- Elder Rasband emphasized faith's generational impact during Family Discovery Day at the RootsTech family history conference on Saturday.
- He highlighted temples' role in linking families and shared personal family history stories along with his wife.
- Former NFL player Steve Young discussed overcoming anxiety and the importance of selfless love and responsibility.
SALT LAKE CITY — Elder Ronald A. Rasband, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, invited church members to be engaged in a "spiritual latter-day work" of serving and worshiping in temples.
"I know you will be … armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory," he said.
Elder Rasband and his wife spoke on Saturday at Family Discovery Day, which includes events on the final day of the RootsTech family history conference designed for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"Each temple stands as an earthly sentinel of God's plan of salvation and as temples are rising across the world, they serve as a witness that the Lord is eager to bless individuals and families of every nation, kindred, tongue and people linking together the eternal family of God," he said.
He told stories from his family history, including one about a man who, although not yet a member, gave a $5 gold coin to Joseph Smith to help build the Kirtland temple. Elder Rasband said that it is, to him, an example of his ancestors' faith. He said faith is "a gift passed from generation to generation."
"As we honor the sacrifices and devotion of those who came before us with testimonies often born through trial and unwavering trust in the Lord, their stories now become linked to and a part of our own," he said.
Strengthening generations
Elder Rasband, his wife, Sister Melanie Rasband, and some of their grandchildren talked about the importance of temples and family during their address. Sister Rasband talked about uniting families in a chain of faith that leads to Christ.
"Often when we talk of family history, we tend to think only of the past, but as we have pointed out, this work is also about the present and the future," she said.
Sister Rasband said the heavenly power members get through family history and work in the temple can help them repent and let God prevail in their lives.
Elder Rasband said their family means everything to them. He testified that families can be together forever through Christ, which he said brings peace and added purpose.
"The choices we make today echo far beyond our own lives. We not only live for ourselves, but in time we'll be the ancestors to our own posterity. Every act of faith, every testimony shared, every righteous choice strengthens not only our own lives but the generations that come as we seek to leave a legacy of faith and devotion anchored to the beloved son of God, our Savior Jesus Christ," he said.
Elder Rasband encouraged members to use the ordinances ready feature on FamilySearch to help them provide saving ordinances for their ancestors.
He testified that Christ lives, blesses members' lives and will come again.
"I look forward to the sacred moment when I will bow before him in profound gratitude for his atonement, for his restored gospel, and for binding our families together for eternity in temples under the priesthood power of God," Elder Rasband said.
Doing hard things
Steve Young, a professional football quarterback, spoke in an earlier Saturday keynote address about overcoming anxiety. He said he would dread playing football and often throw up before games.
"My grandpa used to say go through it, don't go around it," he said, saying this is how he pushed through hard games.
He said going through hard things is easy to say, but hard to do and encouraged listeners to not just leave the idea on a sticky note but live it.
"One of the hardest things is to own the vulnerability that I recognize when I have screwed up. ... That vulnerability is humility to see I'm responsible for it, own it, say sorry and fix it," Young said.
He talked about working on a large football team and said when a play goes wrong, there are always things he didn't have control over to blame, but he learned to focus on the "truest truth" — if the ball was in his hands, he was ultimately accountable."
Young also talked about the importance of selfless love; he said the only legacy that matters is "the amount of healing that I brought to other humans."
Referring to family history, Young said his grandfather "was a genealogist before it was cool," and would talk about how an ancestor looked like one of his grandkids in a photo or what talents may have been passed down.
He told a story about one of his ancestors, Brigham Young, who became the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and would help people looking for a start by asking them to move a pile of rocks and paying them for it. Steve Young said this allowed people to feel responsibility and gave them dignity.
