There's power in record keeping, but I think that my perspective of records and their importance,

especially within the context of church history, has changed from one of a historical resource to a potential source where the spirit can be made manifest.

And ultimately, I think that's what record keeping in the church should point us to, the Savior Jesus Christ, that he is in the details.

To me, that is part of an unfolding miracle.

I'm Sarah Jane Weaver, editor of the church news, welcome to the church news podcast.

We are taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of the Church

of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Lord commanded Joseph Smith that the church's records and history should be kept continually.

While the prospect of recording and preserving those records can seem daunting,

the Lord promised that the continual keeping of records would be for the good of the church

and the good of the rising generation.

Matt Heiss, who will retire in March as a member of the global support and training division of the Church History Library,

joins this episode of the Church News podcast.

Since 1987, Matt has worked with the Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to acquire, manage, and train others on collecting church history.

Today, we are happy to have a discussion with Matt about the importance of church history, the potential of record-keeping, and of course, what he knows now after decades of serving the church history department. Matt,

welcome to the church news podcast. Thank you for having me. I'm hoping we can just start and have you

tell us just a little bit about what your job entails. You know, we hear things and terms like

global support and training division of the Church History Library.

What is that?

So right now, we have divided the world into four quarters, and there are four global managers

that manage those.

So I'm responsible for church history operations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

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