This past week our family celebrated the life of my husband’s beloved stepmother at a carefully planned funeral and at several family get-togethers. Although I had helped her gather and preserve documents and photos, and had audio recorded her sharing memories of her life and family history, her sudden illness and death left me wishing I had spent more time with her in these endeavors. As we begin the task of sorting through her possessions, we definitely relate to this description posted for the video Family History: What I Found: “Joe always loved his grandfather, but he didn’t know some of the most interesting things about him until a mysterious journal entry and a surprising wartime keepsake inspired Joe to learn more [after his grandfather’s death].” Watch this video for more about the story.

In the  Family History Activities for Families Section of The Family History Guide entitled “Documenting the Past,” there are many ideas for capturing memories for the benefit of current and future generations. Modern technology makes this easier and a lot of fun! The first idea listed has links to help you – including specific instructions for capturing memories and doing research using the four major websites (FamilySearch, Ancestry, My Heritage, and Find My Past) that are the “Projects” for The Family History Guide. There is also a link to an article with suggestions for documenting someone’s life before it is too late.

• F4-01: Capturing Memories from the Older Generation—

Here are 8 ways to document the past before it is too late.    (FS    AN    MH    FMP)

Next, are more ideas and resources to help in the process.

• • F4-02: My Family Booklet—
    The My Family: Stories That Bring Us Together booklet is a fun and easy way to capture and preserve your family memories, including adding photos, names, dates, and precious family stories.

• • F4-03: 52 Stories Project—
    These guidelines from FamilySearch help you gather, preserve and share the stories you record during a year’s time, week by week. The questions listed are also great ideas for interviewing anytime. (Blog)

• • F4-04: Back to Your Roots—
    Plan a visit or family reunion at places your parents or grandparents were raised or places where they lived or liked to spend time. Visit and record the memories of your loved ones and their family and friends who still live there. (If you can’t visit in person, try a virtual visit with Google Earth.

• • F4-05: Google photo scan app (Android)—
    Learn about the possibilities and then try the app.

• • F4-06: FamilySearch Memories App—
    The FamilySearch memories app makes it easy to preserve your photos, documents, and audio files in a way that your entire family can access. See an overview and instructions here.

The Family History Guide provides step-by-step instructions in the following categories (links) for each project:

Each project has “Goals, Choices, Instructions, and Resources.”

• Choices are different aspects of a Goal that you can try. These are often shown in a suggested sequence, but you can determine the order. (Example … “Choice A: Sign in to FamilySearch and move around the Family Tree screen.”)
• Instructions are the steps you follow to complete a Choice. (Example … “1. Go to www.familysearch.org and near the upper-right corner of the window, click Sign In.”)
• Resources are links to helpful articles and videos you can use to teach yourself important family history concepts and skills. (Learn more in Project Resources)

If you’ve spent some time in the Projects area of The Family History Guide, you’re aware of these Goals, Choices, and Steps that you can use to make progress. What you may be missing is in the fine print – the small items we include to help you do a variety of tasks (Summaries, Exercises, and Instructor Tips, etc.). See Small Print, Large Benefits to view what is included (thank you, Bob Taylor!). Learn how to set up an account on each of the projects here.

Everything you do to gather and preserve documents, memories, photos, and stories about your loved ones before they die is time well spent! The Family History Guide can be an incredible aid in this process!