At young adult RootsTech event, Sister Yee and Elder Hamilton share the ‘powerful’ blessings of family history

Looking at Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the general Relief Society presidency, one probably wouldn’t guess that she has Russian and Ukrainian ancestry.

Similarly, looking at Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, a General Authority Seventy, it’s probably not obvious that his grandmother was a Sioux Native American.

“There is a lot more to us than what we can see with our eyes,” Sister Yee said, speaking to hundreds of young adults gathered at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 1. But while there are many things that people can’t see about each other, Heavenly Father sees and loves each of His children, she said — and He is aware of their efforts to gather Israel on both sides of the veil.

Sister Yee and Elder Hamilton kicked off the second annual RootsTech after party for young adults with a message about the divinity of families and the power of family history to bless individual lives.

They were later joined by Elder Jorge M. Alvarado, a General Authority Seventy, and his wife, Sister Cari Lu Alvarado. Sister Yee and Elder Hamilton ended the program with a brief video filmed by Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“My dear friends, welcome to RootsTech,” Elder Soares said in the video. “I wish my wife and I could be with you. ... I am so impressed by your wonderful attributes and desire to be a force for good in the world. With the Holy Ghost as your guide, you can bless those on both sides of the veil. I promise as you serve others in this great work of gathering, you will be blessed with greater capacity to accomplish your dreams and the work the Lord has for you.”

RootsTech is a three-day global event that took place in-person at the Salt Palace Convention Center and online from Thursday, Feb. 29, to Saturday, March 2.

The RootsTech after party for young adults included live music, a game room, speed dating and a special Puerto Rican family history project. Sister Yee asked young adults to add 5,000 names to “the family tree of Puerto Rico.” Young adults in Puerto Rico would be helping in real time, she added.

Elder and Sister Alvarado, who are from Puerto Rico, shared stories about their families and promised that help will come from the other side of the veil as young adults engage in family history work.

“Tonight, I believe that you can do this as we build the tree,” Elder Alvarado said.

Elder Hamilton added that people come from all over the world to FamilySearch out of a desire to know their families.

“It is just something deep in our inner selves, this desire to be part of a family,” he said, continuing that this desire is “a manifestation of the Holy Ghost, bearing testimony of the divine nature of the family. We love our families because God loves His family.”

Sister Yee said Heavenly Father sees the many challenges and opportunities of young adults. Family history, then, is a “powerful” way that He blesses them, no matter how imperfect their circumstances might be.

“Your efforts may seem small, like adding a leaf to a family tree ... [but] by collectively doing these small things together tonight, the Lord can bring about great things,” she said. “This service will bless families on both sides of the veil, and help them to take a step toward making covenants with God.”

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