Come, Follow Me” Sunday School lesson for December 31 - January 6

The first thing mentioned in the lesson is to record your impressions. These impressions are revelations. (impressions, revelations, and notes will be used interchangeably in this article.)

What is the purpose of recording revelation?
When you record revelations you are showing that you treat them as special, sacred and of great importance. Also, the very act of recording clarifies the thought and helps in remembering what you received. Of equal importance, it is a record of your past, so in the future they can be a reference for you and guide for your prosperity.

Where to Record Your Impressions?
There are several methods for recording your revelations.

Pen and paper
For many, a good pen and some paper, invites one to write. Having the paper bound in a journal adds to the joy. There is, a benefit to hand-written notes, studies have shown that hand-written notes help you to remember what you have written.

The downside of pen and paper is it requires good penmanship, which is no longer prized in our society. Also the ability to find something years later is a very time-consuming task, and lastly notes can easily be destroyed by fire and flooding.

Recording Digitally
Recording digitally has many advantages. I believe the biggest one is you can find something quickly via the search function. Second to that is the ability to backup copies in various locations which helps to prevent loss as a result of some disaster.

If you like to hand-write your notes there is an app for that. Using a tablet and special pen and one of the several note taking apps you can hand-write a note in a digital journal. Also, many of the apps can also convert the hand-writing to text if you would prefer to preserve the note in printed form, thus satisfying both sides of the coin.

Recording a digital note can be typed or through dictation. Dictation takes a little practice because you also have to indicate where to place the punctuation, but the rewards are great once you learn how to do it.

In addition to typing a note you could also create a voice recording or a video. The downside to these formats are locating a specific note, so using them to record revelation would not be the best of use of either one. However, I do believe they have their place. Recording your testimony or sharing some events in your life as a audio or video recording would greatly be prized by your prosperity.

How I Record My Notes
It is my opinion that recording impressions in a digital format is superior to using pen and paper. So the question for me becomes which app do I use to record my impressions.

I use the Gospel Library for all of my scripture studies. If I get an impression while studying the scriptures and the impression is related to particular word or verse, then I record it in a Note linked to the text and add a Tag or Tags. In the future, I can easily locate the note through the Search function or using the Tags.

In general, if the revelation is not related to the scriptures I use my digital journal “Day One.” For example, if the impression is about something that I need to change in my life I would record it in my journal. The Day One journal has excellent Search and Tag functions, in addition to many other features.

However, there are times that the revelation and verse are loosely related. In that instance, I record in Day One and create a Day One link and copy that link to a Note in the Gospel Library. I then add a brief explanation in the Gospel Library Note about the revelation.

Sometimes I also copy the scripture to my Day One journal. For iOS users, I created Shortcut the cleans up the copied scripture before pasting into the journal. For more information, and to download the Shortcut go to "iOS Shortcut for Day One Journal.

(NB: Currently links to apps outside of the Gospel Library are problematic. The link will work, but you will first get a notice that says, “Cannot Open Content.” For the link to work do the following. Place and leave your finger on the link. The notice will appear, ignore it and continue to keep your finger on the link for a few seconds, then release your finger and a menu will open, then tap on “Open”.)

It is beyond the scope of this writing to talk about the features of Day One. There are many digital journaling apps available for all systems, however, Day One is, in my opinion, the best. It is available for iOS and Android.

For hand-written notes that can convert to text, I suggest you take a look at “Good Notes” or “Notability.” I have used both. The one you pick will be according to your personal preferences. Google “Good Notes vs. Notability” to find a review comparing the two or take a look at this article.

Regardless if you use pen and paper or a digital form of note taking. It is important to write your impression even if they do not appear to be earth shattering. Remember revelations come line upon line, a seemingly little thought can over time, bring great results.

So, open your scriptures, get your writing instruments open, and be prepared for the kind, thoughtful advice and help that will follow.