Family History

“Friends, brothers and sisters, we each have a story. As we discover our story, we connect, we belong, we become. . . The promise at Easter and always is that, in and through Jesus Christ, we can become our best story and our families can become happy and forever. . . Come discover yours. Come find your voice, your song, your harmony in Him. This is the very purpose for which God created the heavens and the earth and saw that they were good.” (Elder Gerrit W. Gong We Each Have a Story, April 2022 General Conference¹)

For many years my children have asked me to write my stories, particularly the stories my siblings and I have laughed and cried through during family events. Since I have boxes of journals gathering dust on my closet shelf, I’ve brushed away their requests figuring they could just read them. However, my posterity’s persistence persevered, by going so far as to sign my husband and me up for weekly StoryWorth emails to encourage us.

Embracing this nudge, I began answering the questions, inviting my husband to join me in this storytelling journey. As I delved into my memories, I realized just how much my memory of each event has faded. So, I swept the dust from my boxes of journals, using my past writings to capture a mere portion of my life’s events since the dates, sequences, the why and how have become quite cloudy.

During these moments of reflection, I considered my progenitors’ journals. I looked at their entries and those of my life’s “daily doings”. I asked myself, are these recordings the most important events to pass on or is their something more significant I’d rather share? Although, I do feel the importance of giving future generations a glimpse of day-to-day; I could see that perhaps a more focused view of who I was becoming needed to be emphasized. My spiritual maturing, my growth and failings, and what I have learned through the rugged terrain of my pilgrimage was essential to leave for my posterity.

Answering simple, direct questions with my spiritual journey in mind, recorded in a place where it could be easily captured for future generations to see, led me to FamilySearch. Since FamilySearch is in the business of preservation and where I often find photos, journals, written histories, and records of my family that I didn’t know existed, why not capture and save my memoirs beside my ancestors?

“Still very much alive, our ancestors deserve to be remembered. We remember our heritage through oral histories, clan records and family stories, memorials or places of remembrance, and celebrations with photos, foods, or items which remind us of loved ones.” (Elder Gerrit W. Gong We Each Have a Story, April 2022 General Conference¹)

With these thoughts in mind, it dawned on me I had seen something new on FamilySearch’s opening page, a product known as ⚛︎ FamilySearch Labs². This product introduces new features known as Experiments. These experiments are currently under development by FamilySearch. They encourage users to: “Choose an experiment, try it out, and use the Feedback button on the left side to tell us what you think.”

While exploring this new feature, I discovered an experiment titled Together by FamilySearch – Connecting Families—Past, Present and Future. It stated the purposes of the experiment was to help people: Capture Life’s Moments – Share with Loved Ones – Activities for Everyone

Through navigating the Together App, I learned how to capture the critical moments of my spiritually growth. This App makes it so easy. The outlined category My Faith embraces sub-topics such as Spiritually Defining Moments, Gratitude Journal, My Baptism & Confirmation, plus ten other intriguing  headings. Under each heading lies several questions to prompt thoughts to capture and store the memories on your FamilySearch Memories page which can be edited, pictures added, as well as your voice. 

My Faith is only one of the categories included. My Favorites, About Me, My Family Members, My Living Family Members, and My Family Stories also have sub-categories and questions to expand your story. FamilySearch even included a reward system where you can earn points for answering questions. The youth may find this intriguing, and encourage them to record their stories.

What I Learned and Enjoyed From the App, Including App Usage

Using the Together App from FamilySearch has transformed my approach to capturing these stories and discovering my ancestors as well as easily accessing family history and temple opportunities. It offers a space to document my experiences in a more interactive way, allowing me to preserve memories and temple opportunities for future generations. Each entry feels like a conversation, bringing life to the stories that have shaped our family.

Recently, this app just got better. FamilySearch has created the Together App for mobile devices!³ The fast fingers of our youth and those who love to “talk type”, may really appreciate this new app. Since most of our phones go everywhere we go, this gives us the opportunity to explore, edit, and add to our stories impromptu.

While investigating the features on my phone while sitting in my doctor’s office, I noticed the menu on the bottom of the app which lists Stories – Feed – Temple – Activities – More. 

As I examined each category further, I discovered this app does much more than help me capture my story and add to my family members memories. For example, the Feed icon shows the stories each member has added to my Family Groups⁴. The Temple icon links to Ordinance Ready followed by four additional categories – Temple Work – My Reservations – About the Temple – My Temple Experiences. Each of these have several actions. 

Next, is the Activities icon which links to dozens of activities such as Keepsakes, Challenging Times, Ancestors Calendar, and My Nauvoo Relative. Lastly, is the More icon. This takes you Family Groups (gives you an opportunity to create a group); Settings – takes you to your FamilySearch settings; Give App Feedback – encourages you to comment on the app; the final two are links to the Family Tree app and Memories. 

I encourage everyone to take the time to reflect on their own family stories. Whether through apps, journals, or simply sharing during family gatherings. Every. Story. Matters. Our experiences, both big and small, weave the fabric of our family history.

As I continue to write, I am grateful for the encouragement from my children and the tools available to help me remember. Capturing these stories is not just a gift for them—it’s a journey of rediscovery for me as well. Since our memories fade, let’s start writing, remembering, and sharing our stories today!

“Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.” (D&C 128:24)

Notes:

1. Elder Gong, Gerrit W., We Each Have a Story, www.churchofjesuschrist.org, April 2022 General Conference, www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/04/26gong?lang=eng. Accessed Nov. 2024.
2. Introducing FamilySearch Labs;  What is FamilySearch Labs?;   How do I find FamilySearch Labs?;  Together by FamilySearch 
3. Download the Together App: Google Play; Apple Store; Mac App Store [Designed for iPad].) 
4. Learn about Family Groups:
5. Full Quote: “Behold, the great day of the Lord is at hand; and who can abide the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.” (D&C 128:24)