RootsTech and Family Discovery Day 2023

Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sister Susan Gong will be guest speakers at Family Discovery Day on the final day of RootsTechthe worldwide family history gathering to be held virtually and in person March 2-4, 2023.

Elder and Sister Gong’s presentation will be broadcast Saturday, March 4 at 1:30 pm (Salt Lake City Time – add 8 hours for Italy) on RootsTech.orgare RootsTech are YouTube, are Broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and on the Gospel Library application.

What is Family Discovery Day?

RootsTech is organized annually by FamilySearch International and supported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help people unite and draw strength from their families—past, present, and future.

Family Discovery Day is a single-day event during RootsTech designed specifically for Latter-day Saints.

This year’s RootsTech theme is “Unite” — uniting people, traditions, histories, memories, technology, innovation, communities and families.

“Sometimes we think our decisions affect only us,” Elder Gong said. “Discovering our family reminds us otherwise. In our generations we have a stronger bond than we believe”.

“The stories we preserve and share across generations can have a lasting impact on hearts and minds,” added Sister Gong, who hopes discovering, recording, and sharing family stories will help people “have a greater appreciation for the hardships, the courage, faith and sacrifice of those who preceded us”.

“I like that family history adventures have no beginning or end,” Elder Gong said. “These adventures continue in both directions, bringing together both the past and the future of one family.”

Registration for all three days of RootsTech is now open at RootsTech.org. Millions of people are expected to participate both virtually and in presence from March 2-4, 2023 to enjoy inspirational talks, educational courses, innovative technologies and the ability to connect people to their family.

“Families are the foundation of society,” said Steve Rockwood, chief executive officer of FamilySearchlast October. “Connecting and uniting families across generations strengthens both individuals and nations. We are amazed and grateful to see the role RootsTech has been able to play in helping literally millions of people connect with their families, past, present and future.”

This year, RootsTech is including an in-person event at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah to complement the online experience.

New this year is the deployment of 15 “presenters” who will help provide a premium experience to virtual audiences worldwide. Each presenter will be like a sideline envoy representing a different part of the world. They will speak their native language, give their audience a familiar face and guidance, and provide more localized content during the global event on RootsTech.org.

The fifteen presenters will speak 11 languages, including English (US, Africa, Pacific, Middle East), Spanish (Europe and Latin America), Portuguese (Europe and Latin America), French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Mandarin and Cantonese.

“What we’ve learned is that needs are different around the world and messages need to be slightly tweaked to resonate with our audience’s hearts and minds,” said Jonathan Wing, Creative Director of RootsTech. “We are very excited to have the presenters who will curate this content based on the various needs of our audiences around the world.”

As an international conference, RootsTech therefore offers an experience suitable for people from all over the world. With over 800 contributions in European countries’ languages ​​on family history, culture and heritage, it becomes increasingly easier for Europeans and their descendants to learn more about themselves and their origins. Every year the video library is enriched with content from all over the world and in many languages.