FamilySearch’s #52Stories Project Can Help You Write Your Family History in 2017
Write your family history in 2017 using helpful questions and topics from FamilySearch’s #52Stories project.
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If your New Year’s resolution is to write your personal history, you may be wondering where to start.
FamilySearch’s #52Stories project may provide just the help you need.
Each week in 2017, FamilySearch will publish topic questions designed to trigger your memories. Simply focus on the topic and write a response. It doesn’t matter if you write a few paragraphs, a single page, or several pages. You can write in a journal or in a document on your computer, or you can make a video or audio recording.
The result: at the end of 2017, you will have 52 stories about your life to enhance your personal history.
“This 2017 personal history challenge, called the #52Stories project, is an expanded version of a similar, very successful challenge offered by FamilySearch four years ago,” said Wendy Smedley, FamilySearch project manager for social media. “This year, however, instead of having a list of only 52 questions, the writer can choose his or her 52 questions from a list of 144 questions.”
The #52Stories project has divided the year into 12 themes, from “Goals and Achievements” to “Education and School” to “Holidays and Traditions,” providing 12 different questions for each theme. That’s a total of 144 questions, giving you plenty of options to choose from as you build your library of 52 stories. The questions are available for download in fun, colorful themed pages, and you’ll also see a different question highlighted each week on Instagram (@FamilySearch) and the FamilySearch Facebook page.
January’s theme is goals and achievements. Sample questions include:
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What goals are you actively working toward right now?
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What was the greatest achievement of your life?
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What is something you taught yourself to do without help from anyone else?
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What role has failure played in your efforts to achieve your goals?
Choose from 12 different questions for each theme. Answer one or all 12.
Your 52 stories, or your ancestors’ stories, can also be shared for free in a FamilySearch Memories profile, preserving these stories for future posterity. FamilySearch will not make these stories public while the person is living but will make them available for future generations after the person is deceased.
President Spencer W. Kimball emphasized that recording and sharing glimpses of your life and your ancestors’ lives is an invaluable aspect of building strong families. “People often use the excuse that their lives are uneventful and nobody would be interested in what they have done. But I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations,” he said (“Hold Fast to the Iron Rod,” Oct. 1978 general conference).
Family stories help build individual identity in children and children’s children. These stories allow you to preserve and share the story of your life and your ancestors’ lives, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed bleak, and your rejoicing when you finally achieved your goals.
The #52Stories project has divided the year into 12 themes, from “Goals and Achievements” to “Education and School” to “Holidays and Traditions,” providing 12 different questions for each theme. Each is easily downloadable.
