Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across Latin America are turning their hearts to their fathers through family history work, fulfilling Malachi’s prophecy (see Malachi 4:5-6) and accelerating the gathering of Israel.
While RootsTech 2025 was happening in Salt Lake City, family history conferences and workshops were held in Peru, Ecuador, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
RootsTech in Peru
More than 1,500 people came together March 7-8 to discover their genealogy at a session of RootsTech held for the first time in Lima, Peru.
Hosted by FamilySearch International, this year’s event focused on the theme “Discover.” The event highlighted the power of technology to help people find and preserve their family history, reported the Church’s Newsroom.
Attendees learned more about their families by participating in activities such as:
- Relatives Around Me: A tool in the Family Tree mobile app that helps find family connections among attendees.
- Guided Tree: A space where participants can start their family tree with the help of experts.
- Meaning of Your Surname: A module exploring the history and origin of participants’ surnames.
- Migration Dynamics: An experience that allows visitors to track the migratory movements of their ancestors.
FamilySearch workshop in Ecuador
In March, FamilySearch International hosted a workshop in Quito, Ecuador, for 168 attendees.
Participants said they had never attended such an enriching activity where they had fun while learning about their heritage, according to the Church’s Ecuador Newsroom.
Like RootsTech participants in Peru, guests in Ecuador utilized Guided Tree. In addition, they explored:
- Ordinances Ready: A program that finds and sorts temple ordinances ready to be completed.
- Memories: A space where users can view photos and stories of ancestors as well as upload their own.
- Get Involved: A place where users can review and correct documents indexed by AI.
These activities allowed guests to better understand FamilySearch tools, submit names to the temple and print their family trees.
Family History Discovery Day in El Salvador
Members and friends of the Church in the San Salvador El Salvador Ilopango Stake gathered March 8 to participate in Family History Discovery Day, organized by FamilySearch International.
Stake President Jorge Ruiz reported more than 100 guests gathered to participate in the family history activity.
“As a stake, our members lead this work in our country, because we understand the meaning that family history has in our lives,” he said.
Participants were encouraged to find their ancestors by reviewing historical records, and they explored the same activities as guests in Peru and Ecuador, according to the Church’s Spanish-language Newsroom.
Some learned they were actually relatives as they used the Relatives Around Me feature. Valeria Anaya and a friend discovered they share an ancestor nine generations back.
“As friends we get along really well, and we never imagined being related,” Anaya said.
Family History Training in Costa Rica
Church members in Costa Rica discovered they were not alone as they attended the “Temple and Family History in the Costa Rica West Region” seminar Feb. 22.
Approximately 350 Church members gathered for the seminar. There, they strengthened their understanding of the Central America Area priorities; responsibilities of ward councils, stake temple and family history committees and ward consultants; and FamilySearch, reported the Church’s Spanish-language Newsroom.
Like Salvadoran participants, members in Costa Rica discovered new family through Relatives Around Me.
Elder Eduardo R. Mora, an Area Seventy in the Central America Area, emphasized that family history work is only the first step. The second step involves performing ordinances for deceased individuals in temples.
