Journal Keeping in "Cold" (true crime podcast) is this a Latter Day Saints thing?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Ever since the first season of Serial, I’ve listened to a lot of true crime/cold case podcasts.

Currently i’m listening to a podcast called “Cold” about a husband that allegedly killed his wife and then (when police were closing in) himself and his two children.

One remarkable thing about true crime podcasts and especially the cold case ones, is people’s ability to recall minute details about things that happened many years ago (when i can barely remember what i did yesterday). But that super-human recollection isn’t needed in this case, as seemingly everyone (including the dead) kept detailed day-to-day journals about their lives/thoughts/feelings/everything. The husband mentioned above even left behind hours and hours of audio recordings that are journal-like in nature.

I’m about 3 episodes in (over 3 hours) and so far they haven’t mentioned anything about this being peculiar. Many of the people in this “story” are either members of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or former members. Is this thorough journal keeping something that’s common in that religion? Or is it just a weird idiosyncrasy of seemingly every family member covered in this podcast?

2

Yes, it is common for LDS members.

https://www.deseretnews.com/top/1326/0/9-quotes-from-LDS-Church-leaders-about-the-importance-of-keeping-a-journal.html

3

Thank you! These people left behind incredibly thorough documentation that (with 20/20 hindsight) does not show them in a favorable light, and it was driving me crazy wondering why they wrote/recorded all these things for years and years and kept them.

4

Yup. We were required to keep journals as missionaries, although no one ever checked.

Not everyone does, though. Neither of my parents did.

Interestingly, according to one formerly high-ranking official who has quit the church, the top leaders are told now to not keep journals. It’s a matter of liability if the church is sued for something.