Temple Bound

The Missing Link in Temple and Family History Work Nobody Talks About with Rachel Trotter

• Will • Season 1 • Episode 87

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What if the most powerful thing you could do for your children, your faith, and your own mental health was simply to tell your story?

In this deeply moving episode of Temple Bound, host Will Humphreys sits down with Rachel Trotter, a professional storyteller, family history educator, newspaper reporter turned author, and longtime RootsTech speaker. Rachel brings over 15 years of storytelling experience to a conversation that will change how you think about your family, your past, and your future.

Rachel is the coauthor of the upcoming book Changing the Ending: Writing Your Life Story, and a longtime contributor to Evalog.life, a service helping individuals and families document their stories through oral histories and life story books.

This episode is a must listen for anyone who has ever thought their story is not interesting enough to tell. 

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

  • Why writing your life story changes your future Rachel explains the central idea behind her new book: when we give voice to our experiences, we start to see ourselves as people who have triumphed, grown, and endured. 
  • How family stories create belonging for youth In a world of social media noise and comparison, this kind of grounded identity is a gift.
  • The spirit of Elijah and the power of connection This is not just a conversation about preserving history. It is a conversation about eternal belonging.
  • How to start telling your story today Rachel gives practical, guilt free advice for beginning your storytelling journey. 
  • Tips from a professional: how to tell an effective story That emotional truth is what people remember, what invites the Spirit, and what connects us across generations.
  • What Elder Mark Bragg told Rachel the day before she spoke at RootsTech In a simple yet profound exchange, the General Authority overseeing FamilySearch gave Rachel a reminder that stopped her in her tracks: this work begins and ends with the Savior.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Connect with Rachel: 

Instagram: @evalogue.life

Facebook: Evalogue.life 

  • Rachel's Personal Social Media Accounts

Instagram: @racheljtrotter

Facebook: Rachel Jackson Trotter 

X: @racheljtrotter 

LinkedIn: @racheltrotter

Send us Fan Mail

Quick Favor Before We Begin

SPEAKER_01

Before we start the episode, I have a small favor to ask. If Temple Bound has meant something to you, would you take a moment right now and follow the podcast and leave a comment on the app that you're listening to? When you follow and leave a comment, it helps the podcast show up for more people who are trying to learn, grow, and come closer to the teachings of the temple. It's free and it's simple, but it really makes a big difference. Thank you so much for being here. Welcome back to Temple Bound. Today's episode is one of those must-listens I want you to share with everybody. We're meeting with Rachel Trotter, an expert storyteller and family history educator who helps people not only just document their family history, but helps individuals pick up the pen of their lives to create the future that they should create for themselves. I'm very excited because we're going to talk about how we can help our youth develop a love for family history and for temple work in a way that will help them feel like they belong. So if you're struggling with any relationship in your family and trying to find a way to create connection, the power of storytelling is for you. Enjoy the show. All

Meet Rachel Trotter The Storyteller

SPEAKER_01

right. Well, Rachel, welcome to Temple Bound Take Three with all the technical issues we've experienced. The adversary is totally wanting our audience not to hear this episode. So we are making it happen no matter what. So please pay attention. Everyone, this has been such a great thing to get going here. Rachel, introduce yourself, please. Tell us what you do and why you're passionate about it.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. So my name is Rachel Trotter. I live in Ogden, Utah, which is about 35 miles north of Salt Lake City. Um I am a mother of, I'm a wife and a mother of six. Um, my kids are mostly grown. I just have one living at home, and I have two, almost three grandchildren that actually live in Kansas, which is really sad. They live far away. But it's just the best. Grandparent, all the hype is true about grandparenting. Um, but I um I have worked, I've I've been telling stories my whole life. I love storytelling. I love telling people's stories. And I worked as a newspaper reporter for about 15 years for our local newspaper. Um, I was raising my family and doing it from home. And then as the newspaper industry was starting to die out, I got in touch with a colleague. She reached out to me and asked if I could help write a life storybook for someone that she was working with. And I jumped on board. Um, I knew him well and I was excited to jump on board with the project. And then as we started talking, we decided that we wanted to do this as a career, the both of us. We wanted to start telling people's life stories. We wanted that to be a part of who we were and what we did. And so we started this business called Evalog.life. Um, she's the owner of the business. I've always have just been like a contractor. And so we have worked together with that. And then the business started getting so big of doing oral histories, writing life storybooks and all of that, that I kind of formed my own business where I work with my husband. Um, he's an avid family historian and he does research work and I do the storytelling. And so I still work with my colleague Rhonda. We just actually wrote our first book with a traditional publisher. It will come out in December.

How Writing Changes Your Trajectory

SPEAKER_00

Oh, what's it called? It's called Changing the Ending, Writing Your Life Story. And it's about how writing your life story changes can change the ending of your life. Um, because you see who you are, you see the changes, the good things that you've done in your life and makes you want to be better.

SPEAKER_01

I have I have to double-click on that. I'm so sorry. This is like such a new part of the same discussion that we've had so far. So you're talking about this idea that when we write down our life story, meaning our history, it changes the direction of our of where we end up.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. Yes. We have found this to be true so many times. And what happens is we'll do these oral histories with people and they will talk about these parts of their life and the really hard things and the really good things and all of the all of that. And then they say, Hey, I'm pretty great. Like I got through this and I triumphed, and I never thought of it that way. But sometimes if you don't give a voice to it, if you don't share it, if you don't write it down, if you don't tell it, you don't realize what you did in your life. And so oftentimes, you know, making a record of it can change your trajectory because it gives you, it gives you strength, it gives you hope that you can continue on, that you can keep doing the things that you've been doing. Because how many times do do we say, hey, I my life isn't that interesting? I haven't done that much. But when you start telling someone about it, you do realize, hey, that was really hard. Or hey, being a stay-at-home mom had its issues, but I did it. Or hey, my fertility issues, they were a struggle, but I got through it. You know, there's all these different elements of things, or my faith crisis, or the fact that my I don't have a great relationship with my mom, or I had this terrible boss. Like the list is endless, right? Right. And sometimes they're just simple things, but you realize that you got through it. And then sometimes they're really hard things, like a terrible cancer diagnosis that you beat, or maybe you didn't solve a problem in the best way. But talking about it makes you realize I can do better. So there's just so many elements. And so we just have found over and over again that a lot of times telling your story can make the ending of your story better.

SPEAKER_01

That is such a powerful comment. Tony Robbins talks a lot about this, where he mentions when he's trying to help people understand the way we frame our experiences in life have so much to do with the meaning that we get to electively assign to it, and that produces completely different outcomes. You know, they say that like horrible um tragedies that we experience can either define or refine our life and our purpose. And so when we look backwards, you know, I think of Victor Frankel, who wrote the book Man's Search for Meaning, which, if no one's read, if if you haven't read that, please go read this book. It's a story of a story, it's his story of how he went through the Holocaust and how he makes this point that life is this quote, life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose. And so when we talk about temple and family history work, I think what we're talking about is purpose. I think we're talking about the true meaning behind these things and this thing that we get to do as human beings with our agency to assign a meaning to it, to have it be a hero story or have it be a defining nature of what's wrong with us. Because we all wonder when we suffer, why are we the ones who go through this? So that's a beautiful story of a book of helping us understand the importance of writing our own story.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And and it's interesting because in a lot of the work that I do, sometimes people are telling their ancestors stories. And I always say, okay, great, tell that story, but then tell your story. Because if you tell your own story, it's yours. Um, you know, your granddaughter isn't trying to guess how you were feeling about something later on. You can tell us how you feel about it. And so it's so important to tell your own story because it's your story to tell.

SPEAKER_01

It's such a powerful comment, especially as we look at Templand family history work. So thanks for letting me interrupt and double-click on that. Let's get

RootsTech And Why Stories Matter

SPEAKER_01

back to your background because I would love for you to talk about your your experience as a 13-year speaker at RootStack.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, yes. So so what happened is I my husband is loves family history work. He works for Family Search. He has only worked for Family Search for 11 years, which is kind of a long time. But anyway, at the time, he was just really into family history work. He had this huge connection to it. And I was more of a not my season kind of a person. Like I have all I have my kids at home. I'm really busy. This is just not something I can do. And he said, Well, will you please just come to Roots Tech with me? And I said, Sure, but I'm gonna come as a newspaper reporter because I'm just gonna make a little money at this while we're going here. So so I I went to as a reporter and I went to the media night. And when I went, I was sitting there and they were talking about like the storytelling side of family history, and they were talking about how important it is and the Emory University study where they talk about how youth they found that youth know who they are if they know their family stories. And as they talked, I had this like aha moment of I've made so many mistakes as a parent, but this is something I may have gotten right. Um, my husband and I, we sit at the dinner table and tell our kids family history stories all the time. And this is making an impact on their lives. Um, they know these stories and they don't even know they know them, if that makes sense. Like they know this is just a part of who they are. And so at that moment, I thought there is a place for me at the family history table. Um, storytelling, there's something to this. And when people know their stories, it means something. And so when I stopped being a reporter and started doing this family history work, my colleague and I, Rhonda Lauritsen is her name, um, we thought, you know, we could maybe speak here and talk about what we know. And so we applied to speak. And then for the last, I believe, maybe 11 or 12 years, I have been a speaker at Roots Tech, um, where I've talked about the power of oral history. I've done oral history teaching every year, um, but then I've taught other things too. And a few times I've been asked to speak on um the Latter-day Saint Day or the Church's Day. I I don't, it's I think it's called Family Discovery Day or something specific. We'll have to look that up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, but it's like it's the day where like as a members of the church, because everything is is really about more uh ancestry. So I remember the sponsors are like ancestry.com and stuff. They're not specific to the church. But there's a day where it's very free to talk about temples as well and be very like really in uh intentional about the the church's doctrine.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, and so I've had the opportunity to speak about that, which is just near and dear to my heart because I have seen how temple and family history work, first of all, is one work. I think temple, family history work, and missionary work, they're all one work. And I love to bear testimony of that when I can and to talk about the way that I've seen it change people's lives in my own family and in other and with other people and with youth. Like youth being involved in family history work, I believe it can make all the difference for them. There is so much coming at them all the time. And if they can have a moment, first of all, where they have peace, second of all, where they're giving service where it's not being monitored by social media, and third of all, where they can feel accepted and loved, let's give it to them. Let's get them there, let's have it happen, you know. And I feel that like that is so important. And I've seen it change my own children's lives, but I also have seen it change the lives of other youth, like in my ward and in my stake and churchwide, really.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, it's the most powerful message I think that we can communicate regarding temple and family history work is the we talk about the spirit of Elijah, we're talking about the power of belonging. When we talk about the spirit of Elijah in Malachi, the hearts of the children turn to the fathers and their children's, and what we're really talking about is helping what you said earlier happen is that when people, when children know their family stories, they know who they are, and who they are as a child of God, and they can belong. And when they when they have their family's family stories known and write their own story, as we're we're really emphasizing this go-around of this take of our episode together, we're starting to recognize that it's in that moment that we we start to wake up and realize the purpose of our existence. And with great purpose, we can overcome so many things in life. Um, it gives us a higher aim as well because we recognize where we're going. And as it was once said, that without a higher aim, suffering destroys, right? Like this is a quote from uh Frederick Nitzel. Without a higher aim, suffering destroys. With a higher aim, suffering refines. And so when we know our purpose and we give meaning to those things, those difficult times through the connection of our families give our children a sense of belonging. And I've said this to you offline, I've never shared this before on the show, but I feel like I should. Is is that my personal journey when this is we we know what it's like to not have the hearts of the children turned to the fathers. One of my sons didn't have their heart turned towards us for the greater part of a decade where there was little to no relationship. And I am so I just want to explain that the transformation, the end is that we're now the closest of friends. Not just, not only is there a healthy relationship, but there is a closeness that can only be described as a miracle. And I think that's what we're we're really trying to communicate. And the storytelling is is the the vehicle by which the belonging is created. It feels like storytelling is that thing that connects temple and family history in the most beautiful, organic, and natural way possible.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, I I I totally agree. And I think the other thing that I I wanted to bring up too is so this last year at Roots Tech, I part of what I do at Roots Tech, which, and I don't know if we explained what Roots Tech is.

Youth Belonging Starts With Christ

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah. Please tell people who don't know what this is, because this is a little bit like if you're into these things and you're nerdy like us, we know. But if you're like if you're like dabbling in what's Root Tech, Roots Tech, or if you're in Africa, what is that?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so it's the largest family history conference in the world. Um, it's held in Salt Lake City at the right before the ending of winter. Um, and it's sponsored by Family Search, which is the family history department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But there are everyone who does family history comes to this conference. So, you know, if you if you do work on Ancestry, Ancestry is a huge sponsor. Um uh My Heritage is a huge sponsor. There's just so many that come to the table to participate in this conference because everybody is there. Um, they have keynote speakers who are inspiring, and then there's classes that you can attend from experts on every subject from AI to family storytelling to um archives to um DNA, like there's just all of these things that you can learn about at Roots Tech, and it is a really soul-filling weekend to be able to attend. But as part of what I have had the opportunity to do at Roots Tech, is I'm part of the media team. And so we have the chance to interview everybody who is associated with Roots Tech, so all the keynote speakers, um, all of the experts in the field. And one of the best opportunities I have had is to be able to interview some of our church leaders. And so this year, the day before I was speaking about taking youth to the temple, which was what I was speaking on for um Family Discovery Day, um I had the chance to interview Elder Bragg, Elder Mark Bragg, who is now the um the 70 who is over Family Search. And so I said to him, I said, so this is kind of awkward, but tomorrow I'm teaching this class about taking you to the temple. And I said, What do you want people to know about taking youth to the temple? Because I thought I can go back to my hotel room, I can update my presentation with whatever you say, if it's different. And what he said was so simple yet so profound. And he said, You need to make sure that your youth know that this work begins and ends with the savior. And that just hit me so hard because I thought, well, yeah, of course. Like what how did I not have a picture of Jesus Christ at the beginning of my presentation, you know? Um, so of course I added that in. And then um, but there's so much truth to that. Like, he is why we do everything, he is why we were we are here, and he is the one that's leading us back to our heavenly home. And including him in this work with our youth is the key. And if they know him and understand him and want to feel that spirit of Elijah, feel the Holy Ghost testifying to them, they need to know that the savior, and I tell this to my kids all the time, that the savior has your back and he's there to guide and lead you along.

SPEAKER_01

That is um so wonderful that he shared that. And I it's a great reminder because we tend to just get so busy in all the things that we forget to bring it back to the the the why of it all. And we were talking about that at the beginning, the why in this case is always the savior, and to apply that to some of our earlier discussion, talking about children, how they're big children, they're big challenges, feeling like they belong somewhere, is that when I just get the sense that as they start to connect to their families through stories, as they start going to the temple and taking names, they start to feel his presence more. And and when they can consciously make that connection of what I'm doing now is tying me to the savior in a relationship, then they start to have the ultimate connection of belonging to the person who loves unconditionally. And and through that love, they can see their their life through all these different lenses that we've talked about. So, what a wonderful share that that is there. You know, you mentioned earlier, Rachel, that you you have you have a family that you have applied these principles. I mean, you're you're you're you're a power couple, you and your husband, in terms of temple and family history in a unique way that I don't think most people have, and you've done that really well. How have you helped your kids in your home with either storytelling or temple?

Family Habits That Make It Real

SPEAKER_01

Like what have you done, what are some of those things that maybe you could share in terms of tips that you've seen in either in your family or in your ward that you have done that have helped?

SPEAKER_00

So in our family, we always kind of have this running narrative of family stories that we talk about. We talk about the people who didn't choose the path of the church and um what how things are. We choose people who did. My my father is a convert to the to the LDS church, and so I he's the only member on my on my dad's side. And so it's been we've been really blessed because we have these really close family members we've been able to do temple work for, um, people that I actually knew growing up. And so I can tell those stories of them because I knew them, or my dad told me about them, so I can pass along what he shared. Um, and so we we have that going. And then when we take a family name to the temple, we've made a really big habit and practice of always looking at the relationship and seeing like who, how are you related? And what side of the family is this? And oh, look, they have your name. Um, we have been really, we deliberately named our kids after people in our family history and people that they knew so that we could really they could relate to who they are. Um, another thing that we have done is taken family, we we have taken deliberate family vacations to places where we have family history. So my dad is from Texas, and we've gone to Texas and we've gone to our family cemetery several times that we have a family cemetery there, and we've taken our kids, and they can see the names that they've done the work for. And that is a really sweet experience to have that. But then we also have gone, like my husband has a lot of polygamy in his family, and we have some cemeteries where a lot of them are buried, and they had this really special program a few years ago, and we were getting ready to go to Disneyland, and on the way, we stopped at this event, and we told our showed our kids all the headstones and talked about these people that my husband had done the research on. So we just have this narrative that goes on. And then as far as the temple itself, I think just making it a priority in your own life as parents goes a long way. And then once they are old enough to start going, either and doing baptisms or other work, making it something that you don't always do together, but that you do together sometimes, you know, making that time a priority. And even from the time they were small, anytime we would travel, we always go find the temple. And we couldn't always go in the temple, but we find a temple and take a picture. And then we had this tradition for years where on um like President's Day, we would go see every temple along the Wasatch front. So we would start up in Logan and we would end up in like Provo, or if we had the time, like as far as you know, Mantai or whatever, we'd stop at every temple, we would take a picture, and then we would just talk about it. And um, not necessarily details of what happens inside, which we get to talk about that more now than maybe. We did at the first, but of raising our kids. But I just think it was just a part, it's just a part of our life. And it doesn't have to be something that you talk about every day, but it just needs to be a part of the conversation.

SPEAKER_01

I I think there's something so powerful in all those things. There's many things that you mentioned that we don't do. We do travel and go to those temples, and it's cool because you get to express that company's cult, that company. Sorry, my professional podcast was bubbling in. You get to experience that country's uh culture through the lens of the savior when you go to the temple. And there's something really special about that. I also think something that spoke to me that was really strong, Rachel, was that I think that we we do our whole family a disservice when we don't think we have something special to say about our own story. Kind of tying it back to your book. As you were talking, I had this memory of driving with my wife and four boys when we were on a vacation together. And this was during a difficult time in our family where connection was a struggle. And I was just, it was it was kind of later at night, and we were driving, and there was just the sound of the road. It was dark outside. And I just had this like memory of something funny that happened, and I laughed. And one of my kids was like, What are you laughing at? And I told them the story, and it started this snowball effect of like, tell me another story, tell me another story, and it did something to all that memory is is so near and dear to my heart because the power of connection through story. We all know it when I say that. When I say that, I'm not saying anything to the audience that doesn't already know it, but I think what I feel called to say right now to people listening is do not let the adversary diminish the power of you. To to recognize the greatest, sometimes the greatest way we can honor the savior is by sharing our stories with our children, with our parents, with our friends. Um writing them down, I think I've oh you've definitely opened my eyes to that, Rachel. I just think that in the telling of stories, we we manifest the existence of our savior, even if he's not explicitly mentioned. Just us like if we can just be honor honor the fact that our existence matters, and by sharing that, we model to our children um and to our anyone else that we matter and that maybe they matter too.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So I just wanted to say that briefly.

SPEAKER_00

I think it's really interesting. You know, we have a really large age span, our there's 16 years between our oldest and our youngest. And I think we were a lot more deliberate about telling those stories with our elders than we have, we have just this one awesome little bonus that is still at home with us. And um, we my husband is actually her Sunday school teacher.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00

And on Sunday, he told a story to the whole Sunday school class about when we when he and I were sealed. And it was a really tender story because he only had an aunt and uncle there, and I had like a room full of people. And but what he talked about is kneeling across the altar, and he knew that I was his family, and that we would create ever, you know, we would create a family. And she had never heard that story before in that way. And she came home and she said, Mom, dad told the coolest story about you today. And um, it touched her deeply, but it also touched those other kids because their parents said something to me about it. And I think sometimes we hesitate to be too vulnerable, but I think those vulnerable moments are where the spirit speaks to us and that it's important to take advantage of those when they come, when when you feel it and when you feel like you need to share. And um, I think that's something that I've learned in the storytelling business is don't hesitate to tell the story. And I think that's one thing with when I was um working with the young women, I never hesitated to tell a story. Um, because that is where the spirit speaks to us.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

How To Tell A Story Well

SPEAKER_01

Um I feel incredibly moved in every way you can imagine to ask you as a professional storyteller, Rachel. You said the first lesson is don't hesitate to tell the story. Love that. Can you teach me how do I tell an effective story? Is there is is it just am I overcomplicating it by looking for steps? Or is um, do you have any advice you can give me in terms of anything? Because you're a professional storyteller. How do I tell my story powerfully?

SPEAKER_00

So I think the biggest thing I can say, so it's important to tell the facts and the details of the story, but the most important thing to tell us is how it made you feel.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

The why. Tell the why behind the story, because that is what people will remember. People won't remember necessarily the names or the dates. It will be written down so that the family historian people can record it, which is so important. But make people feel. Tell us how you feel, because that's the key that's gonna help us remember. That's the key that's gonna help us feel the spirit when they're listening to those stories.

SPEAKER_01

You know, um, I've been that's so powerful. I I have tried in my career, I I I was a part of some coaching groups that talked taught how to coach. And what we found was, and what we found was that connecting on the emotion wasn't like like a great tool. It was the only thing that mattered. Because people are able to resolve their own issues in many cases, just when they feel validated and they feel like again, going back to this word of belonging. So when I hear you say that, I think about how powerful it is that people understand, especially our kids, that whatever they're feeling is normal, natural. And if if they have someone else who's feeling it with them, then they it just opens up all sorts of possibilities of how they can use that to help them grow versus like negatively define themselves. So, like when it comes to those feelings, I know I know what you're talking about. From it's it's I think you're talking about the full range of emotions, is that right? Like anything you were feeling at all, as long as it was real for you, that's what you share.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Yeah. Just don't don't forget, like telling the the who, what, when, where part is important, but the why and the how are the biggest most important parts of the story. And if you forget those, then you're gonna lose people. You know, um, people aren't gonna listen. And I think that I think that's the key.

SPEAKER_01

Amazing. Um, any other advice in that space? I kind of want to keep clicking until you're exhausted.

Simple Tools Like The Memories App

SPEAKER_00

No, you said well, one of the things that um Rhonda and I often will say is like, do it now and it will be enough. So anything that you do today is more than what you did yesterday. So don't get down on yourself because you didn't do it. Don't try to eat the elephant in one bite. Take a little bit at a time. Do a little bit at a time. One of the really cool things that um Family Search has is called this memories app. And I don't know if you're familiar with it or if you've um, but it has questions and there's a microphone in the app. You just click on that microphone and you can talk about it for five minutes. And then the other cool thing about it is it ups it uploads it to Family Search and you tag all the people that are in that story, and then it automatically goes to their page. And so you're spending five, 10 minutes and you've told a story. And I think that there's so like, why aren't we doing that with our kids every Sunday? You know, why aren't we having our kids tell their stories every Sunday? Just pick one of those questions and tell it. And I think one thing I learned, we had been invited to go to, you know, one of the new family search centers, which I can't plug those places enough. They're so cool. There's so many cool things there. And one of my sons had gone into the booth and it was just T and I and he was trying it out. And this, and I and I haven't been there for a while, so I don't know if they still have this, but they have this person come on and ask questions. And it was so enlightening to hear my son's answers to those questions. So we talk a lot about let's, you know, us in our age group, we should tell our stories. We need to interview our parents. Uh, yeah, we need to talk to our kids. Like, have our kids tell us things because first of all, hearing their voice 10 years from now, it's magic. It's wonderful. And then, second of all, their perspective is so unique. Like they have such great perspective about things. I remember they asked my son what his favorite vacation was. And I was so surprised to hear what he said. I thought it would be, you know, some glamorous place that he went. And it was something really simple. And I just think we don't always ask our kids those questions. And it's important to give them an opportunity to share and to and to let them think about what those feelings are.

SPEAKER_01

Well, it's the whole purpose of your book. I mean, I for me, I feel like I've just stumbled into a uh a gold mine. You know, how can we help our children's mental health? And one of the great tools is helping them tell their story. So if we can encourage them to do that, the fruits of that investment are impossible to fully pin down because you think about how they're verbally processing their own experiences. Hopefully they feel safe to share difficult things. But um, no matter what, the more they talk, like you said, the more their their outcomes will change positively. But then you have like the actual connections of the other stories. And if we all like you said, if we all did that across the world every week, every time we're tagged in another person's story, we could not only see our life from a place of existence, but from other people's perspectives, which I think would would help us feel again like we're connected and belong literally as we go through that. And then you think about the rippling rippling effects of hearing their own stories for themselves, as well as their descendants, as well as like there's just an infinite number of blessings that come from us every Sunday, coming and hitting record and just answering questions and telling stories that are real for us. I think it's truly um an untapped miracle that I think in time we will understand. Wow, that was at our fingertips all that whole time. And not to feel bad though, you said that on your website. I just want to you I I when you said that, I was like, where's that from? It was from your website. You have that on your evalog.life website where you help people write their stories. It says, Tell your story with evalog.life. The handle is do it now and it will be enough. I didn't know what that meant until you just said that. You're just saying, don't feel guilty. So is there a lot of guilt with people? Because I don't like guilty.

SPEAKER_00

People have so much guilt. And and then what happens is then so they feel that guilt and then they just don't do it because you know, you don't know where to start, you don't know where to end, you don't know, and stop, stop doing that and just do it. You know, even if you do the memories app and you record five minutes, that's more than what you did 10 minutes ago, you know, like yeah, just just tackle it a little bit at a time. And that's advice that my husband actually gave me when I was writing my first book. He said, Rachel, you you know how to write vignettes, you've been doing it as a reporter for 15 years. He's like, tell this person's story in small stories, and then you're gonna have the whole thing because you're just telling these stories, and that's what right when you write a whole book, it's a collection of small stories put into one big book. And if you think of any book that you read, that's what it is. It's a series of stories put together into one big story, and um, and we overthink it, and so then we just don't do it. And you can start in the middle, you can start at the end. Um, I had a client that was really struggling to write the a book she was writing about her, she's actually still writing it and she's doing amazing, but she's writing a story about her daughter who passed away um in an untimely death, and she was really stuck. And I said, let's just write the end. Let's write the end so that you know where you're going. And so that's what we did. And then it was like her eyes were opened. She then she could start writing all the other parts because she knew where she wanted it to end. And I think we have to find that sweet spot. It's different for everyone. Um, not that doesn't work for everybody, but it worked for her. And I think we have to find that sweet spot and go with it and stop overthinking the fact that we don't know how to start. Just start somewhere and the rest of it is gonna come together.

SPEAKER_01

I I'm gonna quote a good friend of mine by the name of Chris Smith by saying, What you just said makes me realize that the power is picking up the pen.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

The power is in picking up the pen. Like it's it's not about perfection, it's not about depth or whatever. Like you said, just do what you can when you can and let everything else go because our stories are infinite. They began forever before we came to this place called Earth. They're gonna keep going forever after we leave. So the point isn't trying to put our arms around completion. And I don't even think, you know, they talk about family history being the, you know, the tree, planting the seed for a tree that we'll never enjoy. I don't think that's true. I think there are trees that we will that we will benefit future generations with. I think family history, the power isn't just picking up the pen. And it's more than just like creating a history, it's about authoring your life. Like that's the power in what we're talking about. Um, and I am so like just moved. I I my next question to you is like, what so what do you do? Because like I think you have this idea. I don't mean to sound so pointed when that question, but like it's like, what do you do? It's this idea that like you are telling people just pick up the pen, go on to memories on the app, hit record, just do a little here and there, and over time, whatever you do is going to be magical. Well, it's like it's again, it's all gold. So there's it's just a matter of how much you decide to consistently do. So, how do you help people with that with your company?

SPEAKER_00

Um, well,

Consistency Beats Perfection Every Time

SPEAKER_00

I think we just the biggest key is to stay consistent. Okay. So one one thing that um I like to encourage people to do is to is just to start a habit of writing every day or writing every week. Um, every month isn't really quite enough. You kind of need to probably be writing at least every week. Um, but my thing is write 500 words a day and before, and that's a page, that's one page of writing. Um, and once you start getting in the habit of that, then you've created this habit and you can start doing it. Um, for me personally, so like the cobbler's children have no shoes, right? I am helping other people, and so sometimes I'm not the greatest. But what I do is I make sure without fail that I journal every Sunday night. Like that's what I do. I make sure that I do. Maybe it's only a page, maybe it's three pages. And then when I'm feeling like really great, I try to write a story of like my youth or about my parents or something along those lines. And so I and then as soon as I write that story, I put it on family search so that it just is there, it's a place, and it's sitting there. So even if I never finish the book, I have a lot of stories that are gonna be there. But the biggest thing for me is is I'm gonna journal every week and I'm gonna talk about my spiritual highlights of the week. And as long as I'm doing that, then I'm being consistent. And so I think that's the biggest key. We have to be consistent. And, you know, sometimes when we're writing our own stories, or if you're writing an ancestor story or whatever you're choosing to write about, you're gonna get writer's block. You're gonna feel stuck because that's just the nature of writing. But don't stop writing, take a break and write about something else. You know, um, don't stop writing your story or your ancestor story, just take a break and write about something else. Look online. There's millions of web pages that have writing prompts. Look online, find a writing prompt, and write about it for a day or for a week while you're just having a break. I have the same client that I shared about. Um she was having writer's block. And so instead of writing the story that was so hard for her to write, she took a couple of months and she wrote some very spiritual, deep, poignant thoughts that she had had about a class that she was teaching, um, an institute class she was teaching. And so she wrote about these Bible stories and what they meant to her. Like, how wonderful for her to pass along. It's is her book finished? No. But she took a break and now she's back at it, but she never stopped writing. And I think that's the key. Just keep writing, don't, don't stop or keep recording. Like if writing feels too overwhelming, our phones are this wonderful little tool that you can just record your voice talking. And that works. That's more than not doing something.

SPEAKER_01

Is there a difference though? Like, in so that's a good question I have because I mean I'm I'm not trying to be funny. Literally, if I if if you're leaning on my writing to understand what I'm saying, you will have a better time with high highlighters because I cannot write well. My handwriting, I've been told before, makes chickens look articulate. I I for me, what do so I've been doing what I've been doing since I've been on this journey is I'll just like video myself and I have a loom video is what I do. I'll try to do that three or four times, three or four times a week where I just get on and I just kind of recap everything and I just I honestly offload emotionally a little bit too. Um, but I've always wondered, like, I think I'm missing something by not writing though. Like, what are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00

Well, for me personally, writing is the key. Like writing, you know, writing it down gives it meaning, but I don't think that's the rule. Um, we we have technology for a reason. Um, technology, like, you know, people talk about how terrible the internet is or how bad it is. No, we have these things here for our growth and learning. Let's take advantage of them. You know, this our meeting right now is a Zoom meeting.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

It's being transcribed, it's being written down. Um, but this is an oral conversation, but it's being written down somewhere. And so let's use that technology, let's use it to our advantage. Um, don't do something because you feel like you're not good at it. Don't, you know, this is a double negative, but don't not do it because you think you're bad at it. Find an alternative way that works for you. Okay. And we have all this technology to do it. Don't hold back. Like, find what works best for you and do it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think I go ahead.

SPEAKER_00

Well, writing, but you know, having said that, writing stuff down like it brings it to life, right? Um, I don't like writing stuff down is the best way to keep the record. Um, but we have this other technology that's gonna write it down for us if we speak it. So that's okay.

SPEAKER_01

I appreciate you, Dan. I appreciate the way you handled that because ultimately I think you're right. The studies are absolute. When we physically write things down, there's a rewiring that occurs mentally. Like there's something there that's that's peace. Now listen, verbal processing also is real. And some people like me who have horrible handwriting are going to be more consistent with the verbal. So I think your message is like there is this thing, there's something very magical and special about writing, and to encourage that as much as possible, but don't let that get in the way of getting it done. Done is better, done is better, done and consistent is better than perfection in this case. And so, like you say, this idea of just don't feel bad about it. So, like for me, I'll continue to stay in that vein and and I'll encourage myself to grow into that physical writing. Cause I think for our kids in particular, like if my son didn't have a preference, I'd be like, don't talk if you can write, because your realities will change by write like physical writing. I think there's something magical about it. So, Rachel, this has been such a powerful conversation. I I feel like we could go on for hours, and heaven knows we have already trying to get this episode recorded.

Contact Info Rapid Fire And Travel

SPEAKER_01

So I'm gonna wrap things up with some rapid-fire questions for you. And um, and this is how I finish all my shows. So let's start off with your company. How do people get a hold of you? How do they learn more about what you do in your company to help help them tell their story?

SPEAKER_00

Okay. So the company that I work with is called Evilog.life. Um, you can go to our website. We have like a questionnaire page that you can fill out and get get to us. Um, my my LLC on the site is called TNT Solutions. And my husband said, wouldn't it be nice if we had our webpage all the way done? Because I most a lot of my work is word of mouth. But I like emailing me is a great way to reach out and let's just do the email.

SPEAKER_01

I think that'd probably be the best way. Because there is a website and I went through it, but it sounds like there's a lot of ways to work with you. So if any of this, if any of this episode has spoken to you on any level, no matter where you are in the world, email Rachel and uh what email would you like to use?

SPEAKER_00

The best email is gonna be rachel t at evalog.life. And I'm hoping that you can put that in a like some.

SPEAKER_01

We will put that in the show notes. That will be added to the show notes.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um, but it's yeah, it's just R-E-C-H-E-L-T at E-V A-L-O-G-U-E dot life. Um if you you know, if you were that good that you wrote that all down. But um, yeah, that's the best way to reach me um and to get a hold of me, and then I can guide you to the right, whatever you may need. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I love that. And I I just thank you for saying that. You know, I I'm very loud about promoting what you do because um of all the benefits that we talked about and all the things that are there. This this is a missing link, this thing called storytelling in the creation of belonging and identity as it pertains to the spirit of Elijah, as it pertains to Jesus Christ. I think there's something so powerful about that. All right. Next question is Um, where in the world have you been that you've loved, or where's someone in the world you're excited to? You oh, let's do this one instead. Where what's a foreign temple you've been to that, because you mentioned you go to temples when you travel. What's a temple you've been to when you traveled that just you were super connected with?

SPEAKER_00

So, oh gosh, that's hard to say. Um I know. I uh, you know, we my son um served a mission in um Roseville, California, which is not a foreign place. Um, but he happened to be in the and I know we're trying to wrap up, so I'll try to make this.

SPEAKER_01

No, we're not in a hurry. I just wanted to this is just kind of like landing the plane eventually.

SPEAKER_00

But but when he served, um he served in Paradise, California, and I'm not sure if you're familiar, they had a big fire there. Yeah. And he was serving a mission when the fire happened. And his mission president called him and said, You have five minutes to get you and the missionaries out of paradise. And so it was just such a testimony-building time for him and for me as a mom, because I didn't know for some time if he was okay. So as soon as he came home from his mission, um, we turned around and went back because he needed to have some closure. And um, so we, but in that, we went to Oakland because he had been telling people about the Oakland Temple all through his mission. And so we went to the Oakland Temple because he wanted to go. And we just had such a beautiful experience with our son there. And I would say um that was a really sacred, beautiful experience visiting that temple.

SPEAKER_01

So great story. It's impossible to do a rapid fire in a sense that you can't tell the story. The story is where the magic is. So take your time. That was beautiful. Um, okay, great. Let's

A Sacred Relative And Temple Work

SPEAKER_01

let's um so this is the family history part of my show. Usually we spend a lot more time honestly talking about temples. So this has been really I know, right? Yeah, this has been really fun to really lean in on this because this was the thing that got me involved. So let's talk now about um uh a and a relative not living that you feel connected to and why.

SPEAKER_00

Oh gosh. So I had this relative um that I have a quite a few relatives on my dad's side that I knew. And I had this one relative, it was my um my great aunt. Um, her name is Florence, and I thought that we had done all of my grandmother's family's work. And we were trying to kind of gather some things because we my dad had passed away and we were gonna have him sealed to his family. And so I was doing making sure that we had everything, and her name popped up that we had not done her endowment or her initiatory. And my husband has always been like, he's the records guy, he's you know, always made sure that all of that was done. And I would be like, Okay, let's take these names and go. And I actually found her.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

And realized I had missed her. And she's an aunt that whenever we went to Texas to visit my grandparents, we always went over to her house to visit. And I loved and adored her and her daughter, who was actually the same age as my grandma. My grandma was also a bonus, like my cute little Eliza, my youngest daughter, who is she's named after my grandma. They're they have the same middle names. But anyway, it's really cool. Another story for another day, but anyway, um, but finding that and then taking that to the temple. And then when I went and did the work, um the in the initiatory, the lady said to me, she said, Is this a relative that you know? And I said, Yes. And she said, I can feel, I can feel that. And um, it was just so beautiful to like see that all come full circle. And then I've have since been able to get all of the rest of her work done. And um, I just can't wait to see her again and talk about it.

SPEAKER_01

Great story. Um, yeah, it's fun having a professional storyteller on the show, by the way. You just you do so much of the lifting, it's been great. Last question.

Message To Their Kids And Closing

SPEAKER_01

This this is my same question with all my guests. This is a family history recording right now. Your your kids, kids, kids are gonna see this and you at this stage of your life, what message would you leave for them regarding this topic that we covered today?

SPEAKER_00

Um, I just want my I think I just want my children to know that like this, you know, we've talked about the storytelling, but in terms of temple and family history work and missionary work and all of those things, that this is all one work and how grateful I am to them for listening, to listening and being a part of this work with me, um, giving me feedback or remembering the stories so that we can talk about them and laugh about them over and over again, but also those really beautiful moments. Um, just at Easter time, we we took all of our kids to the temple that were here. Our daughter that's on a mission wasn't here, and then our youngest babysat, the grandkids, but we did ceilings and um being able to look at them all gathered around the altar, my husband and I that was beautiful. And just to thank them for choosing for using their agency to choose this life and to choose this eternal life. And when things get hard, I hope they remember. I hope they remember those moments where they felt the spirit and want to keep seeking after it.

SPEAKER_01

Rachel, thank you so much for being on the show. And for all of you for tuning in, thank you so much for tuning into Temple Bound. I am so grateful for you to get to this point of the show. Please remember that you matter, that you belong in the family uh of our father, and that there is nothing that that that can ever take that away. So thanks all for tuning in until next time. Temple Bound is brought to you by the Light on a Hill Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at building and strengthening families across the globe. Produced by Heather Humphreys, with show notes and social media managed by Isabel Dizon and Kimberly Simbafon. Wardrobe by Anne Collar. These views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are on their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. Thank you for joining us today as we continue learning, growing, and striving to bind our lives closer to Saviour. Until next time.

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Will Humphreys

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