1. Personal Histories What, Me write my history! But I am not even dead yet!

2. Why do we NOT record our life history? Nothing to record Do not have time Nothing important has ever happened to me It’s all done, my mom did it I don’t want to share what I have been through or learned I am not a good writer My spelling is bad I’m not dead yet!

3. Reasons to keep a personal history It’s a Commandment We can continue to influence our posterity Teach our families our beliefs and testimony Looking at the past, we broaden our perspective, and see our lives more clearly Gain a greater appreciation for our parents

4. Helps us to clarify our life’s meaning and purpose Can encourage us when we are down, by reading of our past experiences Reading our ancestors journals can encourage us in our lives Can strengthen our family ties Opportunity to share what we have learned with our descendants

5. Ways to keep a Personal History Journal – can help us better understand ourselves and recognize the responsibilities we must take for our actions –Use journal to write your life history Scrapbooks – showing pictures and writing about how you felt or what happened (journaling) Tape recording your voice for posterity Video recording you talking about your life

6. What do I include? Birth certificates Blessing certificates Baptism certificates Ordinations School papers – graduation certificates Awards Photos Mission papers Travel papers Testimony of the Gospel House papers or addresses you lived

7. How do I Start? Get a shoebox and place all your documents in it Get a notebook – start to write anything about your life that comes to your mind Use memory joggers to help pull the memories out of the cobwebs of your mind You could use the computer to format you history. –Keep in mind that there may be several revisions of your history. Save each one as a separate file. Carry a notebook to write your thoughts were ever you are

8. Success comes from: Organizing your time, so set aside a regular time to write. Sharing your life and testimony with your descendants Being obedient to the commandment to keep a journal and write our history

9. “As a people we ought to write of our own lives and our own experiences to form a sacred record for our descendants. We must provide for them the same uplifting, faith promoting strength that the ancient scriptures now give us.” Elder Theodore M. Burton

10. What Me Write My History!!!! Write your history! Take five minutes and sit down and write all you can think about in that five minute period. Write it as it comes to you. Then put this page in a binder and you have started your life history. After all our life history is just a bunch of short stories. Here are some memory jogger sites that can help you get started. http://articles.scrapbooking.com/family_history.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/oralhist.htm http://fcs.tamu.edu/families/aging/reminiscence/family_history_question naire.phphttp://fcs.tamu.edu/families/aging/reminiscence/family_history_question naire.php http://genealogy.about.com/cs/oralhistory/a/interview.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~lineage/famhist.htm http://www.youthsource.ab.ca/teacher_resources/oral_question.html