Gather their photos and stories; make memories real.”
“Second, let the adventure of family history be intentional and spontaneous.”
Third, visit FamilySearch.org.
Fourth, help unite families eternally.
“We each have a story. Come discover yours. Come find your voice, your song, your harmony in Him.”
About Elder Gong
- Elder Gerrit W. Gong was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on March 31, 2018, and has served as a General Authority Seventy since April 2010.
- His mother met the missionaries when she was a teenager in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father joined the Church after attending Stanford University, where his parents met and dated.
- The first time Elder Gong met his wife, Susan Lindsay, was at an evening devotional he volunteered to give at the Provo (Utah) Missionary Training Center to help the missionaries learn more about Taiwan. They briefly met, but Elder Gong said in that moment, he “had a feeling this was somebody I’d always know.”
Elder Gong in the news
- At the 2022 Church History Symposium, on March 11, Elder Gong shared how religious liberty is seen in the Church’s doctrine, history and global experience
- During his ministry in the Philippines, Elder and Sister Gong encouraged young single adults to look to the future with faith, at a nationwide devotional on Feb. 20.
- Elder Gong dedicated the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple on Oct. 31. It was the Church’s first temple dedication in 20 months.
Elder Gong’s recent social posts
- On Nov. 3, 2021, Elder Gong bore witness to the strength and power from the Lord that is made available through temple ordinances, in a post following the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple dedication.
- In a post about the new Church pamphlet that “introduces Muslims and Latter-day Saints to each other,” Elder Gong called upon people of faith to “stand together for tolerance and dignity of people of all religious beliefs” on Jan. 20.
- “Connection with God, family and each other (what I call covenant belonging) gives our lives our greatest, tenderest, deepest meaning,” Elder Gong wrote in a social media post on March 3.
