Filling the BYU Conference Center auditorium and spilling into adjacent overflow rooms, hundreds of family history enthusiasts convened for the opening session of the annual Genealogy and Family History Conference, held Aug. 3-6. Sponsored by the BYU departments of Religious Education and History, the Division of Continuing Education and the Church Family History Library, the conference offered seminar tracks in European and Nordic research, Family History Center operations, genealogical computing, writing and publishing, research, United Kingdom and Ireland research, U.S. localities and U.S. and Canada records. Here is a report of the opening devotional address given Aug. 3 by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Presidency of the Seventy. Reports of some of the individual sessions will be published later in the Church News.

PROVO, Utah — Elder D. Todd Christofferson congratulated those attending the annual Genealogy and Family History Conference on the "commission" they feel to "trace roots, to preserve and expand the memory of the past and its significance for the present and the future."

"In that regard, I think your commission, if we could call it that, has an analogy to scripture and the purpose of scripture" said Elder Christofferson, who is executive director of the Church Family History Department.

He referred to the Book of Mormon account in the book of Omni of the Mulekites, whose language became corrupted and who denied the being of their Creator, stemming from their having brought no records with them. He also cited Mosiah 1:3-5 regarding the necessity of the engravings on the brass plates in preserving the faith and spiritual knowledge of the Nephites. And he quoted Alma 37:6-8, that states the records had "enlarged the memory of this people."

"I think what you do bears some analogy to this great purpose of scripture as you make, preserve and expand memory," Elder Christofferson said. "And I simply want to plead with you this morning that in the research of names and dates and places, you also make a record of the stories behind those names, the lives of these people."

He listed three reasons for doing so:

1. No one ought to be forgotten. "Everyone has something of value that needs to be remembered," he said, "and many of those who have gone on before us have elements of greatness." Citing the words of President Howard W. Hunter and President Joseph F. Smith, Elder Christofferson defined true greatness as doing well what God has ordained to be the common lot of all mankind; that is, to be a successful father or mother, a loving friend or a listening neighbor.

He spoke of Oliver Granger, a confidant of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was sent back to Kirtland, Ohio, with the assignment to settle the Church's business there and to "redeem" the First Presidency by discharging their debts. Because of his faithful service, the Lord said of him, "his name shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation forever and ever." (D&C 117:12.)

2. Remembrance and a knowledge of those who have preceded us provides a sense of identity, belonging and commitment. He quoted the words of President Gordon B. Hinckley at the time of the recent launch of the Church's new FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service. President Hinckley said on that occasion: "Perhaps there has never been a time when a sense of family, of identity and self-worth has been more important in our world. Seeking to understand our family history can change our lives. It helps bring unity and cohesion to families. There is something about understanding the past that helps give our young people something to live up to, a legacy to respect."

Elder Christofferson commented: "It is urgent that there be cultivated and expanded in our society and across the earth that sense of identity and worth and cohesion that your records can help bring about."

3. As one preserves the record of the past, one cultivates a loyalty to and remembrance of God. "Our appreciation for what He has done in the lives of our ancestors grows," he said. "Our understanding and closeness to Him is deepened."

Elder Christofferson concluded: "To me it's only logical that this sort of work brings not just a sense of place and identity here and now, but that it preserves and creates for us an eternal sense of place and identity. There is much of the sacred involved in what you are doing."