In August 2011, my wife, Marsha, and I helped move her mother, Orva Smith, from her spacious home into an apartment for seniors. It was a daunting task. Five fully furnished bedrooms had to be downsized to one. Only a few items of living room furniture would fit in the apartment’s modest sitting area. The house had to be thoroughly cleaned out. Everything, large and small, had to go…somewhere.
We began sorting through a lifetime’s worth of accumulations. While rummaging around in a storage drawer, we found an old coil-bound scribbler. At first glance, it looked like something to be tossed into the trash. Upon closer examination, we discovered that it contained 61 handwritten pages, entitled “My Life Story by Orva Lybbert Smith”. A further search turned up 30 pages of handwritten notes by her husband titled “Family History of Ronald W. Smith”.
None of us knew that Dad and Mom Smith had written their life stories. A treasure trove of memories and faith-promoting experiences had almost ended up in the trash. And when I say treasure trove, that is exactly what we found their life stories to be.
A Forgotten Story Unfolds
Orva related an account of her father, Lester Lybbert, being called on a short-term mission. This was a challenge for the family because they ran a dairy herd, had other chores, and needed everyone’s help. She records:
“President E.J. Wood called six men from our area on a short-term mission. Dad was the only one of the six who went. He left in January for the mission home and his assignment. It was very cold the day he left on foot to hitchhike. He made it as far as Calgary. By the time he got there, a terrible blizzard was blowing in, so he went into a barbershop and sold his second-best straight razor so he could buy a bus ticket to continue. He served for the balance of the winter and spring in and around Moose Jaw. What a testimony he had.”
What touched Marsha and me as we read this entry was that Grandpa Lybbert not only answered the call but had to hitchhike in the dead of winter to start his mission! This incident strengthened our testimonies and helped us appreciate his faithfulness.
But the story does not end there. Orva recorded an experience that occurred years later, which added a wonderful insight to her father’s mission. She wrote:
“When I was in my late sixties, our home was open for people to stay when they came from a distance to attend the temple. When we got visiting with one group who were staying with us, the older sister found out that my maiden name was Lybbert. She said that when she was a teenager, she had a girlfriend whose parents ran a boarding house, and an older missionary by the name of Lybbert had boarded there. She and her friend’s family became members in part because of him. This missionary was my father! I grew up being exposed to this kind of example from my parents and other members of the Lybbert family.”
The blessings resulting from Grandpa Lybbert’s short-term mission are incalculable. What began as one man answering a call to serve in very humbling circumstances ended up changing lives and strengthening family bonds for generations.
As Marsha and I continued reading Orva’s life story, we came across an experience she had while serving in the Junior Sunday School. She wrote:
“One Easter Sunday, I was supposed to give a talk in Junior Sunday School about the Savior’s crucifixion and Mary Magdalene speaking with Him in the garden. I had tried for a week to tell this event so the young children could understand. I had been praying about it. When I retired to bed on Saturday night, I still didn’t have a talk ready. That night, I dreamed I was standing in front of the Junior Sunday School, telling this beautiful story that the children could understand. I woke up with the sun streaming through the bedroom window. The world outside was green and beautiful—a perfect Easter morning. I immediately got out of bed and wrote down the words that had been given to me in the dream. Afterwards, several people told me they had never heard the story told so beautifully.”
The faith instilled in Orva by her family legacy is readily apparent, and the events recorded in her life story are inspiring. Marsha and I are extremely thankful we found that old coil-bound scribbler.
Faith-Promoting Memories
We are also grateful to have found Ron’s life story, as he recorded some faith-promoting experiences. He related an account of their six-week-old son, who was sick with pneumonia. He wrote:
“Our son was all blue around his mouth and nose, lying in an oxygen tent, gasping for breath. It was a humbling experience to assist in giving him a priesthood blessing. After we administered to him, he breathed easier and seemed calmer. This was a testimony to me of the power of the priesthood, and I’ll never forget it.”
To think that these gems of family history, and many others contained in those handwritten pages, might have been lost to us!
I typed up their life stories, and then Marsha and I emailed copies to each of her siblings. We also put them under Ron and Orva’s names on FamilySearch so others could have access to them. Their life stories are cherished links to us.
We decided that our journals could also become cherished links to our posterity. We compiled our journals (to date) and presented them to our children as Christmas presents. We had a wonderful time on Christmas morning, sharing memories of our children's growing-up years, many of which have become legendary in our family circle.
Our Journals Bless Our Posterity- Now, and Forever
Record-keeping is not only a privilege- it is a sacred duty. Concerning this important responsibility, President Spencer W. Kimball said:
“On a number of occasions, I have encouraged the Saints to keep personal journals and family records. I renew that admonition. We may think there is little of interest or importance in what we personally say or do…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…
“Begin today and write in it your goings and your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements, and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. We hope you will do this, our brothers and sisters, for this is what the Lord has commanded. And those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives.” (President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals, New Era, December 1980.)
The Scriptures are Someone’s Journal
The scriptures are journals handed down to us. How would our lives be different if the Biblical, Book of Mormon, and latter-day prophets never recorded their writings and testimonies? Similarly, what might be lost to our posterity if we never recorded our history and testimony?
Recorded accounts of faith, trials faced and overcome, and other life lessons learned can be a treasure trove because there is much that different generations can learn from one another. Journals, diaries, and life stories are legacies of love, creating links between generations that allow the past to touch the present and the present to eventually touch the future.