~by Michelle

Years ago, my father gave me a priesthood blessing. A key message of the blessing was that I would come to know how close God is, and how involved He can be in my life if I will let Him be. I have been thinking lately about how that blessing has unfolded over the years. I know He is there, but that knowledge has not come without struggle. As my dad often says, “To struggle is the program!”   I have lived a life full of unexpected opportunities and challenges (as we all do, I suppose). I didn’t think I would serve as an LDS missionary, but I did. Estoy agradecida por las oportunidades que tenía como misionera. Aprendía mucho, y me fe crecía mucho.

I didn’t think I would get a graduate degree, but I did. I felt guided toward something in which I had *no* interest in as an undergraduate student. (Surprise!) Getting an MBA (a Master’s in Business Administration) ended up being a tremendous blessing. As God guided me in my education, I discovered talents and passions I didn’t know I had. My education has impacted me in every facet of my life — in my personal growth and development, in my roles as a wife and mother, in my responsibilities at church, and in service opportunities in my community.

Of course, my education also benefited me in my professional pursuits. I never expected having to support myself, but was able to with a career that I loved. As a business consultant, I had amazing opportunities to travel to many different places (Italy was my favorite). I worked with and met many wonderful people.

During that time of my life, I lived on my own, hundreds of miles away from my family. I was grateful for the immediate and wonderful ward family I had. It was not easy being single while living in a place where there weren’t many single Mormon Church members, but I was surrounded by loving, supportive, faithful people who didn’t single me out because I was not married; they embraced me as a whole person. Ah, how I miss those people!

Even with the dearth of Mormon singles, I met my husband during this time through a connection from my mission. (We laugh that we grew up close to each other, but met while living far from home.) He came into my life at a time when I thought I wasn’t ready to open my heart; I had just ended a two-year relationship. But it became clear through personal spiritual guidance that I had met the man I would marry.

We didn’t expect children to come as quickly as they did; our three children were born in the first four years of our marriage. In those years, my husband also changed jobs three times, and we lived in three different states. I suffered from some postpartum depression. My first baby was colicky, and the transition from full-time consultant to full-time mom (I quit my job after baby #1 was born) was not always easy. Right before finding out we were pregnant with baby #2, I was received a calling to be the president over the Young Women organization in our new ward, among people I hardly knew. So many things happened all at once! It was an exciting but very stressful time. I sometimes felt so inadequate.

I have probably felt most inadequate through the years as a mother. Motherhood has not come naturally to me, but I have felt God’s hand in my life in helping me develop and grow in the eternally-important roles as wife, mother, nurturer, homemaker. These roles have provided me numerous opportunities for learning and growth, and as I have given my heart to my God in serving my family, I have come to cherish the roles all the more. I have been surprised to realize that as my children grow, they need me in more significant ways than ever…spiritually, emotionally, mentally. I reflect often on teachings of prophets about the important roles women play in God’s plan, and think about Mother Eve and her title as “the mother of all living.” These things influence not only the way I want to mother my own children, but also the way I interact with others’ children as well. in how I should serve and love those around me.

Through the course of my journey, even as a stay-at-home mom, I have felt God’s hand providing opportunities for me to keep my pre-motherhood self alive as well. People who know me know that I love talking about creative ways stay-at-home moms can continue to learn, grow, and keep skills and a good network active. It takes creativity and a willingness to be flexible, but I believe God cares about women as individuals, too. He can help us know how to prioritize our lives appropriately, how different times and seasons might play out in our lives, and how He would have us use our talents. Sometimes the answers are unexpected, but I am learning how God’s plans for me are so much better than my own in the end, and/or that He will refine and guide my plans if I will let Him.

He also has helped me and continues to help me through hard times. We have looked back with gratitude that our children came so quickly, because I have struggled with undiagnosed chronic illness for seven years. In our case, this illness has meant that we have not been able to have more children. This trial has tested my faith and endurance in many ways. I have learned that healing and other blessings don’t always come how or when I would like them to, but that the Lord is intimately aware of my struggles. He has given me guidance, help, strength, and blessings in unexpected ways as I have tried to hold onto faith through the hard times, to learn from my trials. I am learning not to resent difficult challenges, but to look more for His hand in my life, to trust God more in all the twists and turns that life has. In my struggles, I have found God.

I cannot adequately express what my faith means to me. My knowledge of the eternal purposes of life and of the Atonement of Jesus Christ has influenced every facet of my life, has led me through every decision, has sustained me through every trial, has enriched every relationship. I look back on that blessing my dad gave me so many years ago, and can testify that truly God is there, and that He cares about me and my fears, hopes, dreams, insecurities, pain, joy, passions, relationships — He cares about it all.

Knowing that He is by my side, I look forward to whatever the future may hold.

]]> http://mormonwoman.org/2010/03/03/portraits-of-mormon-women-michelle-2/feed/ 6 http://mormonwoman.org/2010/02/24/portrait-of-a-mormon-woman-michelle/ http://mormonwoman.org/2010/02/24/portrait-of-a-mormon-woman-michelle/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:00:01 +0000 mormonwomen http://mormonwoman.org/?p=5378

My name is Michelle. I’m a Mormon Woman, and I love our temples.

I first started going to the temple regularly after I was married.  My husband and I lived only five minutes away from the temple, and we went about once a month. It was easy to go, and we enjoyed spending the time together and being in the House of the Lord.

I got pregnant about nine months after we got married and I was terribly sick for my whole pregnancy. I rarely, if ever went anywhere other than work and church because I was so sick.  The temple was an “extra” and I fell out of the habit of going.

After my daughter, Ellie, was born,  I still couldn’t get back in the habit of attending the temple; I was  too afraid to leave my new baby for 2 hours at a time, I worried about the issues with nursing, and leaving her with a babysitter.

For a couple years, I had been having a pretty serious conflict with one member of my family.  I always considered myself optimistic, but found that I just wasn’t in a good place.  I kept feeling like this should be happiest time of my life, but I wasn’t happy.  I was consumed with feelings of anger towards this one particular person.

Time passed while my baby was tiny. I still read scriptures and prayed regularly, but I knew I needed to get back into the habit of attending the temple.

For me, the temple is a time to be by myself – away from distractions, and to feel peace. It’s a good reminder of the things that I believe in, and what my goals on earth are. Being in the temple reminds me of the person I want to become.  I feel inspired inside the temple.

Two years after the last time I had attended, my cousin was going to the temple for the first time and wanted me to go with her. I was so excited for her, and thrilled to attend with her! When my cousin had to postpone her special day by one day, I was so sad.  It made the experience of being in the temple together even better when we went the next day.

I remember clearly: the day we could finally get to the temple was a Thursday. I dropped off my baby, put a church CD on to listen in the car, and started feeling the Spirit strongly – couldn’t wait to get there!

The temple that I attend is on a steep hill, and I had to drive up that hill to get to the parking lot.  As I was driving, the song “Come, Come Ye Saints” started playing.  As soon as the temple came into my view, the chorus to the song started playing, and I heard the words Come, Come Ye Saints, like I was being personally invited to come to the temple.

I knew that I was supposed to be where I was right at that moment. I was so excited that I finally made it back after two years.  It is so easy to get out of the habit of doing what we’re supposed to do.

Attending the temple more regularly again has really helped me with not feeling anger. I feel peace from being there. My increased attendance hasn’t solved all my family issues, but it has helped me in the sense that it has taken my mind off of the negative. I’m not consumed with the problem. I’ve learned to deal with it, and learned where to turn for peace.

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For more information about Mormon temples, see this post.

For more portraits of Mormon women, please click here.

I’m Julie.  I’m a Mormon Woman, and I’m hopeful.

I’m hopeful that one day I’ll have a picture of our family where everyone is looking the same general direction.  I think it is too hopeful to wish that half the people might smile at the same time.

I’m hopeful that after I wash and dry two loads of laundry today, I will find the energy and desire to put those clothes away, instead of leaving them in laundry baskets until the day comes when we need to use those laundry baskets for something else — like pretend boats, or cars, or hiding piles of paper in the closet when someone knocks on the door.

I am always hoping to get my oldest to school on time, my middle child to swimming lessons before they’re half over, and that my youngest takes a decent nap just once a day.

I’m hopeful that I can accomplish three-quarters of the items on my to-do list today, hopeful that I’ll connect with my mother on the phone, and hopeful that when my husband and I collapse on the couch after putting the children to bed, we’ll be able to look into each others eyes and see a spark that invites kisses and conversation, instead of wanting to race to bed to see who can fall asleep first.

Most of all, I’m hopeful that I will be able to one day down the road have my children look at me and say, “My mom is a woman who knows – she knows Jesus , she loves Him, and she taught us to love and serve Him, too.”

I’m hopeful that my children will grow up and remember principles their dad and I teach them as we sit together each night reading from the scriptures, the LDS Church magazine for children, and sharing what we know about the gospel.

I hope, every morning, that I prioritize my day in a way that puts my family and the Savior first.  I hope we always have this much love and laughter, hugging and fun in our home.  I hope I can remember more frequently that the best place to be is on the floor cuddling my little children, and telling them how much I love them.

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For more Portraits of Mormon Women, please click here.

Where does one begin with an introduction…..? There are many details and history to my story, most of which I am sure will bore, so I will spare you as I am sure many of those specifics will unfold in time as I reveal elements of my testimony to you. It is precisely that history and those experiences that are intricately woven into the very being that sits and writes this rainy night from Austin Texas. I suppose if we were to meet in person and had the opportunity to share with you a few things about me… what would I want you to remember me by?  Sure, I could monopolize space on this page with all kinds of words as it pertains to my hobbies (which are many) or my talents (which are few) or all the things I am involved with, or past and present church callings and on and on…but none of that is really important to me. What I would want you to know about me is that I am happy, overwhelmingly so. I am a daughter of God; I know it, I feel it and am gaining an essential understanding of His love for me. That makes me happy and THAT is important to me!

As a snap shot into some other things, I am a demonstrative and loving mother of 5 gorgeous and delicious children whom I often want to eat . I am a high sensory person;  smell, touch, taste, sounds are all very much intoxicating for me and my babies (children) are no exception. I am very much in love with my husband, we have an easy, passionate, and beautiful relationship and adore one another. I am a relatively transparent person that is deeply feeling and expresses enthusiastically the things that are most important to me.

We have our share of challenges and trials but have been so very blessed and count those blessing daily. I am by nature a very grateful person and  am often saturated with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for providing such a beautiful plan of happiness. I am especially grateful for the tremendous example of others and continue to be inspired at their fortitude and strength as they pass through their refiner’s fires, it gives me strength to carry on.  I have an overwhelming desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and the things only my spirit can communicate.  I pretty much could do without anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is satisfying in the utmost interpretation and is at the crux of my existence.

Though I do not have all the answers in life, I am plugging along just like the rest of you, I do have one answer that means the most,  it is my faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ to which I owe my happiness. THAT is what I would want you to know about me, I am a Mormon Woman, I am happy and there is no greater happiness I could hope for.  The love I have for my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ consumes me and perpetuates a happiness that could not be produced any other way.

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For other portraits of Mormon women, please click here.

~by Karen Burton

My parents are first-generation Americans, both descended from Portuguese-speaking ancestors from the Azores which are islands about 1000 miles off the coast of Portugal.  As you might guess, that background comes packaged with a thick Catholic heritage.  I grew up going through all of the Catholic rituals of baptism, catechism and eventually confirmation.  My family attended church weekly, and though we never talked about religion at home, we knew that the church bonded us together by giving us a strong link to our past.  I am the oldest of five children in a very close-knit, tightly united family, which now embraces 4 different religions. As a mother to adult children I can more realistically imagine the struggle my parents must have had when I, unknowingly, started the trend against my religious upbringing by choosing another way.  But I would like to make it perfectly clear that I was not rebelling, per se, as much as I was looking for something more meaningful to my soul.  And I found it in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Once I was baptized, at age 19 (my Catholic parents in attendance I might add), I spent another year attending a private college in the Shenandoah Valley in my beautiful home state of Virginia.  But it wasn’t long before I realized that I craved a fellowship with my own kind, so my fabulous parents agreed to my request to attend BYU [Brigham Young University], and by the following summer they packed up the station wagon and the three of us went on a road trip to the Rockies.  There was a real symbolism to this trip as we drove farther west than any of the three of us had ever been before.  Just passing through Wyoming felt like a kind of reality check, and the gate to my new western life that, little did I know, would be my future home with my own little family someday soon.

I had been baptized by a young man I had fallen for in high school, and after he left on his mission to Japan I knew I had to get my feet planted firmly in the gospel in order to be prepared for my future.  I dug in at BYU and welcomed my missionary home at the beginning of my senior year, only to be engaged and unengaged in a matter of weeks.  His parents, still my friends to this day, were so good to call me regularly to see how I was feeling and to encourage me in my still-new membership in the church.  I was already all in, so I stuck it out at BYU and soon met my future husband, Gideon.  We were married in the Salt Lake Temple two weeks prior to my graduating with my bachelor’s degree in Education, and settled down in Provo for two more years while he finished his degree in English.  He is my best friend.

During these two years we welcomed the first of four sons to our family, and soon we were ready for an adventure, so we left for Los Angeles, where my husband earned his PhD in Rhetoric, Language, and Linguistics.  A few years later we took a job at BYU and carted our, by now, 2 little boys back to Utah where we bought a home in Springville.  We had 2 more sons during the next 4 years and have been in Springville ever since.  Our oldest son just returned from a mission to the Kenya Nairobi area, and our second son leaves next month to serve in the Mexico Monterrey mission.

While here over these past 15 years I have served in my ward in a variety of callings, including 1st counselor in the Primary, 1st and 2nd counselor in the Young Women, Gospel Doctrine Teacher, Relief Society President, and now a Relief Society teacher.  I also am a Special Education Kindergarten teacher.

I have been blessed beyond measure by having the gospel in my life.  It has given me purpose and promise.  Purpose in that I know I am to use my life to help others.  I know I am meant to teach my children about bigger things.  Promise in that I now know more about my Savior, who died for me.  I know he loves me still and that he is my advocate. How do I live a life full of thanksgiving for so many blessings?  Although the debt can never be repaid, I try and live what I believe.  And I believe in the principles demonstrated in the atonement.  Love, service, repentance and forgiveness.

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For more Portraits of Mormon Women, please click here.

My name is Lecia. I am 37 years old. I’ve been married for 17 years and I have four children, ranging in age from 15 to 4. I’ve long regretted the fact that I have no interesting hobbies to reveal, but I do love to read and write. I’m currently serving as first counselor in the Primary, where my little charges insist on telling me a lot more about their families than their parents ever wanted me to know!

I was born into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but I believe I was converted around the age of 16. At the time, I was serving as a youth tour guide at the Arizona Temple Visitor’s Center. Because of this, I was spending a lot of extra time studying the gospel and trying to find answers to questions that people of other faiths often ask about the church. I spent quite a bit more time than usual on my knees during that period of my life, and I just remember one night when I felt a sweet, peaceful feeling that what I was learning and teaching others was true. I have often found that the experiences I’ve had with the Spirit came with the sacrifice of extra time and effort on my part.

Inside my own head, I often think of my life as a quiet crucible. I haven’t experienced any of the truly heart-rending sorrows this world seems to hand out so readily – my children are healthy and sound, I have a loving and supportive family, and have never suffered abuse or handicap. What I do have is a sweet spouse who has been dealing with chronic pain for the last fifteen years. This long and tedious trial has certainly been worse for him than for me, but letting go of my ideas about being a full-time mom, and learning to carry all of the responsibilities that two parents would generally share has had its difficult moments, to be sure. But I have seen in my own life the Lord blessing me with compensating blessings, and that is what helps me when I feel down. I know Heavenly Father loves me and is aware of my struggles because of the many little hand-holds he leaves for me as I climb this mountain. For every hardship, a compensating blessing is given. For me, these blessings are simple, but many – I almost never get sick, so I have been able to run our household and take care of my family every day, with very few exceptions. My children were blessed with sharp minds, so the time that I don’t have to struggle through their homework with them isn’t missed, because they don’t need it.

This past year has added yet another blessing. Like so many others, my hours of employment shrank, along with my salary, and even my strictest budget tells me that I have a $300 shortfall every month. But somehow, after a whole year of this, I have yet to dip into my savings. I simply can’t explain it, but I know that I am living out my own story of the woman with a little bit of oil in her cruse that lasted until the famine was over. I’m afraid to even discuss it too much, it’s such a wonder.

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I was born in Magrath, Alberta, Canada but consider my home to be Calgary, Alberta. I am a junior high French teacher by trade but my career now is full-time mom. My current calling in the Church is 1st Counselor in the Primary Presidency.

I love photography (photographing my kids especially), making jewelry, traveling, eating out, watching movies with my husband, keeping active and being in the great outdoors.

Being challenged to read the Book of Mormon as a teenager during seminary changed my life and was the foundation of a rock solid testimony of the Savior and His teachings.

I love knowing that there is a plan for us on the earth – that families are forever. I love knowing that we aren’t perfect and that when we make mistakes we can go to a loving Savior who has made it possible for us to return to live with Him.

I know God loves me because I see it in the eyes of my children every day. I feel it in my heart as I kneel to pray, as we sit together for family home evening and I listen to my 5 year-old give the lesson, and as I sing “I Am a Child of God” every night to my son. I just know.
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For more Portraits of Mormon Women, click here.

Hiroko is a great woman for us to profile this time of year. Her life is an example of making goals and accomplishing them in the midst of great trials.

While Hiroko was raised by parents who were well-meaning, she felt throughout her childhood that she just didn’t measure up. This feeling affected every area of her life, but it especially impacted her relationship with food. Food was used as a means of control in her childhood home, as reward and punishment. During her childhood she was also haunted by depression which followed her throughout life, especially after the births of each of her 4 children. At her lowest point Hiroko weighed 218 pounds and was a size 24. It wasn’t just the weight that meant rock-bottom to her, that was just an outward sign of all that was afflicting her.

For years she felt that the depression was her fault, feeling that if she exercised more, prayed more, ate less, or read her scriptures more that her depression would go away. After the birth of her second child, during a bout of post-partum psychosis, Hiroko took an overdose of medication. Her cry for help was answered when she went to counseling and was prescribed medication to help her with her depression. She realized that the Lord had given her a different means of getting help. She realized that for her, counseling and medication didn’t mean she was bad or weak, but they were blessings from a loving Heavenly Father who wanted her to be happy again. Her priesthood leader, or bishop, has been a source of great comfort and counsel as well. Hiroko still struggles with seasonal and post-partum depression, but now she has knowledge and tools that help.

After trying many ways and means to loose weight Hiroko found something that worked for her. I’ll let her tell you about it:

I prayed for guidance, explaining to the Lord that he made my body and knew it better than I did, that I couldn’t do the weight loss on my own. I asked my husband for a blessing as part of my start to losing weight. Two months later, the local gym offered a weight loss contest similar to a popular TV show. I was blessed to be on the right team, blessed with the right trainer that used gospel principles, at times, in training. He taught fat-loss, not weight-loss, nutrition, wise choices, how to control my food, how to change my behaviors and the whole picture, not just weight loss.

Oddly, I found myself starting to deal with other emotional issues after losing the weight. Issues I drowned out with food. I thought my issues were all food related, but it became apparent that there was a layer underneath all the fat I used as an emotional shield. That has been a road in and of itself as I have learned that food isn’t a means of escape (although, every now and again, I find myself there again). I faced the issues hidden between all the chocolate cakes, gallons of ice cream and whole pizzas. I still keep in mind the gospel principles that coincide with weight training and exercise as I work out. It keeps my focus in both aspects.

Now Hiroko is working to help others meet their goals for weight loss. She is making progress towards becoming a personal trainer and nutritionist. Being a wife and mother to her four children comes first though. Because of what she has been through she teaches her children that food is energy, to be used in moderation. She also teaches that they should be grateful for their body, no matter what shape it is. She says, “I have been blessed with key LDS women in my life. Women who have been a beacon to me throughout the course of going through all that I have. Most of them don’t even know how much of an influence for good and strength they have been to me. It has been a very long road to finding me, finding myself, finding the Lord. Truthfully, it’s a road I’m still on, but I’m trying my best to find the end of it.”
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This is Hiroko’s advice for people seeking to lose weight:

Different things work for different people. Don’t beat yourself up. There’s always tomorrow. Keep a food journal. The most important thing is writing down the emotion and the event with everything you eat. If it’s a regular meal, or if you just had it out with your teen and went for the Oreo’s. Tapping into why we eat is key to changing the behavior and the pattern. Do this for at least 2 weeks before starting any program. It’s easier to change when we know what to change. Everyone’s pace is different. Go at your pace, what you know you are inwardly capable of (because you are more capable than you think you are!).

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For more Portraits of Mormon Women, please click here.

Hello, my name is Eva Ivanova and I am 58 years old. I live in Ostrava, Czech Republic, the birthplace of President Uchtdorf. I was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was almost 52 years old. In January 2003, as I was riding the tram to work, I saw an advertisement for English classes. The very first thing I noticed when I went to class was the sister missionaries. I was amazed by their radiance. It was hard to describe then, yet I know now it was the light of Christ. At the end of class, we were invited to attend an open house for the Church on a Saturday. I attended with my husband and it was marvelous. I loved hearing about Joseph Smith and the pioneers going west to the Salt Lake Valley. When I got home that day, I read the story about Joseph Smith being visited by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I then tried praying for myself. The next day was Sunday and I anticipated going to my first sacrament meeting. I felt the Holy Ghost strongly as I partook of the sacrament. I had no doubt that the seed had been planted in my heart.

The missionaries visited and taught me regularly after that. I learned something from them that I have never found anywhere else–love and understanding. I began studying the Book of Mormon and received my own testimony. I looked forward to learning the gospel every Sunday. In the end I realized that the Church was more important to me than anything else in my life. I was baptized on the 24th of May 2003 in a lake near Ostrava. On the way there I wondered if I was worthy of Jesus’ love and if I should even be baptized. I felt nervous until I was immersed in the water. It was then that all of my tension and anxiety seemed to wash away. My baptism was amazing! I felt happy and thankful for the opportunity to become a member of the Lord’s church. I learned that baptism didn’t automatically make me a perfect member, but that it was just the beginning. I wanted desperately to be a good member and to do God’s will.

I loved reading the Book of Mormon and hearing the words of the prophets. I also began attending institute (a religious class). I gained a desire to visit the temple and do ordinances for my ancestors. I was able to visit the Freiberg Germany temple one year after my baptism. I received my endowment on 10th of September 2004 and I performed baptisms for my mother, grandmother and other relatives the following day. I strongly felt my grandmother’s presence while I stood in as her proxy. I shed tears of joy. As I attended the temple during my week long visit, I was able to perform numerous ordinances and sealings. It was a beautiful, spiritual experience.

I am happy to have the privilege of being a member of the Church. It is a huge blessing for me. The Church has given me greater truths and feelings of joy. I have learned to talk with Heavenly Father through prayer and receive answers to my questions.

I feel humble before God, our Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ. It is my wish and my goal to be like them by choosing the right way. I love others and I wish to serve them. I am glad that I can be an instrument in God’s hands. I believe that God directs our steps and leads us where we need to go.

I was welcomed into our small branch (congregation) and now serve as the primary president. It is a big responsibility for me, but I am learning a lot. Our children are wonderful. I love them very much. I also like to teach investigators with the missionaries and participate in our branch’s activities. For a long time I edited the branch newsletter.

Love is fundamental. I pray that I might be selfless, compassionate, and loving and can have the strength to humbly endure all of my trials. I always want to be be worthy of God’s love. I continually think about God and my Savior. I am grateful that I have come to know the true church and I testify of the perfectness of this gospel. I am grateful for Joseph Smith who restored the gospel to the earth. I am also thankful for the prophet Thomas S. Monson who leads the Church today.

I feel the same as Alma in the Book of Mormon when he wrote:

“O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. But behold, I am a man and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me. I ought not to harrow up in my desires, the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction.” (Alma 19:1-4)

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For other Portraits of Mormon Women, please click here.

I am a 25 year old single Mormon Woman.  I love watching and playing soccer, BYU football, reading, playing piano and being with family.

I feel that God knows and loves me every time I am with my family. I see all the little things that come together to make up our family and I can’t help but believe that I was supposed to be a particular member of that group. I have 11 older brothers, and I am the only girl. All my brothers are married. All of them have children. As such—our family grows larger and louder every year. Gatherings are hectic and overwhelming. But more than that, they’re wonderful. My testimony is strengthened at every reunion, big or small, because I can’t think of anything more wonderful than being with that large, crazy, loud group for forever. And I know that it was a loving Father in Heaven who has made that a possibility in my life. Knowing that one day I will have a husband and children to add to that mix and to keep with me forever because of our Father’s love and our Savior’s sacrifice and example is the most wonderful part of the gospel to me. I feel like I belong, I feel like I’m important and I feel like I’m loved, not just by my earthly family, but by my Father in Heaven.

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For more Portraits of Mormon Women, please click here.