Elder Mark A. Bragg on how temple and family history unify families in Christ

Church News

News, Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 873 Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2026

⏱️ 39 minutes

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Summary

For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, temple and family history go hand in hand with the Church’s mission of uniting families for eternity. As new temples are announced, built and dedicated around the world, more members than ever have access to do this sacred work for themselves and their ancestors.

On this episode of the Church News podcast, Elder Mark A. Bragg, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Family History Department and FamilySearch International, joins Church News reporter Mary Richards to discuss how tools, resources and growing interest are helping connect families on both sides of the veil.

Elder Bragg reminds listeners that Latter-day Saints are promised greater blessings, understanding and a bolstered testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement as they gather family names to bring to the house of the Lord.

The Church News Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners to make a journey of connection with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the globe. Hosts Jon Ryan Jensen, editor of the Church News, and Church News reporter Mary Richards share unique views of the stories, events, and people who form this international faith. With each episode, listeners are asked to embark on a journey to learn from one another and ponder, “What do I know now?” because of the experience. Produced by Rex Warner.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You know what I would love to see, as we add what we know, add photos, how great would it be that when you go into the baptistery, not only does the name of the individual that you're being baptized for, their photo comes up, right?
0:12.4	Maybe a little bit of information about them.
0:14.5	You know, I think technology is getting to a point where we could probably do something like that.
0:19.5	And it'll just develop
0:21.4	even a greater connection with our, with our ancestors or with the individuals for whom we are
0:27.8	performing those ordinances. This is Mary Richards, reporter at the Church News. Welcome to the
0:34.8	Church News podcast. Today, we are taking you on a journey of connection as we
0:39.7	discuss news and events of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Bragg, when you
0:45.1	think about Roots Tech being such a global event and really with such glad tidings, I think, is such
0:52.8	a way to frame this event, what do you think about why it is so
0:56.5	widely attended and so widely loved? Well, I mean, the simple answer is that it's a manifestation
1:05.4	of the Holy Ghost, sometimes call it the Spirit of Elijah, but it does touch hearts. I think that in a time where
1:14.0	people are able to just isolate themselves with games, with the internet, just in their room,
1:22.5	I think they long for a connection. And so here you have this great event that comes along and
1:28.3	and they're able to to go on and hear about how they could find out about their families.
1:34.6	They can do some fun things like, you know, do I have other relatives that are attending this
1:41.8	and event. And so I just think that there's, it's twofold. It's, it's,
1:48.1	it's the spirit of this great work moving forward. The Holy Ghost, touching hearts,
1:55.4	prompting people to connect. And then that longing to connect to, to, to belong. When we were teaching the gospel, we always
2:02.4	say, well, you know, where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? Well,
2:07.0	that question, where do we come from? It also applies to where do we come from globally? Where do we
2:14.3	come from in our family? And I think that it is, it is an eternal question
	...

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