Free family history track · Small & Simple
Our Family Story
Six short family sessions to gather your stories, meet your ancestors and take family names to the temple. Start any week, and repeat it any year.
📌 Good to know
- FamilySearch is free. Anyone can make an account and start a tree. FamilySearch ↗
- Living people in your tree stay private, and only you can see them. Photos and stories in Memories are public unless you set them to private. FamilySearch: privacy of living people ↗
- Youth can receive a recommend for proxy baptisms and confirmations starting in January of the year they turn 12. General Handbook 26 ↗
Week 1: Turning hearts
Family history starts with the family in your own home. This week, everyone tells a little of their own story.
Family session about 20 minutes
Read Malachi 4:5–6, then read how Moroni repeated the same promise to Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 2:1–2. Ask, “What do you think it means for hearts to turn to our family?” 5 min
Print the Week 1 pages. Each person writes their name in the heart, then fills in the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents they already know. Leave blanks for anyone you don’t know yet. 6 min
Each person records three memories on the “My Story” page: a happy day, a time they did something hard, and a time they felt Heavenly Father’s love. Little ones draw on the “When I Was Little” page while a grown-up writes what they say. 7 min
Sing along with “Family History Is the Story of Me,” then let each person share one memory. 2 min
During the week
For your group
LittleColor the heart and draw your face in it. Draw your favorite toy and someone who loves you.
MiddleWrite your three memories and add the year and place for each one.
YouthRecord a two-minute voice memo or video telling your three memories, and read D&C 110:13–16 to see when Elijah came.
AdultsWrite one memory from your own childhood that your children have never heard, and share it this week.
For parents Every family’s story counts, including adoptive, blended and step families. Let each child choose the family line they want to learn about. Keep photos of children and other living relatives private.
Week 2: Interview a grandparent
The best family stories are still walking around. This week, ask for them.
Family session about 20 minutes
Read 1 Nephi 5:10–16, where Lehi searches the brass plates and finds the record of his own fathers. Ask, “Why do you think Lehi was so glad to find it?” 4 min
Print and cut out the interview cards. Each person picks two or three cards, and practices asking them with a parent. Remember the magic follow-up: “Tell me more.” 5 min
Call, video chat or visit a grandparent or another older relative. Take turns asking your cards. Ask first, then record the conversation on a phone. 10 min
Each person shares the answer that surprised them most. 1 min
During the week
For your group
LittleAsk the “favorite toy” or “pet” card, then draw what they told you.
MiddleAsk three cards and write down the answers in your own words.
YouthRun the recording, and ask one question that isn’t on any card.
AdultsAsk your parents about their own grandparents, one generation further back.
For parents If grandparents have passed away or a relationship is hard, interview an older ward member, a family friend or a great-aunt or great-uncle. Any older voice counts.
Week 3: Stories and photos
An old photo and one good story can make an ancestor feel like family.
Family session about 20 minutes
Read Alma 37:6–8. Alma tells his son that records kept by small and simple means “enlarged the memory” of the people. Ask, “What would we forget if no one wrote it down?” 4 min
Open FamilySearch together, choose an ancestor who has died, and look at the Memories tab for a photo or story. Read one story aloud. 7 min
Fill in the “My Ancestor” page for that person. Then photograph or scan one old family photo and add it to FamilySearch Memories with the names, place and date. 7 min
Each person names one thing they noticed in the photo. 2 min
During the week
For your group
LittleFind something in the old photo that we still have today, like a hat, a dog or a car.
MiddleFill in the “My Ancestor” page with a parent’s help.
YouthWith a parent, tag the people in the photo in FamilySearch Memories.
AdultsWrite names and dates on the back of a few loose family photos, before no one remembers who is in them.
For parents Only add photos of people who have died to public memories. Memories attached to living people are public unless you set them to private.
Week 4: Hard times, strong faith
Every family has someone who did something hard. Their faith can strengthen ours.
Family session about 20 minutes
Read Mosiah 24:13–15. The Lord made the burdens of Alma’s people light, even before He took them away. Ask, “When has the Lord helped someone in our family carry something hard?” 4 min
Tell the story of one ancestor or relative who did something hard: moved to a new country, lost someone, joined the Church or worked through a tough time. Use a FamilySearch story or an answer from last week’s interview. 7 min
Find where they lived. In the FamilySearch Family Tree app, open Map My Ancestors, or use a paper map. Add the places to the “My Ancestor” page from Week 3. 6 min
Ask, “What can we learn from them for the hard things we face?” 3 min
During the week
For your group
LittleAct out the journey: put on a backpack and walk around the house to the “new home.”
MiddleDraw the route on the map, from where they started to where they ended up.
YouthRead Hebrews 11:13–16 about faithful people who were “strangers and pilgrims,” and compare it to your ancestor.
AdultsWrite down a hard time from your own life and how the Lord helped. Your grandchildren will want it someday.
For parents Some family stories include real pain. Share what fits your children’s ages, and focus on how people kept going.
Week 5: Names for the temple
Family history turns into temple work. This week, find a name to take.
Family session about 20 minutes
Read 1 Corinthians 15:29, where Paul mentions baptism for the dead, then Doctrine and Covenants 128:15, where Joseph Smith teaches that we can’t be made perfect without our ancestors. 5 min
Open Ordinances Ready on FamilySearch together. Choose an ordinance and look at the name it finds. Read the person’s details and say their name out loud. 8 min
Write each name on the “Names for the Temple” page and plan a temple trip. Youth with a limited-use recommend can do the baptisms, and younger children can help print the cards and walk the temple grounds. 5 min
Sing “I Love to See the Temple.” 2 min
During the week
For your group
LittleLook at pictures of the temple nearest you on the Weak Things temples page.
MiddleFind the person’s birth year and count how many years ago they lived.
YouthPractice a short answer if a friend asks about it: Ready Always: baptism for the dead.
AdultsRead D&C 138:57–59 about the work happening on the other side of the veil.
For parents Ordinances Ready only gives names that are ready for the temple. If no family names are available, it may give a name another member shared with the temple, which is fine to take.
Week 6: Our family’s story
Put it all together into a book your family can keep.
Family session about 20 minutes
Read Malachi 3:16–17. A “book of remembrance” was written for those who feared the Lord. Ask, “What do we want our family’s book to remember?” 3 min
Each person writes or records a short testimony for future children and grandchildren on the “My Testimony” page. 8 min
Build the book. Put the cover first, then the pages from Weeks 1 to 5, then the testimonies. Staple them, or use a folder or binder. 6 min
Read one page aloud, then pick a date to do Our Family Story again next year. 3 min
During the week
For your group
LittleDraw the family on the cover.
MiddleCheck off the pages on the “Inside Our Book” list as they go in.
YouthRecord a one-minute video testimony to keep with the book.
AdultsWrite a letter to your future grandchildren and put it at the back of the book.
For parents It doesn’t need to be perfect or complete. A short, simple book that your children made is the treasure.
Keep going all year
Small & Simple gives your family a short plan for every week of Come, Follow Me, with the Game Shelf set to the reading.
Weak Things is a small family business. This track is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or FamilySearch.