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.