Power of Journals

Record keeping has been around since the beginning of time. The word journal comes from the French word Jour, which means daily book or log book. People keep records for many reasons.  Without journals we wouldn’t have so much information about the past, from important historical figures like George Washington to wars that our ancestors fought.

Thousands found strength from a simple diary of a girl during tumultuous times. Anne Frank captured our hearts as she wrote during World War II. She wrote her feelings about her new journal on June 20, 1942 shortly after receiving it for her birthday. Little did she know her words changed the world.  “Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I’ve never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old school girl. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. I feel like writing, and I have an even greater need to get all kinds of things off my chest.” She later added, “Paper has more patience than people.”

I’ve found strength in the words and trials as I’ve read journals from my ancestors. One in particular my Great Grandmother Viola Stout. When she got older she had her journal made into books for her family. I've read it several times and learned so much from her writings. I never knew that as a young girl she wanted to be a writer and she had a teacher who believed in her so much that she would tutor her after school every day. Viola had many trials, after losing two daughters within months of each other she wrote, "Times like these bring a realization of our Elder Brother's suffering, far beyond our abilities to endure and live. This makes us aware our suffering is much less, can be endured. This was a year my doubts and beliefs fought the battle of faith and despair... Thanks to that special Gift the Lord gave us, Faith won, I became comforted. I reached the depths in 1929. By 1930, a new light led the way." With her words of endurance and faith I have learned that I can make it through hard times. Because she kept a journal we can learn from her experiences for many generations to come.

Spencer W. Kimball said, “Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives.”