Family History Message

“ My name is Gerrit Walter Gong. Gerrit is a Dutch name, Walter (my father’s name) is an American name, and Gong of course is a Chinese name.

Experts estimate some 70–110 billion people have lived on the earth. Perhaps only one has been named Gerrit Walter Gong.

We each have a story. I love “the rain on my face [and] the wind as it rushes by.” I wobble-waddle with penguins in Antarctica. I give orphans in Guatemala, street kids in Cambodia, Maasai women in the African Mara their first very own photo of themselves.

I wait at the hospital as each of our children is born—once the doctor has me help.

I trust God. I believe “[we] are, that [we] might have joy,” that there are times and seasons to everything under heaven.

Do you know your story? What your name means? World population grew from 1.1 billion people in 1820 to nearly 7.8 billion in 2020. The year 1820 seems to be an inflection point in history. Many born after 1820 have living memory and records to identify several family generations. Can you think of a special, sweet memory with a grandparent or other family member?

Whatever the total number of individuals who have lived on the earth, it is finite, countable, one person at a time. You and I, we each matter.

And please consider this: whether or not we know them, we are each born of a mother and father. And each mother and father is born of a mother and father. By birth or adoptive lineage, we are ultimately all connected in the family of God and in the human family. “

We Each Have a Story

By Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

April 2022 general conference

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