Don't Let History Die, Create Living Histories

When my mother died a few years ago it came incredibly sudden.  It was something we never saw coming.  If it were not for the fact that in the past 10 years I had been gathering a living history from her we could have forever lost information for her that is vital in figuring out her family tree.  We started doing living histories when my abuelita informed us she had a different last name than what she had gone by her whole life one week short of dying.

Creating living histories are easy.  Here are some ideas:

• Start your own journal!  To start pick up two journals, one can be like your large plates where you write about your daily ins and outs.  The second journal can be for special insight into your life.  You can pick special life events to include in your journal, write down your testimony, or share insight into your feelings.  These days digital journals are incredibly more convenient for others to later read.  Consider doing it online and printing it out or creating a blog.

• Start an Adult Memory Jar or you can do one for your children or for yourself.  They also make great gifts for loved ones.  This is something my mother did for me before she passed.  I gave her the jar at Christmas on my mission and when she died I discovered she had taken the time to do most questions.  They contain about 300 prompts that you can quickly paste into a notebook and give a few sentences in response to each question.   Go to this website, Adult Journal in a Jar, for more ideas on how to do it.  It's easier than you might think.

•  Use a digital voice or video recorder.  Using a digital voice recorder to interview your family members or yourself is a wonderful way not only to preserve family history but also their voice or if use a video camera you will have their entire likeness preserved.  It is important after an interview to type up a transcript of what was said that way if things become lost you will still have that written record.  For ideas for interview questions go to this Deseret News Article for more information.

• One of the first LDS traditions I came across was the love of scrapbooking.  Scrapbooks can be wonderful journals.  Recently my mother in law just created large books out her 20 years of scrapbooking.  (There will be several large books for each family of when she finishes her project).  This is a great idea and with the invent of digital scrapbooks and digital pictures these books are easy to make.  Just make sure to caption everything so that there is a record of who people are.

• Blogging and other forms of social media such as Instagram and Facebook are fast and easy for our fast lifestyle.  Many of us use these outlets and are wonderful for keeping in touch with others and reaching out to family and friends who are far away.  Please consider that if you are using one of these mediums that mediums change often (anyone on MySpace still).  Consider using mediums such as My Social Book to print out your social media posts every year.  That way precious memories are never lost.

• Finally remember it is never too early to get your children involved.  In my husband's family the kids had special boxes where they put the best of the best from their school year in a tupperware box.  Another thing I learned was to often do art at home recording their foot and hand prints.  For more Journaling ideas for kids check out Creative Kids Journals.

Youth Projects

Ideas for Young Men and Young Women projects that can help inspire a love for the work*

1. Plan a "Family Tradition" activity.  Discover the joy of family history through traditions such as stories, art, dance, food, and music.  Interview a grandparent, parent, uncle, aunt, or other close relative to discover how a tradition was started in their family. If they don’t have a tradition, invite them to consider one they would like to start as a family. Invite the girls in your class to share a tradition by preparing a story, food, art, dance, or song. You could also Invite family or ward members to be the audience. Take photos of the traditions. Consider creating stories about how these traditions were created and share them and the photos in Family Tree on lds.org/familyhistory.

2. Invite special guests from within the ward family to an activity.  Ask them to share life stories, their testimonies and displays of their life. You could ask questions and learn from their life experiences.

3. Plan a night where each young woman displays  memories, history, recipes with the item made up for tasting, etc.  You could wear an article of clothing from your ancestor such as a hat, apron, etc.

4. Plan and host a "Technology Night."  Help those in the ward who may be uncomfortable with technology preserve their family history.  Ask ward members to gather old family photos, newspaper articles, obituaries, etc.   Consider pairing one youth with each person. Scan photos, take digital photos of prints, or go to the local family history center to scan the photos. Upload the information you find to Photos and Stories at lds.org/familyhistory, tag the people in the photos and stories, and connect them to Family Tree.

5. You could post a map of the world outside the bishop’s office. Ask ward members to put a flag showing where their ancestors are from. Give rewards to those who participate. To get a reward they would have to:
   . Be able to trace their roots the furthest from Utah
   . Include entire family in family research and posting on the map
   . Load information into Family Tree after gathering their information

6. Request the patriarchal blessing of an ancestor (such as a great grandparent).  After reading it, write in your journal promises and warnings given to that ancestor.  Record how this could help you in your own life.

7. Create "Family History Jars" for parents or grandparents.  Encourage them to record their life stories.

8. In order to keep the Sabbath Day holy, learn how and do indexing.  See indexing.familysearch.org.

9. Read and record promises from the scriptures and modern day leaders about the blessings of family records.  Create your own plan of how you want to participate in family history.

10. Have a "Morph" night.  Each young woman and leader could take their photo and morph it into that of an ancestor.  Post the pictures around the room and have each guess who the picture is of.

11. Plan to do baptisms at the Temple with names you have researched from your own family tree, or that you have discovered through indexing.  Print the cards and plan the Temple day.  Ask endowed adults to complete the Temple work for you once the baptisms have been done.

12.  Visit with your living relatives to learn as much information about your family history as possible. Then complete a pedigree chart of your family and list the temple ordinances that have been completed for each person.

13.  Select a gospel principle you would like to understand better (for example, faith, repentance, charity, eternal families (family history), or baptismal covenants). Read scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets that relate to the principle. Prepare a five-minute talk on the subject and give the talk in a sacrament meeting, in a Young Women meeting, to your family, or to your class. Record in your journal how you can apply this gospel principle in your life.

14. Teach a lesson about service in family home evening or in another setting. Use pictures, music, examples, or demonstrations in your lesson. You may want to use the manual Teaching, No Greater Call as a resource.  (The service could include extended search for ancestors and doing their temple work as a family.  Include quotes from latter-day Apostles about the blessings and promises of doing family history.)

15.  List the issues, trends, and problems that weaken the family. Read the First Presidency message, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”, and the section on family in For the Strength of Youth. Then research in the Church magazines the counsel of those whom we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators. Write in your journal your plan to strengthen your present family and the values and traditions you want to establish with your future family.  (Research stories from ancestors and record/discuss ways they strengthened their family.  Record stories and pictures on lds.org Family Search.)

*These projects can be incorporated into the Duty of God and Young Women's in Excellence Programs