And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did make plates of ore that I might engraven upon them the record of my people. And upon the plates which I made I did engraven the record of my father, and also our journeyings in the wilderness, and the prophecies of my father; and also many of mine own prophecies have I engraven upon them. –1 Nephi 19:1
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a record-keeping people. From the earliest, days, they’ve been instructed to keep good records and even personal journals and family histories. In fact, on the very day the church was organized, Joseph Smith was commanded by revelation to keep a record of the church.
As individuals, members of the church are counseled to gather and verify their family histories, write a personal history, and keep a journal. These are to be handed down through the generations, giving members a connection to their ancestors. Because we believe family life is forever, these records can help us feel connected to the family we don’t remember knowing—sort of a family reunion.
Have you ever looked over your genealogy charts and seen nothing but names and dates? These are nice as curiosities, but it’s much nicer when you know who that person really is. For instance, I have a well-researched ancestor named Elizabeth Blossom. Because her father was a pilgrim, and her husbands and some of her sons were important, there is a great deal we know of her. I know all the places she lived, the names of her children, and that ten of her children died before she did. I know her Pilgrim father and brother were supposed to go on the Mayflower journey, but returned home when the boat they were on—the Speedwell—become unseaworthy. But I don’t know why they returned home. Nor do I know how nine-year-old Elizabeth felt leaving Holland to join the Pilgrims in a new land. I don’t know how she felt when her father died and her mother remarried only a few months later. Her family fled the Pilgrims and moved several more times due to religious divisions, but I don’t know if she left because she believed the pastors they followed, or if they left because the men did.
Imagine if Elizabeth had kept a journal. I’ve made her as real as my imagination can make her, but with a journal, I’d know. I’d know how she felt about moving to a new land across the ocean, just as I know how Nephi felt about a similar journey when he was also young.
The journals left behind by early church members show us the church in a way the statistics can’t. The testimonies, the stories, the trials, the blessings…they all bring our history to life. Your own journal can do the same for your descendants.
“From time immemorial the Lord has counseled us to be a record-keeping people. Abraham had a book of remembrance, and Adam had one. You may think of them as not being as highly educated as we are, but they were well-trained people. Adam spent much effort being the school teacher for his children. He and Eve taught their sons and daughters. He taught them the gospel in their home evenings, and he taught them reading and writing and arithmetic.
And they kept their books of remembrance. How else do you think Moses, many hundreds of years later, got the information? These records had been kept, and he referred to them and got the history of the world, which wasn’t in any library other than that. Can you see your responsibility?” — Spencer W. Kimball, “President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” Ensign, Dec 1980, 60
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
