Elder Mark A. Bragg, a General Authority Seventy, believes records custodians and archivists all over the world are directed by the Holy Ghost.
Elder Bragg is the executive director of the Church’s Family History Department and FamilySearch International. Records custodians and archivists, he said, are those who protect, preserve and provide access to vital records that give a glimpse into the past. They can be anyone from university staff members to private groups.
But no matter who they are, these are “really special people” who have felt the Spirit, Elder Bragg said.
“We call it ‘spirit of Elijah,’ but it’s the Holy Ghost directing them in this role, that they feel a responsibility to protect records,” he said. “And what it does, it allows us to find them and remember them and connect them to their modern-day family. They provide such an incredible service.”
Elder Bragg recently spoke with Church News about the vital role of records custodians and archivists in uniting eternal families. He also discussed the joy, peace and belonging that come from family history.
“All that we do is so that we can take our ancestors to the temple and perform ordinances in their behalf. That is the reason we do this,” Elder Bragg said.
Ministering one by one
Elder Bragg has spoken to records custodians and archivists all over the world, such as at the III Congress of Archivists: Digital Archive Expo (DA-EXPO) in Kazakhstan in June, or at FamilySearch’s 2026 Asia Family History VIP Symposium in Cambodia on Aug. 13.
In Kazakhstan, he told records custodians that preserving memory is an act of hope. This is true from a non-spiritual perspective — archivists ensure that people are remembered long after they’re gone — but it’s especially true from a spiritual viewpoint, Elder Bragg told Church News.
“Is there anything more Christlike than ministering one by one?” he said. “And that’s what these records do. It allows us to minister to members of God’s family one by one, name by name. … All that we do is because we know that Jesus Christ lives and that we can live together again as families. That is the essence of hope and joy, I think, in this life and in the life to come, that we can be together.”
He also pointed out the importance of family history in the scriptures, such as when the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi sent his sons to get the records that contained his family’s lineage or when the Savior’s genealogy is listed in the first several verses of Matthew. Lineage is so important that patriarchs today declare a person’s lineage during their patriarchal blessing.
Those who understand more about their families, Elder Bragg said, feel greater belonging, strength and resilience — a belonging to “this great family of God.”
‘There’s purpose behind this’
Elder Bragg said the Church has worked hard to build relationships and trust with archivists around the world. FamilySearch often has solutions to their problems, particularly in poorer countries where records digitization isn’t always a high priority. There are about 600 camera teams throughout the world right now, Elder Bragg said, digitizing records five to six days a week, sometimes in multiple shifts.
Elder Bragg said this effort is an act of faith. “There’s purpose behind this. There’s meaning behind this. There’s salvation, exaltation behind this.”
He continued: “There is a beautiful confidence that comes from knowing that this is the Lord’s work. And if we go down this path, He’s going to lead us to know exactly which way we should go. And it is amazing to see what doors get opened and what technology gets created so that we can move this work forward at the right time and the right place.”
Elder Bragg said the best way to thank records custodians and archivists is by using their work to take ancestors’ names to the temple.
“This is an opportunity for us to live our covenants in the purest and holiest way,” Elder Bragg said.
He continued: “We’re all the family of God. And the more that we can talk about that and actually act on that by connecting all of us, the happier we’ll be, the more peaceful we’ll be and the greater joy we will experience.”
