Minutes of Family Goings-On

For nearly thirty years our family has faithfully recorded the minutes of our weekly home evenings—and not long ago I suddenly realized that, without effort, our family had kept a valuable record.

In 1952, family home evening was called the Family Hour. At that time we had two small daughters, and each family member had a particular responsibility for part of the Family Hour program. As the years went by, our family grew with the addition of three sons, and the responsibilities were shared and enlarged.

In writing the weekly minutes we included the date and day, the time, and sometimes the weather. We wrote down who gave the prayers and the part that each contributed to the time we spent together. We also recorded the main points of the lesson and described the activity and refreshments.

If any event had occurred during the week that involved our family either collectively or individually—an award, election to an office, graduation, wedding, birth, death, visits, travel, mission, birthday, etc., these were also recorded. Indeed, many times in years past when we have needed information for genealogy, income tax purposes, or just needed to clarify details of a special event, we could always find it tucked safely away in our “minutes.”

When the children were small, they loved to hear their names read each week as we conducted a “mini-review” of the previous week’s program. This helped them remember the lesson, and made it easier for them to apply it to their own lives.

Today, my husband and I are back to where we started—just the two of us at home. But we will continue to record our home evening minutes for future loved ones, hoping that they will find many cherished memories among the pages of these volumes. Betty Lou Wintch, Tropic, Utah

Illustrated by Preston Heiselt