“I Have Loved You, Saith the Lord”

By Elder Neil L. Andersen

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

While I was in South America recently, Brother Roger Parra from Venezuela shared the following experience with me:

“In 2019 Venezuela was shaken by problems that caused a power blackout for five days.

“Chaos and anarchy reigned in the streets, and many desperate people did not have sufficient food.

“Some began looting food businesses, destroying everything in their path.

“As the owner of a small bakery, I was very worried about our business. As a family, we decided to give away all the food in our bakery to people in need.

“Through one very dark night riots were everywhere. My only concern was for the safety of my beloved wife and children.

“At dawn I went to our bakery. Sadly, every nearby food business had been destroyed by looters, but to my great astonishment, our bakery was intact. Nothing had been destroyed. I humbly thanked my Heavenly Father.

“Arriving home, I told my family of God’s blessing and protection.

“They were all so grateful.

“My oldest son, Rogelio, only 12 years old, said, ‘Papa! I know why our store was protected. You and Mama always pay your tithes.’”

Brother Parra concluded: “The words of Malachi came into my mind. ‘I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground’ [Malachi 3:11]. We knelt down and gratefully thanked our Heavenly Father for His miracle.”

All that we have and all that we are comes from God. As disciples of Christ, we willingly share with those around us.

With all the Lord gives to us, He has asked us to return to Him and His kingdom on earth 10 percent of our increase. He has promised us that as we are honest in our tithes, He will “open … the windows of heaven, and pour … out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” He has promised us that He will protect us from evil. These promises are so certain, the Lord declares, “Prove me now herewith,” a phrase found nowhere else in the scriptures but when quoting Malachi.

The windows of heaven open in many ways. Some are temporal, but many are spiritual. Some are subtle and easy to overlook. Trust in the Lord’s timing; the blessings always come.

We sorrow with those who struggle to have the necessities of life. The Church recently donated 54 million US dollars to provide relief to vulnerable children and mothers across the world. And with the offerings from your monthly fast, our good bishops help thousands each week who temporarily need food on their tables, clothes on their backs, and shelter over their heads. The only permanent solution to the poverty of this world is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul warned that the wisdom of men understands the things of men but has difficulty understanding the things of God. The world speaks of tithing in terms of our money, but the sacred law of tithing is principally a matter of our faith. Being honest in our tithes is one way we show our willingness to put the Lord first in our lives, above our own cares and interest. I promise you that as you trust in the Lord, the blessings of heaven will follow.

Jesus said to give “unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” The resurrected Savior asked the Nephites to write into their record His promises found in Malachi. In our day, the Lord reconfirmed the divine law of tithing, declaring: “This shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people. And [they] shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever.”

The Lord clearly directed how tithing should be disbursed, saying, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,” meaning bring the tithes into His restored kingdom, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He directed that the use of these sacred tithes would be prayerfully considered by a council of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Presiding Bishopric, “and by mine own voice unto them, saith the Lord.”

These sacred funds do not belong to the leaders of the Church. They belong to the Lord. His servants are painstakingly aware of the sacred nature of their stewardship.

President Gordon B. Hinckley recounted this childhood experience: “When I was a boy I raised a question with my father … concerning the expenditure of Church funds. He reminded me that mine is the God-given obligation to pay my tithes and offerings. When I do so, [my father said,] that which I give is no longer mine. It belongs to the Lord to whom I consecrate it.” His father added: “What the authorities of the Church do with it need not concern [you, Gordon]. They are answerable to the Lord, who will require an accounting at their hands.”

We deeply feel the weight of being “answerable to the Lord.”

From the generous tithes and offerings you have consecrated to the Lord, last year more than a billion US dollars were used to bless those in need.

In our momentous responsibility to take the restored gospel across the world, we have more than 71,000 missionaries serving in 414 missions. Because of your tithes and offerings, missionaries, regardless of their family financial situation, are able to serve.

Temples are being built across the world in unprecedented numbers. Currently, 177 temples are in operation, 59 are currently under construction or renovation, and 79 more are in planning and design. Your tithes are allowing the blessings of the temple to be in places only the Lord could foresee.

There are more than 30,000 congregations housed in thousands of chapels and other facilities in 195 countries and territories. Because of your faithful tithes, the Church is being established in faraway places you may never visit among righteous Saints you may never know.

The Church currently sponsors five institutions of higher learning. These serve more than 145,000 students. One hundred and ten thousand classes are being taught each week in our seminaries and institutes.

These blessings and so many more come in large measure from the young and old of every economic circumstance who pay an honest tithe.

The spiritual power of the divine law of tithing is not measured by the amount of money contributed, for both the prosperous and the poor are commanded by the Lord to contribute 10 percent of their income. The power comes from placing our trust in the Lord.

The added abundance of the Lord conveyed through your generous tithes has strengthened the reserves of the Church, providing opportunities to advance the Lord’s work beyond anything we have yet experienced. All is known by the Lord, and in time, we will see His sacred purposes fulfilled.

The blessings of tithing come in many ways. In 1998 I accompanied then-Elder Henry B. Eyring to a large Church meeting in the Utah area now known as Silicon Slopes, a community of great innovation in technology. It was a time of growing prosperity, and Elder Eyring cautioned the Saints about comparing what they had with others and wanting more. I will always remember his promise that as they paid an honest tithe, their desire for more material possessions would diminish. Within two years, the technology bubble burst. Many lost their jobs, and companies struggled during this time of financial adjustment. Those who followed the counsel of Elder Eyring were blessed.

His promise reminded me of another experience. I met 12-year-old Charlotte Hlimi near Carcassonne, France, in 1990 while serving as a mission president. The Hlimis were a faithful family living in an apartment with eight children. They had a picture of the Savior and of the prophet on the wall. In the interview for her patriarchal blessing, I asked Charlotte if she paid an honest tithe. She responded, “Yes, President Andersen. My mother has taught me that there are temporal blessings and spiritual blessings that come from paying our tithing. My mother taught me that if we always pay our tithing, we will want for nothing. And President Andersen, we want for nothing.”

In giving me permission to share her story, Charlotte, now 45 and sealed in the temple, commented: “My testimony of tithing was very real at the time, and it is even stronger now. I am deeply grateful for this commandment. As I live it I continue to be abundantly blessed.”

One day each of us will finish our earthly journey. Twenty-five years ago, just days before my mother-in-law, Martha Williams, died of cancer, she received a small check in the mail. She immediately asked my wife, Kathy, for her checkbook to pay her tithing. As her mother was so weakened that she could scarcely write, Kathy asked if she could write the check for her. Her mother responded, “No, Kathy. I want to do it myself.” And then she quietly added, “I want to be right before the Lord.” One of the final things Kathy did for her mother was to hand her tithing envelope to her bishop.

My brothers and sisters, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is “out of obscurity,” bringing remarkable blessings across the earth. There will be those who cheer us forward and those who do not. I have thought of the words of the wise Gamaliel, who, upon hearing of the miracles of the Apostles Peter and John, warned the council in Jerusalem:

“Let [these men] alone: for if … this work be of men, it will come to nought:

“But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest … ye be found even to fight against God.”

You and I are part of God’s important work upon the earth. It will not come to naught but will continue to move across the world, preparing the way for the Savior’s return. I testify to the words of President Russell M. Nelson: “In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power that the world has ever seen. Between now and the time He returns … , He will bestow countless privileges, blessings, and miracles upon the faithful.”

This is my witness. Jesus is the Christ. This is His holy work. He will come again. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Personal correspondence from Roger Parra, Aug. 4, 2023.

Malachi 3:10.

See Malachi 3:11. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said: “In my life, for example, I have seen God’s promise fulfilled that He would ‘rebuke the devourer for [my sake]’ [Malachi 3:11]. That blessing of protection against evil has been poured out upon me and on my loved ones beyond any capacity I have to adequately acknowledge. But I believe that divine safety has come, at least in part, because of our determination, individually and as a family, to pay tithing” (“Like a Watered Garden,” Ensign, Nov. 2001, 34; Liahona, Jan. 2002, 38).

“The Lord will open the windows of heaven according to our need, and not according to our greed. If we are paying tithing to get rich, we are doing it for the wrong reason. … The blessing to the giver … may not be always in the form of financial or material benefit” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [1997], 657).

Malachi 3:10; 3 Nephi 24:10.

See “The Church of Jesus Christ Is Helping Alleviate Global Malnutrition,” Aug. 11, 2023, newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org; see also “How the Church of Jesus Christ and UNICEF Are Keeping Mothers and Children Healthy and Safe,” Aug. 17, 2023, newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

“And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18).

See 1 Corinthians 2:14. The logic of man does not always align with the wisdom of God. In Malachi’s day, many had become distant from the Lord. The Lord implored His covenant people, “Return unto me, and I will return unto you.” What follows this tender invitation is a deeply important question for each of us: “But ye said, Wherein shall we return?” (Malachi 3:7). Or in other words, “What am I to change? How do I draw closer to Thee?” The Lord answers by teaching the importance of tithing, not simply as a financial law but a tangible way to turn the desires of our hearts to Him.

We observed this in our own family. Kathy’s mother joined the Church at age 22. Martha and Bernard Williams attended church for a brief period, but after a move to another state, they became less active. Bernard received a military deployment overseas, and Martha moved home to Tampa, Florida, where she accepted the generous invitation to live with her aunt and uncle, who were opposed to the Church. While living in very humble circumstances, expecting her first child and not attending church, Martha Williams made the decision to start sending her tithing check to the bishop. Later in her life, when asked why, she said that she remembered something the missionaries had taught her about tithing and God’s blessings: “We desperately needed God’s blessings in our lives, and so I began sending our tithing check to the bishop.” Martha and Bernard Williams returned to the Church. Their greatest blessing—six generations have been blessed because of her decision to pay her tithing when she had nothing but faith in God and hope in His promises.

Matthew 22:21.

See 3 Nephi 24.

Doctrine and Covenants 119:3–4. “Tithing is the donation of one-tenth of one’s income to God’s Church (see Doctrine and Covenants 119:3–4; interest is understood to mean income). All members who have income should pay tithing” (General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 34.3.1, Gospel Library).

Malachi 3:10.

“We pay tithing, as the Savior taught, by bringing the tithes ‘into the storehouse’ [Malachi 3:10; 3 Nephi 24:10]. We do this by paying our tithing to our bishop or branch president. We do not pay tithing by contributing to our favorite charities. The contributions we should make to charities come from our own funds, not from the tithes we are commanded to pay to the storehouse of the Lord” (Dallin H. Oaks, “Tithing,” Ensign, May 1994, 35).

Doctrine and Covenants 120:1.

Gordon B. Hinckley, “Rise to a Larger Vision of the Work,” Ensign, May 1990, 96.

See “The 2022 Report on How the Church of Jesus Christ Cared for Those in Need,” Mar. 22, 2023, newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Received via email from the Missionary Department, Sept. 14, 2023.

See “Temple List,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org/temples/list.

Received via email from Member and Statistical Records, July 28, 2023.

This includes Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University–Idaho, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, Ensign College, and BYU–Pathway Worldwide.

Received via email from Seminaries and Institutes, July 28, 2023.

See General Handbook, 34.3.1.

President Dallin H. Oaks shared this story about trusting in the Lord: “My widowed mother supported her three young children on a [meager] salary. … I asked my mother why she paid so much of her salary as tithing. I have never forgotten her explanation: ‘Dallin, there might be some people who can get along without paying tithing, but we can’t. The Lord has chosen to take your father and leave me to raise you children. I cannot do that without the blessings of the Lord, and I obtain those blessings by paying an honest tithing’” (“Tithing,” 33).

“That through my providence, notwithstanding the tribulation which shall descend upon you, that the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world” (Doctrine and Covenants 78:14).

Personal correspondence from Charlotte Hlimi Martin, Aug. 30, 2023.

Doctrine and Covenants 1:30.

Acts 5:38–39.

Russell M. Nelson, “Overcome the World and Find Rest,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 95.

By Elder David A. Bednar

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

I want to describe two important lessons I have learned about the law of tithing. The first lesson focuses upon the blessings that come to individuals and families as they faithfully obey this commandment. The second lesson emphasizes the importance of tithing in the growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all of the world. I pray the Holy Ghost will confirm to each of us the truthfulness of the principles I discuss.

Sister Bednar’s mother is a faithful woman and an inspired homemaker. From the earliest days of her marriage, she carefully has kept the household financial records. For decades she has accounted conscientiously for the family income and expenditures using very simple ledgers. The information she has collected over the years is comprehensive and informative.

When Sister Bednar was a young woman, her mother used the data in the ledgers to emphasize basic principles of provident living and prudent home management. One day as they reviewed together various categories of expenses, her mother noted an interesting pattern. The costs for doctor visits and medicines for their family were far lower than might have been expected. She then related this finding to the gospel of Jesus Christ and explained to her daughter a powerful truth: as we live the law of tithing, we often receive significant but subtle blessings that are not always what we expect and easily can be overlooked. The family had not received any sudden or obvious additions to the household income. Instead, a loving Heavenly Father had bestowed simple blessings in seemingly ordinary ways. Sister Bednar always has remembered this important lesson from her mother about the help that comes to us through the windows of heaven, as promised by Malachi in the Old Testament (see Malachi 3:10).

Often as we teach and testify about the law of tithing, we emphasize the immediate, dramatic, and readily recognizable temporal blessings that we receive. And surely such blessings do occur. Yet some of the diverse blessings we obtain as we are obedient to this commandment are significant but subtle. Such blessings can be discerned only if we are both spiritually attentive and observant (see 1 Corinthians 2:14).

The imagery of the “windows” of heaven used by Malachi is most instructive. Windows allow natural light to enter into a building. In like manner, spiritual illumination and perspective are poured out through the windows of heaven and into our lives as we honor the law of tithing.

For example, a subtle but significant blessing we receive is the spiritual gift of gratitude that enables our appreciation for what we have to constrain desires for what we want. A grateful person is rich in contentment. An ungrateful person suffers in the poverty of endless discontentment (see Luke 12:15).

We may need and pray for help to find suitable employment. Eyes and ears of faith (see Ether 12:19) are needed, however, to recognize the spiritual gift of enhanced discernment that can empower us to identify job opportunities that many other people might overlook—or the blessing of greater personal determination to search harder and longer for a position than other people may be able or willing to do. We might want and expect a job offer, but the blessing that comes to us through heavenly windows may be greater capacity to act and change our own circumstances rather than expecting our circumstances to be changed by someone or something else.

We may appropriately desire and work to receive a pay raise in our employment to better provide the necessities of life. Eyes and ears of faith are required, however, to notice in us an increased spiritual and temporal capacity (see Luke 2:52) to do more with less, a keener ability to prioritize and simplify, and an enhanced ability to take proper care of the material possessions we already have acquired. We might want and expect a larger paycheck, but the blessing that comes to us through heavenly windows may be greater capacity to change our own circumstances rather than expecting our circumstances to be changed by someone or something else.

The stripling warriors in the Book of Mormon (see Alma 53; 56–58) prayed earnestly that God would strengthen and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies. Interestingly, the answers to these prayers did not produce additional weapons or an increased number of troops. Instead, God granted these faithful warriors assurance that He would deliver them, peace to their souls, and great faith and hope for their deliverance in Him (see Alma 58:11). Thus, the sons of Helaman did take courage, were fixed with a determination to conquer, and did go forth with all of their might against the Lamanites (see Alma 58:12–13). Assurance, peace, faith, and hope initially might not seem like the blessings warriors in battle might want, but they were precisely the blessings these valiant young men needed to press forward and prevail physically and spiritually.

Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed with the gift of grace. He may bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals. And when we plead for relief from physical, mental, and spiritual difficulties, He may increase our resolve and resilience.

I promise that as you and I observe and keep the law of tithing, indeed the windows of heaven will be opened and spiritual and temporal blessings will be poured out such that there shall not be room enough to receive them (see Malachi 3:10). We also will remember the Lord’s declaration:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).

I testify that as we are spiritually attentive and observant, we will be blessed with eyes that see more clearly, ears that hear more consistently, and hearts that understand more fully the significance and subtlety of His ways, His thoughts, and His blessings in our lives.

Before my call to serve as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, I read many times in the Doctrine and Covenants about the council appointed to oversee and disburse sacred tithing funds. The Council on the Disposition of the Tithes was established by revelation and consists of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the Presiding Bishopric (see D&C 120). As I prepared in December of 2004 to attend my first meeting of this council, I eagerly anticipated a most remarkable learning opportunity.

I still remember the things I experienced and felt in that council. I gained a greater appreciation and reverence for the Lord’s laws of finance for individuals, for families, and for His Church. The basic financial program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—for both income and disbursement—is defined in sections 119 and 120 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Two statements found in these revelations provide the foundation for the fiscal affairs of the Church.

Section 119 simply states that all members “shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, … saith the Lord” (verse 4).

Then, concerning the authorized disbursement of the tithes, the Lord said, “It shall be disposed of by a council, composed of the First Presidency of my Church, and of the bishop and his council, and by my high council; and by mine own voice unto them, saith the Lord” (D&C 120:1). The “bishop and his council” and “my high council” referred to in this revelation are known today as the Presiding Bishopric and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, respectively. These sacred funds are used in a rapidly growing church to spiritually bless individuals and families by constructing and maintaining temples and houses of worship, supporting missionary work, translating and publishing scriptures, fostering family history research, funding schools and religious education, and accomplishing many other Church purposes as directed by the Lord’s ordained servants.

I marvel at the clarity and brevity of these two revelations in comparison to the complicated financial guidelines and administrative procedures used in so many organizations and governments around the world. How can the temporal affairs of an organization as large as the restored Church of Jesus Christ possibly operate throughout the entire world using such succinct instructions? To me the answer is quite straightforward: this is the Lord’s work, He is able to do His own work (see 2 Nephi 27:20), and the Savior inspires and directs His servants as they apply His directions and labor in His cause.

In that first council meeting I was impressed by the simplicity of the principles that guided our deliberations and decisions. In the financial operations of the Church, two basic and fixed principles are observed. First, the Church lives within its means and does not spend more than it receives. Second, a portion of the annual income is set aside as a reserve for contingencies and unanticipated needs. For decades the Church has taught its membership the principle of setting aside additional food, fuel, and money to take care of emergencies that might arise. The Church as an institution simply follows the same principles that are taught repeatedly to the members.

As the meeting progressed, I found myself wishing that all members of the Church could observe the simplicity, the clarity, the orderliness, the charity, and the power of the Lord’s own way (see D&C 104:16) for conducting the temporal affairs of His Church. I have now participated in the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes for many years. My gratitude and reverence for the Lord’s pattern has grown each year, and the lessons learned have become even more profound.

My heart swells with love and admiration for the faithful and obedient members of this Church from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. As I travel the earth, I learn about your hopes and dreams, your varied living conditions and circumstances, and your struggles. I have attended Church meetings with you and visited in some of your homes. Your faith strengthens my faith. Your devotion makes me more devoted. And your goodness and willing obedience to the law of tithing inspires me to be a better man, husband, father, and Church leader. I remember and think of you each time I participate in the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes. Thank you for your goodness and faithfulness as you honor your covenants.

The leaders of the Lord’s restored Church feel a tremendous responsibility to care appropriately for the consecrated offerings of Church members. We are keenly aware of the sacred nature of the widow’s mite.

“And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

“And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

“And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

“For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living” (Mark 12:41–44).

I know from firsthand experience that the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes is vigilant in caring for the widow’s mite. I express appreciation to President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors for their effective leadership in discharging this holy stewardship. And I acknowledge the voice (see D&C 120:1) and hand of the Lord that sustain His ordained servants in fulfilling the duty to represent Him.

The honest payment of tithing is much more than a duty; it is an important step in the process of personal sanctification. To those of you who pay your tithing, I commend you.

To those of you who presently are not obeying the law of tithing, I invite you to consider your ways and repent. I testify that by your obedience to this law of the Lord, the windows of heaven will be opened to you. Please do not procrastinate the day of your repentance.

I testify spiritual and temporal blessings come into our lives as we live the law of tithing. I bear witness that such blessings often are significant but subtle. I also declare that the simplicity of the Lord’s way that is so evident in the temporal affairs of His Church provides patterns that can guide us as individuals and as families. I pray each of us may learn and benefit from these important lessons, in the sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

By Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

It has been prophesied since at least the days of Isaiah that in the latter days, the Lord’s ancient covenant people, the house of Israel, should be “gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth” and restored to “the lands of their inheritance.” President Russell M. Nelson has spoken often and powerfully about this gathering, calling it “the most important thing taking place on earth today.”

What is the purpose of this gathering?

By revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord identified one purpose as the protection of the covenant people. He said, “The gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, [will] be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.” “Wrath” in this context may be understood as the natural consequences of widespread disobedience to the laws and commandments of God.

Most importantly, the gathering is for the purpose of bringing the blessings of salvation and exaltation to all who will receive them. It is how the covenant promises given to Abraham are realized. The Lord told Abraham that through his seed and priesthood “all the families of the earth [should] be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.” President Nelson expressed it this way: “When we embrace the gospel and are baptized, we take upon ourselves the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Baptism is the gate that leads to becoming joint heirs to all the promises given anciently by the Lord to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity.”

In 1836, Moses appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple and “committed … the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth.” On that same occasion, Elias appeared and “committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed.” With this authority, we now carry the gospel of Jesus Christ—the good news of redemption through Him—to all parts and peoples of the earth and gather all who will into the gospel covenant. They become “the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.”

On that same occasion in the Kirtland Temple, there was a third heavenly messenger who appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. I speak of the prophet Elijah, and it is the authority and keys he restored that I want to speak about today. The power to validate all priesthood ordinances and make them binding both on earth and in heaven—the sealing power—is crucial for gathering and preparing a covenant people on both sides of the veil.

Years earlier, Moroni had made it clear to Joseph Smith that Elijah would bring essential priesthood authority: “I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet.” Joseph Smith later explained: “Why send Elijah? Because he holds the keys of the authority to administer in all the ordinances of the Priesthood; and [unless] the authority is given, the ordinances could not be administered in righteousness”—that is, the ordinances would not be valid in both time and eternity.

In a teaching now canonized as scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Prophet stated: “It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of—a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven. Nevertheless, in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given. Hence, whatsoever those men did in authority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great Jehovah.”

We tend to think of the sealing authority as applying only to certain temple ordinances, but that authority is necessary to make any ordinance valid and binding beyond death. The sealing power confers a seal of legitimacy upon your baptism, for example, so that it is recognized here and in heaven. Ultimately, all priesthood ordinances are performed under the keys of the President of the Church, and as President Joseph Fielding Smith explained, “He [the President of the Church] has given us authority, he has put the sealing power in our priesthood, because he holds those keys.”

There is another vital purpose in the gathering of Israel that has special meaning when we talk about sealing on earth and in heaven—that is the building and operation of temples. As the Prophet Joseph Smith explained: “What was the object of gathering the … people of God in any age of the world? … The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house and the glories of His kingdom, and teach the people the way of salvation; for there are certain ordinances and principles that, when they are taught and practiced, must be done in a place or house built for that purpose.”

The validity that the sealing power gives to priesthood ordinances includes, of course, vicarious ordinances performed in the place designated by the Lord—His temple. Here we see the majesty and sacredness of the sealing power—it makes individual salvation and family exaltation universally available to the children of God wherever and whenever they may have lived on the earth. No other theology or philosophy or authority can match such an all-inclusive opportunity. This sealing power is a perfect manifestation of the justice, mercy, and love of God.

With access to the sealing power, our hearts naturally turn to those who have gone before. The latter-day gathering into the covenant crosses through the veil. In the perfect order of God, the living cannot experience eternal life in its fulness without forging enduring links to “the fathers,” our ancestors. Likewise, the progress of those who are already on the other side, or who may yet cross through the veil of death without the benefit of sealings, is incomplete until vicarious ordinances bind them to us, their descendants, and us to them in the divine order. The commitment to aid one another across the veil can be classified as a covenant promise, part of the new and everlasting covenant. In Joseph Smith’s words, we want to “seal up our dead to come forth [with us] in the first resurrection.”

The highest and holiest manifestation of the sealing power is in the eternal union of a man and a woman in marriage and the linking of humankind through all their generations. Because the authority to officiate in these ordinances is so sacred, the President of the Church personally oversees its delegation to others. President Gordon B. Hinckley said on one occasion, “I have said many times that if nothing else came out of all of the sorrow and travail and pain of the restoration than the sealing power of the holy priesthood to bind together families forever, it would have been worth all that it has cost.”

Without the sealings that create eternal families and link generations here and hereafter, we would be left in eternity with neither roots nor branches—that is, neither ancestry nor posterity. It is this free-floating, disconnected state of individuals, on the one hand, or connections that defy the marriage and family relations God has appointed, on the other hand, that would frustrate the very purpose of the earth’s creation. Were that to become the norm, it would be tantamount to the earth being smitten with a curse or “utterly wasted” at the Lord’s coming.

We can see why “marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.” At the same time, we recognize that in the imperfect present, this is not the reality or even a realistic possibility for some. But we have hope in Christ. While we wait upon the Lord, President M. Russell Ballard reminds us that “scriptures and latter-day prophets confirm that everyone who is faithful in keeping gospel covenants will have the opportunity for exaltation.”

Some have experienced unhappy and unhealthy family circumstances and feel little desire for an eternal family association. Elder David A. Bednar made this observation: “To you who have experienced the heartache of a divorce in your family or felt the agony of violated trust, please remember [that God’s pattern for families] begins again with you! One link in the chain of your generations may have been broken, but the other righteous links and what remains of the chain are nonetheless eternally important. You can add strength to your chain and perhaps even help to restore the broken links. That work will be accomplished one by one.”

In the funeral services for Sister Pat Holland, wife of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, last July, President Russell M. Nelson taught: “In time, Patricia and Jeffrey will be reunited. They will later be joined by their children and their covenant-keeping posterity to experience the fulness of joy that God has in store for His faithful children. Knowing that, we understand that the most important date in Patricia’s life was not her birth date or her death date. Her most important date was June 7, 1963, when she and Jeff were sealed in the St. George Temple. … Why is this so important? Because the very reason the earth was created was so families could be formed and sealed to each other. Salvation is an individual matter, but exaltation is a family matter. No one can be exalted alone.”

Not long ago, my wife and I joined a dear friend in a sealing room of the Bountiful Utah Temple. I first met this friend when she was a child in Córdoba, Argentina. My missionary companion and I were contacting people in a neighborhood just blocks away from the mission office, and she answered the door when we came to her home. In due time, she and her mother and siblings joined the Church, and they have remained faithful members. She is now a lovely woman, and this day we were in the temple to seal her deceased parents to one another and then seal her to them.

A couple who over the years have become close friends represented her parents at the altar. It was an emotional moment that became even sweeter when our Argentine friend was sealed to her parents. There were just six of us present on a quiet afternoon away from the world, and yet one of the most important things that ever takes place on the earth was happening. I was gratified that my role and association had come full circle from knocking on her door as a young missionary to now, these many years later, performing the sealing ordinances that linked her to her parents and past generations.

This is a scene taking place constantly all over the world in temples. This is the ultimate step in gathering the covenant people. It is the highest privilege of your membership in the Church of Jesus Christ. I promise that as you faithfully seek that privilege, in time or eternity it will surely be yours.

I testify that the sealing power and authority restored to earth through Joseph Smith are real, that what is thereby bound on earth truly is bound in heaven. I testify that President Russell M. Nelson, as President of the Church, is the one man on earth today that by his keys directs the use of this supernal power. I testify that the Atonement of Jesus Christ has made immortality a verity and the possibility of exalted family relationships a reality. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

See, for example, Isaiah 49.

2 Nephi 10:8.

2 Nephi 10:7.

Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Hope of Israel” (worldwide youth devotional, June 3, 2018), Gospel Library.

Doctrine and Covenants 115:6.

Abraham 2:11.

Russell M. Nelson, “The Everlasting Covenant,” Liahona, Oct. 2022, 4; see also Russell M. Nelson, “Children of the Covenant,” Ensign, May 1995, 34. “‘The new and everlasting covenant’ (Doctrine and Covenants 132:6) and the Abrahamic covenant are essentially the same—two ways of phrasing the covenant God made with mortal men and women at different times” (Russell M. Nelson, “The Everlasting Covenant,” 4).

Doctrine and Covenants 110:11.

Doctrine and Covenants 110:12.

Doctrine and Covenants 84:34.

See Doctrine and Covenants 110:13–16.

Doctrine and Covenants 2:1.

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 310.

“The spirit, power, and calling of Elijah is, that ye have power to hold the key of the revelation, ordinances, oracles, powers and endowments of the fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood and of the kingdom of God on the earth; and to receive, obtain, and perform all the ordinances belonging to the kingdom of God, even unto the turning of the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the hearts of the children unto the fathers, even those who are in heaven” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 311).

Doctrine and Covenants 128:9.

See Doctrine and Covenants 132:7.

Joseph Fielding Smith, in Henry B. Eyring, “Families under Covenant,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 63; see also endnote 5 on page 65.

Teachings: Joseph Smith, 416–17.

Without these “welding links” (see Doctrine and Covenants 128:18) between the fathers and the children created via temple ordinances, the Lord states, “ye shall be rejected … with your dead” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:32). No wonder the Prophet warned: “Let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:15).

Teachings: Joseph Smith, 312.

Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 475–76.

See Doctrine and Covenants 132:8–12.

See Malachi 4:6; Doctrine and Covenants 2:3.

“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Gospel Library.

M. Russell Ballard, “Hope in Christ,” Liahona, May 2021, 55.

David A. Bednar, “A Welding Link” (worldwide devotional for young adults, Sept. 10, 2017), Gospel Library.

By Elder Quentin L. Cook

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

It has been a special blessing to have the Sunday session of general conference coincide with the actual day we celebrate Easter. Our emphasis at Easter encompasses the eternity-shaping events that occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the cross at Calvary, and in the Garden Tomb where Jesus Christ was resurrected.

It is my witness that His Atonement accomplished His Father’s plan of salvation and provides the way for everyone who has ever lived to be free of death unconditionally and free of sin on condition of repentance. Therefore, the seminal doctrines of the Resurrection and the Atonement have been accomplished by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This Easter Sunday also coincides with the magnificent vision of the Savior that occurred in the Kirtland Temple on Easter Sunday of 1836—190 years ago—just one week after the Kirtland Temple was dedicated. That day, like today, was one of those times when Easter and the Passover season overlap.

The appearance of the Savior to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and the keys committed by Moses, Elias, and Elijah are central to the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter days. The role of Elijah in restoring the priesthood keys of the sealing power is crucial in our journey of returning to our Father as a covenant people.

A little Church history will help put these events in perspective.

During the night of September 21, 1823, the angel Moroni appeared to 17-year-old Joseph Smith in a small log cabin near Palmyra, New York. The angel Moroni visited three times during that night and again in the morning. He taught and retaught critical information related to the unfolding of future events in the Restoration of Christ’s gospel.

He told Joseph of gold plates hidden in the hillside nearby. In addition, he quoted prophecies from the Old Testament. The second section of the Doctrine and Covenants contains Moroni’s words to Joseph Smith relating to Elijah:

“Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

“And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

“If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.”

If I were a 17-year-old and had access only to the Bible, I would have been very confused. Who was this prophet Elijah? And what priesthood would he reveal? Why would the whole earth be wasted if the children did not turn their hearts to their fathers and remember the promises made to them?

Elijah was a remarkable prophet who held sacred priesthood keys and through whom mighty miracles were performed. Christians, Muslims, and Jews the world over accept Elijah as a prophet. Muslims believe that Elijah was a prophet sent by God (Allah) to call people away from idol worship—especially the worship of Baal—and back to the worship of the one true God.

The Jews have been waiting for Elijah’s return for over 2,900 years as a forerunner to the coming of the Messiah.

Prior to Jesus Christ’s mortal ministry, the prophet Elijah exercised the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood.

It is noteworthy to me that Elijah also appeared, with Moses, at the time of the transfiguration of Christ. Elijah conferred priesthood keys of the sealing power upon Peter, James, and John.

It is also significant that when Christ visited the people on the American continent, He specifically recited to them the Old Testament account in Malachi concerning Elijah and his role in uniting families eternally prior to the Second Coming of Christ.

Because of the Restoration, we understand the important and pivotal role Elijah has played in the salvation of mankind. Elijah committed to Joseph Smith the priesthood keys pertaining to the sealing power to bind sacred ordinances and covenants on earth and in heaven. This includes the vicarious ordinances of salvation and exaltation that must be performed here on earth in the temples of the Lord. The sealing ordinances are effective after this life and in the eternities—to seal husbands and wives, parents and children. Without these keys, there are no eternal families, and “the whole earth would be utterly wasted.”

One of the many special spiritual experiences I had with my dear friend and beloved missionary companion—and later my Quorum President—President Jeffrey R. Holland, related to the prophet Elijah.

Starting in 2009, Elder Holland and I had the privilege of escorting various groups of people—including Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Rabbi leaders, as well as secular Jewish leaders—through open-house tours in temples here in Utah.

At the baptismal font, I had the opportunity to explain to them the doctrine of baptism for our deceased ancestors. This relates directly to Malachi’s promises of turning the hearts of children to their deceased fathers. I read to them from 1 Kings 7:25, where Solomon’s temple is described. The baptismal font sits on top of the hinder parts of twelve oxen representing the twelve tribes of Israel. This brought both recognition and tears to some. They realized that they were essentially looking at certain aspects of Solomon’s temple, which has sacred significance to both Jews and Muslims.

When we entered the sealing room, Elder Holland was overcome with emotion and, with tears in his eyes, explained to them that he did not want to offend them but felt compelled to share something. Then, in a very spiritually powerful way, he explained that Elijah indeed had come and restored the sacred keys that allow the eternal sealing of husbands and wives and their families. He explained that the sealing room, where we were assembled, is a place where the restored keys are exercised. Our Jewish friends appreciated the fact that Old Testament scriptural accounts of prophets are featured so prominently in our temples and doctrine.

A few years later, Jewish leaders requested that we celebrate the 175th anniversary of Orson Hyde’s historic dedication of the Holy Land in Jerusalem. Elder Holland and I were blessed to represent the Church at that celebration.

Two additional experiences following that event were particularly significant to me. First, I came to understand Elder Holland’s history with Jerusalem. He was in his 30s when, on behalf of President Spencer W. Kimball and other Church leaders, Elder Holland spearheaded the effort to establish the Jerusalem Center on the Mount of Olives. He worked for almost 15 years with many others to accomplish most of what the Church built in Jerusalem. Elder Holland worked tirelessly with both Palestinian and Jewish leaders.

Elder Holland loved being in the places where the Savior performed miracles and accomplished the Atonement.

Second, during the visit to Jerusalem, there was time for Elder Holland and me, along with our wives, Pat and Mary, to be together next to the Garden Tomb and read the precious verses from each of the four Gospels that recount the last few days of the Savior’s earthly ministry, culminating in His atoning sacrifice and glorious Resurrection.

Can you imagine how it felt for two former missionary companions, then serving as Apostles, and our sweet wives, having the opportunity to walk where Jesus walked, to read from sacred scriptures of the last days of His mortal ministry, and to feel the spirit of these miraculous events?

Let me assure you that you do not need to physically visit Jerusalem to feel the same things that we felt that day and have many times since.

You can have that knowledge and confirmation by the Spirit when you study the life of our Savior, the restoration of the priesthood, and the return of the sealing keys by Elijah that unite our families for eternity. You can feel by the surety of spiritual confirmation that our Savior accomplished the Father’s plan. He atoned for our sins and broke the bands of death so that we might return to the Father and the Son in the celestial kingdom.

I promise to you on this Easter Day that as you adhere to His ordinances, covenants, and commandments, you will grow closer in your relationship with our Savior as well as your appreciation and gratitude for the sealing keys that have been restored in this dispensation.

I testify that the keys committed by ancient prophets to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple are an essential part of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

As an Apostle, I bear my sure and certain witness of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, who leads His Church. I testify of His Atonement and Resurrection and rejoice with you on this special Easter Sunday for all that the Savior has accomplished that we might have eternal life. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Bible records numerous appearances of the resurrected Savior Jesus Christ. He appeared to Mary Magdalene, as recorded in John 20:15–18. The Apostle John recounts His appearance to individuals (see John 20:19–20), and Paul recorded that He was seen by “above five hundred brethren at once” (see 1 Corinthians 15:5–8). Following His Resurrection, He ministered to people as recorded in the Book of Mormon (see 3 Nephi 11–26).

See 1 Corinthians 15:3–4; 2 Nephi 9:5–7; Doctrine and Covenants 138:2–4, 19.

See Helaman 14:2; Articles of Faith 1:2–3.

See Doctrine and Covenants 110:1–9; Russell M. Nelson, “Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys,” Liahona, May 2024, 119–23.

See Stephen D. Ricks, “The Appearance of Elijah and Moses in the Kirtland Temple and the Jewish Passover,” BYU Studies, vol. 23, no. 4 (Fall 1983), 483–86. Passover this year commenced on Wednesday, April 1, and ended at nightfall on Thursday, April 9. See also David A. Edwards, “The Passover and Easter,” Liahona, Mar. 2026, 34–35. Passover commemorates the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt, as described in the book of Exodus.

It is inspiring that all three of the ancient prophets, Moses, Elias, and Elijah, who provided keys to the Prophet Joseph in the Kirtland Temple are revered as prophets by Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

Priesthood keys are essential to the work that occurs in temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Howard W. Hunter taught: “The great family of God will be united through the saving ordinances of the gospel. Vicarious work for the dead and ordinances for the living are the purposes of temples” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Howard W. Hunter [2015], 190).

See Joseph Smith—History 1:27–54.

Joseph Smith later explained: “Why send Elijah? Because he holds the keys of the authority to administer in all the ordinances of the Priesthood; and [unless] the authority is given, the ordinances could not be administered in righteousness” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 310). See also D. Todd Christofferson, “The Sealing Power,” Liahona, Nov. 2023, 19–22.

Doctrine and Covenants 2:1–3; see also Malachi 4:5–6; Doctrine and Covenants 27:9; 110:13–16.

The ministry of Elijah is covered in the Bible, beginning in 1 Kings 17:1 and continuing through part of 2 Kings 2. President Henry B. Eyring described the power Elijah held as “the greatest power God gives to His children” (“Hearts Bound Together,” Liahona, May 2005, 78). See also David A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,” Liahona, Nov. 2011, 24–25.

This is especially true for those of the Islamic faith.

See Quran 37:123–26, clearquran.com/037.html.

To this day, at their annual Passover seders, or dinners, they set a place for Elijah and go to the door hoping he has arrived to herald the coming of the Messiah.

See 1 Kings 17:1; Doctrine and Covenants 128:8–9.

See Luke 9:28–36.

See David A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,” 24.

See 3 Nephi 25:5.

See Doctrine and Covenants 138:47.

See Doctrine and Covenants 110:14–16; 138:48.

Latter-day temple work requires the keys Elijah committed to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on April 3, 1836, and which have been held by those who have succeeded Joseph since that time. These keys are mentioned or alluded to in Matthew 16:19; Malachi 4:5; 3 Nephi 25:5; Doctrine and Covenants 2:1; 27:9; 110:13–16; 128:17; 138:48.

See 1 Corinthians 15:29.

In modern temples, the font is used for baptisms for the deceased. In Solomon’s temple, the “molten sea” on the backs of twelve oxen was used for other purposes (see 1 Kings 7:23–25).

The Jewish delegation was led by former US Senator Joseph Lieberman; former New York Attorney General Robert Abrams; Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis; Rabbi Meir Soloveichik of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City; and other exceptional leaders (see “Latter-day Saint and Jewish Delegation Gathers at Historic Jerusalem Site,” Oct. 28, 2016, newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org).

By Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Friends, brothers and sisters, we each have a story. As we discover our story, we connect, we belong, we become.

My name is Gerrit Walter Gong. Gerrit is a Dutch name, Walter (my father’s name) is an American name, and Gong of course is a Chinese name.

Experts estimate some 70–110 billion people have lived on the earth. Perhaps only one has been named Gerrit Walter Gong.

We each have a story. I love “the rain on my face [and] the wind as it rushes by.” I wobble-waddle with penguins in Antarctica. I give orphans in Guatemala, street kids in Cambodia, Maasai women in the African Mara their first very own photo of themselves.

I wait at the hospital as each of our children is born—once the doctor has me help.

I trust God. I believe “[we] are, that [we] might have joy,” that there are times and seasons to everything under heaven.

Do you know your story? What your name means? World population grew from 1.1 billion people in 1820 to nearly 7.8 billion in 2020. The year 1820 seems to be an inflection point in history. Many born after 1820 have living memory and records to identify several family generations. Can you think of a special, sweet memory with a grandparent or other family member?

Whatever the total number of individuals who have lived on the earth, it is finite, countable, one person at a time. You and I, we each matter.

And please consider this: whether or not we know them, we are each born of a mother and father. And each mother and father is born of a mother and father. By birth or adoptive lineage, we are ultimately all connected in the family of God and in the human family.

Born AD 837, my 30th great-grandfather, First Dragon Gong, started our family village in southern China. The first time I visited Gong village, the people said, “Wenhan huilaile” (“Gerrit has returned”).

On my mother’s side, our living family tree includes thousands of family names, with more to discover. We each have more family with whom to connect. If you think your great-aunt has completed all your family genealogy, please find your cousins and cousins’ cousins. Connect your living memory family names with the 10 billion searchable names FamilySearch now has in its online collection and the 1.3 billion individuals in its Family Tree.

Ask friends or family to draw a living tree. As President Russell M. Nelson teaches, living trees have roots and branches. Whether you are your first or tenth known generation, connect yesterday for tomorrow. Connect the roots and branches in your living family tree.

The question “Where are you from?” asks lineage, birthplace, and home country or homeland. Globally, 25 percent of us trace our homeland to China, 23 percent to India, 17 percent to other parts of Asia and the Pacific, 18 percent to Europe, 10 percent to Africa, 7 percent to the Americas.

The question “Where are you from?” also invites us to discover our divine identity and spiritual purpose in life.

We each have a story.

A family I know connected five family generations when they visited their old home in Winnipeg, Canada. There the grandfather told his grandsons about the day two missionaries (he called them angels from heaven) brought the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, changing their family forever.

A mother I know invited her children and their cousins to ask their great-grandmother about her childhood experiences. Great-Grandma’s adventures and life lessons are now a treasured family book uniting generations.

A young man I know is compiling a “Dad journal.” Years ago, a car hit and killed his father. Now, to know his father, this courageous young man is preserving childhood memories and stories from family and friends.

When asked where meaning comes in life, most people rank family first. This includes family living and gone before. Of course, when we die, we don’t cease to exist. We continue to live on the other side of the veil.

Still very much alive, our ancestors deserve to be remembered. We remember our heritage through oral histories, clan records and family stories, memorials or places of remembrance, and celebrations with photos, foods, or items which remind us of loved ones.

Think of where you live—isn’t it wonderful how your country and community remember and honor ancestors, family, others who served and sacrificed? For example, at the autumn harvest remembrance in South Molton, Devonshire, England, Sister Gong and I loved finding the little church and community where generations of our Bawden family lived. We honor our ancestors by opening the heavens through temple and family history work and by becoming a welding link in the chain of our generations.

In this age of “I choose me,” societies benefit when generations connect in meaningful ways. We need roots to have wings—real relationships, meaningful service, life beyond fleeting social media veneers.

Connecting with our ancestors can change our lives in surprising ways. From their trials and accomplishments, we gain faith and strength. From their love and sacrifices, we learn to forgive and move forward. Our children become resilient. We gain protection and power. Ties with ancestors increase family closeness, gratitude, miracles. Such ties can bring help from the other side of the veil.

Just as joys come in families, so can sorrows. No individual is perfect, nor is any family. When those who should love, nurture, and protect us fail to do so, we feel abandoned, embarrassed, hurt. Family can become a hollow shell. Yet, with heaven’s help, we can come to understand our family and make peace with each other.

Sometimes unwavering commitment to abiding family relationships helps us accomplish hard things. In some cases, community becomes family. A remarkable young woman whose troubled family moved frequently found a loving Church family wherever she was to nurture and give her place. Genetics and family patterns influence but do not determine us.

God wants our families to be happy and forever. Forever is too long if we make each other unhappy. Happy is too short if cherished relationships stop with this life. Through sacred covenants, Jesus Christ offers His love, power, and grace to change us and heal our relationships. Selfless temple service for dear ones makes our Savior’s Atonement real for them and us. Sanctified, we can return home to God’s presence as families united eternally.

Each of our stories is a journey still in progress, as we discover, create, and become with possibilities beyond imagination.

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of—a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven.” The sociality we create here can exist with eternal glory there. Indeed, “we without [our family members] cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect,” that is, in “a whole and complete and perfect union.”

What can we do now?

First, imagine your image reflected back and forth between two mirrors of eternity. In one direction, picture yourself as daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughter; in the other direction, smile at yourself as aunt, mother, grandmother. How quickly time passes! In each time and role, notice who is with you. Gather their photos and stories; make their memories real. Record their names, experiences, key dates. They are your family—the family you have and the family you want.

As you perform temple ordinances for family members, the spirit of Elijah, “a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family,” will knit the hearts of your fathers, mothers, and children together in love.

Second, let the adventure of family history be intentional and spontaneous. Call your grandmother. Look deeply into the eyes of that new baby. Make time—discover eternity—at each stage of your journey. Learn and acknowledge with gratitude and honesty your family heritage. Celebrate and become the positive and, where needed, humbly do everything possible not to pass on the negative. Let good things begin with you.

Third, visit FamilySearch.org. Download the available mobile apps. They’re free and fun. Discover, connect, belong. See how you are related to people in a room, how easy and rewarding it is to add names to your living family tree, to find and bless your roots and branches.

Fourth, help unite families eternally. Remember the demographics of heaven. There are many more on the other side of the veil than on this side. As more temples come closer to us, please offer those waiting for temple ordinances opportunity to receive them.

The promise at Easter and always is that, in and through Jesus Christ, we can become our best story and our families can become happy and forever. In all our generations, Jesus Christ heals the brokenhearted, delivers the captives, sets at liberty them that are bruised. Covenant belonging with God and each other includes knowing our spirit and body will be reunited in resurrection and our most precious relationships can continue beyond death with a fulness of joy.

We each have a story. Come discover yours. Come find your voice, your song, your harmony in Him. This is the very purpose for which God created the heavens and the earth and saw that they were good.

Praise God’s plan of happiness, Jesus Christ’s Atonement, continuing restoration in His gospel and Church. Please come find your family, all your generations, and bring them home. In the sacred and holy name of Jesus Christ, amen.

“My Heavenly Father Loves Me,” Children’s Songbook, 228.

2 Nephi 2:25.

See Ecclesiastes 3:1.

Based on United Nations Secretariat, The World at Six Billion (1999), 5, table 1; “World Population by Year,” Worldometer, worldometers.info.

Many are blessed to have parents who did not physically bear them, yet they are joined as family through bonds of affection and adoption and sacred sealing covenants.

I express appreciation to those who are piloting ways to organize large numbers of family names into family trees.

In 2021, some 99 million names were added to public family trees. And recently, digitization was completed of 2.4 million rolls of microfilm containing approximately 37 billion names (with some duplications). These individual name records can now be prepared to be searched, found, and added to the family tree of humanity.

See Russell M. Nelson, “Roots and Branches,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2004, 27–29.

Of course, as we discover and build our living family tree, please maintain 100 percent respect for the privacy and volunteer participation of family members, living and deceased.

David Quimette extrapolated these numbers, based on Angus Maddison, The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective (2001), 241, table B-10.

See Laura Silver and others, “What Makes Life Meaningful? Views from 17 Advanced Economies,” Pew Research Center, Nov. 18, 2021, pewresearch.org.

1 Nephi 9:5; 1 Nephi 19:3; Words of Mormon 1:6–7; and Alma 37:2 speak of keeping records and remembering “for a wise purpose,” including to bless future generations.

See Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Open the Heavens through Temple and Family History Work,” Ensign, Oct. 2017, 34–39; Liahona, Oct. 2017, 14–19; see also “RootsTech Family Discovery Day—Opening Session 2017” (video), ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

See Doctrine and Covenants 128:18.

See Gordon B. Hinckley, “Keep the Chain Unbroken” (Brigham Young University devotional, Nov. 30, 1999), speeches.byu.edu. President Hinckley is also quoted in David A. Bednar, “A Welding Link” (worldwide devotional for young adults, Sept. 10, 2017), broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

For example, in our family, Henry Bawden, from Devonshire, England, married Sarah Howard, who emigrated with her family after they joined the Church. While Sarah was in St. Louis as a young teenager, her father, mother, and five siblings died. Henry and Sarah had 10 children. Sarah also raised six children of Henry’s first wife, Ann Ireland, after she died. Sarah was also mother to two young granddaughters after her (Sarah’s) daughter-in-law passed away. Despite life’s many challenges, Sarah was warm, loving, compassionate, and of course very hardworking. She was affectionately known as “Little Grandma.”

Hard as it may be, as we forgive ourselves and each other with Christ’s help, we become “the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

See, for example, Mosiah 3:19.

See “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Doctrine and Covenants 128:9.

See Doctrine and Covenants 130:2.

Doctrine and Covenants 128:18.

Russell M. Nelson, “A New Harvest Time,” Ensign, May 1998, 34; see also Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Open the Heavens through Temple and Family History Work,” 16–18.

See Mosiah 18:21.

See Luke 4:18.

I am told the Hebrew word for family—mishpachah—comes from a Hebrew root word (shaphahh) meaning “to join or bind together.” Every role within the family is designed to strengthen family bonds.

See Doctrine and Covenants 88:15–16, 34; 93:33; 138:17.

See Genesis 1:4, 31.

By Elder Jorge T. Becerra

Of the Seventy

The prophet Alma asked several penetrating questions to help the Church members in Zarahemla have “a mighty change” of heart as disciples of Jesus Christ (Alma 5:12). Shortly thereafter, he taught the people of Gideon. Something he taught caught my attention as I read, “I have come having great hopes … that ye had humbled yourselves before God, and that … ye were not in the awful dilemma that our brethren were in at Zarahemla” (Alma 7:3; emphasis added).

Later in the same sermon, he repeated, “I had much desire that ye were not in the state of dilemma like your brethren” (Alma 7:18; emphasis added). What was this awful dilemma? The footnote in verse 18 leads us to a possible answer. The Apostle James taught us what this dilemma could be: “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8).

A double-minded person is one who is wavering, indecisive, or conflicted, someone who lacks commitment to a single purpose or belief. One way to overcome double-mindedness is to learn to put God first in our lives. Jesus Christ taught, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33; emphasis added).

From the beginning of time, God has taught His children to put Him first in their lives. For example, the Lord gave Adam and Eve “commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.

“And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.

“And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth” (Moses 5:5–7; emphasis added).

Please notice that the Lord commanded Adam and Eve to offer the firstlings of their flocks. In other words, He commanded them to put God first to avoid the spiritual dilemma of double-mindedness.

I recall a powerful experience I had many years ago that taught me how to put God first in my life. As a young married father, I was called to serve in a branch presidency. Elder Clinton L. Cutler of the Seventy came to speak to our branch. After the meeting, I had an opportunity to talk with him.

Sensing that I had something on my mind, he asked, “Is there something bothering you?”

“Yes,” I replied, “I am having financial difficulties in my business. I have fallen behind in my payment of tithes and offerings.”

He then asked, “Do you have anything of value?”

I don’t recall what else he said. I pondered his question for many days. The only thing I had of value was a car that I needed in my efforts to grow my business. However, I concluded that I should at least make an effort to sell my car, so I cleaned and polished it and placed an ad to sell it.

I want to be clear that Elder Cutler did not ask me to sell my car. This came to me after pondering and desiring to put God first.

A few days later, a man came to the house to see the car. He seemed interested; he drove it and came back to discuss the details. He gave me his business card, and I realized he represented a car dealership. I was nervous about what would surely happen next—the haggling back and forth over the price.

He asked me, “How much do you want for the car?”

I told him I needed a precise amount. I had calculated what I needed to pay off the loan on the car and pay my tithing.

He then said very calmly, “OK, I will come back in a few days with a check.”

He thanked me and left. I could not believe it. No arguing, no haggling, no negotiating.

A few days later, he came back with a check for the amount I had requested. I was surprised and amazed as he drove off with the car. I deposited the check and paid my tithing.

As I contemplated what had occurred, I realized that I did not have a car to continue with my business. While I was thinking about what to do, a friend called me and said, “Jorge, you like my car, don’t you?” At that point I would have liked any car! He reminded me that his wife was having twins and that he needed to buy a larger vehicle and wondered if I would be willing to take over his car payments. It was a miracle!

As I reflect upon my experience, I wonder what gave me the confidence to sell my car and pay my tithing. I recall one home evening when my mother bore powerful testimony of the law of tithing. My parents immigrated to the United States through a job offer that allowed us to receive legal residency. However, we experienced financial setbacks, as many immigrants do as they become acclimated to a new country and economy.

With a gaze of her certain witness, she said, “All we need to see is the very hand of Jehovah Himself to have any greater assurance that He is blessing us by our payment of tithing.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: “I know that the people are in difficult circumstances. I know that many of them are unemployed. I know that many of them work for very meager wages. I know that they live in simple and inadequate little houses, the only thing they can afford. I believe they will not walk out of poverty unless they pay their tithing. … Now is the season in which to establish strength in the gospel, and that involves the payment of tithing. … It is obedience to the commandment of the Lord that really matters” (General Authority training meeting, Oct. 2, 2001).

I know this statement applies to our temporal lives but also to our spiritual lives. I am certain that the payment of tithes and offerings will enhance our spiritual capacity as we put God first and offer our “firstlings of [the] flock” (Moses 5:5).

I witness that a spiritual power and direction, heretofore unknown, will come into our lives as we keep the law of obedience and sacrifice. Evidence of this truth is found in the simple statement of the Lord after Adam had offered sacrifice: “And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam” (Moses 5:9).

Elder David A. Bednar observed: “The imagery of the ‘windows’ of heaven used by Malachi is most instructive [see Malachi 3:10]. Windows allow natural light to enter into a building. In like manner, spiritual illumination and perspective are poured out through the windows of heaven and into our lives as we honor the law of tithing” (“The Windows of Heaven,” Liahona, Nov. 2013, 18).

I witness that Jesus Christ is the perfect example of how to put God first in our lives. I witness that He laid down His life as a symbol of complete submission to His Father’s will. He is the Christ, the Redeemer and Savior of us all. Dallin H. Oaks is His prophet. I bear solemn witness that He lives, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.