In May 1833, Asahel Perry traveled from northern New York to Kirtland, Ohio, eager to meet the Prophet Joseph Smith, though Perry was not yet a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He arrived just as a meeting was convened to plan the construction of the Kirtland Temple. During the meeting, many voiced concerns about the project, believing it was too grand, given the Church’s limited financial resources.
Perry’s faith was not deterred. He and a few friends quietly counted their funds. Despite needing money for their journey home, Perry approached Joseph Smith and offered a five-dollar gold coin. In today’s value, the coin would be worth several hundred dollars.
The Prophet stood before the gathering and held up the coin. Speaking energetically, he said that “the work had commenced and the house [of the Lord] would be built according to the pattern presented” by the Lord Jesus Christ.
In time, the Asahel Perry family joined the Church, received their blessings in the Nauvoo Temple and crossed the Plains to Utah. They are buried in Springville, Utah.
Perry is the fourth-great-grandfather of Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Accompanied by his wife, Sister Melanie Rasband, Elder Rasband shared the ancestral story as part of their Family Discovery Day keynote presentation on Saturday, March 7, the third and final day of RootsTech 2026.
“To me, that act of humble sacrifice was more than a donation — it was a beautiful expression of my ancestor’s budding yet profound faith,” Elder Rasband said.
“This is one of many stories in my family history that has echoed through the generations and has touched my soul deeply and united my family. Brothers and sisters, whether you are a first-generation member of the Church or a 10th-generation member, you can build your family’s legacy of faith that unites and binds generations together.”
Family Discovery Day is a free, one-day event during RootsTech designed to help Latter-day Saints discover and celebrate their family heritage. The event took place in person at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City and was available for viewing online at RootsTech.org.
Uniting families through temple covenants
Sister Rasband began by quoting President Dallin H. Oaks in the October 2025 general conference: “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.”
Elder and Sister Rasband said this truth spoken by a prophet of God echoes Heavenly Father’s work and glory “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). They encouraged members to spend time in the house of the Lord, make sacred covenants that bind an individual to the Savior and gain access to spiritual power.
Members can also search for ancestors who died without temple blessings and perform ordinances for them, thereby uniting families for eternity.
Elder Rasband said: “We recognize that our faith is not ours alone — it is a gift passed from generation to generation, as we honor the sacrifices and devotion of those who came before us, with testimonies often born through trial and unwavering trust in the Lord. Their stories now become linked to and a part of our own.”
Added Sister Rasband: “When we link our lives to those who came before and to those who will follow, we form a chain of faith that leads directly to Jesus Christ, giving us purpose and belonging.”
Special witness and a promise fulfilled
Elder Rasband showed a video recorded shortly after his calling as an Apostle in 2015. Filmed at This Is the Place Heritage Park, he tells the story of his great-grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Moulton, who was born in Gloucester, England, in 1837.
Her family joined the Church when she was 4 years old. When she was 18, they used the Perpetual Emigration Fund and savings stored in a fruit jar to sail from Liverpool, England, to America.
Before departing, the Moulton family was promised that they would reach Utah safely without losing a single family member.
After arriving in America in 1856, the Moulton family joined the ill-fated Willie handcart company. By October, they were caught in a snowstorm near Wyoming’s Rocky Ridge on the Sweetwater River, still 350 miles from Salt Lake City.
Upon learning of their plight, President Brigham Young sent men, food and supplies to rescue the struggling travelers.
While some died and many suffered from frozen feet and limbs, the promise to the Moulton family was fulfilled — no family member was lost, including a baby born on the ship from Liverpool.
Sarah Moulton married John Bennett Hawkins, one of the young rescuers, and they later had 10 children, including Elder Rasband’s grandmother.
“As modern pioneers, our personal journeys may be no less daunting. But we are creating a heritage of faith for those who will follow us,” Elder Rasband said in the video.
His greatest hope is to see this sacred heritage, founded upon the faith and teachings of Jesus Christ, continue in his family.
“What pushed them forward? It was a sure testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Elder Rasband said. “I did not pull a handcart across the Plains. But as a great-grandson of pioneers, what they felt, I feel. And what they knew, I know: that Jesus is the living Christ, the Son of God.”
‘Our family means everything to us’
Because family history involves connecting the past, present and future, Elder and Sister Rasband invited some of their 29 grandchildren onto the stage.
The grandchildren shared what they learned from ancestral stories, their legacy of faith and family ties to Jesus Christ. They also reflected on experiences of taking family names to the temple to perform ordinances for deceased ancestors.
“Our family means everything to us,” Elder Rasband said. “Because of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we testify that we can be together forever, which brings peace to our souls and added purpose to our lives.”
Cannon family conversion story
In the summer of 2025, Elder and Sister Rasband visited Nauvoo, Illinois, to watch family members perform in the Nauvoo and British pageants.
The British Pageant portrays the conversion of one of Sister Rasband’s ancestors, Ann Cannon, and her family. “It is a wonderful story inspired by their legacy of faith and devotion,” she said.
Members of the British Pageant cast took the RootsTech stage to perform those respective scenes, set in Liverpool, England, in 1840.
George and Ann Cannon, parents of future Apostle George Q. Cannon, were baptized by their brother-in-law, John Taylor, who later became the third President of the Church.
When John Taylor asked George Cannon Sr. about his experience reading the Book of Mormon, Cannon replied, “No wicked man could write such a book as this, and no good man would write it unless commanded by God to do so.”
Two years later, the Cannon family immigrated to the United States. During the Atlantic crossing, Ann Cannon fell ill, died and was buried at sea. Her six children led to generations of Latter-day Saint descendants.
After the performance, Sister Rasband expressed gratitude for the courage and faith of her great-great-grandmother, Ann Cannon.
“Hopefully you have felt, as we have, the power that comes from hearing stories of devoted ancestors, helping us to build faith and have strength to endure the trials of our days, having gleaned from their personal experiences,” she said.
Invitations and testimonies
Elder and Sister Rasband invited members “to be engaged in this spiritual latter-day work, as you bind your families together in Christ by serving and worshipping in His holy temple,” and become “armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14).
They invited members to use the Ordinances Ready feature on FamilySearch to find family names to take to the temple and add names, memories, photos and other information to help future generations.
“The heavenly power that comes through temple and family history is available to all who take part in this great work,” Sister Rasband said.
Elder Rasband said a person’s choices echo far beyond their own life. He concluded by bearing his witness of the Savior.
“We not only live for ourselves but in time will be the ancestors to our own posterity,” he said. “Every act of faith, every testimony shared, every righteous choice strengthens not only our own lives but the generations yet to come as we seek to leave a legacy of faith and devotion, anchored to the Beloved Son of God, our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
