While you could use the journal, you might have some concerns. I've made comments on your questions below.
michaelfish wrote:I'm considering using the journal feature in Notes and Journal instead of my old way.
Currently, I've been recording journal entries on an almost daily basis. If I were to switch over and use the church's application,
1. Would there be a limit as to storage space (what about pictures and such)
I don't believe anything has been published about storage space limitations. There is no facility to do attachments, such as pictures, that I'm aware of. Daily text entries aren't going to consume a lot of space, so I doubt the church is going to limit it.
michaelfish wrote:
2. Would I be able to transfer my historical journal to the church's (10 years)
You would have to do that manually. It would be a lot of work. I'm not aware of any way to edit the date of your journal entry, so you'd need to include it in the title or body of all your notes.
michaelfish wrote:
3. Each week, I email out my latest entries to my kids. Would this be possible and how?
You would need to copy the contents of your journal entry into an email application and mail it to them. You would not be able to do this directly from the journal.
michaelfish wrote:
4. Would this still be able to be accessed on all my devices.
If your device has a web browser and an internet connection, you should be able to access it. If you're talking about making annotations with a mobile device and Gospel Library, you could probably do that offline and it would sync when you have an internet connection. I'm not sure if that tool allows you make journal entries (I tend to use the mobile devices as a "read" device and a computer with a web browser as where I create my content because I like having a big screen, full keyboard, mouse, etc.)
michaelfish wrote:
5. Will a copy be stored on a device as a backup (for my kids when I die)?
This was discussed a while back on another thread. As far as we know, once you die and the church records are updated with your death, we believe your LDS Account is deactivated and your notes and journal go goodbye. I don't believe anyone from the church ever commented on that thread, but that's our belief.
michaelfish wrote:
It has been suggested to me to use "cloud" storage and to access one file since I travel a lot, but was wondering if this would be smarter than using cloud storage...
The church online journal is essentially "cloud" storage. You'll need to have an internet connection wherever you go to read or edit your journal (unless Gospel Library facilitates this offline). Depending on where you travel, that could be an issue.
There are a few could-type options you have besides the church online journal, which you might want to also consider:
- Word processor with cloud backup. Just take your notes in a word processor. Cut and paste into your email to mail to your kids. Online backup of your word processor files is your cloud backup of your journal. As long as you pay the bill, you're backed up.
- EverNote: You can write journal entries whether connected or not and they will later sync. There's a client for many devices, as well as a web interface. It's cloud storage. You can email from within EverNote and there are other sharing options. There's a free and a paid version, depending on features and security that you want.
- OneNote: This is a very popular tool with many people and Microsoft is now making OneNote clients more available for non-Microsoft operating systems and devices. There's a way to sync data with the Microsoft cloud offering. Offhand, I'm not certain if it has a built-in way to share.
- Private Blog: You could set up an online blog and keep it private to your family members. Depending on the tool, it could automatically notify/etc. your family members. It's online and presumably backed up. It would be best to find out the backup policies of whatever blogging tool you choose.
The church tool was called
Notes and Journal for a while, but it was renamed to just
Notes. I don't know if this was to discourage people from using it as a personal journal? It still has the option to add a journal entry.
The appealing part of using the church tool for a personal journal is that you can tag and search it along with your other gospel study.