“The doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints centers on the family. Essential to our doctrine on the family is the temple. The ordinances received there enable us to return as eternal families to the presence of our Heavenly Father.”
President Dallin H. Oaks, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, taught these truths during October 2025 general conference. And when Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles heard this, he remembered how it felt to learn for the first time that he is a son of God.
“I could not believe it. I just could not believe it,” he said. “I mean, it seems such a far-fetched idea, and I think that is the way [it seems] for many who hear it for the first time. But it is beautiful, and it is the foundation for everything we are going to talk about today.”
Elder Kearon shared his thoughts during the 2026 Temple and Family History Leadership Instruction, which is an annual, 30-minute recorded training for Latter-day Saints in stake and ward councils and others with callings supporting temple and family history efforts. It became available for on-demand streaming via Gospel Library (under Temple and Family History and then Leadership Instruction) and ChurchofJesusChrist.org on Thursday, March 5, at 8 a.m. Mountain Time.
Elder Kearon was joined in the meeting by Elder Mark A. Bragg, a General Authority Seventy, who is also the executive director of the Church’s Family History Department and chairman of FamilySearch International.
The 2026 Temple and Family History Leadership Instruction was shown during the 2026 RootsTech Conference, which began Thursday, March 5, and runs through Saturday, March 7.
RootsTech is a three-day global conference celebrating the family, hosted by FamilySearch International and sponsored by the Church and other leading genealogy organizations. It is held in person in Salt Lake City and online at RootsTech.org. RootsTech is the world’s largest genealogy event, featuring hundreds of classes, new technologies and keynote speakers.
This year’s notable speakers include Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during Family Discovery Day; Steve Young, National Football League Hall of Fame quarterback and Super Bowl MVP; and Marlee Matlin, an Academy Award-winning actress and author.
Focus on the Savior
During the 2026 Temple and Family History Leadership Instruction, Elder Kearon and Elder Bragg watched and commented on three videos about various FamilySearch purposes and resources. (The videos are part of the instruction, and the individual videos are listed below the instruction in Gospel Library and on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.)
From those videos, they identified three key principles to help people feel more connected to their ancestors:
- Focus on the Savior.
- Complete temple work for ancestors.
- “Add what you know.”
“Look at these [videos] in stake and ward councils, family councils, and talk about what you feel and what you learn from the videos, just like we will do,” Elder Bragg said.
The first video, titled “Uniting Families for Eternity: Always Focus First on the Savior,” featured Church members sharing how family history and temple work bring them closer to Jesus Christ.
Elder Kearon said the “first and foremost” thing he wants people to take away from this video is that the Savior is central to family history and temple work.
He referred to 2 Nephi 25:26, which reads: “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
Elder Kearon continued that when it comes to family history work, people sometimes put a lot of focus on the “mechanical” aspect, such as research, rather than the “why” of it.
“I think a key invitation today is to put the Savior, to put Jesus Christ, in the middle of this,” Elder Kearon said. “To look to Him and to feel His love and the love of God as we embark on our next steps in this journey and beyond.”
Elder Bragg referred to a teaching from Elder Kearon in a leadership training, in which Elder Kearon spoke about Ephesians 1:10: “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.”
“Is there a better description of the temple?” Elder Bragg said. “Things in heaven and things in earth — that is the connecting point. That is the knot that gets tied between the two. And everything does come together in one in Christ in the temple.”
Elder Kearon added that the power of godliness is found in temple covenants and ordinances, as taught in Doctrine and Covenants 84.
“I love to think of them as Him drawing us back, giving us these opportunities while we cannot see Him,” Elder Kearon said. “And we cannot see our Father in Heaven, we cannot see our Savior, but we have these presented to us — these options, like stepping stones, like opportunities, like a handhold to draw us back, and that is, I think, why it feels so beautiful.”
Complete temple work for ancestors
The second video, titled “Uniting Families for Eternity: Use Ordinances Ready,” featured Church members sharing their experiences of using Ordinances Ready, a tool on the FamilySearch Family Tree app that searches a member’s family tree to find an ancestor who needs ordinance work to be completed. The member then selects an ordinance and brings the name to the temple. If a relative is not found, Ordinances Ready can provide a name from a member’s ward or stake.
“You have the confidence to know that you are doing this sacred work for someone who you are connected to in some way, shape or form,” Elder Bragg said. “So it’s simple, it’s meaningful, and it’s easy to do.”
He referred to one woman in the video who said she is the only member of the Church in her family — but the “beauty” of temple work means that she is not the only member. As she goes to the house of the Lord and completes ordinances for her ancestors, Elder Bragg said, she is increasing the number of deceased family members who can accept the gospel.
Additionally, as the Lord instructs His prophets, seers and revelators to build more temples throughout the world, “He is giving us the technology to make this work easier,” Elder Bragg said.
Elder Kearon added that no one should ever feel alone in doing family history and temple work. “We are part of this great, eternal family,” he said.
‘Add what you know’
The third and final video, titled “Uniting Families for Eternity: Add What You Know,” featured Church members sharing ways they have added what they know about their ancestors to their FamilySearch family trees, from photos and stories to recipes and audio files.
Elder Bragg said this practice helps individuals remember that they are not just taking names to the temple — they are taking people. Anything that opens the door to the spirit of Elijah “is worth that effort,” he said.
He also shared a quote from President Oaks’ 2018 RootsTech Family Discovery Day address: “We become connected to our ancestors through knowledge of their lives. We bond with them as we understand the circumstances and personal values that shaped them. They are real people to whom we owe our existence in this world and whom we will meet again in the hereafter. We learn better who we are, where we come from, and are blessed with a clearer vision of where we are going. When individuals and families search out their ancestors’ inspiring actions and words, they will receive strength and direction for their own lives.”
Elder Kearon encouraged local Church leaders to experiment with family history resources, help others do the same and see for themselves why people are drawn to this work.
“Experience the light and joy that comes with it,” he said. “We are children of God, and He wants us safely all gathered home to Him with our families, with our friends, with our loved ones.”
A sacred connection
Elder Kearon closed the meeting by counseling local leaders to keep the Savior at the center of their efforts.
“Speak of Him. Think of Him,” Elder Kearon said. “Have Him at the middle of all of this. He has paved the way. He has taken away all of our sins, all of our pains, and He and our Heavenly Father want us to return after a good long life, safely and happily, and be joined with all of our ancestors.”
Elder Bragg testified that the power and authority to seal things on earth and in heaven exist. Those keys were restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, he said, and are now held by a living prophet.
“I testify to you that this is the work and the glory of our Savior,” Elder Bragg said. “He is involved in this great work. He cares about those on this side of the veil and on the other side of the veil. And this connection between us is sacred.”
