Quotes - Journals / Histories
Sometimes we feel we just don't have time to write in our journals. I wonder. President Kimball stood before the World Conference on Records last August and said: "By now, in my own personal history, I have managed to fill seventy-eight large volumes, which are my personal journal. There have been times when I have been so tired at the end of a day that the effort could hardly be managed, but I am so grateful that I have not let slip away from me and my posterity those things which needed to be recorded."
"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage—to know who we are and where we have come from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still—-an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness."
Famous "Roots" Author, Alex Haley. Reader's Digest, May 1977, pp. 73-74
"Our motive is to help members of the Church and others find their roots. The doctrine of the eternal nature of the family is one of the most important and sacred of our teachings. As I learn more about my own ancestors who worked so hard, sacrificed so much, it increases my sense of identity and deepens my commitment to honor their memory. Perhaps there has never been a time when a sense of family, of identity and self worth has been more important to the world. Seeking to understand our family history can change our lives and helps bring unity and cohesion to the family."
President Gordon B. Hinckley, Deseret News, "Unveiling of a Heritage", 17 Apr 2001
"We renew our appeal for the keeping of individual journals and records and compiling family histories. Any Latter-day Saint family that has searched genealogical and historical records has fervently wished their ancestors had kept better and more complete records. On the other hand, some families possess some spiritual treasures because ancestors have recorded the events surrounding their conversion to the gospel and other happenings of interest, including many miraculous blessings and spiritual experiences. 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."
President Spencer W. Kimball, General Conference, Oct, 1978
"Latter-day Saints are encouraged to prepare family records as a Book of Remembrance, containing patriarchal blessings, records of ordinations and other sacred information, as well as personal and family histories, spiritual experiences, and other evidences of God's goodness and love"
"What could you do better for your children and grand 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?"
Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 351
"Have we preserved for our children the great stories of how the gospel was brought to and accepted by those early members of our families?"
Elder L. Tom Perry - "Year of Jubilee" - Ensign, Nov. 1999, 76
"We renew our appeal for the keeping of individual histories and accounts of sacred experiences in our lives—answered prayers, inspiration from the Lord, administrations in our behalf, a record of the special times and events of our lives. From these records you can also appropriately draw as you relay faith-promoting stories in your family circles and discussions. Stories of inspiration from our own lives and those of our forebearers as well as stories from our scriptures and our history are powerful teaching tools. I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to you individually, your husband or wife, your children, your grandchildren, and mothers throughout the generations."
Spencer W. Kimball, "Therefore I Was Taught," Tambuli, Aug. 1982, 1
The Importance of Records:
"And death hath come upon our fathers; nevertheless we know them, and cannot deny, and even the first of all we know, even Adam. 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