By President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985)
Originally printed in the October 1975 New Era.
The Savior emphasized the importance of keeping records. And one of the most valuable records is the one you keep of your own life.
Spencer W. Kimball, "The Angels May Quote from It," New Era, Feb. 2003, 32
Where would we be if Moses hadn’t written his history of the world, those first five vital books of the Old Testament? He had the background, the data, the record, and the inclination, and he has blessed us throughout the eternities for the service he rendered in writing the first five books of the Bible.
How grateful we are that Abraham wrote his own life story and that important segment of the history of the world and his own revelations, thoughts, feelings, and rich experiences.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself emphasized the great importance of record keeping to the Nephites and Lamanites.
"Behold, other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not.
"And it came to pass that he said unto Nephi: Bring forth the record which ye have kept.
"And when Nephi had brought forth the records, and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said:
"Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so?
"And his disciples answered him and said; Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.
"And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?
"And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.
"And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded" (3 Ne. 23:6–13).
I am glad that it was not I who was reprimanded, even though mildly and kindly, for not having fulfilled the obligation to keep my records up to date.
Early in the American life of the family of Lehi, his son, Nephi, said:
"Having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days. …
"And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge" (1 Ne. 1:1, 3).
This great record included not only the movements of his people but events from his own personal life.
And then we must not forget or minimize the great efforts of our modern prophet, Joseph Smith, to write the history of the Restoration of the gospel and also his own personal experiences in great detail. What a mass of confusion we would have without those authentic, personal, carefully written records!
Again, how happy we are as we find our grandparents’ journals and follow them through their trials and joys and gain for our own lives much from the experiences and faith and courage of our ancestors.
Your personal record
Accordingly, we urge our young people to begin today to write and keep records of all the important things in their own lives and also the lives of their antecedents in the event that their parents should fail to record all the important incidents in their own lives. Your own private journal should record the way you face up to challenges that beset you. Do not suppose life changes so much that your experiences will not be interesting to your posterity.
Experiences of work, relations with people, and an awareness of the rightness and wrongness of actions will always be relevant. The Royal Bank of Canada Monthly Letter made this point when it reported, "One famed bookman divided his big library into two parts—biography and ‘all the rest.’ "
No one is commonplace, and I doubt if you can ever read a biography from which you cannot learn something from the difficulties overcome and the struggles made to succeed. These are the measuring rods for the progress of humanity.
As we read the stories of great men, we discover that they did not become famous overnight nor were they born professionals or skilled craftsmen. The story of how they became what they are may be helpful to us all.
Your own journal, like most others, will tell of problems as old as the world and how you dealt with them.
Your journal should contain your true self rather than a picture of you when you are "made up" for a public performance. There is a temptation to paint one’s virtues in rich color and whitewash the vices, but there is also the opposite pitfall of accentuating the negative. Personally I have little respect for anyone who delves into the ugly phases of the life he is portraying, whether it be his own or another’s. The truth should be told, but we should not emphasize the negative. Even a long life full of inspiring experiences can be brought to the dust by one ugly story. Why dwell on that one ugly truth about someone whose life has been largely circumspect?
The good biographer will not depend on passion but on good sense. He will weed out the irrelevant and seek the strong, novel, and interesting. Perhaps we might gain some help from reading Plutarch’s Lives, where he grouped 46 lives in pairs, a Greek and a Roman in each pair. He tried to epitomize the most celebrated parts of their stories rather than to insist upon every slightest detail of them.
Your journal is your autobiography, so it should be kept carefully. You are unique, and there may be incidents in your experience that are more noble and praiseworthy in their way than those recorded in any other life. There may be a flash of illumination here and a story of faithfulness there; you should truthfully record your real self and not what other people may see in you.
Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available.
A journal is the literature of superiority. Each individual can become superior in his own humble life.
What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved?
Some of what you write may be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity.
Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. Remember, the Savior chastised those who failed to record important events.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Sharing Time: "The Heart of the Children" (The Friend)
By Vicki F. Matsumori
Vicki F. Matsumori, “Sharing Time: ‘The Heart of the Children’,” Friend, Aug 2002, 36
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers (Mal. 4:6).
I wish I were older!
Have you ever thought that? You have heard the age requirements to go to the temple: you must be 12 years old to be baptized for the dead, and even older to receive your own endowment, serve a full-time mission, or be married. It seems like a long time before you are the right age to help with temple work.
But there are other things you can do right now, even if you aren’t old enough to be baptized for the dead, serve a mission, or get married.
In 1978, President Spencer W. Kimball told Church members:
“All members should write a personal history. …
“I urge all of the people of this church to give serious attention to their family histories … and let no family go into eternity without having left their memoirs (an account of their family) for their children, their grandchildren, and their posterity. … I urge every person to start the children out writing a personal history and journal.” (Ensign, May 1978, page 4.)
Why is it important to keep a journal and do family history work? President Gordon B. Hinckley gave the answer when he said:
“All of our vast family history endeavor (effort) is directed to temple work. There is no other purpose for it. The temple ordinances become the crowning blessings the Church has to offer.” (Ensign, May 1998, page 88.)
When you do family history work or write in your journal, you are helping to “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” (Mal. 4:6). As you learn stories about your grandparents and other progenitors (ancestors, forefathers), you see into their hearts and you develop an appreciation for them as real people—as members of your family. As you write about your own life in your journal, you will remember the Lord’s blessings to you, and you will provide an opportunity for your future children and grandchildren to see into your heart.
You can begin doing family history today by talking to, phoning, writing to, or sending e-mails to family members. You can find out about the things that are important to them. You can begin writing your personal history today by starting a journal. Write down the things that are important to you and that will help you and your posterity. (See Journal Page on page 39.)
You can live the commandments and be worthy to go to the temple when you are twelve so that you can be baptized for the dead. You can choose the right each day so that when you are older, you can go to the temple to receive your own endowment. You can continue to live a righteous life and be worthy to return to the temple and do work to help your entire family, including your progenitors, receive the “crowning blessings the Church has to offer.”
Vicki F. Matsumori, “Sharing Time: ‘The Heart of the Children’,” Friend, Aug 2002, 36
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers (Mal. 4:6).
I wish I were older!
Have you ever thought that? You have heard the age requirements to go to the temple: you must be 12 years old to be baptized for the dead, and even older to receive your own endowment, serve a full-time mission, or be married. It seems like a long time before you are the right age to help with temple work.
But there are other things you can do right now, even if you aren’t old enough to be baptized for the dead, serve a mission, or get married.
In 1978, President Spencer W. Kimball told Church members:
“All members should write a personal history. …
“I urge all of the people of this church to give serious attention to their family histories … and let no family go into eternity without having left their memoirs (an account of their family) for their children, their grandchildren, and their posterity. … I urge every person to start the children out writing a personal history and journal.” (Ensign, May 1978, page 4.)
Why is it important to keep a journal and do family history work? President Gordon B. Hinckley gave the answer when he said:
“All of our vast family history endeavor (effort) is directed to temple work. There is no other purpose for it. The temple ordinances become the crowning blessings the Church has to offer.” (Ensign, May 1998, page 88.)
When you do family history work or write in your journal, you are helping to “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” (Mal. 4:6). As you learn stories about your grandparents and other progenitors (ancestors, forefathers), you see into their hearts and you develop an appreciation for them as real people—as members of your family. As you write about your own life in your journal, you will remember the Lord’s blessings to you, and you will provide an opportunity for your future children and grandchildren to see into your heart.
You can begin doing family history today by talking to, phoning, writing to, or sending e-mails to family members. You can find out about the things that are important to them. You can begin writing your personal history today by starting a journal. Write down the things that are important to you and that will help you and your posterity. (See Journal Page on page 39.)
You can live the commandments and be worthy to go to the temple when you are twelve so that you can be baptized for the dead. You can choose the right each day so that when you are older, you can go to the temple to receive your own endowment. You can continue to live a righteous life and be worthy to return to the temple and do work to help your entire family, including your progenitors, receive the “crowning blessings the Church has to offer.”
Exploring: Me Keep a Journal? (The Friend)
By Jeanne W. Pittman
Jeanne W. Pittman, “Me Keep a Journal?,” Friend, Jan 1987, 42
Write the things which ye have seen and heard, …
For behold, out of the books which have been written, and which shall be written, shall this people be judged, for by them shall their works be known unto men.
(3 Ne. 27:23, 25.)
When Lehi and his family journeyed to America, they took provisions, tents—and the record of their people! Why this record? Since the time of Adam, God’s people have been commanded to keep a record of their doings.
Jesus Christ even commanded the Nephites to write down everything about His visit to America, especially His teachings to the people. These records, and others like them, constitute our scriptures.
“The things I do will never be considered scripture,” you say. How do you know? You may be one of the future leaders of the Church whose life will be an important part of scriptures yet to be written.
“But my life isn’t at all interesting,” you protest. Perhaps it doesn’t seem interesting to you now, but a hundred years from now your great-great-grandchildren will be fascinated to know what happened during your time on earth.
Did you live when the first rockets were launched into space and the first man walked on the moon? No? Your grandparents and parents did. Did they write about those events? And you do live when spacecrafts are taking pictures of far distant planets, when temples are being built all over the world, and when Heavenly Father gives us wonderful new revelations. Are you writing about these things in your journal?
Have you been baptized yet? Are you preparing to be baptized soon? What are your feelings about this important event? Have you written about those feelings in your journal?
What kinds of games do you play? What books do you read? What television programs do you watch, and what are they about? What are your favorite scripture stories? What are you doing each day to live more like Jesus would want you to?
President Spencer W. Kimball said, “People often use the excuse that their lives are uneventful and nobody would be interested in what they have done. But I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records[,] they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations.” (Ensign, November 1978, page 4.)
If you still think that it’s hard to know what to write each day, you might make copies of the “My Journal” page, which follows. Put them in a notebook, and use it for your journal. Or use the page as a sample of what to write in the journal that you’re already using. When you’re older, you will probably reread your journal and say, “This is pretty interesting after all!”
My Journal
1 Today’s date:
2 What happened today at school/home/church and how I feel about it:
3 One new thing I learned today:
4 What my friends and I did today:
5 What my family and I did today:
6 One of the things that the newspapers and television news programs say is happening in the world today and how I feel about it:
7 For my scripture study today I read:
8 Today I am thankful for:
9 One goal that I’m working on and the progress that I’m making
Jeanne W. Pittman, “Me Keep a Journal?,” Friend, Jan 1987, 42
Write the things which ye have seen and heard, …
For behold, out of the books which have been written, and which shall be written, shall this people be judged, for by them shall their works be known unto men.
(3 Ne. 27:23, 25.)
When Lehi and his family journeyed to America, they took provisions, tents—and the record of their people! Why this record? Since the time of Adam, God’s people have been commanded to keep a record of their doings.
Jesus Christ even commanded the Nephites to write down everything about His visit to America, especially His teachings to the people. These records, and others like them, constitute our scriptures.
“The things I do will never be considered scripture,” you say. How do you know? You may be one of the future leaders of the Church whose life will be an important part of scriptures yet to be written.
“But my life isn’t at all interesting,” you protest. Perhaps it doesn’t seem interesting to you now, but a hundred years from now your great-great-grandchildren will be fascinated to know what happened during your time on earth.
Did you live when the first rockets were launched into space and the first man walked on the moon? No? Your grandparents and parents did. Did they write about those events? And you do live when spacecrafts are taking pictures of far distant planets, when temples are being built all over the world, and when Heavenly Father gives us wonderful new revelations. Are you writing about these things in your journal?
Have you been baptized yet? Are you preparing to be baptized soon? What are your feelings about this important event? Have you written about those feelings in your journal?
What kinds of games do you play? What books do you read? What television programs do you watch, and what are they about? What are your favorite scripture stories? What are you doing each day to live more like Jesus would want you to?
President Spencer W. Kimball said, “People often use the excuse that their lives are uneventful and nobody would be interested in what they have done. But I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records[,] they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations.” (Ensign, November 1978, page 4.)
If you still think that it’s hard to know what to write each day, you might make copies of the “My Journal” page, which follows. Put them in a notebook, and use it for your journal. Or use the page as a sample of what to write in the journal that you’re already using. When you’re older, you will probably reread your journal and say, “This is pretty interesting after all!”
My Journal
1 Today’s date:
2 What happened today at school/home/church and how I feel about it:
3 One new thing I learned today:
4 What my friends and I did today:
5 What my family and I did today:
6 One of the things that the newspapers and television news programs say is happening in the world today and how I feel about it:
7 For my scripture study today I read:
8 Today I am thankful for:
9 One goal that I’m working on and the progress that I’m making
Rachel's Journal (The Friend)
By Debbie Gibson
Debbie Gibson, “Rachel’s Journal,” Friend, Jan 1979, 35
My friend Rachel Driggs has a book without any words or pictures. It looks like a real book on the outside, but on the inside the pages are empty. I laughed when she showed it to me the first time. I told her that even I could read a book like that, and I’m only five.
The other day Rachel showed me her book again. Now there are pictures of Rachel and her sister and brothers, and she has written something about them under their pictures. She also wrote about her vacation and school, and she even wrote about me!
Rachel is only six, so she does what you call dictating to her mother; then her mom writes it down and Rachel copies it into her book. Sometimes instead of writing she will draw pictures. She drew one of a birthday party she went to.
Rachel told me her book is called a personal journal—personal means that it’s yours and no one else should write in it unless they ask you. She said that our prophet, President Spencer W. Kimball, has asked everyone to keep a journal so we can leave our histories for others. Rachel’s brothers, who are ten and twelve, and her sister, who is sixteen, keep journals too.
Rachel’s mother does genealogy work. That’s where you learn about relatives and other people who have lived on earth. Rachel’s mom said if those people had all kept personal journals we could learn a lot more about them.
At first I thought Rachel’s empty book was kind of silly, but not anymore. Now it’s like a storybook all about her. I told my mom I want a journal, too, so I can write a storybook about me. She said she was glad that I wanted one and that it would be a treasured possession one day. Mom is even going to take dictation from me.
Hey! Why don’t you ask for a book with empty pages in it? I’ll bet you have a lot to write about too.
Debbie Gibson, “Rachel’s Journal,” Friend, Jan 1979, 35
My friend Rachel Driggs has a book without any words or pictures. It looks like a real book on the outside, but on the inside the pages are empty. I laughed when she showed it to me the first time. I told her that even I could read a book like that, and I’m only five.
The other day Rachel showed me her book again. Now there are pictures of Rachel and her sister and brothers, and she has written something about them under their pictures. She also wrote about her vacation and school, and she even wrote about me!
Rachel is only six, so she does what you call dictating to her mother; then her mom writes it down and Rachel copies it into her book. Sometimes instead of writing she will draw pictures. She drew one of a birthday party she went to.
Rachel told me her book is called a personal journal—personal means that it’s yours and no one else should write in it unless they ask you. She said that our prophet, President Spencer W. Kimball, has asked everyone to keep a journal so we can leave our histories for others. Rachel’s brothers, who are ten and twelve, and her sister, who is sixteen, keep journals too.
Rachel’s mother does genealogy work. That’s where you learn about relatives and other people who have lived on earth. Rachel’s mom said if those people had all kept personal journals we could learn a lot more about them.
At first I thought Rachel’s empty book was kind of silly, but not anymore. Now it’s like a storybook all about her. I told my mom I want a journal, too, so I can write a storybook about me. She said she was glad that I wanted one and that it would be a treasured possession one day. Mom is even going to take dictation from me.
Hey! Why don’t you ask for a book with empty pages in it? I’ll bet you have a lot to write about too.
Two Journals (The Friend)
By Jeanne W. Smith
Jeanne W. Smith, “Two Journals,” Friend, Nov 1992, 36
I’ll write my history (Children’s Songbook, page 94).
“Do you think Moroni was lonely, Daddy?” Roslyn asked as her family finished the Book of Mormon in their scripture reading session for the day.
“What do you think?” her father asked, then commented, “Moroni was alone for many years after the big war destroyed his people.”
“He was probably lonely,” Roslyn said, as she thought of her own loneliness over the past several weeks.
“What do you think Moroni did that might have helped him feel less lonely?” her mother asked.
Roslyn thought about Moroni for a few minutes. “Well, he wrote a lot.”
Her mother responded, “Moroni wrote some wonderful messages from the Lord to us, didn’t he, honey? It probably did help him in his loneliness.”
Later, as she brushed her teeth and changed into her nightgown, Roslyn thought about their conversation. She opened her desk drawer and lifted out the journal that had been there since the last time she’d written in it, more than three months before. She used to write in her journal on Sundays, and sometimes in between, but after her sister Shelly was killed in a bicycle accident, Roslyn had not felt like writing in it or doing the things they used to do together.
Roslyn looked again at the empty bed in her room. She had other brothers and sisters, but Shelly had been the one closest to her age, and they had shared many interests. She believed that Shelly was now in a wonderful place and happy among others who loved her—Roslyn was glad about that—but she missed her sister very, very much.
Opening her journal, she began to read some of the things she had written. One Sunday’s entry said, “Our family went to Steve’s Cub Scout pack meeting Thursday evening. It was fun. After they gave out the awards, all the families went Christmas caroling and then went back to the meetinghouse for hot chocolate and cookies.”
On another Sunday, Roslyn had written, “Yesterday when Shelly and I finished our morning chores, we fixed sack lunches and went exploring on the cliff by our house. Chips went with us. It was kind of scary because Chips kept running between us and the cliff. He’s a very protective dog. I said a silent prayer that we would be safe—I didn’t want to fall into all those spiky trees and bushes below us! My prayer was answered, and Chips helped Shelly and me eat our picnic lunch as we sat on our hillside ’thrones’ (the big ‘chairs’ we carved in the dirt).”
As Roslyn read, it was as if Shelly was with her again. What a sweet feeling it gave her! She turned to the last entry she had recorded. It was mostly about her brothers, Steve and Wesley: “Today Steve cut a hole in the bottom of one of his old sweatsuits. He stood Wesley behind a little table with a blanket over it. Wesley had the sweatsuit on, but the legs of the pants were on the table. Steve put his arms through the pants legs and put shoes on his hands so that it looked like Wesley’s legs were sitting on the table. He hid behind Wesley and made the legs dance from side to side, up around his face, and all over. We all laughed and laughed.”
The picture of six-year-old Wesley and those funny, dancing “legs” came clearly into Roslyn’s memory, and she began to laugh again, even harder than she had then. It felt good to laugh.
Then she found a pen in her drawer and began to write. She wrote about Shelly’s accident—about losing her best friend, her dear sister. She wrote about how hard it was to still sleep in the same room and to do alone or with someone else some of the things they used to like most to do together. She ended by referring to Moroni and saying that he must have felt even lonelier than she did. “But Moroni is very happy now,” she wrote, “and writing in my journal makes me feel less lonely too.”
Jeanne W. Smith, “Two Journals,” Friend, Nov 1992, 36
I’ll write my history (Children’s Songbook, page 94).
“Do you think Moroni was lonely, Daddy?” Roslyn asked as her family finished the Book of Mormon in their scripture reading session for the day.
“What do you think?” her father asked, then commented, “Moroni was alone for many years after the big war destroyed his people.”
“He was probably lonely,” Roslyn said, as she thought of her own loneliness over the past several weeks.
“What do you think Moroni did that might have helped him feel less lonely?” her mother asked.
Roslyn thought about Moroni for a few minutes. “Well, he wrote a lot.”
Her mother responded, “Moroni wrote some wonderful messages from the Lord to us, didn’t he, honey? It probably did help him in his loneliness.”
Later, as she brushed her teeth and changed into her nightgown, Roslyn thought about their conversation. She opened her desk drawer and lifted out the journal that had been there since the last time she’d written in it, more than three months before. She used to write in her journal on Sundays, and sometimes in between, but after her sister Shelly was killed in a bicycle accident, Roslyn had not felt like writing in it or doing the things they used to do together.
Roslyn looked again at the empty bed in her room. She had other brothers and sisters, but Shelly had been the one closest to her age, and they had shared many interests. She believed that Shelly was now in a wonderful place and happy among others who loved her—Roslyn was glad about that—but she missed her sister very, very much.
Opening her journal, she began to read some of the things she had written. One Sunday’s entry said, “Our family went to Steve’s Cub Scout pack meeting Thursday evening. It was fun. After they gave out the awards, all the families went Christmas caroling and then went back to the meetinghouse for hot chocolate and cookies.”
On another Sunday, Roslyn had written, “Yesterday when Shelly and I finished our morning chores, we fixed sack lunches and went exploring on the cliff by our house. Chips went with us. It was kind of scary because Chips kept running between us and the cliff. He’s a very protective dog. I said a silent prayer that we would be safe—I didn’t want to fall into all those spiky trees and bushes below us! My prayer was answered, and Chips helped Shelly and me eat our picnic lunch as we sat on our hillside ’thrones’ (the big ‘chairs’ we carved in the dirt).”
As Roslyn read, it was as if Shelly was with her again. What a sweet feeling it gave her! She turned to the last entry she had recorded. It was mostly about her brothers, Steve and Wesley: “Today Steve cut a hole in the bottom of one of his old sweatsuits. He stood Wesley behind a little table with a blanket over it. Wesley had the sweatsuit on, but the legs of the pants were on the table. Steve put his arms through the pants legs and put shoes on his hands so that it looked like Wesley’s legs were sitting on the table. He hid behind Wesley and made the legs dance from side to side, up around his face, and all over. We all laughed and laughed.”
The picture of six-year-old Wesley and those funny, dancing “legs” came clearly into Roslyn’s memory, and she began to laugh again, even harder than she had then. It felt good to laugh.
Then she found a pen in her drawer and began to write. She wrote about Shelly’s accident—about losing her best friend, her dear sister. She wrote about how hard it was to still sleep in the same room and to do alone or with someone else some of the things they used to like most to do together. She ended by referring to Moroni and saying that he must have felt even lonelier than she did. “But Moroni is very happy now,” she wrote, “and writing in my journal makes me feel less lonely too.”
Freckles and Journals (The Friend)
By Jane McBride Choate
Jane McBride Choate, “Freckles and Journals,” Friend, Mar 1993, 2
Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
Matt scowled into the mirror. The freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks looked bigger than ever. In fact, his whole face seemed to be one big freckle. “Mom,” he asked, “why do I have so many freckles? You and Dad don’t have any.”
“I did when I was your age. So did my father. And his father before him.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve seen pictures of them. Your great-grandfather had so many freckles that people called him ‘Red’ when he was your age. His name was Matthew too.”
“Oh, great,” Matt muttered.
“He was a great man,” Mother chided. “My father used to tell me wonderful stories about him.”
But Matt didn’t want to hear that. He just wanted to get rid of about fifty thousand freckles.
“Your great-great-aunt Emily is coming tomorrow. She could tell you a lot more about him. He was her brother.”
“Can she tell me how to get rid of freckles?”
Mom ruffled his hair. “Your freckles won’t last forever.”
Matt grumbled his way through breakfast. When he learned he’d have to give up ball practice to come home to meet his aunt, he grumbled even louder.
“Your aunt wants to see you,” his mother said in the tone she used when she wasn’t happy with him. “Besides, she has something special for you.”
Matt mumbled an apology and slid from his chair. He wanted to rub lemon juice over his face. He’d read in a magazine that lemon juice faded freckles.
Thirty minutes later, he looked in the mirror in disgust. His freckles were still there. If anything, they were more noticeable than ever.
His mood didn’t improve any when he got to school.
“Hey, Matt, you look like you were swallowed by a freckle,” his friend Josh teased.
“Yeah,” Sam added. “A big freckle!”
“Lay off,” Matt said.
By the time school was over, Matt was tired of being teased. He didn’t really feel like meeting Aunt Emily or anyone else, either. But she was there waiting when he walked into the kitchen.
“You look just like my brother Matthew did when he was eleven,” Aunt Emily said.
In spite of himself, Matt was curious. “I do?”
Aunt Emily’s lined face crinkled into a smile. “He had the same stubborn chin, the same blue eyes, and the same freckles.”
Matt scowled. “Did he hate them too?”
Her smile deepened. “He sure did—at first.”
Intrigued, Matt sat down at the kitchen table. He said “thanks” when his mother placed four peanut butter cookies in front of him, but he was more interested in what Aunt Emily had to say. “He didn’t always hate them?”
She shook her head. “No, he didn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because they helped him get the lead in the school play. He tried out for the part of Tom Sawyer and got it because of his freckles.”
“But I don’t want to be Tom Sawyer,” Matt said.
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to be a professional ball player or president of a company or something.”
Aunt Emily shoved a package toward him. “Here.”
Eagerly Matt unwrapped the brown paper, then stared in disappointment at an old leather-bound book. “What’s this?”
“It’s your great-grandfather’s journal. He started keeping it when he was just about your age.”
Matt opened it. Pasted inside the front cover was an old-fashioned photograph of a young boy. Even the faded tones of the picture couldn’t hide the freckles scattered across his face. “This is my great-grandfather?” Matt asked.
Aunt Emily nodded. “Does he look familiar?”
Matt didn’t answer. His own face stared back at him.
That evening, he excused himself after dinner and went upstairs to his room. He started flipping through the journal. He stopped at an entry dated June 15, 1911: “Worked in the fields today. It was hot! Earned $1.50.”
Matt kept reading. His eyes drooped, but he couldn’t put the book down.
“Aunt Emily, do you have any more of my great-grandfather’s journals?” he asked the next morning.
“I sure do. I had a feeling that you might be interested in them.” She motioned to him to follow her to the bedroom, where she opened her suitcase. Inside were eight journals—seven brown and one black. She picked up the black one and handed it to Matt. “This one is very special,” she said.
Matt looked inside. The pages were blank. “It’s empty.”
She smiled. “I know. You get to fill them.”
He wanted to look through the other journals right away, but he had to hurry off to school. After gulping his juice, he folded a piece of toast and jammed it into a napkin and ran to catch the bus.
His fifth grade teacher assigned a report due the next day. “Choose someone you admire and tell us about him.”
The other kids started talking about whom they would choose. Josh chose Abraham Lincoln. Sam picked Thomas Edison. Mary chose Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Matt frowned. All the good names seemed to be taken. But by that evening, Matt knew whom he was going to give his report on.
As he stood before the class the following day, he rubbed his wet palms against his jeans and took a deep breath. “My great-grandfather was never president. He never invented anything. He never even finished school. But he was a great man. When he was twelve, his father died. So he dropped out of school to help support his family. He hoed beets for only a dollar-fifty a day. When he was nineteen, he went on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
By the end of his report, Matt was flushed. “I’m proud that I look like my great-grandfather. I hope I can be the kind of man he was.”
The class applauded.
After school, Matt hurried to spend more time talking with Aunt Emily about his great-grandfather Matthew. He also wanted to write in his own journal about his class report. Before going to bed, he looked in the mirror. His customary scowl had been replaced by a smile as he studied his freckles. He decided he didn’t mind them so much, after all.
Jane McBride Choate, “Freckles and Journals,” Friend, Mar 1993, 2
Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
Matt scowled into the mirror. The freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks looked bigger than ever. In fact, his whole face seemed to be one big freckle. “Mom,” he asked, “why do I have so many freckles? You and Dad don’t have any.”
“I did when I was your age. So did my father. And his father before him.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve seen pictures of them. Your great-grandfather had so many freckles that people called him ‘Red’ when he was your age. His name was Matthew too.”
“Oh, great,” Matt muttered.
“He was a great man,” Mother chided. “My father used to tell me wonderful stories about him.”
But Matt didn’t want to hear that. He just wanted to get rid of about fifty thousand freckles.
“Your great-great-aunt Emily is coming tomorrow. She could tell you a lot more about him. He was her brother.”
“Can she tell me how to get rid of freckles?”
Mom ruffled his hair. “Your freckles won’t last forever.”
Matt grumbled his way through breakfast. When he learned he’d have to give up ball practice to come home to meet his aunt, he grumbled even louder.
“Your aunt wants to see you,” his mother said in the tone she used when she wasn’t happy with him. “Besides, she has something special for you.”
Matt mumbled an apology and slid from his chair. He wanted to rub lemon juice over his face. He’d read in a magazine that lemon juice faded freckles.
Thirty minutes later, he looked in the mirror in disgust. His freckles were still there. If anything, they were more noticeable than ever.
His mood didn’t improve any when he got to school.
“Hey, Matt, you look like you were swallowed by a freckle,” his friend Josh teased.
“Yeah,” Sam added. “A big freckle!”
“Lay off,” Matt said.
By the time school was over, Matt was tired of being teased. He didn’t really feel like meeting Aunt Emily or anyone else, either. But she was there waiting when he walked into the kitchen.
“You look just like my brother Matthew did when he was eleven,” Aunt Emily said.
In spite of himself, Matt was curious. “I do?”
Aunt Emily’s lined face crinkled into a smile. “He had the same stubborn chin, the same blue eyes, and the same freckles.”
Matt scowled. “Did he hate them too?”
Her smile deepened. “He sure did—at first.”
Intrigued, Matt sat down at the kitchen table. He said “thanks” when his mother placed four peanut butter cookies in front of him, but he was more interested in what Aunt Emily had to say. “He didn’t always hate them?”
She shook her head. “No, he didn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because they helped him get the lead in the school play. He tried out for the part of Tom Sawyer and got it because of his freckles.”
“But I don’t want to be Tom Sawyer,” Matt said.
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to be a professional ball player or president of a company or something.”
Aunt Emily shoved a package toward him. “Here.”
Eagerly Matt unwrapped the brown paper, then stared in disappointment at an old leather-bound book. “What’s this?”
“It’s your great-grandfather’s journal. He started keeping it when he was just about your age.”
Matt opened it. Pasted inside the front cover was an old-fashioned photograph of a young boy. Even the faded tones of the picture couldn’t hide the freckles scattered across his face. “This is my great-grandfather?” Matt asked.
Aunt Emily nodded. “Does he look familiar?”
Matt didn’t answer. His own face stared back at him.
That evening, he excused himself after dinner and went upstairs to his room. He started flipping through the journal. He stopped at an entry dated June 15, 1911: “Worked in the fields today. It was hot! Earned $1.50.”
Matt kept reading. His eyes drooped, but he couldn’t put the book down.
“Aunt Emily, do you have any more of my great-grandfather’s journals?” he asked the next morning.
“I sure do. I had a feeling that you might be interested in them.” She motioned to him to follow her to the bedroom, where she opened her suitcase. Inside were eight journals—seven brown and one black. She picked up the black one and handed it to Matt. “This one is very special,” she said.
Matt looked inside. The pages were blank. “It’s empty.”
She smiled. “I know. You get to fill them.”
He wanted to look through the other journals right away, but he had to hurry off to school. After gulping his juice, he folded a piece of toast and jammed it into a napkin and ran to catch the bus.
His fifth grade teacher assigned a report due the next day. “Choose someone you admire and tell us about him.”
The other kids started talking about whom they would choose. Josh chose Abraham Lincoln. Sam picked Thomas Edison. Mary chose Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Matt frowned. All the good names seemed to be taken. But by that evening, Matt knew whom he was going to give his report on.
As he stood before the class the following day, he rubbed his wet palms against his jeans and took a deep breath. “My great-grandfather was never president. He never invented anything. He never even finished school. But he was a great man. When he was twelve, his father died. So he dropped out of school to help support his family. He hoed beets for only a dollar-fifty a day. When he was nineteen, he went on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
By the end of his report, Matt was flushed. “I’m proud that I look like my great-grandfather. I hope I can be the kind of man he was.”
The class applauded.
After school, Matt hurried to spend more time talking with Aunt Emily about his great-grandfather Matthew. He also wanted to write in his own journal about his class report. Before going to bed, he looked in the mirror. His customary scowl had been replaced by a smile as he studied his freckles. He decided he didn’t mind them so much, after all.
Your Own Journal (The Friend)
By Janet Peterson
Janet Peterson, “Your Own Journal,” Friend, Jan 1982, 20
“Get a notebook, my young folks, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity,” advises President Spencer W. Kimball.
He has urged all members of the Church to keep a personal journal. He himself has rows of journal notebooks on his bookshelf, journals that he has kept for most of his life. When called in 1973 to be president of the Church, he had filled thirty-three black binders.
Even if you are too young to be able to write yet, you can keep a journal with the help of your parents. Have your mom or dad or another family member write down what you know about your family, friends, favorite toy or pet, Primary class, or something you have done. Tell about your feelings and what you think and what makes you happy or sad.
When you know how to print, you can write in your journal. You might still need some help, but remember, your journal doesn’t have to be perfect. It should reflect you and the way you are at the time it is being written.
Spend a few minutes at a time working on your journal. Sunday afternoons are a good time to write. You don’t need to write in your journal every day like you do when keeping a diary, but you should write in it often, not just on special occasions.
President Kimball has suggested that everyone should have a notebook to write in. Many kinds and sizes of notebooks and journals are available. Some are hardbound books with JOURNAL written on the front in fancy gold lettering. Others are looseleaf binders with blank pages. Some are large and some are small. There are even journals made especially for children. You can use almost any kind of notebook, but since you want your journal to last a long time, make sure the paper is of good quality.
One important reason to keep a journal is that the prophet has asked all of us to do so. Developing a habit of keeping a journal while you are young may help establish the journal habit.
It is very hard to remember exactly how things were at certain times in our lives. By recording our feelings and thoughts and events as they occur, we can have an accurate record of our youth to read later on.
Mary Goble Pay kept a journal over a hundred years ago while she was crossing the plains in a handcart company with her family. Only because she wrote in her journal do we know of that difficult journey from a young person’s point of view: “There were four companies on the plains. We did not know what would become of us. One night a man came to our camp and told us there would be plenty of flour in the morning, for Brother Young had sent men and teams to help us. There was rejoicing that night. We sang songs, some danced and some cried. His name was Ephraim Hanks. We thought he was a living Santa Claus.”
Another reason to keep a journal at any age is that it helps us to understand ourselves. We can write about the things that upset and hurt us or about things that we do. Writing your thoughts or problems down can help you make decisions.
A twelve-year-old boy once wrote in his journal: “I’m going to change some things about myself. First, I’ll get more physically fit, second, I will do what I’m asked and more, and third, I’ll do better in school.”
Finally, another very important reason to keep a journal is to record your spiritual growth. Keeping a journal will help to remind you of the blessings of our Heavenly Father. Bearing your testimony on paper will help it to grow and strengthen others who read it later on.
A nine-year-old girl wrote in her journal of some of her spiritual experiences: “Me and Scott chose numbers [to see who would baby-sit]. I won. I was about to give my answer when a still small voice came to me and it said ‘stay home and tend.’ I obeyed it. I feel really good about it. I’m trying to be really good to everybody and pray a lot.” Another time she wrote: “Today’s fast Sunday and we can’t eat anything until church is over. I know I won’t starve because I’ve done it before and Heavenly Father helps.”
Make this the year that you begin writing in your journal and “maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.”
Janet Peterson, “Your Own Journal,” Friend, Jan 1982, 20
“Get a notebook, my young folks, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity,” advises President Spencer W. Kimball.
He has urged all members of the Church to keep a personal journal. He himself has rows of journal notebooks on his bookshelf, journals that he has kept for most of his life. When called in 1973 to be president of the Church, he had filled thirty-three black binders.
Even if you are too young to be able to write yet, you can keep a journal with the help of your parents. Have your mom or dad or another family member write down what you know about your family, friends, favorite toy or pet, Primary class, or something you have done. Tell about your feelings and what you think and what makes you happy or sad.
When you know how to print, you can write in your journal. You might still need some help, but remember, your journal doesn’t have to be perfect. It should reflect you and the way you are at the time it is being written.
Spend a few minutes at a time working on your journal. Sunday afternoons are a good time to write. You don’t need to write in your journal every day like you do when keeping a diary, but you should write in it often, not just on special occasions.
President Kimball has suggested that everyone should have a notebook to write in. Many kinds and sizes of notebooks and journals are available. Some are hardbound books with JOURNAL written on the front in fancy gold lettering. Others are looseleaf binders with blank pages. Some are large and some are small. There are even journals made especially for children. You can use almost any kind of notebook, but since you want your journal to last a long time, make sure the paper is of good quality.
One important reason to keep a journal is that the prophet has asked all of us to do so. Developing a habit of keeping a journal while you are young may help establish the journal habit.
It is very hard to remember exactly how things were at certain times in our lives. By recording our feelings and thoughts and events as they occur, we can have an accurate record of our youth to read later on.
Mary Goble Pay kept a journal over a hundred years ago while she was crossing the plains in a handcart company with her family. Only because she wrote in her journal do we know of that difficult journey from a young person’s point of view: “There were four companies on the plains. We did not know what would become of us. One night a man came to our camp and told us there would be plenty of flour in the morning, for Brother Young had sent men and teams to help us. There was rejoicing that night. We sang songs, some danced and some cried. His name was Ephraim Hanks. We thought he was a living Santa Claus.”
Another reason to keep a journal at any age is that it helps us to understand ourselves. We can write about the things that upset and hurt us or about things that we do. Writing your thoughts or problems down can help you make decisions.
A twelve-year-old boy once wrote in his journal: “I’m going to change some things about myself. First, I’ll get more physically fit, second, I will do what I’m asked and more, and third, I’ll do better in school.”
Finally, another very important reason to keep a journal is to record your spiritual growth. Keeping a journal will help to remind you of the blessings of our Heavenly Father. Bearing your testimony on paper will help it to grow and strengthen others who read it later on.
A nine-year-old girl wrote in her journal of some of her spiritual experiences: “Me and Scott chose numbers [to see who would baby-sit]. I won. I was about to give my answer when a still small voice came to me and it said ‘stay home and tend.’ I obeyed it. I feel really good about it. I’m trying to be really good to everybody and pray a lot.” Another time she wrote: “Today’s fast Sunday and we can’t eat anything until church is over. I know I won’t starve because I’ve done it before and Heavenly Father helps.”
Make this the year that you begin writing in your journal and “maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.”
Jared's Journal (The Friend)
By Lilia M. Crouch
Lilia M. Crouch, “Jared’s Journal,” Friend, Aug 2006, 20–22
(Based on a true story)
I make a record of my proceedings in my days (1 Nephi 1:1).
Aaron burst through the front door after school and ran straight upstairs to his bedroom. He began searching for something while his little brother Jared curiously watched.
“Where are you? Where are you?” Aaron mumbled to himself.
“What are you looking for?” Jared asked.
“I’m looking for …” Then Aaron spied the very thing he needed up on the corner shelf in his closet, next to his scriptures. “Here it is!” Aaron exclaimed as he reached up and plucked his journal from its hiding place.
Aaron’s mind was buzzing with thoughts from his day. He wanted to begin writing as soon as possible so he wouldn’t forget about all the things he had heard and seen. He sat at the desk and carefully opened his journal to a blank page. He began to write.
Jared watched his big brother, wondering why he was so determined to write in that book. “What are you doing?” he asked. Aaron continued to concentrate on his journal. He wrote down the date, time, where he was, and how he was feeling. Jared became impatient and asked again, “What are you writing in that book?”
Aaron stopped writing and turned to Jared. “I’m almost finished,” he said. “Then I promise I’ll tell you what I’m doing, OK?” Jared nodded and sat patiently on his bed.
After writing some more, Aaron finally closed the book. Then he grabbed his scriptures and carried them with his journal to where Jared was sitting.
Aaron held up the Book of Mormon. “This book is kind of like a journal,” Aaron explained to his little brother. “It’s written by prophets and tells what they did and taught.”
Aaron told Jared about some of the stories he remembered reading and learning about in Primary: the Lord teaching Nephi to build a ship, the brave Lamanite Samuel standing on the wall to preach, Jesus Christ coming to the Americas and teaching the little children.
“Mormon and his son Moroni finally finished writing their people’s history on gold plates. Then Moroni hid the plates as God had commanded,” Aaron said. “The Book of Mormon was left for us to read today. Someday, someone in our family will read my journal too.” He smiled. “My journal is not scripture, but it will tell about all the important things that happened in my life and about the people I love, like you, Jared. It will be my testimony of the love Heavenly Father has for me.”
Jared thought about what Aaron had told him, then sprang off the bed and ran out of the room. He soon returned with a piece of paper and some crayons. He began coloring. Now Aaron was curious. “What are you doing?”
“I’m almost done,” Jared said. This time Aaron waited patiently. Jared put down his crayons and lifted up the paper for Aaron to see. He had drawn a picture of himself and his big brother. And he had drawn a journal and a Book of Mormon in Aaron’s hands. “I’m writing my journal now!” Jared said. “This is where I put down the time, the date, and where I was.” Then Jared pointed to the cartoonlike picture he had drawn of his big brother. “And this is where I put the person I love.”
At that moment Jared remembered he had forgotten something. He reached for a bright yellow crayon and drew a big smiley face on the top of his paper. “And this is how I am feeling inside!”
Lilia M. Crouch, “Jared’s Journal,” Friend, Aug 2006, 20–22
(Based on a true story)
I make a record of my proceedings in my days (1 Nephi 1:1).
Aaron burst through the front door after school and ran straight upstairs to his bedroom. He began searching for something while his little brother Jared curiously watched.
“Where are you? Where are you?” Aaron mumbled to himself.
“What are you looking for?” Jared asked.
“I’m looking for …” Then Aaron spied the very thing he needed up on the corner shelf in his closet, next to his scriptures. “Here it is!” Aaron exclaimed as he reached up and plucked his journal from its hiding place.
Aaron’s mind was buzzing with thoughts from his day. He wanted to begin writing as soon as possible so he wouldn’t forget about all the things he had heard and seen. He sat at the desk and carefully opened his journal to a blank page. He began to write.
Jared watched his big brother, wondering why he was so determined to write in that book. “What are you doing?” he asked. Aaron continued to concentrate on his journal. He wrote down the date, time, where he was, and how he was feeling. Jared became impatient and asked again, “What are you writing in that book?”
Aaron stopped writing and turned to Jared. “I’m almost finished,” he said. “Then I promise I’ll tell you what I’m doing, OK?” Jared nodded and sat patiently on his bed.
After writing some more, Aaron finally closed the book. Then he grabbed his scriptures and carried them with his journal to where Jared was sitting.
Aaron held up the Book of Mormon. “This book is kind of like a journal,” Aaron explained to his little brother. “It’s written by prophets and tells what they did and taught.”
Aaron told Jared about some of the stories he remembered reading and learning about in Primary: the Lord teaching Nephi to build a ship, the brave Lamanite Samuel standing on the wall to preach, Jesus Christ coming to the Americas and teaching the little children.
“Mormon and his son Moroni finally finished writing their people’s history on gold plates. Then Moroni hid the plates as God had commanded,” Aaron said. “The Book of Mormon was left for us to read today. Someday, someone in our family will read my journal too.” He smiled. “My journal is not scripture, but it will tell about all the important things that happened in my life and about the people I love, like you, Jared. It will be my testimony of the love Heavenly Father has for me.”
Jared thought about what Aaron had told him, then sprang off the bed and ran out of the room. He soon returned with a piece of paper and some crayons. He began coloring. Now Aaron was curious. “What are you doing?”
“I’m almost done,” Jared said. This time Aaron waited patiently. Jared put down his crayons and lifted up the paper for Aaron to see. He had drawn a picture of himself and his big brother. And he had drawn a journal and a Book of Mormon in Aaron’s hands. “I’m writing my journal now!” Jared said. “This is where I put down the time, the date, and where I was.” Then Jared pointed to the cartoonlike picture he had drawn of his big brother. “And this is where I put the person I love.”
At that moment Jared remembered he had forgotten something. He reached for a bright yellow crayon and drew a big smiley face on the top of his paper. “And this is how I am feeling inside!”
Journals Are Important! (The Friend)
“Journals Are Important!,” Friend, Jan 1987, inside front cover
“Having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.
“And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge.” (1 Ne. 1:1, 3.)
Wilford Woodruff—“There is one subject I wish to speak upon and that is the keeping of a journal. … When the Prophet Joseph organized the Quorum of the Twelve, he counseled them to keep a history of their lives. … I have had this spirit and calling upon me since I first entered this Church. I made a record from the first sermon I heard, and from that day until now I have kept a daily journal.” (Wilford Woodruff, pages 476–477.)
Joseph Fielding Smith—“Every important event in our lives should be placed in a record, by us individually. … If you have accomplished something worth while during the day, put it down; it may be of use to posterity.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:204.)
Gordon B. Hinckley—“May I suggest that you write, that you keep journals, that you express your thoughts on paper. … You will bless the lives of many—your families and others—now and in the years to come.” (Ensign, November 1984, page 91.)
John H. Groberg—“There is something eternal in the very nature of writing, as is so graphically illustrated by the scriptures themselves. In a very real sense, our properly written histories are a very important part of our family scripture and become a great source of spiritual strength to us and to our posterity” (Ensign, May 1980, page 48).
Hartman Rector, Jr.—“I personally believe that the writing of personal and family histories will do more to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to children than almost anything we can do” (Ensign, May 1981, page 74).
Spencer W. Kimball—“Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available. …
“Write [about] your goings and your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. …
“Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives.”
“Having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.
“And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge.” (1 Ne. 1:1, 3.)
Wilford Woodruff—“There is one subject I wish to speak upon and that is the keeping of a journal. … When the Prophet Joseph organized the Quorum of the Twelve, he counseled them to keep a history of their lives. … I have had this spirit and calling upon me since I first entered this Church. I made a record from the first sermon I heard, and from that day until now I have kept a daily journal.” (Wilford Woodruff, pages 476–477.)
Joseph Fielding Smith—“Every important event in our lives should be placed in a record, by us individually. … If you have accomplished something worth while during the day, put it down; it may be of use to posterity.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:204.)
Gordon B. Hinckley—“May I suggest that you write, that you keep journals, that you express your thoughts on paper. … You will bless the lives of many—your families and others—now and in the years to come.” (Ensign, November 1984, page 91.)
John H. Groberg—“There is something eternal in the very nature of writing, as is so graphically illustrated by the scriptures themselves. In a very real sense, our properly written histories are a very important part of our family scripture and become a great source of spiritual strength to us and to our posterity” (Ensign, May 1980, page 48).
Hartman Rector, Jr.—“I personally believe that the writing of personal and family histories will do more to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to children than almost anything we can do” (Ensign, May 1981, page 74).
Spencer W. Kimball—“Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available. …
“Write [about] your goings and your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. …
“Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives.”
Making Friends: Jump into Journaling- Nicole Antunez of Santiago, Chile (The Friend)
By Adam C. Olson
Church Magazines
Adam C. Olson, “Jumping into Journaling—Nicole Antúnez of Santiago, Chile,” Friend, Aug 2007, 14–16
Nicole Antúnez loves to jump rope. She’ll jump in place or while skipping along or even while running down the sidewalk with her long dark hair bouncing behind her.
Not long ago, Nicole learned a new trick while jumping. It was something she had been working on for days. She was so excited about finally figuring it out that she wrote about it in her journal as soon as she could.
That’s because Nicole loves to write in her journal even more than she loves to jump rope.
Why Write?
“She writes about everything that happens to her,” says her mom, who peeks over Nicole’s shoulder as the eight-year-old writes in her small journal with the brightly colored cover. Nicole snaps the book shut and frowns. Her mother laughs teasingly.
Nicole doesn’t let many people read her journal. “I don’t let anybody read it unless I get to pick what they read,” she says. Not even her best friend from church and jump-rope buddy, Claudia, has read her journal.
What’s she writing that is so special?
Yesterday, Nicole says, she wrote about going to a pool party. Today she says she is writing about going to church. “And I talked to someone from the Liahona magazine,” she adds.
Chances are, she’ll write about that in her journal too.
So why is Nicole’s journal so important to her?
“I don’t want to forget the good things when I get older,” Nicole explains. And when she does forget things, which we all do, Nicole hopes that by reading her journal “when I am older I will be able to learn things about me that I had forgotten.”
That’s what a journal can do for you. But that’s not all it can do.
A Personal Treasure
Nicole’s mother encourages Nicole’s journal-writing habit. When Sister Igor was young, she wrote in a journal too. Unfortunately, she lost it when she moved to Santiago and got married.
“I was really sad to lose it,” Sister Igor says. “That was my life, everything that had happened to me. It was a personal treasure beyond price.”
So when Nicole’s older brother, Boris, was born, Sister Igor started over. She wrote about what she was thinking and feeling as first Boris and then Nicole were born.
Now Boris and Nicole enjoy reading about their mom. “It helps me understand what my mom has gone through,” Nicole says. She hopes her own children will learn about her the same way.
What to Write
Following in her mother’s footsteps, Nicole has written in her journal every day since she got it as part of a school project. She’ll write in it anytime she feels she has something she wants to say. It doesn’t matter whether it’s day or night when she has something to write.
But it does matter where she writes.
Her favorite place to write is outside, where no one is around to interrupt her. That way she can think about what she’s writing—and she doesn’t have to worry about people peeking over her shoulder.
What she writes about can be different every day. She writes about people she knows or places she has been. She writes about favorite foods and special friends. And she writes about things she has learned, like her new jump-rope trick.
She writes when she’s happy, and she writes when she’s sad.
“I especially like to go back and read the things that happened to me that were funny,” she says.
Nicole, who recently turned eight and was baptized and confirmed, also writes about things that mean a lot to her. “When I was baptized and confirmed, I wrote about feeling the Holy Ghost,” she says. She knows it will be important to remember those things later to strengthen her testimony when hard times come.
Already she enjoys going back and reading what she has written. “There’s one page I like to read a lot,” she says with a little smile. “But I can’t tell you about it.”
Where does Nicole Antúnez write in her journal? Outside her small home in the big city of Santiago, Chile. (Globe by Mountain High Maps, © 1993 Digital Wisdom, Inc.)
Write Right Now
When Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) was called as President of the Church in 1973, his journal filled 33 binders. He encouraged Church members to keep journals and taught that the Savior wants members to write in their journals.
The following are some of President Kimball’s suggestions for what to write about:
• Friendships
• Your testimony
• Accomplishments
• Blessings you receive
• Things you do, say, or think
• Things that make you happy
• Things you like about yourself
• Experiences with the Holy Ghost
• Challenges and how you handled them
“As our posterity read of our life’s experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted.”
From “President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” Ensign, Dec. 1980, 61.
Church Magazines
Adam C. Olson, “Jumping into Journaling—Nicole Antúnez of Santiago, Chile,” Friend, Aug 2007, 14–16
Nicole Antúnez loves to jump rope. She’ll jump in place or while skipping along or even while running down the sidewalk with her long dark hair bouncing behind her.
Not long ago, Nicole learned a new trick while jumping. It was something she had been working on for days. She was so excited about finally figuring it out that she wrote about it in her journal as soon as she could.
That’s because Nicole loves to write in her journal even more than she loves to jump rope.
Why Write?
“She writes about everything that happens to her,” says her mom, who peeks over Nicole’s shoulder as the eight-year-old writes in her small journal with the brightly colored cover. Nicole snaps the book shut and frowns. Her mother laughs teasingly.
Nicole doesn’t let many people read her journal. “I don’t let anybody read it unless I get to pick what they read,” she says. Not even her best friend from church and jump-rope buddy, Claudia, has read her journal.
What’s she writing that is so special?
Yesterday, Nicole says, she wrote about going to a pool party. Today she says she is writing about going to church. “And I talked to someone from the Liahona magazine,” she adds.
Chances are, she’ll write about that in her journal too.
So why is Nicole’s journal so important to her?
“I don’t want to forget the good things when I get older,” Nicole explains. And when she does forget things, which we all do, Nicole hopes that by reading her journal “when I am older I will be able to learn things about me that I had forgotten.”
That’s what a journal can do for you. But that’s not all it can do.
A Personal Treasure
Nicole’s mother encourages Nicole’s journal-writing habit. When Sister Igor was young, she wrote in a journal too. Unfortunately, she lost it when she moved to Santiago and got married.
“I was really sad to lose it,” Sister Igor says. “That was my life, everything that had happened to me. It was a personal treasure beyond price.”
So when Nicole’s older brother, Boris, was born, Sister Igor started over. She wrote about what she was thinking and feeling as first Boris and then Nicole were born.
Now Boris and Nicole enjoy reading about their mom. “It helps me understand what my mom has gone through,” Nicole says. She hopes her own children will learn about her the same way.
What to Write
Following in her mother’s footsteps, Nicole has written in her journal every day since she got it as part of a school project. She’ll write in it anytime she feels she has something she wants to say. It doesn’t matter whether it’s day or night when she has something to write.
But it does matter where she writes.
Her favorite place to write is outside, where no one is around to interrupt her. That way she can think about what she’s writing—and she doesn’t have to worry about people peeking over her shoulder.
What she writes about can be different every day. She writes about people she knows or places she has been. She writes about favorite foods and special friends. And she writes about things she has learned, like her new jump-rope trick.
She writes when she’s happy, and she writes when she’s sad.
“I especially like to go back and read the things that happened to me that were funny,” she says.
Nicole, who recently turned eight and was baptized and confirmed, also writes about things that mean a lot to her. “When I was baptized and confirmed, I wrote about feeling the Holy Ghost,” she says. She knows it will be important to remember those things later to strengthen her testimony when hard times come.
Already she enjoys going back and reading what she has written. “There’s one page I like to read a lot,” she says with a little smile. “But I can’t tell you about it.”
Where does Nicole Antúnez write in her journal? Outside her small home in the big city of Santiago, Chile. (Globe by Mountain High Maps, © 1993 Digital Wisdom, Inc.)
Write Right Now
When Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) was called as President of the Church in 1973, his journal filled 33 binders. He encouraged Church members to keep journals and taught that the Savior wants members to write in their journals.
The following are some of President Kimball’s suggestions for what to write about:
• Friendships
• Your testimony
• Accomplishments
• Blessings you receive
• Things you do, say, or think
• Things that make you happy
• Things you like about yourself
• Experiences with the Holy Ghost
• Challenges and how you handled them
“As our posterity read of our life’s experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted.”
From “President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” Ensign, Dec. 1980, 61.
Journals (Family Home Evening Resource Book)
31106, Family Home Evening Resource Book, Lesson Ideas, Journals, 199
Every person should keep a journal and every person can keep a journal.
—President Spencer W. Kimball
GOSPEL TRUTHS
A journal is a continuing record of meaningful experiences that affect our lives. Through his prophets, the Lord has commanded each of us to keep a journal. As we record our activities and feelings, we can more clearly see the Lord’s influence in our lives.
Ideas for Lessons
Lesson 1: Why Keep a Journal?
Help each family member understand how a journal can bless his life by relating an experience from your journal, by inviting a grandparent or other family member who keeps a journal to share an experience, or by reading the following entries.
Journal Entry One. “My mother had a serious heart condition. She was told if she ever had a baby, she would probably die. But mother felt strongly she should have a baby. When I was only nine weeks old, my mother died. She loved me enough to willingly give her life for me. Those who knew mother best found it painful to talk about her, so I never learned much about her. When I was seventeen, my father gave me one of my dearest possessions. It was a journal my mother had written. She had kept it each day for one short year of her life. I had in my hands one year of my mother’s life! She had been a school teacher in Wyoming that year, and through her own words she became for me a real person at last. She cried, she struggled, she laughed, she grumbled, she learned of her heart condition, she met and fell in love with my father, and I shared it all with her! That record, that precious, loved record—it seemed to me at that time that it was all I had of her.” (See “For Your Remembrance: A Presentation on Record Keeping” [audiovisual presentation, 1975 MIA June Conference].)
Journal Entry Two (from a child’s journal). “Uncle Bart conducted Grandpa’s funeral. He read some words Grandpa had written to his grandchildren. Grandpa said he knew the Church is very true. I love Grandpa very much. I know he is living with Heavenly Father. Grandpa is very busy and happy. I know I will live with him someday.”
The Savior chastised those who failed to record spiritual events (see Spencer W. Kimball, “The Angels May Quote from It,” New Era, Oct. 1975, p. 5).
Each family member should understand that he or she has a responsibility to keep a journal. President Spencer W. Kimball said:
“Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives” (“President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec. 1980, p. 27).
To help family members understand why the Lord and his prophets have asked us to keep records, read and discuss 2 Nephi 25:23.
Allow family members to express their feelings about some special personal experience that will be of value to them and their children. Distribute papers and pens, and suggest they write it down as a possible journal entry. During the week you might remind family members to think of what things they should write about in their journals.
Lesson 2: How Do I Begin a Journal?
Help each family member obtain or make a journal. This may be a special purchased journal, a three-ring binder with paper, or a spiral notebook. Journals may be personalized by decorating the cover or putting photographs in them. Let each family member personalize his journal in his own way.
Ask each family member to set aside a certain time each week, each day, or every other day to write in his journal. Or, set aside time as a family to write in journals. Sundays or early weekday mornings may be good times.
Suggest that family members begin by writing a brief description of themselves—including age, grade, physical traits, and feelings about beginning a journal.
Lesson 3: What Should I Write?
Share ideas about what should be included in a personal journal. Encourage discussion by asking questions like these: What would you like to remember about yourself? What has the Lord done for you? What would you like to tell your children or grandchildren about yourself?
Discuss the following suggestion by President Spencer W. Kimball:
“Your journal should contain your true self rather than a picture of you when you are ‘made up’ for a public performance. … The truth should be told, but we should not emphasize the negative.” (“The Angels,” New Era, Oct. 1975, p. 5.)
To help family members understand how to write in their journals, read the following from the journal of Elder Parley P. Pratt, one of the Council of the Twelve in the early days of this dispensation:
“When I first entered the dungeon there were some twenty men, mostly heads of families, who had been torn from their families in those awful times, and thrust into prison. It was not only crowded to suffocation, without a chair, stool, bench, bed, furniture or window light, but just then completely filled with smoke from a fire which was lighted in a stove without a pipe, or any conductor for the smoke to pass out, except at the crevices between the timbers, where the winter storm was passing in. When my guard conducted me to the door of this miserable cell it grated on its huge hinges and opened like the pit yawning to receive me; a volume of thick smoke issued forth and seemed to forbid my entrance; but urged … by bayonets and loaded pistols in the hands of savage beings, I endeavored to enter.” (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, 5th ed. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1961], pp. 233–34.)
Discuss what makes this entry seem vivid and real (details, descriptions using the senses and feelings).
Encourage family members to faithfully record their experiences and feelings in their journals.
16
Journals
OBJECTIVE
34824, YW 2, Learning about Family History and Temple Work, 16: Journals, Objective, 57
Each young woman will learn how to make her journal an interesting and valuable record of her life.
PREPARATION
1. Bring paper and pencils for the class members.
2. Bring several journals for display.
3. Bring several examples of books that can be used for a journal: a three-ring binder, spiral notebook, bound journal, or diary. Also bring several kinds of pencils and pens.
4. Optional: Prepare handouts as suggested in the lesson.
5. Assign young women to present any scriptures, stories, or quotations you wish.
SUGGESTED LESSON DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Display and activity
Show the journals on display. Then distribute paper and pencils, and have each young woman write some details about her baptism—when she was baptized, where and by whom, how she felt, and so forth. (Limit this activity to a few minutes.) Although many of the young women may not remember very much about their baptismal day, let those who do share a few of their thoughts with the class.
• Would you like to be able to remember more about that important day?
Point out that throughout our lives we have feelings and experiences that can keep our testimonies strong and give us courage in difficult times. But in order to remember them, we need to record them. Otherwise, these feelings will fade in our memories, and we may eventually forget them completely. A journal is a place to record experiences, thoughts, feelings, and events as they occur in our lives.
We Have Been Counseled to Keep a Record of Our Lives
Scripture presentation
Explain that ancient and modern prophets have counseled us to keep journals. The prophet Enoch explained the importance of recording important events:
“And death hath come upon our fathers; nevertheless we know them. …
“For a book of remembrance we have written among us, according to the pattern given by the finger of God; and it is given in our own language” (Moses 6:45–46).
Alma counseled his son Helaman that records enlarge the memory (see Alma 37:8).
Have the young women turn to and read 3 Nephi 23:6–13. Point out that the Savior was very concerned that the Nephites had not recorded some of the prophecies they had received. He expected the people to keep accurate and complete records.
Quotations and discussion
President Spencer W. Kimball gave this counsel: “Every person should keep a journal and every person can keep a journal. It should be an enlightening one and should bring great blessings and happiness to the families. If there is anyone here who isn’t doing so, will you repent today and change—change your life?” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1979, p. 117; or Ensign, May 1979, p. 84).
• Why do you think that President Kimball asked us to “repent today and change” if we are not keeping a journal?
After the young women have suggested their ideas, read and discuss the following quotation: “Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives” (“President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec. 1980, p. 27).
Handout or chalkboard discussion
• What kinds of things might be included in your journal?
Discuss each young woman’s suggestions. Write them on the chalkboard, or distribute handouts that include suggestions like the following:
1. Important events, impressions, and personal feelings
2. Personal counsel, promises, and blessings received and the circumstances surrounding them
3. Deaths, births, marriages, baptisms, and endowments
4. Personal triumphs, failures, and struggles and how they are met
5. Current local, national, and world events that impress you or influence your life
6. Simple occurrences in daily life
We Can Choose How to Keep Our Journals
Teacher presentation
Explain that a journal is so personal that each of us can decide just how we are going to write our own. Suggestions made by other journal keepers may be valuable in helping us make our journal keeping a successful and rewarding experience.
Chalkboard discussion
Review the following suggestions by writing them on the chalkboard or having the young women write them on the handouts they have already received. Then demonstrate some of the ideas on the chalkboard and discuss why they may be helpful.
1. Date each entry; the day of the week or even the time of day may be important to note.
2. Number the pages.
3. Set aside a block of time either daily or weekly to write (perhaps a Sunday afternoon).
4. Keep the journal nearby or take extra loose pages on trips and to special church meetings.
5. Use first and last names when writing about individuals.
Teacher presentation
Explain that being creative will help our journals to reflect our own personalities and interests. One young woman explained her method of making her journal interesting:
“I named my journal Lucy. It’s like my best friend. It’s kind of hard to talk to a page, but now I talk to my best friend Lucy and tell her my feelings” (Jeree Worthen, quoted in Kathleen Lubeck, “A Journal Called Lucy,” New Era, Nov. 1981, p. 40).
Our Journals Can Be Interesting and Lasting
Story
Clarissa Young, one of Brigham Young’s daughters, kept a very detailed journal during the years she lived in the Beehive House in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Beehive House was the name given to Brigham Young’s home. Clarissa not only wrote a detailed description of each room in the house, but included such things as the color of the walls, the furnishings used, and what things were set on the mantles from year to year. She even included an actual piece of the drapery fabric used in the “long hall,” the room where all formal entertaining was done. In 1954, when the Church began restoration of the one-hundred-year-old Beehive House, Clarissa’s journal was invaluable. Even the drapery sample she had kept was sent to a drapery company, and new drapes were woven to look exactly like the original ones.
Teacher presentation
Explain that the journals we keep can be made more interesting by adding such things as drawings, quotations, or poetry that will help tell our stories. In addition to a journal, many people also keep a scrapbook in which they preserve newspaper clippings, church bulletins, comic strips, dance programs, clothing samples, and other items that have meaning to them.
Story and discussion
Point out that to be valuable, a journal should also be lasting. An organ teacher gave a young girl some wise counsel the day she brought a new music book to her lesson. After commenting on its cost he explained, “Music is not only expensive, but its worth to you will grow as you study it and it becomes a part of you. If you will provide a protective cover or folder for your music, it will last a lifetime. But if you bring it every week to your lesson without one, your music will soon become ragged, worn, and worthless.”
• How does this counsel apply to taking care of a journal?
Display and discussion
Show the young women the different books and notebooks you have brought. Also show pencils and pens. Discuss the merits and limitations of the books and the pencils and pens. Point out that a book for a journal need not be expensive, but it should be durable. Emphasize that pens and permanent ink make a better record than pencils. Ask the young women to consider ways to make their journals more durable.
Conclusion
Teacher presentation
Explain that careful planning now can make a journal a treasure for many generations. Regular, thoughtful attention can make it a book of tremendous worth. And when we keep a record of our lives, we can have the peaceful feeling that comes from obeying the Lord’s commandments.
Lesson Application
Encourage each young woman to select and begin using her own method of journal keeping. Ask her to strive to make her journal interesting and lasting.
Suggested Activities
1. As a class, hold an activity night in which the aspects of journal keeping discussed in this lesson could be demonstrated in greater detail.
2. Suggest that the young women share the handout material with members of their families.
Every person should keep a journal and every person can keep a journal.
—President Spencer W. Kimball
GOSPEL TRUTHS
A journal is a continuing record of meaningful experiences that affect our lives. Through his prophets, the Lord has commanded each of us to keep a journal. As we record our activities and feelings, we can more clearly see the Lord’s influence in our lives.
Ideas for Lessons
Lesson 1: Why Keep a Journal?
Help each family member understand how a journal can bless his life by relating an experience from your journal, by inviting a grandparent or other family member who keeps a journal to share an experience, or by reading the following entries.
Journal Entry One. “My mother had a serious heart condition. She was told if she ever had a baby, she would probably die. But mother felt strongly she should have a baby. When I was only nine weeks old, my mother died. She loved me enough to willingly give her life for me. Those who knew mother best found it painful to talk about her, so I never learned much about her. When I was seventeen, my father gave me one of my dearest possessions. It was a journal my mother had written. She had kept it each day for one short year of her life. I had in my hands one year of my mother’s life! She had been a school teacher in Wyoming that year, and through her own words she became for me a real person at last. She cried, she struggled, she laughed, she grumbled, she learned of her heart condition, she met and fell in love with my father, and I shared it all with her! That record, that precious, loved record—it seemed to me at that time that it was all I had of her.” (See “For Your Remembrance: A Presentation on Record Keeping” [audiovisual presentation, 1975 MIA June Conference].)
Journal Entry Two (from a child’s journal). “Uncle Bart conducted Grandpa’s funeral. He read some words Grandpa had written to his grandchildren. Grandpa said he knew the Church is very true. I love Grandpa very much. I know he is living with Heavenly Father. Grandpa is very busy and happy. I know I will live with him someday.”
The Savior chastised those who failed to record spiritual events (see Spencer W. Kimball, “The Angels May Quote from It,” New Era, Oct. 1975, p. 5).
Each family member should understand that he or she has a responsibility to keep a journal. President Spencer W. Kimball said:
“Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives” (“President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec. 1980, p. 27).
To help family members understand why the Lord and his prophets have asked us to keep records, read and discuss 2 Nephi 25:23.
Allow family members to express their feelings about some special personal experience that will be of value to them and their children. Distribute papers and pens, and suggest they write it down as a possible journal entry. During the week you might remind family members to think of what things they should write about in their journals.
Lesson 2: How Do I Begin a Journal?
Help each family member obtain or make a journal. This may be a special purchased journal, a three-ring binder with paper, or a spiral notebook. Journals may be personalized by decorating the cover or putting photographs in them. Let each family member personalize his journal in his own way.
Ask each family member to set aside a certain time each week, each day, or every other day to write in his journal. Or, set aside time as a family to write in journals. Sundays or early weekday mornings may be good times.
Suggest that family members begin by writing a brief description of themselves—including age, grade, physical traits, and feelings about beginning a journal.
Lesson 3: What Should I Write?
Share ideas about what should be included in a personal journal. Encourage discussion by asking questions like these: What would you like to remember about yourself? What has the Lord done for you? What would you like to tell your children or grandchildren about yourself?
Discuss the following suggestion by President Spencer W. Kimball:
“Your journal should contain your true self rather than a picture of you when you are ‘made up’ for a public performance. … The truth should be told, but we should not emphasize the negative.” (“The Angels,” New Era, Oct. 1975, p. 5.)
To help family members understand how to write in their journals, read the following from the journal of Elder Parley P. Pratt, one of the Council of the Twelve in the early days of this dispensation:
“When I first entered the dungeon there were some twenty men, mostly heads of families, who had been torn from their families in those awful times, and thrust into prison. It was not only crowded to suffocation, without a chair, stool, bench, bed, furniture or window light, but just then completely filled with smoke from a fire which was lighted in a stove without a pipe, or any conductor for the smoke to pass out, except at the crevices between the timbers, where the winter storm was passing in. When my guard conducted me to the door of this miserable cell it grated on its huge hinges and opened like the pit yawning to receive me; a volume of thick smoke issued forth and seemed to forbid my entrance; but urged … by bayonets and loaded pistols in the hands of savage beings, I endeavored to enter.” (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, 5th ed. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1961], pp. 233–34.)
Discuss what makes this entry seem vivid and real (details, descriptions using the senses and feelings).
Encourage family members to faithfully record their experiences and feelings in their journals.
16
Journals
OBJECTIVE
34824, YW 2, Learning about Family History and Temple Work, 16: Journals, Objective, 57
Each young woman will learn how to make her journal an interesting and valuable record of her life.
PREPARATION
1. Bring paper and pencils for the class members.
2. Bring several journals for display.
3. Bring several examples of books that can be used for a journal: a three-ring binder, spiral notebook, bound journal, or diary. Also bring several kinds of pencils and pens.
4. Optional: Prepare handouts as suggested in the lesson.
5. Assign young women to present any scriptures, stories, or quotations you wish.
SUGGESTED LESSON DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Display and activity
Show the journals on display. Then distribute paper and pencils, and have each young woman write some details about her baptism—when she was baptized, where and by whom, how she felt, and so forth. (Limit this activity to a few minutes.) Although many of the young women may not remember very much about their baptismal day, let those who do share a few of their thoughts with the class.
• Would you like to be able to remember more about that important day?
Point out that throughout our lives we have feelings and experiences that can keep our testimonies strong and give us courage in difficult times. But in order to remember them, we need to record them. Otherwise, these feelings will fade in our memories, and we may eventually forget them completely. A journal is a place to record experiences, thoughts, feelings, and events as they occur in our lives.
We Have Been Counseled to Keep a Record of Our Lives
Scripture presentation
Explain that ancient and modern prophets have counseled us to keep journals. The prophet Enoch explained the importance of recording important events:
“And death hath come upon our fathers; nevertheless we know them. …
“For a book of remembrance we have written among us, according to the pattern given by the finger of God; and it is given in our own language” (Moses 6:45–46).
Alma counseled his son Helaman that records enlarge the memory (see Alma 37:8).
Have the young women turn to and read 3 Nephi 23:6–13. Point out that the Savior was very concerned that the Nephites had not recorded some of the prophecies they had received. He expected the people to keep accurate and complete records.
Quotations and discussion
President Spencer W. Kimball gave this counsel: “Every person should keep a journal and every person can keep a journal. It should be an enlightening one and should bring great blessings and happiness to the families. If there is anyone here who isn’t doing so, will you repent today and change—change your life?” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1979, p. 117; or Ensign, May 1979, p. 84).
• Why do you think that President Kimball asked us to “repent today and change” if we are not keeping a journal?
After the young women have suggested their ideas, read and discuss the following quotation: “Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives” (“President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec. 1980, p. 27).
Handout or chalkboard discussion
• What kinds of things might be included in your journal?
Discuss each young woman’s suggestions. Write them on the chalkboard, or distribute handouts that include suggestions like the following:
1. Important events, impressions, and personal feelings
2. Personal counsel, promises, and blessings received and the circumstances surrounding them
3. Deaths, births, marriages, baptisms, and endowments
4. Personal triumphs, failures, and struggles and how they are met
5. Current local, national, and world events that impress you or influence your life
6. Simple occurrences in daily life
We Can Choose How to Keep Our Journals
Teacher presentation
Explain that a journal is so personal that each of us can decide just how we are going to write our own. Suggestions made by other journal keepers may be valuable in helping us make our journal keeping a successful and rewarding experience.
Chalkboard discussion
Review the following suggestions by writing them on the chalkboard or having the young women write them on the handouts they have already received. Then demonstrate some of the ideas on the chalkboard and discuss why they may be helpful.
1. Date each entry; the day of the week or even the time of day may be important to note.
2. Number the pages.
3. Set aside a block of time either daily or weekly to write (perhaps a Sunday afternoon).
4. Keep the journal nearby or take extra loose pages on trips and to special church meetings.
5. Use first and last names when writing about individuals.
Teacher presentation
Explain that being creative will help our journals to reflect our own personalities and interests. One young woman explained her method of making her journal interesting:
“I named my journal Lucy. It’s like my best friend. It’s kind of hard to talk to a page, but now I talk to my best friend Lucy and tell her my feelings” (Jeree Worthen, quoted in Kathleen Lubeck, “A Journal Called Lucy,” New Era, Nov. 1981, p. 40).
Our Journals Can Be Interesting and Lasting
Story
Clarissa Young, one of Brigham Young’s daughters, kept a very detailed journal during the years she lived in the Beehive House in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Beehive House was the name given to Brigham Young’s home. Clarissa not only wrote a detailed description of each room in the house, but included such things as the color of the walls, the furnishings used, and what things were set on the mantles from year to year. She even included an actual piece of the drapery fabric used in the “long hall,” the room where all formal entertaining was done. In 1954, when the Church began restoration of the one-hundred-year-old Beehive House, Clarissa’s journal was invaluable. Even the drapery sample she had kept was sent to a drapery company, and new drapes were woven to look exactly like the original ones.
Teacher presentation
Explain that the journals we keep can be made more interesting by adding such things as drawings, quotations, or poetry that will help tell our stories. In addition to a journal, many people also keep a scrapbook in which they preserve newspaper clippings, church bulletins, comic strips, dance programs, clothing samples, and other items that have meaning to them.
Story and discussion
Point out that to be valuable, a journal should also be lasting. An organ teacher gave a young girl some wise counsel the day she brought a new music book to her lesson. After commenting on its cost he explained, “Music is not only expensive, but its worth to you will grow as you study it and it becomes a part of you. If you will provide a protective cover or folder for your music, it will last a lifetime. But if you bring it every week to your lesson without one, your music will soon become ragged, worn, and worthless.”
• How does this counsel apply to taking care of a journal?
Display and discussion
Show the young women the different books and notebooks you have brought. Also show pencils and pens. Discuss the merits and limitations of the books and the pencils and pens. Point out that a book for a journal need not be expensive, but it should be durable. Emphasize that pens and permanent ink make a better record than pencils. Ask the young women to consider ways to make their journals more durable.
Conclusion
Teacher presentation
Explain that careful planning now can make a journal a treasure for many generations. Regular, thoughtful attention can make it a book of tremendous worth. And when we keep a record of our lives, we can have the peaceful feeling that comes from obeying the Lord’s commandments.
Lesson Application
Encourage each young woman to select and begin using her own method of journal keeping. Ask her to strive to make her journal interesting and lasting.
Suggested Activities
1. As a class, hold an activity night in which the aspects of journal keeping discussed in this lesson could be demonstrated in greater detail.
2. Suggest that the young women share the handout material with members of their families.
From the Life of Wilford Woodruff Chapter 13 Journal: "Of Far More Worth than Gold"
Our journals are valuable to us personally, and they can also bring blessings to our families and all future generations.
36315, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff, 13: Journals: “Of Far More Worth than Gold”, From the Life of Wilford Woodruff, 125
In 1835 Wilford Woodruff began his first journal, “believing it to be beneficial to review our past life and not only our privilege but duty to keep an accurate account of our proceedings.” He wrote, “It is to this intent that I shall endeavour henceforth to keep a journal of my travels, that when required I may give an account of my stewardship.” 1 He kept a journal for the next 63 years, making his final entry on August 31, 1898, two days before he died. His journal entries leave a true and faithful record of his personal life, showing his love for his family, his interest in his surroundings, his diligence in performing daily tasks, his faith during trials, and his testimony and understanding of the gospel. The entries also provide glimpses into the lives of other members of the Church at the time.
In addition to writing about his personal life and his ministry, Wilford Woodruff kept a careful record of Church history. He explained: “I have been inspired and moved upon to keep a journal and write the affairs of this Church as far as I can. I did not understand why my feelings were exercised so much in the early age of this Church, but I understand it now. I seldom ever heard Brother Joseph or the Twelve preach or teach any principle but what I felt as uneasy as a fish out of water until I had written it. Then I felt right. I could write a sermon of Joseph’s a week after it was delivered almost word for word, and after it was written, it was taken from me or from my mind. This was a gift from God unto me.” 2
As part of his effort to chronicle Church history, President Woodruff recorded important details from meetings he attended. In one meeting, he taught a principle that can be applied to journals as well as to official Church records: “While walking in a rapid stream we cannot tread twice in the same water. Neither can we spend twice the same time. When we pass out of that door, the work of this meeting will be closed to us forever. We shall never spend the time of this evening again. Then should we not keep a record of our work, teachings, and counsel which we give in this meeting? We should.” 3
Through his journals, President Woodruff gave an enduring gift to his descendants and to all members of the Church. Biographer Matthias F. Cowley observed: “The life of Wilford Woodruff was full of marvels. It was a simple life in which he revealed his heart and his purposes freely. The frankness of his expressions, his care for details, and his conscientious regard for the truth made him, perhaps, the best chronicler of events in all the history of the Church.” 4 Elder B. H. Roberts, a member of the First Council of the Seventy and a noted Church historian, wrote: “President Woodruff rendered a most important service to the church. His Journals, regularly and methodically and neatly kept and strongly bound, … constitute an original documentary historical treasure which is priceless. The church is indebted to these Journals for a reliable record of discourses and sayings of the Prophet of the New Dispensation—Joseph Smith—which but for him would have been lost forever. The same is true as to the discourses and sayings of Brigham Young, and other leading elders of the church; [and] for minutes of important council meetings, decisions, judgments, policies, and many official actions of a private nature, without which the writer of history may not be able to get right viewpoints on many things—in all these respects these Journals of President Woodruff are invaluable.” 5
Most of the statements in this chapter are taken from President Woodruff’s records of sermons he delivered in priesthood meetings. Although he often addresses elders in these statements, his teachings are valuable for all Church members.
Teachings of Wilford Woodruff
When we record our life history, we benefit ourselves, our posterity, and the Church.
The record and history of this Church and kingdom will be wanted in a future day. There has been no dispensation on earth the proceedings of which will be more interesting than the one in which we live. …
It is true that Joseph Smith kept a history of his own life and those things in some measure connected with him. He is now dead, but his life and testimony is now being published to the world. … Also President Young [had] scribes who [recorded] his daily acts and life, which is right and good. But does that record the life history and the dealings of God with the many thousands of the Apostles and elders who are or will be in all the world among every nation under heaven? No, verily no. Then all ye elders of Israel write your history and the dealings of God with you in all the world for your own benefit and that of your posterity, for the benefit of the house of Israel, for the benefit of Jew and Gentile, for the benefit of future generations. 6
It may be considered by some not important to write or keep a record of our work or the work of God, but I believe it is. Otherwise the prophets would not have been moved upon to exhort us to faithfulness upon this subject. The Lord has told us that what we seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven and what we record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, and what is not sealed or recorded on earth is not sealed or recorded in heaven [see D&C 128:7–8]. Therefore it appears to be very important that we do keep a true and faithful record in all things. 7
Some may say [journal keeping] is a great deal of trouble. But we should not call anything trouble which brings to pass good. I consider that portion of my life which has been spent in keeping journals and writing history to have been very profitably spent. 8
If there was no other motive in view [except] to have the privilege of reading over our journals and for our children to read, it would pay for the time spent in writing it. 9
We should record God’s blessings to us and our official acts in the Church.
Every man should write a brief history of his life: his parentage, his birth, his religion, when he was baptized and by whom, when ordained, what to, and by whom—give a brief sketch of all his missions and of all his official acts and the dealings of God with him. Then if he were to die and the historians wished to publish his history, they would have something to go by. Many may think this a dry subject and unimportant, but it is not so to me. 10
I would advise you to get all of your blessings written and preserve them. … I do feel to enjoin it upon you to make a record of every official act of your life. If you baptize, confirm, ordain, or bless any person or administer to the sick, write an account of it. If every man will do this, the Church can write a correct account of it. … If the power and blessings of God are made manifest in your preservation from danger, … you should make a record of it. Keep an account of the dealings of God with you daily. I have written all the blessings I have received, and I would not take gold for them. 11
Should we not have respect enough to God to make a record of those blessings which He pours out upon us and our official acts which we do in His name upon the face of the earth? I think we should. 12
The Presidency of the Church who are now leading us … keep a history of the dealings of both God and man with them … which will be interesting to millions of future generations. But does this excuse the many thousands of elders and high priests and Apostles who have traveled for many years and built up this Church and kingdom and had the gifts of the Holy Ghost with them so they have had power to heal the sick and cast out devils, open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, cause the lame to leap … , and commanded the demon and they obey them, and have had guardian angels to preserve them from danger and death? I say, shall the elders be blessed with these things and not count them worth recording? Not even make the mark of a pen to leave the account on record for their children and future generations to read? I say they should. I think the Lord requires this at our hands, and it is a rich and holy legacy which is justly due our posterity. 13
We should make a record of events as they transpire.
We are the people ordained of God to establish His kingdom upon the earth, build up Zion, and prepare the way for the coming of Jesus Christ. Now, should we not keep a journal, record, and history of the dealings of God with [us] as they transpire day by day before our eyes? We should. …
… Instead of neglecting this branch of our work let every man who can, keep a journal and record events as they pass before our eyes day by day. This will make a valuable legacy to our children and a great benefit to future generations by giving them a true history of the rise and progress of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth in this last dispensation, instead of leaving it to our enemies to write a false history of the true Church of Christ. 14
We are not apt to think of the importance of events as they transpire with us, but we feel the importance of them afterwards. We are living in one of the most important generations that man ever lived on earth, and we should write an account of those important transactions which are taking place before our eyes in fulfillment of the prophecies and the revelations of God. There is a great flood of revelations fulfilling in our day, and as they are transpiring before our eyes we want a record made of them. 15
Children should begin early to keep journals.
I wish to say to my young friends that it will be a great blessing to them, and their children after them, if they will keep a daily journal of what takes place with them and around them. Let all the boys and girls get them a little book, and write a little in it almost every day.
“What shall I write?” you ask. Write about anything that is worth preserving, or the best you have; and if you begin this while you are young, it will be quite easy for you when you become men and women. How pleasing it would be to you, and to your children, thirty, fifty, or eighty years hence, to sit down and read what took place around you in your childhood and youth! Would you not like to read what took place with our fathers, and mothers, and grand parents, while they were young and during their lives? But the object is not so much to get you to keep a journal while you are young, as it is to get you to continue it after you become men and women, even through your whole lives. This is especially needed in the generation in which you live, for you live in as important a generation as the children of men ever saw, and it is far more important that you should begin early to keep a journal and follow the practice while you live, than that other generations should do so.
You are the children of Zion, and your parents have been called of God to build up the Church of Christ and the Kingdom of God upon the earth in the last days, and soon your parents will be dead, and you will have to take their places. You will be fathers and mothers, and [you] little boys … will become prophets, apostles and elders, and will live to travel and preach the gospel, and will live to receive the word of the Lord. Then it will be very necessary that you should keep a journal and write an account of the dealings of the Lord with you. …
… It is now a great pleasure to me and my family to sit down and read an account of our travels, where we have been, and what we have done, and the dealings of God with us, and the many good times we have had with our friends. I can read in my journals the good teachings I have heard many years ago from Presidents Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, the Twelve Apostles, and many other good elders, and the good times we have had together. If my young friends will begin to do this and continue it, it will be of far more worth than gold to them in a future day. 16
Suggestions for Study and Teaching
Consider these ideas as you study the chapter or as you prepare to teach. For additional help, see pages v–ix.
• Why are President Woodruff’s journals important to the Church? (See pages 125, 127.) What might President Woodruff say to people who think their journals will never make a difference to anyone else?
• What are some events that have occurred in the Church in your lifetime? How might your record of these events help your children and grandchildren?
• Review the first paragraph on page 127. How does President Woodruff’s statement in this paragraph apply to journal keeping? Ponder the impact of important events being lost to present and future generations.
• Scan the chapter, looking for different types of information we should include in our journals. How do such records benefit us personally? In what ways do they benefit our families?
• What would you like to know about your ancestors’ lives? What does this suggest about what you could write in your journal?
• Why is it important to write about events soon after they occur? (See page 130.) What can we do to make time for journal keeping?
• Turn to pages 130–32 and review President Woodruff’s counsel to children and youth. How can parents and grandparents share these ideas with their children and grandchildren? How might you use these ideas in a family home evening or family council?
Related Scriptures: 1 Nephi 1:1; Omni 1:17; Mosiah 1:1–6; Alma 37:1–9; Moses 6:5–6
36315, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff, 13: Journals: “Of Far More Worth than Gold”, From the Life of Wilford Woodruff, 125
In 1835 Wilford Woodruff began his first journal, “believing it to be beneficial to review our past life and not only our privilege but duty to keep an accurate account of our proceedings.” He wrote, “It is to this intent that I shall endeavour henceforth to keep a journal of my travels, that when required I may give an account of my stewardship.” 1 He kept a journal for the next 63 years, making his final entry on August 31, 1898, two days before he died. His journal entries leave a true and faithful record of his personal life, showing his love for his family, his interest in his surroundings, his diligence in performing daily tasks, his faith during trials, and his testimony and understanding of the gospel. The entries also provide glimpses into the lives of other members of the Church at the time.
In addition to writing about his personal life and his ministry, Wilford Woodruff kept a careful record of Church history. He explained: “I have been inspired and moved upon to keep a journal and write the affairs of this Church as far as I can. I did not understand why my feelings were exercised so much in the early age of this Church, but I understand it now. I seldom ever heard Brother Joseph or the Twelve preach or teach any principle but what I felt as uneasy as a fish out of water until I had written it. Then I felt right. I could write a sermon of Joseph’s a week after it was delivered almost word for word, and after it was written, it was taken from me or from my mind. This was a gift from God unto me.” 2
As part of his effort to chronicle Church history, President Woodruff recorded important details from meetings he attended. In one meeting, he taught a principle that can be applied to journals as well as to official Church records: “While walking in a rapid stream we cannot tread twice in the same water. Neither can we spend twice the same time. When we pass out of that door, the work of this meeting will be closed to us forever. We shall never spend the time of this evening again. Then should we not keep a record of our work, teachings, and counsel which we give in this meeting? We should.” 3
Through his journals, President Woodruff gave an enduring gift to his descendants and to all members of the Church. Biographer Matthias F. Cowley observed: “The life of Wilford Woodruff was full of marvels. It was a simple life in which he revealed his heart and his purposes freely. The frankness of his expressions, his care for details, and his conscientious regard for the truth made him, perhaps, the best chronicler of events in all the history of the Church.” 4 Elder B. H. Roberts, a member of the First Council of the Seventy and a noted Church historian, wrote: “President Woodruff rendered a most important service to the church. His Journals, regularly and methodically and neatly kept and strongly bound, … constitute an original documentary historical treasure which is priceless. The church is indebted to these Journals for a reliable record of discourses and sayings of the Prophet of the New Dispensation—Joseph Smith—which but for him would have been lost forever. The same is true as to the discourses and sayings of Brigham Young, and other leading elders of the church; [and] for minutes of important council meetings, decisions, judgments, policies, and many official actions of a private nature, without which the writer of history may not be able to get right viewpoints on many things—in all these respects these Journals of President Woodruff are invaluable.” 5
Most of the statements in this chapter are taken from President Woodruff’s records of sermons he delivered in priesthood meetings. Although he often addresses elders in these statements, his teachings are valuable for all Church members.
Teachings of Wilford Woodruff
When we record our life history, we benefit ourselves, our posterity, and the Church.
The record and history of this Church and kingdom will be wanted in a future day. There has been no dispensation on earth the proceedings of which will be more interesting than the one in which we live. …
It is true that Joseph Smith kept a history of his own life and those things in some measure connected with him. He is now dead, but his life and testimony is now being published to the world. … Also President Young [had] scribes who [recorded] his daily acts and life, which is right and good. But does that record the life history and the dealings of God with the many thousands of the Apostles and elders who are or will be in all the world among every nation under heaven? No, verily no. Then all ye elders of Israel write your history and the dealings of God with you in all the world for your own benefit and that of your posterity, for the benefit of the house of Israel, for the benefit of Jew and Gentile, for the benefit of future generations. 6
It may be considered by some not important to write or keep a record of our work or the work of God, but I believe it is. Otherwise the prophets would not have been moved upon to exhort us to faithfulness upon this subject. The Lord has told us that what we seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven and what we record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, and what is not sealed or recorded on earth is not sealed or recorded in heaven [see D&C 128:7–8]. Therefore it appears to be very important that we do keep a true and faithful record in all things. 7
Some may say [journal keeping] is a great deal of trouble. But we should not call anything trouble which brings to pass good. I consider that portion of my life which has been spent in keeping journals and writing history to have been very profitably spent. 8
If there was no other motive in view [except] to have the privilege of reading over our journals and for our children to read, it would pay for the time spent in writing it. 9
We should record God’s blessings to us and our official acts in the Church.
Every man should write a brief history of his life: his parentage, his birth, his religion, when he was baptized and by whom, when ordained, what to, and by whom—give a brief sketch of all his missions and of all his official acts and the dealings of God with him. Then if he were to die and the historians wished to publish his history, they would have something to go by. Many may think this a dry subject and unimportant, but it is not so to me. 10
I would advise you to get all of your blessings written and preserve them. … I do feel to enjoin it upon you to make a record of every official act of your life. If you baptize, confirm, ordain, or bless any person or administer to the sick, write an account of it. If every man will do this, the Church can write a correct account of it. … If the power and blessings of God are made manifest in your preservation from danger, … you should make a record of it. Keep an account of the dealings of God with you daily. I have written all the blessings I have received, and I would not take gold for them. 11
Should we not have respect enough to God to make a record of those blessings which He pours out upon us and our official acts which we do in His name upon the face of the earth? I think we should. 12
The Presidency of the Church who are now leading us … keep a history of the dealings of both God and man with them … which will be interesting to millions of future generations. But does this excuse the many thousands of elders and high priests and Apostles who have traveled for many years and built up this Church and kingdom and had the gifts of the Holy Ghost with them so they have had power to heal the sick and cast out devils, open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, cause the lame to leap … , and commanded the demon and they obey them, and have had guardian angels to preserve them from danger and death? I say, shall the elders be blessed with these things and not count them worth recording? Not even make the mark of a pen to leave the account on record for their children and future generations to read? I say they should. I think the Lord requires this at our hands, and it is a rich and holy legacy which is justly due our posterity. 13
We should make a record of events as they transpire.
We are the people ordained of God to establish His kingdom upon the earth, build up Zion, and prepare the way for the coming of Jesus Christ. Now, should we not keep a journal, record, and history of the dealings of God with [us] as they transpire day by day before our eyes? We should. …
… Instead of neglecting this branch of our work let every man who can, keep a journal and record events as they pass before our eyes day by day. This will make a valuable legacy to our children and a great benefit to future generations by giving them a true history of the rise and progress of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth in this last dispensation, instead of leaving it to our enemies to write a false history of the true Church of Christ. 14
We are not apt to think of the importance of events as they transpire with us, but we feel the importance of them afterwards. We are living in one of the most important generations that man ever lived on earth, and we should write an account of those important transactions which are taking place before our eyes in fulfillment of the prophecies and the revelations of God. There is a great flood of revelations fulfilling in our day, and as they are transpiring before our eyes we want a record made of them. 15
Children should begin early to keep journals.
I wish to say to my young friends that it will be a great blessing to them, and their children after them, if they will keep a daily journal of what takes place with them and around them. Let all the boys and girls get them a little book, and write a little in it almost every day.
“What shall I write?” you ask. Write about anything that is worth preserving, or the best you have; and if you begin this while you are young, it will be quite easy for you when you become men and women. How pleasing it would be to you, and to your children, thirty, fifty, or eighty years hence, to sit down and read what took place around you in your childhood and youth! Would you not like to read what took place with our fathers, and mothers, and grand parents, while they were young and during their lives? But the object is not so much to get you to keep a journal while you are young, as it is to get you to continue it after you become men and women, even through your whole lives. This is especially needed in the generation in which you live, for you live in as important a generation as the children of men ever saw, and it is far more important that you should begin early to keep a journal and follow the practice while you live, than that other generations should do so.
You are the children of Zion, and your parents have been called of God to build up the Church of Christ and the Kingdom of God upon the earth in the last days, and soon your parents will be dead, and you will have to take their places. You will be fathers and mothers, and [you] little boys … will become prophets, apostles and elders, and will live to travel and preach the gospel, and will live to receive the word of the Lord. Then it will be very necessary that you should keep a journal and write an account of the dealings of the Lord with you. …
… It is now a great pleasure to me and my family to sit down and read an account of our travels, where we have been, and what we have done, and the dealings of God with us, and the many good times we have had with our friends. I can read in my journals the good teachings I have heard many years ago from Presidents Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, the Twelve Apostles, and many other good elders, and the good times we have had together. If my young friends will begin to do this and continue it, it will be of far more worth than gold to them in a future day. 16
Suggestions for Study and Teaching
Consider these ideas as you study the chapter or as you prepare to teach. For additional help, see pages v–ix.
• Why are President Woodruff’s journals important to the Church? (See pages 125, 127.) What might President Woodruff say to people who think their journals will never make a difference to anyone else?
• What are some events that have occurred in the Church in your lifetime? How might your record of these events help your children and grandchildren?
• Review the first paragraph on page 127. How does President Woodruff’s statement in this paragraph apply to journal keeping? Ponder the impact of important events being lost to present and future generations.
• Scan the chapter, looking for different types of information we should include in our journals. How do such records benefit us personally? In what ways do they benefit our families?
• What would you like to know about your ancestors’ lives? What does this suggest about what you could write in your journal?
• Why is it important to write about events soon after they occur? (See page 130.) What can we do to make time for journal keeping?
• Turn to pages 130–32 and review President Woodruff’s counsel to children and youth. How can parents and grandparents share these ideas with their children and grandchildren? How might you use these ideas in a family home evening or family council?
Related Scriptures: 1 Nephi 1:1; Omni 1:17; Mosiah 1:1–6; Alma 37:1–9; Moses 6:5–6
Aaronic Priesthood Manual 17 Personal Journals
OBJECTIVE
34820, AP 1, 17: Personal Journals, Objective, 56
Each young man will understand the importance of keeping a personal journal.
PREPARATION
1. Materials needed:
a. Scriptures for each young man.
b. Paper and pencil for each young man.
2. Come prepared to relate a personal experience (see the beginning of the lesson).
3. Prepare a copy of the handout “Hints for Keeping a Journal” for each young man (see page 58).
4. During the week, ask two or three young men to come prepared to share an experience or journal entry about themselves.
Note to the adviser
Before attempting to help young men appreciate the value of journal keeping, you must first understand its importance. Seek the Spirit to help you feel the value of this lesson and to gain inspiration as to how to present it. If you have not already done so, take time this week to write in your own journal and share your feelings about this experience with the young men.
SUGGESTED LESSON DEVELOPMENT
Each of Us Should Keep a Journal
Adviser presentation
Tell the young men of an interesting or spiritual experience you have had. Tell it as interestingly as possible, and then tell them how and why you hurried to write it in your journal. If you did not keep a journal at the time, tell them why you wish you had been able to preserve it. Or you could read an entry from one of your ancestors’ journals that the class might enjoy. Express how grateful you are that this experience was written down so that you and others could know that ancestor better.
Invite the assigned young men to share their experiences or journal entries.
• How many of you keep a personal journal?
Scriptures and discussion
Have a young man read Moses 6:5–6.
• Why do you think that since the beginning of mankind we have been commanded to keep records?
Let the young men respond; then tell them that King Benjamin gave one very important reason to his son.
Have a young man read Mosiah 1:4–5.
• What reason did King Benjamin give for keeping accurate records about our dealings with the Lord?
Quotation
Explain that President Spencer W. Kimball challenged everyone to keep a journal:
“Get a notebook, my young folks, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies” (“The Angels May Quote from It,” New Era, Oct. 1975, p. 5).
Record Keeping Is an Important Principle
Story
“I can remember as a child wanting to know what my mother was really like. … I wanted a mother so much.
“I had had a mother, of course, Mary Black Rawlins, but she had died when I was only nine weeks old, and she was only twenty-six. When my father came home from work one afternoon, he found her lying on the kitchen floor, a victim of heart failure. Those who knew Mother best found it too painful to talk about her, so I never found out much about her.
“Then, when I was seventeen, my father’s mother came to visit me. She told me that my mother had known about her heart condition when she had married. She had known that if she had a baby she would probably die. But my mother, undaunted and determined, felt strongly that she should have a baby. She decided that I, the child born to her, was worth life itself. When I learned that, the love I had for my mother swelled, for I knew that she had loved me too, loved me enough to willingly give her life for me.
“It was then that my father brought to me a journal that my mother had written. She had kept it each day for one short year of her life. I had now in my hands one year of my mother’s life. She had been a school teacher in Wyoming that year, and through her own words she became for me a real person at last. She cried, she struggled, she laughed, she grumbled, she learned of her heart condition, and I … I shared it all with her!
“That record, that precious, loved record—it’s all I have of her. What if she had not kept it?” (“For Your Remembrance: A Presentation on Record Keeping” [audiovisual presentation, 1975 MIA June Conference]).
Discussion
• What important reasons for keeping a journal are brought out in this story?
• Who might read your journal?
• How might it benefit them?
Explain that journals are a special way of sharing our lives with our children and grandchildren.
Each Aaronic Priesthood Holder Should Keep a Personal Journal
Adviser presentation
Explain that we all tend to think that the things we have done or are doing now are not interesting enough to record. But in future years—whether to us as we grow older, to our children, or to our grandchildren—those things may be exciting glimpses into our life and our world. With each new generation come new ideas, new spiritual experiences, and new opportunities for growth and development.
Suggest to the young men that a personal journal is an ever-growing record of who we are, where we are going, and what we are accomplishing. Our journals are an excellent place for us to record our goals and our daily attempts to become more like the person the Lord would have us be.
Readings, chalkboard, and discussion
Ask several young men to read aloud, and then paraphrase, the following suggestions on journal keeping. Summarize the ideas on the chalkboard.
1. What kind of journal should I use? Select a journal in which you can record your daily activities. It might be an inexpensive, expandable looseleaf or a hardbound diary. The main requirements are good quality paper and a protective cover. You could also use a computer.
2. How often should I write in my journal? Your own personality, interests, and time will determine how often you will write in your journal. You need not catch up on all past events each time you make an entry. Record highlights or notes from past happenings; then continue with the present. The more often you write, the more accurate your record will be. Some write daily, others two or three times a week. Set a goal and work toward it.
3. What should I record? (Ask a young man to reread the statement by President Kimball.)
4. How can I be creative in my journal keeping? Perhaps you could occasionally list your tastes in clothes or food or reading, your present religious feelings, your problems, your opinions about school or government, or the current state of your finances. You might want to add sketches, designs, photographs, or poems to your entries.
Activity
Tell the young men they are going to have an opportunity to write something to include in their journals. For those who have already been keeping a journal, they may include this as an entry when they get home. Give each young man a piece of paper and a pencil. Ask them to write their experiences of the previous day, making sure to include their feelings about whatever they did. If there isn’t time to finish the assignment in class, encourage them to finish at home. Remind them that a journal should be a place where they record the significant events and feelings of their lives.
Conclusion
Challenge
Challenge the young men to continue writing in their journals either daily or weekly. Then periodically check with them over the next several months and encourage them often.
Handout
Give each young man a copy of the following handout, which he may want to put inside the cover of his journal for reference.
• What are some helpful hints to remember when keeping a journal?
34820, AP 1, 17: Personal Journals, Objective, 56
Each young man will understand the importance of keeping a personal journal.
PREPARATION
1. Materials needed:
a. Scriptures for each young man.
b. Paper and pencil for each young man.
2. Come prepared to relate a personal experience (see the beginning of the lesson).
3. Prepare a copy of the handout “Hints for Keeping a Journal” for each young man (see page 58).
4. During the week, ask two or three young men to come prepared to share an experience or journal entry about themselves.
Note to the adviser
Before attempting to help young men appreciate the value of journal keeping, you must first understand its importance. Seek the Spirit to help you feel the value of this lesson and to gain inspiration as to how to present it. If you have not already done so, take time this week to write in your own journal and share your feelings about this experience with the young men.
SUGGESTED LESSON DEVELOPMENT
Each of Us Should Keep a Journal
Adviser presentation
Tell the young men of an interesting or spiritual experience you have had. Tell it as interestingly as possible, and then tell them how and why you hurried to write it in your journal. If you did not keep a journal at the time, tell them why you wish you had been able to preserve it. Or you could read an entry from one of your ancestors’ journals that the class might enjoy. Express how grateful you are that this experience was written down so that you and others could know that ancestor better.
Invite the assigned young men to share their experiences or journal entries.
• How many of you keep a personal journal?
Scriptures and discussion
Have a young man read Moses 6:5–6.
• Why do you think that since the beginning of mankind we have been commanded to keep records?
Let the young men respond; then tell them that King Benjamin gave one very important reason to his son.
Have a young man read Mosiah 1:4–5.
• What reason did King Benjamin give for keeping accurate records about our dealings with the Lord?
Quotation
Explain that President Spencer W. Kimball challenged everyone to keep a journal:
“Get a notebook, my young folks, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies” (“The Angels May Quote from It,” New Era, Oct. 1975, p. 5).
Record Keeping Is an Important Principle
Story
“I can remember as a child wanting to know what my mother was really like. … I wanted a mother so much.
“I had had a mother, of course, Mary Black Rawlins, but she had died when I was only nine weeks old, and she was only twenty-six. When my father came home from work one afternoon, he found her lying on the kitchen floor, a victim of heart failure. Those who knew Mother best found it too painful to talk about her, so I never found out much about her.
“Then, when I was seventeen, my father’s mother came to visit me. She told me that my mother had known about her heart condition when she had married. She had known that if she had a baby she would probably die. But my mother, undaunted and determined, felt strongly that she should have a baby. She decided that I, the child born to her, was worth life itself. When I learned that, the love I had for my mother swelled, for I knew that she had loved me too, loved me enough to willingly give her life for me.
“It was then that my father brought to me a journal that my mother had written. She had kept it each day for one short year of her life. I had now in my hands one year of my mother’s life. She had been a school teacher in Wyoming that year, and through her own words she became for me a real person at last. She cried, she struggled, she laughed, she grumbled, she learned of her heart condition, and I … I shared it all with her!
“That record, that precious, loved record—it’s all I have of her. What if she had not kept it?” (“For Your Remembrance: A Presentation on Record Keeping” [audiovisual presentation, 1975 MIA June Conference]).
Discussion
• What important reasons for keeping a journal are brought out in this story?
• Who might read your journal?
• How might it benefit them?
Explain that journals are a special way of sharing our lives with our children and grandchildren.
Each Aaronic Priesthood Holder Should Keep a Personal Journal
Adviser presentation
Explain that we all tend to think that the things we have done or are doing now are not interesting enough to record. But in future years—whether to us as we grow older, to our children, or to our grandchildren—those things may be exciting glimpses into our life and our world. With each new generation come new ideas, new spiritual experiences, and new opportunities for growth and development.
Suggest to the young men that a personal journal is an ever-growing record of who we are, where we are going, and what we are accomplishing. Our journals are an excellent place for us to record our goals and our daily attempts to become more like the person the Lord would have us be.
Readings, chalkboard, and discussion
Ask several young men to read aloud, and then paraphrase, the following suggestions on journal keeping. Summarize the ideas on the chalkboard.
1. What kind of journal should I use? Select a journal in which you can record your daily activities. It might be an inexpensive, expandable looseleaf or a hardbound diary. The main requirements are good quality paper and a protective cover. You could also use a computer.
2. How often should I write in my journal? Your own personality, interests, and time will determine how often you will write in your journal. You need not catch up on all past events each time you make an entry. Record highlights or notes from past happenings; then continue with the present. The more often you write, the more accurate your record will be. Some write daily, others two or three times a week. Set a goal and work toward it.
3. What should I record? (Ask a young man to reread the statement by President Kimball.)
4. How can I be creative in my journal keeping? Perhaps you could occasionally list your tastes in clothes or food or reading, your present religious feelings, your problems, your opinions about school or government, or the current state of your finances. You might want to add sketches, designs, photographs, or poems to your entries.
Activity
Tell the young men they are going to have an opportunity to write something to include in their journals. For those who have already been keeping a journal, they may include this as an entry when they get home. Give each young man a piece of paper and a pencil. Ask them to write their experiences of the previous day, making sure to include their feelings about whatever they did. If there isn’t time to finish the assignment in class, encourage them to finish at home. Remind them that a journal should be a place where they record the significant events and feelings of their lives.
Conclusion
Challenge
Challenge the young men to continue writing in their journals either daily or weekly. Then periodically check with them over the next several months and encourage them often.
Handout
Give each young man a copy of the following handout, which he may want to put inside the cover of his journal for reference.
• What are some helpful hints to remember when keeping a journal?
YW Lesson Book 19 Personal Records
OBJECTIVE
34823, YW 1, Learning about Family History and Temple Work, 19: Personal Records, Objective, 81
Each young woman will realize the importance of keeping a personal record.
PREPARATION
1. Prepare one copy of each of the two sets of questions at the beginning of the lesson. Include the scriptural references but not the answers.
2. Be prepared to tell the young women about one of your ancestors and how this person has influenced your life; or have a visitor, who has been approved by priesthood advisers, tell the class about an ancestor.
4. Assign two or three young women to tell briefly about one of their grandparents or great-grandparents and how this person has affected their lives.
4. Prepare a handout of the quotations at the conclusion of the lesson to give to each class member.
5. Assign young women to present any scriptures, stories, or quotations you wish.
6. See the end of the lesson for an optional family history activity.
SUGGESTED LESSON DEVELOPMENT
Heavenly Father Commands His Children to Keep Personal Records
Quiz
Divide the class into two groups. Be sure each group has a set of scriptures and a pencil. Give one group the questions and scriptural references for set A below and the other group the same for set B. Allow about five minutes for the young women to answer the questions.
Questions—Set A
1. Who recorded the first information in a book of remembrance? (Moses 6:5–8.)
2. Name two other Old Testament prophets who kept books of remembrance. (Moses 6:45–46; Malachi 3:16.)
3. When priesthood ordinances such as baptism and temple marriage are performed, where are records kept? (D&C 128:7.)
4. What is one reason for keeping a journal or personal history? (2 Nephi 25:23.)
5. When Christ appeared to the Nephites, he learned that some important events had not been written in their records. What did he command the people to do? (3 Nephi 23:6–13.)
Answers for Set A
1. Adam
2. Enoch and Malachi
3. On earth and in heaven
4. To persuade our children to believe in Christ
5. To write the events they had neglected to record
Questions—Set B
1. How do we know that Jesus is a descendant of David and Abraham? (Matthew 1:1.)
2. Why did Nephi and his brothers go back to the home of Laban? (1 Nephi 3:1–4.)
3. Why did Nephi keep a record of his life as he and his father’s family left Jerusalem and traveled to America? (1 Nephi 1:1–3.)
4. Who taught Adam and his children how to keep a book of remembrance? (Moses 6:46.)
5. How did Abraham gain a knowledge of the rights of the priesthood and of the Creation? (Abraham 1:31.)
Answers for Set B
1. This information is recorded in the Bible.
2. To get the records of the Jews and the genealogy of their forefathers.
3. Because he had a knowledge of the goodness and mysteries of God.
4. They were taught by the hand of the Lord.
5. It was written in the records of his fathers.
Discussion
Have each group report the answers to their set of questions to the class. After the young women have given the answers to the quiz, ask the entire class to respond to the following:
• What kind of information did Moses, Nephi, and Abraham keep in their books of remembrance? (The names of family members, important events, personal testimonies, prophecies of things to come, blessings they received from their Father in Heaven, and commandments they received.)
• Why is it important to keep a personal record? (Through a personal record, a person can share with her descendants events in her life, her testimony, her thoughts and feelings, and a record of Heavenly Father’s blessings to her.)
• How do you know that Heavenly Father wants you to keep a record of your life? (Since the beginning of time, he has commanded his children to keep personal records of their lives. And modern prophets have encouraged us to keep journals throughout our lives.)
Records of Progenitors Can Bring Joy and Strength
Story
Read or tell the following fictional story:
“Great-Uncle Benjamin had died over 30 years ago and some of his belongings were packed away in the old trunks in the farmhouse attic.
“ ‘I wonder why Grandpa saved [Great-Uncle’s things] for all these years,’ John grumbled as he helped sort through it with his mother and sister. Grandpa had died a few weeks before and Jennie Lynn, his only surviving daughter, and her two children had come to clean out the old family home.
“John threw a shapeless felt hat into a large barrel in the center of the room. ‘Man, do you ever wonder if your family tree has blight attacking its roots? I mean, what in the world would they want to save all this junk for? Look at this old dilapidated book for instance: Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. Brother!’
“ ‘That,’ replied his sister Alice calmly, ‘is a copy of the first English novel ever written. Kindly place it carefully in the “save” box.’
“ ‘Well, what about this? A partially used notebook? Who in their right mind would save that? …’
“Jennie walked over and looked at the book John was holding. …
“ ‘Can you make out what it says?’ Alice asked, joining her mother and brother.
“ ‘Easy,’ John replied as he sat down and started to read, skipping pages here and there.
“May 4, 1888 …
“ ‘Hey, it looks like a diary or a journal or something!’
“May 4, 1888: Mother locked my violin in the cedar chest again this morning. She says it’s too big a temptation for me before the cows are milked. She’s right, I suppose. It’s a good thing the other boys are more diligent than I or we’d never be able to feed all eight of us from these few acres. If Father were still alive we’d manage better.
“September 3, 1888: Mr. Carter told Mother today that he has taught me all he knows and I need a more advanced teacher. There is a Sister Kendall over in Coalville who is supposed to have played at one time with the Philadelphia orchestra before joining the Church and moving west. Mother promised I could ask her if she would take me as a pupil. The only trouble is going to be how much she will charge for lessons. I am to be allowed to take charge of the chickens and keep the egg money to pay for my music. …
“April 8, 1892: I realized today that there are three things I love better than all else: the Lord, my family, and my music. And I know now that the love of one thing does not necessarily preclude the love of another. When they’re all good things, they all go together.
“December 1, 1892: It’s terribly late, but I can’t sleep. I’ve been copying music all evening with Mother’s help. I’ve been asked to travel down to Salt Lake to audition for a place with the territorial orchestra. …
“March 5, 1893: After several weeks of practicing interspersed with hours of prayers, I went down to Salt Lake and auditioned. Mr. Dean, the conductor, told me I was the most accomplished violinist he had heard west of Denver. There probably aren’t too many west of Denver that he has heard, but Mother was pleased when I told her. I am to be in Denver for rehearsals early in the fall, and I’ll be earning enough to keep myself plus a little to spare for Mother and the others. Sunday in sacrament meeting I’m to play the Mozart selection I learned for the tryouts.
“March 11, 1893: Why has this happened now? Why just at this point in my life? After sacrament meeting on Sunday, Bishop Reynolds called me into his office and asked me how the tryouts had gone. I told him that I had been hired, and he asked me if I couldn’t put off playing with the orchestra for a couple of years. He explained to me that before I start earning money, there is something else I owe the Lord. With ‘no doubt’ in his mind that it is the will of the Lord, he asked me to accept a mission call. I know I owe everything I have to my God, and a couple of years away from my violin shouldn’t be too much to ask, but I think it’s giving up almost more than I can bear. Still I knew the uncertainty in my own heart was more dread than doubt so I promised the bishop that if there was any way for us to raise the money, I would accept the call. …
“March 13, 1893: Last night I told Mother about the mission call. She was overjoyed. Father had always wanted to serve a mission, she said, but he had been killed before being able to. Now I could fill a mission in his place. When I asked her how we were going to raise the money, her face clouded. Explaining to her that I would not allow her to sell any more of the land, I told her of the conditional promise I had given the bishop. She looked at me quietly for a moment and then she said, ‘Ben, there is a way we can raise the money. This family owns one thing that is of great enough value to send you on your mission. You will have to sell your violin.’
“March 17, 1893: The promise must be kept, and there is a way. Next Monday, I will go to Salt Lake and sell my violin. If I am able to raise the needed sum for my passage, I will leave immediately on my mission. I have made my decision and I am at peace.
“March 23, 1893: I awoke this morning and took my violin from its case. All day long I played the music I love. In the evening when the light grew dim and I could see to play no longer, I placed the instrument in its case. It will be enough. Tomorrow I leave.
“ ‘That’s it,’ John said unbelievingly. ‘It ends right there. There’s no more. What happened? Did he come back and get another violin? Did he? Was he ever able to play in a symphony orchestra? Mom, do you know what happened?’
“ ‘I don’t know, John,’ his mother responded quietly. ‘I suppose there’s somebody around who does, but I don’t really mind having the story end there. You already know the most important thing about him.’
“ ‘Wait!’ yelped John. ‘Look, there’s a little more writing at the back of the notebook.’ He glanced at the short entry, coughed a little to cover the other sound that almost escaped from his throat, and handed the book to Jennie. ‘You, Mom,’ he said, afraid to trust himself with any more words.
“Jennie took the book, moved closer to the small gabled window to catch the fading light, and looked at the page. The hand that wrote these words was not quite as steady or as firm as the one that started the journal, but the letters were still carefully and evenly formed. She read:
“June 23, 1938: The greatest decision I ever made in my life was to give up something I dearly loved to the God I loved even more. He has never forgotten me for it. Benjamin Landart” (Karen Nolen, “Benjamin: Son of the Right Hand,” New Era, May 1974, pp. 35–37).
Discussion
• From the experience of Alice and John, what can we learn about keeping a journal?
• What did Alice and John learn about their great-uncle from his journal?
• How do you think Alice and John felt about their great-uncle after reading his journal?
• How could Benjamin Landart’s journal have brought happiness to his own life?
• How can a personal journal bless the lives of an individual’s children and grandchildren?
• Do you know some interesting things about your parents’ lives when they were about your age?
• Do you like to hear them talk about their childhood, how they met and married, and about you when you were young?
• How can knowledge about the lives of your parents or any of your ancestors help you to live more valiantly today?
Teacher presentation
Explain that through reading their great-uncle’s journal, Alice and John learned about Benjamin Landart’s family and personal interests. They also learned of his love for his Heavenly Father. As they learned about his life, their love for him grew. A journal can help us remember events in our own lives. Keeping a personal record can bring joy to our children and grandchildren.
One young woman commented, “It’s a tradition in our family to keep a personal journal. … During some of our family home evenings my dad reads us accounts from my great-grandpa’s journal, and that really inspires me to keep one. If my descendants get half the enjoyment I’ve received from reading my grandparents’ journals, it will be well worth my time to keep it up” (Laura Call, quoted in Kathleen Lubeck, “A Journal Called Lucy,” New Era, Nov. 1981, p. 40).
Personal stories
Share with the young women a story about one of your ancestors and tell how this experience from someone else’s life has influenced you, or have the visitor share an experience. Then ask the young women who have prepared a story about their grandparents or great-grandparents to relate these stories to the class members.
Conclusion
Quotations and handout
Distribute the handout of the following statements by President Spencer W. Kimball and have them read aloud:
“We urge our young people to begin today to write and keep records of all the important things in their own lives” (“The Angels May Quote from It,” New Era, Oct. 1975, p. 4).
“I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us and as our posterity read of our life’s experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted” (“President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec. 1980, p. 26).
Keeping a Journal: Tips For Success
From Rachel Woods,
These tips and tricks will help you with keeping a journal!
1. Be Consistent
Make journal writing a habit by planning a specific time or day when you will write in your journal, such as every evening before you go to bed, before you have breakfast, or during lunch. If you don't have enough time to write every day, pick a specific day of the week when you will write. Sundays are perfect for me since journal writing makes a great Sabbath day activity, one the whole family can enjoy. Writing consistent journal entries will make future reading more enjoyable.
2. Be Complete (Date Everything!)
The Ensign article, "My Journal, A Vital Record" teaches: "In addition to sharing thoughts and feelings, your journal is a record of your life’s events. For future reference, be sure to include complete information: names (first and last), dates (including the year), and places (city, state, or other information applicable to your country). Don’t assume that people and events you know intimately will be familiar to your future readers. It may seem tedious at first to add these details, but future readers will be grateful for your efforts." (Preston Draper, Sept. 2004, 72)
3. Vary Your Entries
Make sure you write your feelings and thoughts about the things going on in your life. "Don’t become obsessed with fact to the exclusion of emotion." (My Journal, A Vital Record)
4. Be Organized
Do you have more than one journal? Do you save letters, calendars, poetry, or other journal entries? If so then you're like me and you need to get organized!
Get everything together
Make an index of all your items (example of my personal journal index)
Write down each item, the dates (beginning and end), and a description of the actual item
Keep all your journal items together in a box, notebook, or other organizational kit
Place your index at the beginning with your first journal
5. Asking Yourself Questions:
What would you like to remember about yourself?
What has the Lord done for you?
What would you like to tell your children or grandchildren about yourself?
6. Use Journaling Pages
The Friend magazine made 12 journaling pages, that are perfect to help children learn how to journal. I compiled and updated these Journal Pages for your convenience!
Don't Give Up!
No matter how much time has passed since your last entry don't be discouraged, what's important is that you write in your journal today!
Importance of Keeping a Journal
From Rachel Woods,
Your Guide to Christianity - Latter-day Saints.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
This article lists several points for keeping a journal:
A Commandment
Keeping a journal is important because it's a commandment from the Lord through his prophets. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "Every person should keep a journal and every person can keep a journal." (Family Home Evening Resource Book, Lesson Ideas, Journals, 199)
Not only did President Kimball admonish us to keep a journal, but he was also a perfect example. His personal history already contained 33 journals when he was called to be President of the Church in 1973 and seven years later he had a total of 78 large volumes of personal history.
Try, Try, Again!
One of my favorite journal entries was when I was 11 years old.
I hadn't written in my journal for over a year and wrote, "I have been very upset about not writing in my..." the rest of the page is blank and the next entry wasn't until two years later. Although it took me several years to get into the habit of writing consistently in a journal I have come to learn the value of recording my personal history. So if you haven't written for a long time, don't worry about it, just pick up a pen and start journaling today!
Why Write Now?
You may ask, "Why not wait until I'm older to compile a summary of my life?" Here's President Kimball's answer:
"Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available. Your private journal should record the way you face up to challenges that beset you. Do not suppose life changes so much that your experiences will not be interesting to your posterity. Experiences of work, relations with people, and an awareness of the rightness and wrongness of actions will always be relevant. Your journal, like most others, will tell of problems as old as the world and how you dealt with them." ("President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals," New Era, Dec. 1980, 26)
What to Write
"Begin today," President Kimball said, "and write... your goings and your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements, and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. We hope you will do this... for this is what the Lord has commanded, and those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives." (Speaks Out)
Not Just a Record
A journal is not just a book to keep a record of our lives; it's also a tool that can help us! The article, "Discover Yourself: Keep a Journal" says:
"A journal can also be a tool for self-evaluation and self-improvement. 'We examine our lives as we come to know ourselves through our journals,' says Sister Bell [assistant professor of English at BYU]. 'Even if you take your journal and go back a year, you learn things about yourself you didn't know at the time. You understand things about yourself.'" (Janet Brigham, Ensign, Dec. 1980, 57)
Be True To Yourself
President Spencer W. Kimball also taught, "Your journal should contain your true self rather than a picture of you when you are "made up" for a public performance. There is a temptation to paint one’s virtues in rich color and whitewash the vices, but there is also the opposite pitfall of accentuating the negative.... The truth should be told, but we should not emphasize the negative." (Speaks Out)
The Value of Keeping a Journal
President Kimball said, "People often use the excuse that their lives are uneventful and nobody would be interested in what they have done. But I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us—and as our posterity read of our life's experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted." (Speaks Out)
As I read back through my journals I have found true treasures and if you follow the Lord's commandment to keep a journal you and your posterity will be blessed for your efforts!
Keeping a Journal: 10 Techniques
From Rachel Woods,
There is more than one way to keep a journal. These 10 techniques can help supplement your personal history, many of which you're probably already doing!
1. Notebook and Bound Books
The most common way of recording journal entries is by hand in a notebook. You can buy a nice notebook or just use a simple one such as a spiral bound or three ringed binder. I've used all types and prefer ones where I can fold the left flap around to the back, making the folder smaller and easier to write on. Bound books are really great too because they sturdier and usually last longer.
2. Computers
Typing your journal entries can be a quick and easy way to record your life history. Any word processing program works great, even the basic "notepad" in Windows would make a great journal. Be aware that you will have to back up your work often and eventually print it to keep it safe. Printed entries can be easily put into three ring binders, or if you like to write lots of entries you could place them in a labeled box.
3. Letters and Emails
Do you write a lot of emails or letters? If so then make sure you keep a copy for your journals! Print your emails or copy letters before you send them and place them into a folder or binder. Sometimes I write long, detailed letters/emails that I paste a copy of right into my journal which saves me from having to rewrite everything. If you're sending lots of letters home (as missionaries do) make sure your family keeps them so you can add them to your journal.
4. Scrapbooking
Do you love taking lots of photographs? Scrapbooking is a wonderful (and popular) way to record your life. Working with your pictures is fun and creative, but if you don't journal you'll miss out on all the important details. While scrapbooking just ask yourself these questions, "If someone saw this page 50 years from now would they know who these people/places are? Would they know how I felt?" If the answer is no then you need to add journaling to your scrapbook page.
5. Media Sources
Journal recording can be lots of fun when you use other media sources such as tape recorders, video tapes, and digital video clips on the computer. The biggest concern is to make sure you protect your data. If you do lots of this type of journaling make sure you keep everything labeled and organized. Keeping an index of descriptions for each recording would help keep the journaling alive.
6. Spiritual or Gratitude Journal
Record those spiritual events of your life (or that of your family and friends) along with your personal thoughts and ponderings. Write down your experiences, answers to prayers, your testimony, conversion, and other spiritual experiences from church/temple attendance and scripture study. Journal daily your blessings and what you're thankful for and you'll be amazed at your spiritual growth.
7. Study Journal
Elder Richard G. Scott said, "Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. Spiritually sensitive information should be kept in a sacred place that communicates to the Lord how you treasure it. This practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light." ("Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge," Ensign, Nov. 1993, 86.)
8. Meeting Journal
I like to carry around a small notebook for keeping notes during church meetings. This helps me focus on the talks and lessons at church, and gives me a place to record my thoughts and reflections as they happen.
9. Calendars
Calendars can be great additions to your journal. You can use the kind that come with planners, ones that hang on the wall, or even the kind that fit in a purse or backpack. Calendar entries have to be short to fit in the space, but work great for keeping track of important events in life. Just make sure you keep your calendars when the year's over and place them with your journals.
10. Additional Embellishments
Journal writing can be fun when you decorate your journal/pages, attach important documents, and even make your own maps when describing a detailed location. If you like statistics make your own charts and graphs to keep in your journal.
34823, YW 1, Learning about Family History and Temple Work, 19: Personal Records, Objective, 81
Each young woman will realize the importance of keeping a personal record.
PREPARATION
1. Prepare one copy of each of the two sets of questions at the beginning of the lesson. Include the scriptural references but not the answers.
2. Be prepared to tell the young women about one of your ancestors and how this person has influenced your life; or have a visitor, who has been approved by priesthood advisers, tell the class about an ancestor.
4. Assign two or three young women to tell briefly about one of their grandparents or great-grandparents and how this person has affected their lives.
4. Prepare a handout of the quotations at the conclusion of the lesson to give to each class member.
5. Assign young women to present any scriptures, stories, or quotations you wish.
6. See the end of the lesson for an optional family history activity.
SUGGESTED LESSON DEVELOPMENT
Heavenly Father Commands His Children to Keep Personal Records
Quiz
Divide the class into two groups. Be sure each group has a set of scriptures and a pencil. Give one group the questions and scriptural references for set A below and the other group the same for set B. Allow about five minutes for the young women to answer the questions.
Questions—Set A
1. Who recorded the first information in a book of remembrance? (Moses 6:5–8.)
2. Name two other Old Testament prophets who kept books of remembrance. (Moses 6:45–46; Malachi 3:16.)
3. When priesthood ordinances such as baptism and temple marriage are performed, where are records kept? (D&C 128:7.)
4. What is one reason for keeping a journal or personal history? (2 Nephi 25:23.)
5. When Christ appeared to the Nephites, he learned that some important events had not been written in their records. What did he command the people to do? (3 Nephi 23:6–13.)
Answers for Set A
1. Adam
2. Enoch and Malachi
3. On earth and in heaven
4. To persuade our children to believe in Christ
5. To write the events they had neglected to record
Questions—Set B
1. How do we know that Jesus is a descendant of David and Abraham? (Matthew 1:1.)
2. Why did Nephi and his brothers go back to the home of Laban? (1 Nephi 3:1–4.)
3. Why did Nephi keep a record of his life as he and his father’s family left Jerusalem and traveled to America? (1 Nephi 1:1–3.)
4. Who taught Adam and his children how to keep a book of remembrance? (Moses 6:46.)
5. How did Abraham gain a knowledge of the rights of the priesthood and of the Creation? (Abraham 1:31.)
Answers for Set B
1. This information is recorded in the Bible.
2. To get the records of the Jews and the genealogy of their forefathers.
3. Because he had a knowledge of the goodness and mysteries of God.
4. They were taught by the hand of the Lord.
5. It was written in the records of his fathers.
Discussion
Have each group report the answers to their set of questions to the class. After the young women have given the answers to the quiz, ask the entire class to respond to the following:
• What kind of information did Moses, Nephi, and Abraham keep in their books of remembrance? (The names of family members, important events, personal testimonies, prophecies of things to come, blessings they received from their Father in Heaven, and commandments they received.)
• Why is it important to keep a personal record? (Through a personal record, a person can share with her descendants events in her life, her testimony, her thoughts and feelings, and a record of Heavenly Father’s blessings to her.)
• How do you know that Heavenly Father wants you to keep a record of your life? (Since the beginning of time, he has commanded his children to keep personal records of their lives. And modern prophets have encouraged us to keep journals throughout our lives.)
Records of Progenitors Can Bring Joy and Strength
Story
Read or tell the following fictional story:
“Great-Uncle Benjamin had died over 30 years ago and some of his belongings were packed away in the old trunks in the farmhouse attic.
“ ‘I wonder why Grandpa saved [Great-Uncle’s things] for all these years,’ John grumbled as he helped sort through it with his mother and sister. Grandpa had died a few weeks before and Jennie Lynn, his only surviving daughter, and her two children had come to clean out the old family home.
“John threw a shapeless felt hat into a large barrel in the center of the room. ‘Man, do you ever wonder if your family tree has blight attacking its roots? I mean, what in the world would they want to save all this junk for? Look at this old dilapidated book for instance: Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. Brother!’
“ ‘That,’ replied his sister Alice calmly, ‘is a copy of the first English novel ever written. Kindly place it carefully in the “save” box.’
“ ‘Well, what about this? A partially used notebook? Who in their right mind would save that? …’
“Jennie walked over and looked at the book John was holding. …
“ ‘Can you make out what it says?’ Alice asked, joining her mother and brother.
“ ‘Easy,’ John replied as he sat down and started to read, skipping pages here and there.
“May 4, 1888 …
“ ‘Hey, it looks like a diary or a journal or something!’
“May 4, 1888: Mother locked my violin in the cedar chest again this morning. She says it’s too big a temptation for me before the cows are milked. She’s right, I suppose. It’s a good thing the other boys are more diligent than I or we’d never be able to feed all eight of us from these few acres. If Father were still alive we’d manage better.
“September 3, 1888: Mr. Carter told Mother today that he has taught me all he knows and I need a more advanced teacher. There is a Sister Kendall over in Coalville who is supposed to have played at one time with the Philadelphia orchestra before joining the Church and moving west. Mother promised I could ask her if she would take me as a pupil. The only trouble is going to be how much she will charge for lessons. I am to be allowed to take charge of the chickens and keep the egg money to pay for my music. …
“April 8, 1892: I realized today that there are three things I love better than all else: the Lord, my family, and my music. And I know now that the love of one thing does not necessarily preclude the love of another. When they’re all good things, they all go together.
“December 1, 1892: It’s terribly late, but I can’t sleep. I’ve been copying music all evening with Mother’s help. I’ve been asked to travel down to Salt Lake to audition for a place with the territorial orchestra. …
“March 5, 1893: After several weeks of practicing interspersed with hours of prayers, I went down to Salt Lake and auditioned. Mr. Dean, the conductor, told me I was the most accomplished violinist he had heard west of Denver. There probably aren’t too many west of Denver that he has heard, but Mother was pleased when I told her. I am to be in Denver for rehearsals early in the fall, and I’ll be earning enough to keep myself plus a little to spare for Mother and the others. Sunday in sacrament meeting I’m to play the Mozart selection I learned for the tryouts.
“March 11, 1893: Why has this happened now? Why just at this point in my life? After sacrament meeting on Sunday, Bishop Reynolds called me into his office and asked me how the tryouts had gone. I told him that I had been hired, and he asked me if I couldn’t put off playing with the orchestra for a couple of years. He explained to me that before I start earning money, there is something else I owe the Lord. With ‘no doubt’ in his mind that it is the will of the Lord, he asked me to accept a mission call. I know I owe everything I have to my God, and a couple of years away from my violin shouldn’t be too much to ask, but I think it’s giving up almost more than I can bear. Still I knew the uncertainty in my own heart was more dread than doubt so I promised the bishop that if there was any way for us to raise the money, I would accept the call. …
“March 13, 1893: Last night I told Mother about the mission call. She was overjoyed. Father had always wanted to serve a mission, she said, but he had been killed before being able to. Now I could fill a mission in his place. When I asked her how we were going to raise the money, her face clouded. Explaining to her that I would not allow her to sell any more of the land, I told her of the conditional promise I had given the bishop. She looked at me quietly for a moment and then she said, ‘Ben, there is a way we can raise the money. This family owns one thing that is of great enough value to send you on your mission. You will have to sell your violin.’
“March 17, 1893: The promise must be kept, and there is a way. Next Monday, I will go to Salt Lake and sell my violin. If I am able to raise the needed sum for my passage, I will leave immediately on my mission. I have made my decision and I am at peace.
“March 23, 1893: I awoke this morning and took my violin from its case. All day long I played the music I love. In the evening when the light grew dim and I could see to play no longer, I placed the instrument in its case. It will be enough. Tomorrow I leave.
“ ‘That’s it,’ John said unbelievingly. ‘It ends right there. There’s no more. What happened? Did he come back and get another violin? Did he? Was he ever able to play in a symphony orchestra? Mom, do you know what happened?’
“ ‘I don’t know, John,’ his mother responded quietly. ‘I suppose there’s somebody around who does, but I don’t really mind having the story end there. You already know the most important thing about him.’
“ ‘Wait!’ yelped John. ‘Look, there’s a little more writing at the back of the notebook.’ He glanced at the short entry, coughed a little to cover the other sound that almost escaped from his throat, and handed the book to Jennie. ‘You, Mom,’ he said, afraid to trust himself with any more words.
“Jennie took the book, moved closer to the small gabled window to catch the fading light, and looked at the page. The hand that wrote these words was not quite as steady or as firm as the one that started the journal, but the letters were still carefully and evenly formed. She read:
“June 23, 1938: The greatest decision I ever made in my life was to give up something I dearly loved to the God I loved even more. He has never forgotten me for it. Benjamin Landart” (Karen Nolen, “Benjamin: Son of the Right Hand,” New Era, May 1974, pp. 35–37).
Discussion
• From the experience of Alice and John, what can we learn about keeping a journal?
• What did Alice and John learn about their great-uncle from his journal?
• How do you think Alice and John felt about their great-uncle after reading his journal?
• How could Benjamin Landart’s journal have brought happiness to his own life?
• How can a personal journal bless the lives of an individual’s children and grandchildren?
• Do you know some interesting things about your parents’ lives when they were about your age?
• Do you like to hear them talk about their childhood, how they met and married, and about you when you were young?
• How can knowledge about the lives of your parents or any of your ancestors help you to live more valiantly today?
Teacher presentation
Explain that through reading their great-uncle’s journal, Alice and John learned about Benjamin Landart’s family and personal interests. They also learned of his love for his Heavenly Father. As they learned about his life, their love for him grew. A journal can help us remember events in our own lives. Keeping a personal record can bring joy to our children and grandchildren.
One young woman commented, “It’s a tradition in our family to keep a personal journal. … During some of our family home evenings my dad reads us accounts from my great-grandpa’s journal, and that really inspires me to keep one. If my descendants get half the enjoyment I’ve received from reading my grandparents’ journals, it will be well worth my time to keep it up” (Laura Call, quoted in Kathleen Lubeck, “A Journal Called Lucy,” New Era, Nov. 1981, p. 40).
Personal stories
Share with the young women a story about one of your ancestors and tell how this experience from someone else’s life has influenced you, or have the visitor share an experience. Then ask the young women who have prepared a story about their grandparents or great-grandparents to relate these stories to the class members.
Conclusion
Quotations and handout
Distribute the handout of the following statements by President Spencer W. Kimball and have them read aloud:
“We urge our young people to begin today to write and keep records of all the important things in their own lives” (“The Angels May Quote from It,” New Era, Oct. 1975, p. 4).
“I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us and as our posterity read of our life’s experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted” (“President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec. 1980, p. 26).
Keeping a Journal: Tips For Success
From Rachel Woods,
These tips and tricks will help you with keeping a journal!
1. Be Consistent
Make journal writing a habit by planning a specific time or day when you will write in your journal, such as every evening before you go to bed, before you have breakfast, or during lunch. If you don't have enough time to write every day, pick a specific day of the week when you will write. Sundays are perfect for me since journal writing makes a great Sabbath day activity, one the whole family can enjoy. Writing consistent journal entries will make future reading more enjoyable.
2. Be Complete (Date Everything!)
The Ensign article, "My Journal, A Vital Record" teaches: "In addition to sharing thoughts and feelings, your journal is a record of your life’s events. For future reference, be sure to include complete information: names (first and last), dates (including the year), and places (city, state, or other information applicable to your country). Don’t assume that people and events you know intimately will be familiar to your future readers. It may seem tedious at first to add these details, but future readers will be grateful for your efforts." (Preston Draper, Sept. 2004, 72)
3. Vary Your Entries
Make sure you write your feelings and thoughts about the things going on in your life. "Don’t become obsessed with fact to the exclusion of emotion." (My Journal, A Vital Record)
4. Be Organized
Do you have more than one journal? Do you save letters, calendars, poetry, or other journal entries? If so then you're like me and you need to get organized!
Get everything together
Make an index of all your items (example of my personal journal index)
Write down each item, the dates (beginning and end), and a description of the actual item
Keep all your journal items together in a box, notebook, or other organizational kit
Place your index at the beginning with your first journal
5. Asking Yourself Questions:
What would you like to remember about yourself?
What has the Lord done for you?
What would you like to tell your children or grandchildren about yourself?
6. Use Journaling Pages
The Friend magazine made 12 journaling pages, that are perfect to help children learn how to journal. I compiled and updated these Journal Pages for your convenience!
Don't Give Up!
No matter how much time has passed since your last entry don't be discouraged, what's important is that you write in your journal today!
Importance of Keeping a Journal
From Rachel Woods,
Your Guide to Christianity - Latter-day Saints.
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This article lists several points for keeping a journal:
A Commandment
Keeping a journal is important because it's a commandment from the Lord through his prophets. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "Every person should keep a journal and every person can keep a journal." (Family Home Evening Resource Book, Lesson Ideas, Journals, 199)
Not only did President Kimball admonish us to keep a journal, but he was also a perfect example. His personal history already contained 33 journals when he was called to be President of the Church in 1973 and seven years later he had a total of 78 large volumes of personal history.
Try, Try, Again!
One of my favorite journal entries was when I was 11 years old.
I hadn't written in my journal for over a year and wrote, "I have been very upset about not writing in my..." the rest of the page is blank and the next entry wasn't until two years later. Although it took me several years to get into the habit of writing consistently in a journal I have come to learn the value of recording my personal history. So if you haven't written for a long time, don't worry about it, just pick up a pen and start journaling today!
Why Write Now?
You may ask, "Why not wait until I'm older to compile a summary of my life?" Here's President Kimball's answer:
"Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available. Your private journal should record the way you face up to challenges that beset you. Do not suppose life changes so much that your experiences will not be interesting to your posterity. Experiences of work, relations with people, and an awareness of the rightness and wrongness of actions will always be relevant. Your journal, like most others, will tell of problems as old as the world and how you dealt with them." ("President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals," New Era, Dec. 1980, 26)
What to Write
"Begin today," President Kimball said, "and write... your goings and your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements, and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. We hope you will do this... for this is what the Lord has commanded, and those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives." (Speaks Out)
Not Just a Record
A journal is not just a book to keep a record of our lives; it's also a tool that can help us! The article, "Discover Yourself: Keep a Journal" says:
"A journal can also be a tool for self-evaluation and self-improvement. 'We examine our lives as we come to know ourselves through our journals,' says Sister Bell [assistant professor of English at BYU]. 'Even if you take your journal and go back a year, you learn things about yourself you didn't know at the time. You understand things about yourself.'" (Janet Brigham, Ensign, Dec. 1980, 57)
Be True To Yourself
President Spencer W. Kimball also taught, "Your journal should contain your true self rather than a picture of you when you are "made up" for a public performance. There is a temptation to paint one’s virtues in rich color and whitewash the vices, but there is also the opposite pitfall of accentuating the negative.... The truth should be told, but we should not emphasize the negative." (Speaks Out)
The Value of Keeping a Journal
President Kimball said, "People often use the excuse that their lives are uneventful and nobody would be interested in what they have done. But I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us—and as our posterity read of our life's experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted." (Speaks Out)
As I read back through my journals I have found true treasures and if you follow the Lord's commandment to keep a journal you and your posterity will be blessed for your efforts!
Keeping a Journal: 10 Techniques
From Rachel Woods,
There is more than one way to keep a journal. These 10 techniques can help supplement your personal history, many of which you're probably already doing!
1. Notebook and Bound Books
The most common way of recording journal entries is by hand in a notebook. You can buy a nice notebook or just use a simple one such as a spiral bound or three ringed binder. I've used all types and prefer ones where I can fold the left flap around to the back, making the folder smaller and easier to write on. Bound books are really great too because they sturdier and usually last longer.
2. Computers
Typing your journal entries can be a quick and easy way to record your life history. Any word processing program works great, even the basic "notepad" in Windows would make a great journal. Be aware that you will have to back up your work often and eventually print it to keep it safe. Printed entries can be easily put into three ring binders, or if you like to write lots of entries you could place them in a labeled box.
3. Letters and Emails
Do you write a lot of emails or letters? If so then make sure you keep a copy for your journals! Print your emails or copy letters before you send them and place them into a folder or binder. Sometimes I write long, detailed letters/emails that I paste a copy of right into my journal which saves me from having to rewrite everything. If you're sending lots of letters home (as missionaries do) make sure your family keeps them so you can add them to your journal.
4. Scrapbooking
Do you love taking lots of photographs? Scrapbooking is a wonderful (and popular) way to record your life. Working with your pictures is fun and creative, but if you don't journal you'll miss out on all the important details. While scrapbooking just ask yourself these questions, "If someone saw this page 50 years from now would they know who these people/places are? Would they know how I felt?" If the answer is no then you need to add journaling to your scrapbook page.
5. Media Sources
Journal recording can be lots of fun when you use other media sources such as tape recorders, video tapes, and digital video clips on the computer. The biggest concern is to make sure you protect your data. If you do lots of this type of journaling make sure you keep everything labeled and organized. Keeping an index of descriptions for each recording would help keep the journaling alive.
6. Spiritual or Gratitude Journal
Record those spiritual events of your life (or that of your family and friends) along with your personal thoughts and ponderings. Write down your experiences, answers to prayers, your testimony, conversion, and other spiritual experiences from church/temple attendance and scripture study. Journal daily your blessings and what you're thankful for and you'll be amazed at your spiritual growth.
7. Study Journal
Elder Richard G. Scott said, "Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. Spiritually sensitive information should be kept in a sacred place that communicates to the Lord how you treasure it. This practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light." ("Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge," Ensign, Nov. 1993, 86.)
8. Meeting Journal
I like to carry around a small notebook for keeping notes during church meetings. This helps me focus on the talks and lessons at church, and gives me a place to record my thoughts and reflections as they happen.
9. Calendars
Calendars can be great additions to your journal. You can use the kind that come with planners, ones that hang on the wall, or even the kind that fit in a purse or backpack. Calendar entries have to be short to fit in the space, but work great for keeping track of important events in life. Just make sure you keep your calendars when the year's over and place them with your journals.
10. Additional Embellishments
Journal writing can be fun when you decorate your journal/pages, attach important documents, and even make your own maps when describing a detailed location. If you like statistics make your own charts and graphs to keep in your journal.
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