Journaling

As I’ve started practicing meditation in my life, I’ve noticed an increase in the peace and calm I feel. Here are some of the takeaways I’ve found about how meditation can enhance our relationship with the Savior.

Many of us hit reset on our study habits and set personal goals at the start of a new year. So why not refresh the way you record your thoughts with a unique new journal?

Get your record-keeping wheels turning with these meaningful writing prompts—your mind and body will thank you.

If you want to improve your family gospel study:

The value of preserving and sharing ancestral stories was recently verified by researchers who were trying to understand why some people, including children, are better able than others to cope with serious, even disabling stress and trauma. One study found that “the more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, [and] the higher their self-esteem.” This factor was indeed “the best single predictor of children’s emotional health and happiness.” Those with “the most self-confidence” had what one researcher called “a strong ‘intergenerational self.’ They know they belong to something bigger than themselves" (Bruce Feiler, “The Stories That Bind Us,” The New York Times, March 15, 2013).

Wilford Woodruff had so many accidents he came to believe he was a "marked man." The Prophet Joseph Smith once said, "Remember, brethren, that time and chance happen to all men." There are in this world real accidents. A full-scale determinist would say they are inevitable, but sometimes we can correctly say, No, it's just the way things happen.

If you haven't jumped on the bullet journal bandwagon yet, you may want to watch this tutorial first.

When the Church released the Christmas video "A Savior is Born" in December 2015, LDS teen Annie Weight noticed it repeated the word "rejoice" several times. She was touched by its hopeful message and felt inspired to live a more positive lifestyle. "Throughout the Christmas season and the beginning of the new year, I thought a lot about joy, what it meant to others, and what it meant to me," said Weight. "After a lot of thought, I decided that I wanted to be happier with my life and I decided to start keeping a list of all the things in my life that made me happy."

Nearly 70,000 Latter-day Saints traversed over 1,000 miles to arrive in a desert land far away from loved ones and civilization, but of those faithful pioneers, only about 3,000 came by handcart. Here are some unique and inspiring stories straight from their journals.

The following is adapted from Receiving Personal Revelation: Using a Journal to Improve Your Communication with Godby Larry Tippetts.

Every Latter-day Saint absolutely needs daily personal revelation to stay steadfast on the path of discipleship. Our spiritual survival depends on it. Personal revelation need not be dramatic or life-changing. It simply needs to be consistent. Some of the most helpful revelations are overlooked because of their frequency and simplicity. A college student shared this entry from her personal journal following a class discussion on personal revelation:

Keeping a journal is important at every stage of life, but during the intense and transformative period of an LDS mission, missionaries have hundreds of powerful experiences, learn countless vital life-lessons, and make more new friendships than they ever thought possible. With all of this crammed into the span of 18 months or two years, it’s even more necessary than at any other time of life to keep track of all the details that will be so treasured for years to come.

Shortly after my husband and I moved into a new ward, I had a prompting that I should ask one of the ladies in the ward if she would like me to type up her memoir/journal/whatever-you-call-it. She had somewhat severe arthritis so it wasn’t totally unjustified, but still, I thought, “That is a ‘beyond-the-boundaries question.” (Seriously . . . if someone asked me that, I would be a bit concerned—especially if it was someone I didn’t know very well.)

As members of the Church, we are pretty much the experts when it comes to journals.

Family councils are necessary today to help the family unit achieve individual and family goals, combat the evil influences in the world, and understand accountability to one another and to God. In many ways, these councils are how God accomplishes His work on Earth.

This year you've made it a goal to write about your faith—maybe you have a religious blog, maybe you’re keeping a journal, or maybe it’s something else entirely. If you're struggling with what to write about and want to keep it faith-focused, start with these 100 ideas!

In his book Faith Rewarded, President Monson shared this touching memory from the groundbreaking of the historic Freiberg Germany Temple, which was the first temple built in a communist-ruled country. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, President Monson was assigned to the German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany, to oversee the work of the Church there.

Every journaler has their own reasons for how they journal, why the journal, and the way they keep their journal the way they do. To be honest, I didn’t start keeping a traditional journal until I started working for JRNL.com. I journaled in other, more non-traditional, ways: Facebook, writing a column for my father’s newspaper, and blogging, but I didn’t keep a true journal.

Nancy had felt tired and run down for weeks. As she was writing in her journal one evening, she had a thought: “Is there any pattern to how often I feel this way?”

As we have been learning about President Howard W. Hunter this year in Priesthood and Relief Society, we have mostly gotten to know about him as an adult—a leader of the Church with profound ideas and a strong testimony. But what was he like as a child? The journal he left as a 10-year-old gives some fun, unique insights into the boy who became a prophet. Here are just a few:

This post reminded me of an experience President Eyringshared:

A mission is a great time of your life to learn who you are and become the best version of yourself. Don't miss these opportunities, like so many missionaries have before you!

MR says: How many of you returned missionaries can relate to these amazing drawings and comics of what mission life is really like?

There are many good things Mormons have been encouraged to participate in—from youth programs and service activities to food storage and firesides. One of the activities we’ve been counseled to do is to keep a journal. President Spencer W. Kimball said, “We urge every person in the Church to keep a diary or a journal from youth up, all through his [or her] life. Would every family...train their children from young childhood to keep a journal of the important activities of their lives, and certainly when they begin to leave home for schooling and missions?” (Spencer W. Kimball “The Foundations of Righteousness,” October 1977 general conference.)

Las Vegas, Nev. – JRNL Inc., which acquired LDSJournal a year ago, has a new private journaling application designed for both Web and Mobile use. The website, which received funding by VC group Varkain Capital earlier this year, launched in beta to the public, Monday, September 28, 2015. The Web App can be found at JRNL.com. The iOS mobile app is still in its testing phase and will be available to the public by the end of the year.

For the past few weeks I’ve been re-reading all my journals from my whole life. To be honest, this has been a little bit excruciating. Even reading it in the privacy of my bedroom, there have been moments when I’m so embarrassed by me. The insecurity! The Angst! The limited perspective! The immaturity, obliviousness, naivety, uncaged zeal and enthusiasm! Words, sprawled across pages year after year, describing my endless struggle to figure out how to change the things that were wrong with me, overcome my shortcomings, and deal with the trials in my life, leaped off the pages and refreshed anew those feelings. It seemed like decades passed, but no matter how aware I was, I just never figured out how to change.

How can you get the most out of doing your personal family history? Some people may may struggle with their personal family history because they don’t know what to write about in their journals or they feel they have too many pictures to scrapbook. However, you may be surprised to learn that not only is keeping track of your personal family history important for posterity (and yourself), but doing so can be easy and fun as well. Here are 9 tips that will help you get the most out of your personal family history, and help you to enjoy doing it.

“Those who do keep journals will define themselves – for good or ill.” So you may think the corollary isn’t as wildly profound as the original quote. Possibly, but let me explain. I won’t waste your time, and you just might thank me later…

Tuesday, July 16, 2002

In my chosen hobby, good sources are a valuable treasure. In that regard I have been fortunate. While researching Tennessee LDS history, I have run across several really good missionary journals. But I have also run across several abysmal ones. They have been so bad, that I have reflected on my missionary journal and just how much better I could have made it. I wish I had been given some examples of what good journal writing was before I ever started my mission. I can't go back and do it over. Anything I write today would be a recollection, not a journal. It isn't the same.