What are the core values of family history?

Quoting from the Desert News Faith Section, for February 11, 2017, "President Russell M. Nelson extends challenge during Family Discovery Day 2017,"

President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Sister Wendy W. Nelson, extended a special challenge to Church members during the 2017 RootsTech’s Family Discovery Day. 

“I invite you to prayerfully consider what kind of sacrifice — and preferably a sacrifice of time — you can make to do more family history and temple work this year,” said President Nelson, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Sister Nelson also encouraged members to make a sacrifice of time to the Lord by increasing the time spent on temple and family history work. “And then, watch what happens,” she said.

The divine nature of the family and our need to seek after our kindred dead are the core values of family history. Remember what is said in Malachi 4: 5-6,

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

 President Nelson is further quoted as saying,

“If our collections of stories and photos should ever become an end point in themselves — if we know who our ancestors are, and know marvelous things about them, but we leave them stranded on the other side without their ordinances, such diversion will not be of any help to our ancestors who remain confined in their spirit prison,” President Nelson declared. 

“We need to make time to find our ancestors’ ordinances-qualifying information,” Sister Nelson agreed. 

Which can mean sacrificing time normally spent on other activities, President Nelson added before spelling the next word — “sacrifice.”

One final quote from President Nelson.

“Each class we attend, each time we serve, each covenant we make with God, each priesthood ordinance we receive, everything we do in the Church leads us to the holy temple — the House of the Lord,” Sister Nelson said. 

“The ultimate end for which we strive is that we are happy as a family: endowed, sealed, and prepared for eternal life in the presence of God,” President Nelson added.