“We’re here to discuss how we can help, especially our new members, to have a wonderful experience soon after they are baptized into the Church,” said Elder Neil L. Andersen.
In February of 2024, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints released a Temple and Family History Leadership Instruction session for members and leaders of the Church. A panel of 6 senior Church leaders met together to discuss the blessings the temple can bring new members—both young in the Church and young in age, and also returning members. They also introduced a new tool that enables leaders and others to help members doing proxy baptisms to prepare family name cards for the temple quickly and easily.
You can watch this full leadership instruction on the Church’s site and find the accompanying discussion guide to view or download. More information about the 2024 Leadership Instruction (including about the new tool) can be read below.
Common Questions about the Leadership Instruction
Click or tap on the text in this section to see answers to some common questions.
To assist these conversations, a discussion guide is available in 23 languages.
Those with the following callings are especially encouraged to watch, discuss, and act together:
- Area temple and family history advisers
- Stake, mission, and district presidencies
- Members of stake and ward councils and their presidencies
- Ward mission leaders and missionaries
- Ward temple and family history leaders
- Stake and ward temple and family history consultants
- Young Women class presidencies
- Aaronic Priesthood quorum presidencies
A Quick Synopsis of the 2024 Leadership Instruction
Below is a description of some of the messages from the leadership instruction, to help you have an idea of what it discusses. These are not all of the messages given in the instruction, so readers are highly encouraged to watch the video as well.
Visiting the Temple Can Help Bless Members—But They Need Our Help
“We’re hoping that the temple will be more active in the lives of all the latter-day saints,” Elder Andersen said in the leadership instruction, but he focused discussion specifically on new members. “How do we help them in those first few weeks?” he asked.
Sister Porter noted that when you are a new member of the Church, you may come into the Church alone and may “feel like you are starting a new life.” She expressed that having the opportunity to go to the temple during this early stage of your membership and participating in such an important ordinance in the house of Lord may “help you feel a part of the great work of the Church, even though you’re young in the gospel.”
Elder Duncan expressed that the Lord is entrusting leaders to help these new members into His house. Sister Yee shared an experience she had with a new member she ministered to, where she witnessed the whole ward rallying around her to help her prepare for and attend the temple—which brought blessings to them all.
For New Members, Taking Their First Family Name Can Be Simpler Than We Think
Those on the panel discussed how taking a name to the temple for the first time does not usually have to be a genealogical research problem for new members, but it can be a simple, beautiful experience. “Most new converts want to be baptized for a family member in the temple … often times it’s a grandparent,” Elder Hamilton said. “They know in their mind already who it is they would like to perform that ordinance for.”
These leaders further discussed the importance of having someone there to help them prepare that name, which can be done as soon as their recommend is signed by the bishop. “We’ve simplified the process for doing that,” Elder Gong added.
As the panel members explained, a new resource is now available for bishops—or someone the bishop asks to assist. The tool can, with simple prompts, enable someone to help a new member—including creating a FamilySearch account, preparing a family name, and reserving an ordinance. (Learn more about the tool here.) In addition to a simpler tool, making this preparation a more personal experience can help it feel like less of a technical process.
Elder Andersen talked about how he and his wife worked hard to help their children go to the temple the very week they turned 12, and to make it a notable experience, despite the temple being distant from them. Parents and leaders can, in a nice way, help new members get to the temple as soon as possible. For 11-year-olds and new members, it is an experience they will never forget.
“This is always going to be a daunting experience for the new member,” Elder Duncan cautioned, suggesting ways we can help it be less so. As Elder Gong then mentioned, “The key is the opportunity to go be with the Lord and … to make covenants with Him.” He continued, “As leaders, as friends, as members, we simplify that process as much as we can for those going through it for the first time.”
Moving Forward in the Gospel—And Looking Forward to Your Next Temple Visit
Elder Andersen mentioned towards the end of the leadership instruction that members are always moving in the gospel—either step-by-step forward or away. A new spiritual experience or connection can bring a whole new dimension to their personal conversion. Speaking of the excitement people feel when they are first baptized, Elder Gong said, “You can have that experience again and again,” each time you go to the temple to do proxy baptisms.
Even those that live far from the temple can still have the goal of finding a name and taking it to the temple. Elder Hamilton proposed that a member who lives distant from the temple can still prepare a family name card and set it in a prominent place where it can be seen, as a reminder of going to the temple when the member is able. Sister Porter and Sister Yee added that those who cannot make it to the temple for a long time can share the family name with others living closer and can also study about the temple and the covenants they made at baptism, to come closer to the Savior.
Conclusions
“We live in an unprecedented time,” Elder Hamilton said. “Heavenly Father would be most pleased to see His children in the temple, especially those that are new and tender in the gospel—new members, 11-year-old youth … and even those returning to the temple.”
In her concluding testimony, Sister Yee mentioned that, “[God] really wants His children to know how much He loves them, through the covenant blessings that He is going to offer them…. We have the opportunity to be part of … the process of bringing them to Him.”
Sister Porter shared her experience of being baptized for her father’s grandmother after joining the Church. “[The temple] is the House of the Lord,” she said. “He is there. It’s His house.… It’s a place of belonging to our Heavenly Father, His son, and to our families—provided eternally through the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Elder Andersen concluded leadership instruction with an Apostolic blessing. In it, he mentioned that “every little effort to try to help the new convert, the new child of our Heavenly Father who has entered into the waters of baptism [and] help him or her to find their way into the House of the Lord will not only bless that person—I promise it will bless you. It will bless the members of your ward. Your faith in Jesus Christ will increase.”
The leadership instruction, in full, is only about 28 minutes long. In an interview done shortly after the session was made available, Elder Hamilton said the broadcast comes from deep inspiration, thoughtful and spiritual counsel, and is guided by the Spirit. He noted that taking guidance from the counsel given can be a wonderful experience for all involved.
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