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From Come, Follow Me:
What things did Helaman want his sons to remember?
If you knew your life was coming to an end, what final messages would you want to share with those you love? How would you share and preserve them?
It is significant that the famous last words of our prophets ancient and modern always point us to Christ. For example, Helaman's last words to his sons included this powerful counsel: "Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation" (Helaman 5:12).
One idea is to write down what you would say to your own posterity and generations to come, then read it as an audio message on FamilySearch 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 could also record it without writing it first. Sharing in many ways will leave no question about what you know and love. What a blessing for generations to come to hear the messages you want them to remember!
Help your children record and preserve messages of their grandparents, and stories from their lives.
Read and study "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles.” You may want to audio or video record your own family taking turns reading each paragraph of it. Preserve your audio recording on FamilySearch Memories.
Consider also recording and preserving your personal testimony of Jesus Christ to strengthen it, and to save it to influence generations to come. You could verbally express or read your testimony as an audio message on FamilySearch using the FamilySearch Memories Audio App, or the "Record My Story" feature on FamilySearch Discovery, or from FamilySearch memories on your computer (see this link).
You may want to help young children write or draw what they feel. They can also make voice recordings. Consider scanning or taking a photo of hand-written testimonies to preserve in Memories on FamilySearch. You can also type directly into a document and preserve it. See instructions in The Family History Guide here.
How are you inspired by those who have gone on before? Check out this list of 10 Ways to Find Ancestor's Stories and the options below.
Discover ancestor stories on the FamilySearch Fan Chart along with family lines, birth country, sources, photos, research helps, and ordinances. You can print a chart with any of this information. Make a fan chart "place mat" or frame and hang a chart on the wall for fun! Toss dice onto the chart and share a fact or story about the person they landed on. If you don't know much about that relative or ancestor, this is a great time to use the ideas here to discover more about him or her!
Find ancestor stories by clicking the Memories tab on the FamilySearch Person page for each ancestor. Check out the following sites for more options: Women of Faith, Military Records of Your Family's War Veterans, My Pioneer Ancestors, Missionaries, and more on the FamilySearch Discovery page.
The All The Stories site is a free way to synchronize with FamilySearch all the stories of your direct ancestors and their siblings, up to 9 generations back. It is a searchable list of any story anyone has placed on your part of the tree, along with how you are related to that ancestor, and how long the story takes to tell.
(Click to enlarge)
With the FamilySearch Memories Audio app or the Record My Story feature on FamilySearch Discovery, gathering, recording, sharing, and preserving has never been easier. Read more here.
From Come, Follow Me:
Reading Helaman 5:6–7 may inspire you to consider the names you have been given, including family names. What do these names mean to you? How can you honor them?
"Do you ever think about your name? Where it came from? What people think when they hear it? ... Names are always important, and names have meaning. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, naming is a priesthood ordinance, and it comes with a blessing. It is significant that we are known by the name our parents choose for us 'on the records of the Church' and throughout our mortal lives. This given name has importance in all the priesthood ordinances, including the endowment and the sealing temple ordinances." Janette C. Hales Beckham, Your Good Name
How many people share your names? See what you can discover for each family member at All About Me. Check out the What Does My Name Mean? blog article on FamilySearch.
Check out the My Name activity. Learn more about the connection between your names and the names of your ancestors, with this What's In a Name? Activity.
President George Albert Smith's deceased grandfather George A. Smith appeared to him in a dream and asked, "I would like to know what you have done with my name." President Smith responded, "I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed.
"I have been trying, more than ever since that time, to take care of that name. So I want to say to the boys and girls, to the young men and women, to the youth of the Church and of all the world: Honor your fathers and your mothers. Honor the names that you bear, because some day you will have the privilege and the obligation of reporting to them (and to your Father in heaven) what you have done with their name." George Albert Smith, Your Good Name, Improvement Era, March 1947
After reading Helaman 5:6–7, talk to your family members about remembering and honoring the names we carry .
Sister Lesa Stevenson talked about the Book of Mormon being a collection of family names and also about how the "Book of Mormon shows the power of family names.
"For example, Helaman named his sons Lehi and Nephi. The significance of their family names gave them strength to stay righteous during a time of wickedness (see Helaman 5:6-7).
'Passing down a family name is a distinct and unique way we can help our children feel a connection to their eternal families and examples from the past." 2020 RootsTech
'Behold, my sons, ... I have given unto you the names of our first parents [Lehi and Nephi] ... ; and this I have done that when you remember your names ... ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.
'Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them...' Helaman 5:6-8).
"Discuss with your family the meaning of each of their names if you know it. Discuss with them also why you gave them their names. Tell a story about the time each child was given a name and a blessing. You might keep secret the name of the child you are talking about and let the children guess who the child is. If you have a picture of each child when he was very young, show the picture after telling the story. A child loves to hear about what happened to him when he was a baby." This lesson also has an adaptation, including a story, for younger children you may want to check out. A Name and a Blessing
See also: A Good Name
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: