From
Come, Follow Me :
God's work will not fail. But our efforts to help with His work sometimes seem to fail—at least, we may not immediately see the outcomes we hope for. At times we might feel a little like Alma when he preached the gospel in Ammonihah—rejected, spit on, and cast out. Yet when an angel instructed him to go back and try again, Alma courageously "returned speedily" (Alma 8:18), and God prepared the way before him ... When we face setbacks and disappointments as we serve in the Lord's kingdom, we can remember how God supported and led Alma, and we can trust that God will support and lead us too, even in difficult circumstances.
Alma 8
My efforts to share the gospel may require persistence and patience.
Even though someone may reject your testimony of the gospel, that doesn't mean you should lose hope—after all, the Lord won't give up on that person, and He will guide you in how to act. In Alma's case, an angel commanded him to return to Ammonihah to preach the gospel even though the people there had already violently rejected him (see Alma 8:14–16). What do you learn from Alma's example of sharing the gospel despite challenges and opposition? Which verses in Alma 8 increase your desire to share the gospel?
In what ways can you increase your efforts to share your family's history? Sharing your family history may require persistence, patience, and creativity. Some individuals you share with may be eagerly accepting and even already involved in efforts of their own. Others may be reluctant or uninterested in what you share. Remember, however, everyone has an innate desire to know where they come from.
As you provide opportunities for others to learn and be involved in family history, the Spirit of Elijah will touch the lives of all involved. Sharing family history can be done in innumerable ways. It can involve large groups, such as a family reunion, or be as small as one on one. It can be in person or through the use of technology which others may access as they choose. Your efforts may be specific or general. You are limited only by your own creativity.
Sharing through Technology
You can add stories to FamilySearch by
Using FamilySearch Apps to Record Oral Histories. The FamilySearch Memories app makes it easy to preserve your photos, documents, and audio files in a way that your entire family can access them. See an
overview and instructions here. You can also find step-by-step instructions in The Family History Guide to add documents and photos to
Ancestry,
MyHeritage and
Findmypast. Putting information on FamilySearch or other public sites may enable someone to find out more about a family they did not know they had or learn more about them.
There are numerous ways to share your family history.
4 Enduring Ways to Share Your Family History Research lists some ways to share your family history:
- Start a family history Facebook group.
- Assemble a genealogy binder.
- Create a family history blog.
- Write biographies of your ancestors.
Additional suggestions to share your family history discoveries are provided in
5 Great Ways to Share Your Family History:
- Reach out to others. Share your family history research and photos either in hard copy or digital format.
- Submit your family tree to databases. This makes information easily accessible to anyone searching for the same family.
- Create a family web page.
- Print beautiful family trees.
- Publish short family histories.
Social Media is another great way to share.
Ideas and Help for Using Social Media – "The New Language of Family History" gives a variety of ideas for different ways of sharing on the following:
- Facebook
- Youtube
- Instagram
- Twitter
Use Social Media for Family History Story-telling
- Find how-tos and ideas here.
- Enjoy the video on this Facebook page of a grandmother sharing a personal story. Her little brother lost his shoes while swimming in a river in Panguitch, Utah, during WW II, with no rations for another pair.
- Learn how to share your stories using FaceBook Live.
Create and Keep a Personal or Family Blog Story-telling
Learn
How To Create and Reap The Benefits of Family History Blogs. Your blog can be private (just you can see it), semi-private (share with whom you choose), or public (anyone can view it). For those of you who may feel intimidated, find the help you need from Lisa Louise Cooke in a
free series of videos on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. These videos give instructions for creating a blog with Blogger using a Google account. Another option (along with instructions, benefits and links to get started) is explained by Dick Eastman in this article:
Why You Might Want A Personal Genealogy Blog On WordPress. Learn how to share events, activities, family news, milestones, stories, photos, videos, and memories in
this blog post by Lisa Louise Cooke.
Sharing Through Virtual Reunions or Get-Togethers
Although it is fun and more personal to gather as a large group for your family reunion, the typical family reunion gathering does present some difficulties. Difficulties of family reunions might include concerns of maintaining social distancing, travel costs, time commitment, reunion costs, lack of enthusiasm, entertaining a wide variety of ages, housing and feeding large groups, or a large enough venue.
Virtual reunions (those facilitated over the internet) may help alleviate some of these difficulties and may make even more family participation possible. In his 2016 RootsTech presentation
Virtual Family Reunions (about 50 minutes), Joseph Richardson discusses the difficulties of family reunions and suggests virtual reunions as a solution to many of these challenges. Virtual reunions are not an imitation of traditional reunions; they are a new venue with different benefits. Read more
here.
Find an Online Meeting Tool
Check out some internet options for meeting with your family over the internet. Find one that works for you. Some ways to do that would be:
Some of these options are free or minimal cost, while others require a subscription. Some will allow for your get-togethers to be recorded and stored online which can be viewed at a later date. While these tools can be used for extensive family reunions, don't forget you can also keep in touch with individual family members or small family groups living away from home.
Sharing through Family Reunions
"Family reunions are an opportunity to help people become acquainted with other family members they may not know very well. It is also an opportunity to share family history information. Family reunions are an opportunity to gather our larger, eternal families together to learn to understand and love one another, and to unite ourselves in the work of the Lord….Reunions are an excellent way to organize and gather genealogical information and to stimulate genealogical research." (
Really Getting Together: Your Family Reunion, Ensign, June 1975)
For additional information on organizing your own family reunion, read
Building Unity in Family Reunions and
Family Reunions: Where Do We Begin?
Family Reunion (or Anytime) Ideas
Although suggested for family reunions, these fun ideas can be used anytime with your family. Go through these resources and write down some activities you would like to do as a family. Are you more adventurous? Begin to plan a family reunion. Visit the
AmberSkyline site for some cool ideas on how you can plan and carry out fun family history reunions. Also, read some ideas for
Steps to a Successful Family Reunion.
Really Getting Together: Your Family Reunion provides some fun interactive group games to get everyone involved with each other. Also, read
Fun Family History Activities for Family Reunions and
Family Reunion Ideas: Top 10 Ways to Incorporate Family History.
Your Personal History
Write a story about your life as you study each Come, Follow Me lesson. By the end of the year, you will have 50 stories! Save as a story (also consider
audio-recording) and add it to your FamilySearch memories to preserve it. Use your own questions, those from (or inspired by) Come, Follow Me, or the
#52 Stories Project. See below for ideas:
- How have you experienced the promise of receiving a "greater portion of the word"? (Alma 12:10) What was that experience like?
- What are you doing to ensure that God's word is "found in [you]"? (Alma 12:13)
- How are you sharing family history with your family and others?
