Gathering

So, I realized in my last post that I didn't explain the whole "box" thing. As I've been reading about family history I read "Your Family History: Getting Started" By President Boyd K. Packer. In this talk he says to those who are just getting started and not sure where to begin:

"Get a cardboard box. Any kind of a box will do. Put it someplace where it is in the way, perhaps on the couch or on the counter in the kitchen—anywhere where it cannot go unnoticed. Then, over a period of a few weeks, collect and put into the box every record of your life, such as your birth certificate, your certificate of blessing, your certificate of baptism, your certificate of ordination, and your certificate of graduation. Collect diplomas, all of the photographs, honors, or awards, a diary if you have kept one, everything that you can find pertaining to your life; anything that is written, or registered, or recorded that testifies that you are alive and what you have done."

This information will become valuable to your descendants and to yourself. As we were gathering this information, my husband started reading his mission journal, some of the things he read he had no memory of and it was interesting to hear. My children have enjoyed looking through our trophies and other awards we received growing up. It's been a fun project for us all.