Season for Family

A community of women finding time for family connections.

Family Story Book: Kid Edition

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I really wanted to come up with an activity that would help my kids enjoy learning the stories of their ancestors. My kids like hearing the stories, but I felt like for this activity they really poured their little hands and hearts into it. It was personal, it was fun, and it is something they have come back to and looked through many times since.

I was actually a little shocked at how quickly I started and completed this activity. It hardly took any of my time once I got started and yet I enjoyed every minute of it. To make it just as simple and easy for you, I have broken it down into 3 easy steps! 😊

Step One: Find Your Story

There are so many options for finding a story so don’t let this first step scare you! Try one of these 4 ideas for a great story:

1. Look through Family Search

Once you have your family tree open on familysearch.org, start clicking on relatives names. I would focus on the relatives from the last few generations as you tend to find the most information on them. When you get to their person page, there is a tab called memories. If they have a number listed next to it, there will be memories in there to look at.

Click on the tab and scroll through all the memories listed. And be careful, this can be dangerous as you may find time quickly go by as you get lost in these intriguing stories😊. Keep doing this until you find a story, OR if you can’t find a good one, try another option.

2. Family History Books

Do you have any old family history books a relative compiled and gave to you? Look through there for some stories.

3. Call Up a Relative

This step is pretty self-explanatory. Call up your mom, dad, grandparents, uncle, aunt, etc. and ask them if they would send you, or tell you over the phone, a fun story from their lives. People love sharing about their younger years, especially to their grandkids/nieces or nephews. If you can use their own written or spoken words that make it even more authentic.

4. Tell One of Your Own Stories

Write down your own fun memory of your life! Your kids will LOVE it! Look through some old journals or photographs and think of a memory your kids will enjoy hearing about you.

Step Two: Type Up and Print the Story

This step is so simple. Look through your story, decide about how many pages you want/need and then break it up into simple, natural paragraphs. Copy or type out their paragraphs so that each one is printed at the bottom of the page, like my example below. Print out the pages and don’t forget a fun cover page!

Step Three: Color, Color, Color, Bind

This part was my favorite. I sat the kids down, explained who this relative was and how they were related to them (this is their 4th great-grandpa). I then told them I was going to read them a story from his life. While I was reading they needed to pay attention so they could pick which page they wanted to illustrate. When you are done reading, hand out the pages, some art supplies of your choice, and let their creativity free. I had them write their name on the page somewhere so we could always remember.

Bind the book up and read through it again with all the pages done. For binding I used a report slip cover I got from the dollar store, but a 3 -ring binder or staples would work perfect too.

This truly was such a fun activity from my 3-year-old to our teenage cousins who helped us. I am so excited to get more stories done so we can have a stack of family stories to read through on Sundays, do for Family Home Evening, and to share with other relatives who come to visit. I hope you will try it out and leave a comment on the blog or our Instagram account @seasonforfamily. Happy storytelling!

KAYLA BERRETT


IG: @kaylaberrett

Our Life Line

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Amy Miles and Family

I am the LAST person that a year ago would have thought I’d be loving family history with my whole heart. One year ago we were fresh off the heels of trauma.

The business my husband worked for & had just moved to Colorado for went under and we didn’t have a paycheck for months. Searching for a job was turning up absolutely nothing.

My husband had fallen hard on some ice that resulted in a serious concussion which led us to get a brain scan that found he had a deep-seated brain aneurysm that was unrelated to his fall.

Just weeks after this, on our way home to Colorado, our family along with our F250 truck slid off a 1000 ft. mountain cliff and were stopped only 30 feet down by an aspen tree & some heavenly assistance. Our family survived while our truck did not.

The next week we found employment!! … in Utah and one month later we landed here to start our new life.

I need to tell you here that I was barely holding things together. I felt like I was called to wade into a stormy sea & kept getting hit with waves. Each time I’d get up and catch my breath, another wave with more power and intensity would knock me off my feet, throw me into the washing machine cycle and then spit me out with sand in all the wrong places, coughing up water and sand, and gasping for air. I realize that sounds a little dramatic. But I felt like life had chewed us up and spit us out.

I had been praying for help to know how I could get my life back and figured a home improvement project would be it. I opened my Lightkeepers book for the first time & the quote with Elder Renlund’s promise about family history and temple work jumped off the page:

“You will find not only protection from the temptation and ills of the world, but you will also find personal power—power to change, power to repent, power to learn, power to be sanctified, and power to turn the hearts of your family members to each other and heal that which needs healing.”

● He promised we’d find “power

● to turn the hearts of our family together

● and heal that which needs healing.” This promise hit me with such force. As I read the words, the spirit told me: “This is your project. This will heal you.” So I pledged to figure out family history -as soon as I’d moved my family to Utah.

Once we moved to Utah a set of new challenges arose: the Utah inversion- for this Arizona girl, new job & schools, a strict budget, worries for my husband’s health, longer term effects of his concussion, and serious mom guilt over moving my kids. Again, and moving my senior for the second time this school year. Life seemed void of hope. Void of light. Even void of sleep. Garrett and I were still experiencing Post Traumatic Stress waking up in a cold sweat around 3 each morning since falling off the mountain. We were walking around in the same bodies but everything somehow seemed hollow and empty. Life moved on and we had to move along with it. It was difficult to keep up with what was expected just to run a home & run a family.

Two weeks after moving here, I was somewhat settled, and was listening to a conference talk while making breakfast. The spirit reminded me that I pledged to start family history. Panic seized my heart. Why did I promise to do that? How on earth do I do that?? It seemed an elephant of a project to take on. But how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Family history is a spiritual work.

Since last February I took small & simple steps doing what I knew how to do and as the spirit directed when I’d ask, “what next?

I started by reading the family book I’d had kicking around for years . I took a photo with my phone of short excerpts that would strengthen my own family and texted them to my kids periodically. I knew they wouldn’t pick up a 500 page book, but they would read a text.

I became familiar with and use regularly the FamilySearch mobile app, the task feature became my favorite tool ever, which we will jump into soon

I shared with family how to read & add a story in memories. While I cooked dinner I’d ask my teens to jump on & find or add a story then share it at dinner.

I continued asking “what next” and acting. In April I was sick & got stress cold sores. I found myself a doctor & while waiting for him to come in, I read the poster about mental health. I was astonished to realize I was experiencing each one of the symptoms. I told the doctor what had recently happened & how I was waiting to feel normal again. He listened and we decided to put me on a low dose of depression medication.

As a family we were mindful & prayerful about how to incorporate little bits of family history into our life. And we found that with just a few simple tweaks, it went along with what we were already doing.

I had the joy of:

•finding my first ancestor who needed her work done, and since then have discovered numerous ancestors and am still working on their saving ordinances.

•I have upped my temple attendance considerably because of the sheer volume of people that are waiting for their temple work. And that in turn has enriched my life.

•I am happier than I ever have been.

•I enjoy clarity and peace that are constant and help me see life, people, and challenges through a heavenly lens.

I share to show just how different a life can look in one year when we ask what next, trust the Lord’s guidance and His promises and then act. Everyone’s journey will look different. My husband still has the brain aneurysm. Turns out his particular case is very unique. We have even changed employment again. My situation has not changed completely, but my perspective has. My family is closer. We are happier. We feel the spirit in our home frequently. And my home now feels like it’s filled with LIGHT. As I shared this write-up with my 18 year old daughter, she nodded at each sentence. She sees it. She feels it. We are far from perfect, but we are being sanctified through this great work.

Elder Renlund promised: God will strengthen, help, and uphold us; and He will sanctify to us our deepest distress. Family History has been my life line. Truly and literally. As I engaged in it, slowly, slowly, I began to breathe a little more, to feel again, to live again. Heavenly Father knew what I needed to do to heal that which needed healing.

Written by: Amy Miles // IG: @sorellamy

21 Day Family History Challenge

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Inspired by Wendy Watson Nelson’s address given at the BYU Women’s Conference, the Season for Family team decided that we would love to issue and participate in a 21 Day Family History Challenge! We are going to attempt to do 5 minutes of family history every day for 5 days! Read Sis. Nelson’s words below to understand how great this challenge is, then check for our free printable at the bottom of the post!

I’ll never forget a fascinating interchange I had with a young friend I’ll call Amy. Late one Saturday night, as I was working against the clock to complete a major project, I received an email from Amy, who was in distress. She wrote, “I was asked to speak, last minute, at my ward Relief Society activity this Wednesday. The topic is stress. I sent out a survey last night to 75 of the women here in BYU married student housing to find out what is stressing them out. After receiving their responses, I realize that I NEED HELP!!!!”

As I read through the survey responses, these young wives and mothers reported they were experiencing stress, depression, anxiety, and marital intimacy problems. They listed as the cause of their problems school, finances, lack of sleep, housework, homework, feelings of failing at everything, and an inability to balance all of their responsibilities.

I wondered how I should respond. What would really make a difference for these women? And what could be offered, during a 22-minute Relief Society message, which could possibly reduce the real-life distress of these young mothers?

As I thought about Amy’s difficult assignment, my experiences with family history and temple work filled my mind. As counterintuitive as this may seem, I felt compelled, in a way I could not deny, to encourage Amy to offer a 21-day experiment to her Relief Society sisters.

So I emailed back, “Invite the sisters to make a sacrifice of time to the Lord by increasing their time in family history and in temple work for the next 21 days.”

Amy accepted this suggestion, and the results were remarkable. Here are just three examples of what happened.

One young wife and mother wrote, “During the 21 days that I increased my temple attendance and my family history work, I not only felt happier, I felt a sense of relief. I felt a weight had been taken off my chest. When I made time to do these things—which is hard because we all are busy—I found that somehow I had more time to get other things done that needed to be done.”

Another woman was able to stop taking her medication for anxiety. Her positive changes in mood, energy, and inspiration were so dramatic that she wrote, “My husband started to pray in gratitude for the increased Spirit in our home since I have been making sacrifices of time to the Lord in temple and family history work.”

And yet another sister reported, “I have a two-year-old and just had a baby last week. The 21-day experiment helped with the end of my pregnancy. The sacrifice of time to do family history was something I could do sitting down that was productive and brought the Spirit! It gave me more purpose and helped me not to focus on the discomforts of the end of my pregnancy.”

Sisters, my suggestion to a group of overtaxed, exhausted young mothers may seem counterintuitive, and the results highly improbable. It may even seem cruel to ask a woman who feels as though she’s barely surviving to make a sacrifice of time to the Lord. But these young mothers proved that it works. It works for women who have made covenants with God.

Wendy Watson Nelson

If you would like to join us in our 21 Day Challenge, you can jump in ANY time. We start on June 24, 2019! Join us in our Facebook Group! There will be weekly prizes for participation and a grand prize at the end!

Need EASY family history Ideas?

We have created a free printable download with TONS of ideas for doing family history work. There is something for everyone in there!

Easy Family History Ideas –>Download

Links to Wendy Watson Nelson’s Talk

Wendy’s Talk (Video):
https://www.byutv.org/player/60960c78-e80f-4459-a4d9-cf26ad573401/byu-womens-conference-wendy-watson-nelson-2015

Wendy’s Talk (Text):
https://womensconference.byu.edu/sites/womensconference.ce.byu.edu/files/wendy_watson_nelson.pdf