Hundreds of years after the Jaredites were destroyed, the Nephites discovered the ruins of their ancient civilization. Among these ruins was a mysterious record—plates of "pure gold" that were "filled with engravings" (Mosiah 8:9). The Nephite king, Limhi, could sense that this record was important: "Doubtless a great mystery is contained within these plates," he said (Mosiah 8:19). Today you have an abridgment of this record, translated into your language, and it's called the book of Ether ... As you read about the rise and the tragic fall of the Jaredites, you'll find many sorrowful moments. But don't overlook the joy of learning lessons from this history.
Chapters 7–11 of Ether cover at least 28 generations. Although not much detail can be given in such little space, a pattern quickly emerges: righteous leadership leads to blessings and prosperity, while wicked leadership leads to captivity and destruction.
Below are just a few of the kings mentioned in these chapters. Read the associated verses, and see what you can learn from their examples—positive and negative—about leadership ...
Visual depictions can help identify patterns. By placing just 10 of the above mentioned kings in a chronological order, you can easily identify the leadership trends of Jaredites. You see the reigns of righteous kings where there were periods of prosperity. You also see reigns of wicked kings where there was much sorrow as the people were led into captivity and destruction.
The Book of Ether relating the account of the Jaredites is the fourteenth book in the Book of Mormon, next to the last book. However, that this is not in chronological order. The Jaredites arrived in the Americas about 2200 BC, long before Lehi's family left Jerusalem in 600 BC which is recorded in I Nephi, the very first book in the Book of Mormon. There are other places in the Book of Mormon where you jump to another time period as different records and accounts are given. One way to help keep perspective on the various people and time periods is to use a timeline such as the one below for the Book of Mormon.
Timelines are a chronological depiction of events that happened over a certain period of time for a chosen subject. Just as the stones provided light for the Jaredites as they crossed the ocean, so can timelines help shed light on ancestors and events in your family history. Timelines can be useful in providing a visual of the events that took place during an ancestor's life or a certain time period. They can also help align your ancestor's life with pertinent historical events that may provide helpful insights.
It's About Timelines gives an example of how using a timeline helped identify events in existing records that might have been previously overlooked. The FamilySearch Time Line feature displays recorded events and dates in an ancestor's life, arranged chronologically on a vertical line. You can select which events to display and also select to show a map to see where the events occurred. Events can be edited and new ones added. Up to eight random historical events will also be displayed. Click this direct link for more information. Also, find more information on Time Lines, in the Family History Guide. See Choice G in Goal 2 of FamilySearch: Project 1. Watch this video to see how timelines are useful for researchers.
In her Creating Ancestor Timelines blog post, Rachel Carter provides several examples where timelines can help:
Creating a timeline of your ancestor's life to note discrepancies
Creating a timeline to sort identities
Creating a timeline to track immigration and migration
Creating a timeline to put your ancestor's life in historical context
Creating a timeline as a visual for events in your ancestor's life
"A genealogy timeline is a 'living' document, meaning that it is essentially never finished. As you find new information and discover new events, you will add to your timeline. One of the aspects of your timeline you'll want to keep a look out for is the gaps in time. Whether they are small gaps that represent months or larger gaps representing several years, you'll want to keep in mind those gaps and what they could represent." (Genealogy Timelines: Helpful Research Tools) You can make your genealogy more interesting and meaningful by Using Timelines in Your Research.
For more information, you may also want to watch this video (about 28 minutes) by Kathyrn Grant—Getting the Most From FamilySearch FamilyTree: The Person Page Time Line. This video discusses getting familiar with the timeline and customizing the information that you see by using timeline options. It also gives examples of how to use the timeline for family history.
FamilySearch Time Lines
Log on to FamilySearch. Choose an ancestor and go to his or her person page. Click "Time Line." Experiment with the different options to see what appears on the timeline and the map. See what fun and interesting information you can learn about this ancestor, such as:
What historical events took place during your ancestor's life? At what ages did the events happen?
Using the map, in how many places did the person live? In how many countries?
Click Show and check "children only". Again using the map, were the children born in the same location or did the family move around? (Note: The individual's vital events will continue to show.)
Here is where you can really get creative in telling your story! Children can have a grown-up or older family member help with the steps (if needed) for creating a history timeline on a long roll of paper, a free ancestor timeline at the Twile website (you will need an online tree for this one), a family history timeline (accordion-style) or a timeline for yourself on sheets of paper. Use your creativity to help younger children create a simple timeline.
Write one brief story about your life as you study each Come, Follow Me lesson. By the end of the year, you will have compiled 50 stories to add to your personal history. Save as a story (also consider audio-recording it) 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:
What goals do you have for yourself and for your family? How are you working to achieve those goals?
Draw a simple timeline of your life with key events such as birth, baptism, ordinations, places lived, graduations, mission, marriage, births of children and other important events in your life.
Write about opportunities you have had to lead or influence others in your home, your community, or your Church calling.
