My mother kept journals. I didn’t.

I always meant to. When my children were young, I imagined shelves filled with notebooks – little records of the life we were building.

But there were meals to make, church callings to fulfill, children who needed me.

Years passed like that. 

Beautiful years, hard years, ordinary years.

And slowly, without meaning to, I left almost none of it behind.

The Realization I Couldn’t Ignore

One Sunday, not long ago, something small but important happened.

During a Relief Society lesson, the teacher spoke about preserving not just our family history, but our testimonies – our lived experiences. 

I remember sitting there, feeling a kind of conviction. 

Not guilt, exactly. Just… a realization.

Someday, my children – and their children – would need more than names and dates.

They would need to know what I knew to be true.

And I wondered:

If I didn’t write it down… would they ever?

Why I Couldn’t Start

This thought hurt me deeply.

Because I did try, more than once.

I’d buy a fresh journal, write a page or two. But I never found a rhythm.

I didn’t just need to write about today anymore.

I felt like I needed to capture everything – years of experiences, memories, lessons.

And I didn’t know where to begin.

The Simple Way I Finally Told My Story

I mentioned this to a sister from church after a midweek activity. 

She listened, nodded, and then told me about something she had tried. 

Then she told me about something she had tried – something called Memowrite.

Instead of facing a blank page, you’re guided through your life with thoughtful, Spirit-led questions.

Even though I hesitated, led by her example, I decided to try it.

How It Helped Me Write What Matters

I was given just 50 simple, meaningful questions.

That was it.

I didn’t have to organize my whole life. I just answered them.

Some answers came quickly.

Others made me pause.

I wrote about prayers that felt unanswered – and how, later, I could see they were.

I remembered moments with my children I hadn’t thought about in years.

I even wrote about the conversations with my son before he left on his mission.

In total, I spent about 7 weeks answering.

And slowly, something unexpected happened.

I wasn’t just writing.

I was understanding my path more clearly.

When It Became Something Real

When I finished, the Memowrite team took my answers and carefully shaped them into a real book.

When it arrived, I held it in my hands for a long time before opening it. 

The book felt heavier than I thought it would – not in weight, but in meaning. 

This was my life, as best as I could remember it. 

I Wasn’t Prepared for Their Reaction

I shared it with my family, a bit nervously. You never quite know how these things will be received.

But what happened next surprised me.

My children didn’t just flip through it.

They lingered.

They asked questions I had never heard before.

And my daughter said something I will never forget:

“This is what we were always missing. We had the names, but not the stories.”

That meant more to me than I can easily say.

What I Realized After

I didn’t capture everything. No one could. 

But I captured something that matters more:

What I believe.
How I saw the Lord’s hand in my life.
What I hoped for my family.
And how I tried to live.

And now, that won’t be lost.

If You’ve Been Putting This Off…

If you’re anything like me, you may feel like it’s too late… or too overwhelming to start.

But it isn’t.

✅ You don’t need to be a writer
✅ You don’t need to know where to start
✅ You don’t need to remember everything at once

You just need a place to begin.

One question. Then another.

Memowrite takes care of the rest.

And one day, you’ll hold your story – your testimony – in your hands…

…and realize how much it means to the people you love.