Compared to the total number of God's children, very few have seen the Savior and heard His voice, as the people at Bountiful did. Most of us are more like the people described in 3 Nephi 12:2; 15:23; and 16:4–6. What promises are made to such people in these verses? How have these promises been fulfilled in your life?
"Generations are affected by the choices we make. Share your testimony with your family; encourage them to remember how they felt when they recognized the Spirit in their lives and to record those feelings in journals and personal histories so that their own words may, when needed, bring to their remembrance how good the Lord has been to them." (Ronald A. Rasband, Lest Thou Forget, General Conference, Oct. 2016
Record Testimonies
Hand-write, type, or use the FamilySearch Memories App to record your testimony and testimonies of family members. Save them on FamilySearch. As you also record the testimonies of living loved ones, you preserve their witness to influence generations to come. Another idea is to have a family member read and record an ancestor's written testimony using the audio app.
Elder Uchtdorf explains how to gain, nourish, and share personal testimony Lest Thou Forgethere.
See also the related activity ideas correlated to Lesson 37.
Share Recorded Testimonies
Gather to share the written and recorded testimonies of your ancestors (see above). Have a prayer of gratitude together for the legacy they have given you.
If you are the first (or one of the first) to gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you could enjoy and be inspired by reading the following:
Consider sharing your testimony and inspirational thoughts along with those of your ancestors on social media, as our leaders are doing. Be sure to record your posts elsewhere to make them part of your preserved personal history.
In an August 2014 talk, Elder David A. Bednar, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, counseled church members to share "messages that are authentic, edifying and praiseworthy—and literally to sweep the earth as with a flood." General authorities and general auxiliaries for the church are becoming increasingly involved by posting to their official Facebook and Twitter pages.LDS Church leaders share testimonies of Jesus Christ on social media
Righteous acts are not enough; my heart must also be pure.
From Come, Follow Me :
One theme you might notice in these chapters is the Savior's invitation to live a higher law—to be righteous not only in our outward actions but also in our hearts. Look for this theme when the Savior speaks of contention (3 Nephi 12:21–26), immorality (3 Nephi 12:27–30), prayer (3 Nephi 13:5–8), and fasting (3 Nephi 13:16–18). What other examples can you find? What can you do to purify the desires of your heart rather than focus on outward actions only?
"The Lord has taught that though the worlds He has created for His children are 'innumerable ... unto man; ... all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them' (Moses 1:35). Family history and temple work offer us an opportunity to join in Jesus Christ's work of salvation. Doing so can help us learn how to love and be merciful to our families, to our neighbors, to everyone we meet, for they are all our brothers and sisters." How Family History Changes Our Hearts and Minds
Increase Participation in Family History
One idea to help both individuals and families do temple and family history work more consistently comes from an address Sister Wendy Nelson gave to the sisters of the church in a women's conference talk in 2015.
She offered the invitation to busy, overburdened sisters to do some temple and family history work each day for 21 days and then to watch what happened. She was concerned that adding one more thing to their list of things "to do" would make them even more burdened but the opposite was true for all who participated. Even a few minutes per day helped them to see miracles in their lives and the lives of their families. Although this challenge was given to sisters of the church, it is applicable to everyone. Here are the links to the PDF and the video of Sister Nelson's talk:
Discuss ideas and options and make a plan! Think about routines and traditions you can create. You may want to calendar your goals and record how you will work toward them.
Click the image below to see 50 "Five-minute" ideas that can be part of the 21-Day Challenge or can be done anytime.
In addition, Week 29 elaborates on some of these activities, and has even more fun and creative ideas and resources for ways to break family history activities into smaller segments and fit them into your busy schedule!
President and Sister Nelson invite all church members to make a sacrifice of time to do family history and temple work: Open the Heavens through Temple and Family History Work, Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, RootsTech 2017
You may also want to join the Facebook group for The Twenty-one Day Family Connections Experiment (a family history project) and select a plan to follow for ideas and motivation. Read more about it here.
Your Personal History
Write (or audio-record) one story about your life as you study each Come, Follow Me lesson to have 52 by the end of the year 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 made a habit of fitting family history activities into your life?
How is temple and family history work blessing you and your family?
What are some ways you are sharing your testimony?
