Almost every time we turn our hearts to our ancestors and begin to talk about, think about,

organized, document, or submit in Temple and Family History work, there's a spirit that comes. It's a feeling.

And it's powerful. People all over the world feel this. And interestingly enough, a lot of the

people that are participating, again, are not members of our faith. They're people that just

feel the power of connecting, of being part of a family. And this idea of uniting people across the world through a global conference, of uniting people in person,

and then ultimately uniting on both sides of the veil, uniting with the living, uniting with the dead,

uniting all of our Heavenly Father's children, wherever they happen to be in whatever stage of life they happen to be in.

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 last time Roots Tech hosted an in-person event was in 2020, shortly before the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That year, more than 50,000 people attended the annual three-day family

history gathering in Salt Lake City. Held virtually during the pandemic, participation spiked

into the millions as Roots Tech moved to an online platform. This year, Roots Tech encompasses

the best of both platforms, held in person and virtually. Today's

Church News podcast features Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, a general authority 70, chairman of the board

for Family Search International, and executive director of the Family History Department, and

Steve Rockwood, president and CEO of Family Search International and managing director of the Family History Department.

Welcome both of you to the Church News podcast. Thank you.

It is great to have you here. This is your second appearance on the Church News podcast.

Yeah, it seems like just yesterday. Yeah, we were talking before we started taping, and they were on episode 18, so we were all sort of learning how this was going to work.

And so today I want to start by giving our listeners and all of us some background about RootsTech.

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