Make This a Record Year
By Daryl Hoole
Chatting in the cloakroom of our ward building one Sunday, a friend said to me, “I stayed home from Sunday School last week and wrote my life story.” I was flabbergasted! How could someone do it so quickly? She must know more than I do!
For someone whose writing of her life story has been a lifelong pursuit and whose effort has turned into a history with pages numbering in three digits, this comment intrigued me.
Whatever the length and amount of time involved, certainly writing one’s life story is a worthy project. In fact, being a keeper of personal records is part of being a dutiful member of the Church. Making the time to get it done can be a result of effective personal and home management . Either we, ourselves, need to be diligent in this area or see to it that someone else does it on our behalf.
Speaking of having someone else do it, I’ve heard that the quickest way to get your life story written is to run for public office. Not everyone appreciates that type of scrutiny, however, so if you want your story told your way, you better do it yourself. Winston Churchill is quoted as saying, “History will be kind to me because I intend to write it.”
How about making 2008 a record year?
If each of us brought our family records up to date, think what peace of mind would result for us, and what a service that would be for our posterity as we write for their learning and profit. (See 2 Nephi 4:15.)
We’re fortunate that we have efficient tools for this purpose. Instead of laboring over metal plates with a stylus, as Mormon did, we have state-of-the-art technology to aid us in our efforts. Furthermore, a great deal of helpful information has been written about collecting, organizing, writing, and preserving family records.
An excellent article appeared in Meridian on August 18, 2006, by Darla Isackson, entitled “Ponder Your Matter Unorganized.” (Click here for a helpful reread.)
You’re fortunate if you’ve kept a journal from which to draw. If not, it can be helpful, as memories come back, to make notes on index cards – one incident per card – and put them in chronological order. You can then string them together with some connecting wording for a written history.
The style and length are individual choices. Let me suggest some options, taking liberty with Book or Mormon terminology. Here are four possibilities:
- Compile a “plate.” A “plate” would be a one-page record consisting of a brief outline or resume of your life. Possibly this is what my friend who got hers done during Sunday School compiled.
- Put together the “Small Plates.” This would be a record of approximately a hundred pages with some stories, examples and a few photos.
- Create the “Large Plates.” This would be a more complete record, consisting of several hundred pages. It would include a more in-depth coverage of your life as well as a broader coverage of your family. It would be more than a life story with photos; it would be a family history.
If all three of the above options have merit for you, they can easily be yours. All if takes is a “cut and paste” computer function to have various editions for various purposes. For example, the “plate” could serve as resource material for a “life sketch” to be read at your ninetieth birthday party or at your funeral. This leads me to a fourth option as follows:
- Produce the “Collector’s Edition.” Realistically speaking, I’m mostly writing my personal history for myself. I don’t expect any of my posterity to read all that I’ve written for at least three generations. Possibly by then there might be some studious great-great-grandchild who will dust off the books and see what they have to say. Basically, I plan on reading them for entertainment and edification during my rocking chair years.
In the meantime, I’m working on the “Collector’s Edition” – a select assemblage of stories and examples (and a few photos) that could be of immediate value to my loved ones. Perhaps one of these years I’ll put it in a nice binding and make it a Christmas present to family members.
It would include stories about the happiness of the good times in my life; the lessons I’ve learned from the not so good times; incidents of special interest; the blessings of applying gospel principles in my life; how the hand of the Lord has been manifest during all my years; and about my love for my Father in Heaven and my Savior, Jesus Christ. It would be a small volume of truths I’ve learned to live by and the testimony I cherish.
Following is a sampling of a few short stories from my life that might prompt some thinking about what you could include in your personal history. Most importantly, put some facts and feelings on paper. Why not start now, one index card at a time, to make this a record year?
An Act of Kindness
A sweet Dutch lady, a friend of my father’s from his missionary days in Holland who later emigrated to Salt Lake City, visited my mother and me in the hospital soon after I was born. She brought a gift – a sweater, cap and booties she had knitted for me. Because she had no money for transportation, she walked from Murray, a suburb of Salt Lake City, to the LDS Hospital – a walk of some sixty blocks, each way, for a total of about fifteen miles. I was named and blessed in that little outfit. This incident has been a shining example and lifelong inspiration to me of kindness.
A Touch of Humor
Our daughter, Nancy, couldn’t speak plainly as a child, so when she was about four years old we enrolled her in a speech therapy class. One day after a lesson, she came running to me and excitedly announced, “My speech teacher says I have only one more yetter to yearn!” There was no doubt about which letter that was.
About Being Resourceful
Years ago we took our young children for an overnight stay in a mountain cabin. Just as we were crawling into our sleeping bags for the night, two-year-old Greg shattered the peace by announcing, “I’m thirsty.” Our water supply had been used up and the only available water was at the lodge a half mile away and down a rocky mountain trail in the dark. Neither of us parents wanted to make the trek, so we tried to talk Greg out of the drink. It was in vain; the more we declined, the thirstier he said he was. We refused; he insisted. Two-year-olds can be so persistent. Why couldn’t he be reasonable like we as adults were, we asked ourselves.
Happily the night was saved when his four-year-old brother, Spence, said, “Just make a bubble and swallow it.” And Greg did. That was the end of the problem and the beginning of a good night’s rest for all.
Every time we get together and stories are told, this one is almost always included. And every time in our family someone needs to make the best of a difficult situation by being a little creative or resourceful, he’s reminded, “just make a bubble and swallow it.”
Miracles Do Happen
One of our sons gave us concern as a teenager. Nothing we were doing seemed to be making a difference in his life. I vividly recall attending a stake leadership meeting and feeling deeply moved as someone read to us the scriptural passage about Alma the Elder fasting and praying for his wayward son. I had heard the story many times, but that evening it wasn’t Alma’s son I was hearing about; it was my son.
Suddenly I knew that through fasting and praying our son would be saved. Therefore from the time he was fifteen until he was nearly nineteen, I fasted for him one day a week. My husband began attending the temple early Friday mornings, before going to his office, and kept our son’s name on the prayer roll.
In due time, and very gradually, we began to see positive changes in our boy. No heavenly being appeared to him as did to Alma, but earthly angels were there for him – a wise bishop, an understanding seminary teacher, a great scoutmaster, and a group of good friends – all who said and did just the right things at the right times.
Miracles, mostly small ones, took place along the way. A major miracle happened one evening. After dinner, our son announced that he was going with a group of boys to a town just beyond the Utah border where drinking, gambling and other vices were offered. I knew there was nothing good for him there. My husband was not home, so I pleaded with my son not to go. He pushed me aside and left the house. I ran to my room and cried in prayer to my Father in Heaven to protect my boy. Just as I arose from my knees, the front door opened and he came in and simply said, “I decided not to go.” That was the turning point. Things improved rapidly from then on. He served an honorable mission, married in the temple, and is raising up a righteous family. His own sons are now serving missions.
Tender Mercies
As our three-year mission in the Netherlands was coming to a close, I experienced something unusual for me. As someone who thrived on “planning ahead,” I somehow couldn’t see beyond our release date, June 30, 1994. My mind was a complete blank as to how I might continue life back home. Even trying to picture the ten new grandbabies who had been born while we were away didn’t stir me. All I could think about was the sadness of leaving our wonderful missionaries and the work I had loved as the wife of a mission president. I felt so concerned about not being able to “let go” as I should, that I made it a matter of prayer.
Our last day came all too soon, and I cried all the way to the airport. As we boarded a United Airlines flight bound for New York, pictures of the scenic wonders of America were being shown on the movie screen in the cabin, and from the sound system I could hear the Tabernacle Choir singing, “This Is My Country.” That number was followed by an instrumental rendition of “Going Home.” It was for me! I experienced an overwhelming surge of emotion, and suddenly I was ready to go home! YES! I was going home and I could hardly wait to get there.
Family Watched Over during Missions
My husband and I were given an apostolic blessing, in connection with our missionary service, that the Lord would watch over our flock in our absence.
Our youngest son, Greg, a naval officer, phoned us with good news one day while we were serving our humanitarian mission in Hong Kong. He had just been called to serve in the bishopric of his Alexandria, Virginia, ward. He felt disappointed, however, that his father wouldn’t be available to ordain him a high priest. He had wanted to keep all his priesthood ordinations in the Hoole line. He considered asking his older brother, Roger, to do it, but talked himself out of doing so because he didn’t feel he could ask Roger to fly from Utah to Virginia for an ordination.
A few hours later, Greg’s phone rang. It was Roger calling from Philadelphia where he was on business. Roger wanted to know if he could visit Greg and his wife that Friday en route home. He was very pleased to extend his trip until Sunday and ordain Greg.
As parents, we were thrilled to tears with such an amazing turn of events. We realized, with gratitude, that there are no coincidences in the work of the Lord. Our family was being cared for in our absence, just as the Lord promised.
Another suggestion about passing on stories to children came from one of our daughters-in-law. She says:
One thing that I’ve begun to compile is what our children call “Mom Classics,” or “Dad Classics,” depending on which of us parents is telling the story. Basically, the stories are just about our growing up years that we share with the children. For some reason, they often want to know about the times their dad was in trouble as a young child. They love to hear how he was called into the principal’s office. (haha) At night when we put the younger children to bed and it’s time for a story, they frequently ask for a “Mom Classic” or “Dad Classic.” I decided that putting these classics into a life story format may be fun reading for them down the road one day.
Members of the Church were inspired by President Henry B. Eyring’s General Conference address of October 2007, when he spoke of recording experiences about seeing the hand of God blessing his family and passing them on to his children. He counseled us, in the words of Book of Mormon prophet s to “Remember, remember.” Then he emphasized, “My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness.” President Eyring then concluded his message in these words:
Tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him. I testify that He loves us and blesses us, more than most of us have yet recognized. I know that is true, and it brings me joy to remember Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Do You Need H.E.L.P.?
Home Executive Lessons and Principles
by Daryl Hoole
Editor’s note: Daryl Hoole is answering questions from readers who contact her at as*@th****************.com. Her response will be sent directly to the reader. Some responses may also be incorporated into her At Home column that appears the second Monday of each month on Meridian. This information will also be available on her personal website at www.theartofhomemaking.com.
Daryl will be a presenter at the Nauvoo Women’s Retreat, March 13 -15, 2008. For information on attending this outstanding program, visit www.nauvoofamilyinn.com.