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Act. Index 2024
All things testify of God.
From Come, Follow Me:
Many people today believe that there is no God. What do you find in Alma 30:39–46 that helps you know that God is real? What prevents us from knowing Him? What other testimonies has God given you that He lives?
"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
Hand-write, type, or video or audio your testimony and testimonies of family members. You can preserve your testimony using the FamilySearch Memories Audio App, the "Record My Story" feature on FamilySearch Discovery, or from FamilySearch memories on your computer (see this link). You can also make an appointment to visit a FamilySearch Center if you have one nearby, and use their story room if they have one.
You can also visit the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they have many story rooms in which to record.
Elder Uchtdorf explains how to gain, nourish, and share personal testimony. See Lest Thou Forget.
Sharing will leave no question about what you know and love. What a blessing for generations to come to hear your voice sharing the message you want them to know and remember! Read more here.
Read and retell your ancestors' testimonies. Find stories in FamilySearch Memories or on your fan chart, and share them. Check out the All The Stories site to see a searchable list of all the stories anyone has placed on your branch of the FamilySearch tree. Check out 10 Ways to Find Ancestor's Stories.
See also:
For those without many (or any) stories in your branch of an online family tree, an idea is to find church history stories that coincide with the timeline of your ancestors’ lives to read and record. When you record any story, you have created a family history moment--you have shared something dear to you. Your posterity and other loved ones will know that you cherished the things that you recorded.
You can organize your ancestors' stories on FamilySearch by creating albums in your memories gallery for each surname and other categories such as “Adventure Stories,” “Conversion Stories,” etc. You may want to create individual books about a person, or a collection of stories (see below).
Create a collection of the stories of the first converts in your family lines. This is a wonderful way to send ancestor stories with your missionaries, or give for a birthday or Christmas gift. These testimonies are also a great way to strengthen the testimonies of living family members.
See this page for suggestions to have younger children illustrate conversion stories and make them into a coloring booklet for children.
You could also plan a “Gathering” activity to share the recorded testimonies and photos of your ancestors (see above). Have a prayer of gratitude together for the legacy they have given you.
Consider sharing your testimony on social media, as our leaders are doing. Be sure to copy 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. See LDS Church leaders share testimonies of Jesus Christ on social media, President Nelson encourages Latter-day Saints to Share joy of the Savior, and LDS Church President Russell M. Nelson on Instagram, possibly oldest user on app - Russell M. Nelson (@russellmnelson)
The adversary does not support his followers.
From Come, Follow Me:
What do you learn from Alma 30:56–60 about how the devil treats his followers? What can you do to protect your home against his influence?
"Life’s wilderness can be tough on families. When people ask, 'How are you and your family doing?' I often say, 'We’re between crises right now. Thanks for asking.'
But there are also moments of true joy along the way. As patriarchs and matriarchs, we spend a lot of time fortifying our children for the wilderness. Prophets in our day have promised that family history work provides 'protection from the influence of the adversary' and a 'deep and abiding' conversion to the Savior. What a powerful way to gather, heal, and seal our families. Bradley D. Foster, Family History: Peace, Protection, and Promises
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
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 add a family history activity to, or what new ones you would like to create. You may want to calendar your goals and record how you will work toward them. Check out Family Activities: 5-Minute Ideas for Latter-day Saints for ideas that can be part of the 21-Day Challenge or can be done anytime.
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.
The word of God is powerful.
From Come, Follow Me:
How can you help your children understand that the word of God is more powerful than “anything else”? (Alma 31:5).
See President Nelson’s talk: The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It?) With the Book of Mormon videos now becoming available, you may wish to incorporate them in your individual and family study.
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. Save as a story 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: