~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 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.

The post Portraits of Mormon Women: Michelle appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

~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.

The post Portraits of Mormon Women: Karen appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Here’s a glimpse of what you will read in the article:

Fortunately, the Supreme Court has never held that citizens could not join together to translate their moral beliefs into laws or public policies even when those beliefs are derived from religious doctrine. Indeed, there are many sophisticated and articulate spokesmen for the proposition that the separation of church and state never intended to exclude religiously grounded values from the public square. For example, I offer the words of Richard John Neuhaus:

“In a democracy that is free and robust, an opinion is no more disqualified for being ‘religious’ than for being atheistic, or psychoanalytic, or Marxist, or just plain dumb. There is no legal or constitutional question about the admission of religion to the public square; there is only a question about the free and equal participation of citizens in our public business. Religion is not a reified ‘thing’ that threatens to intrude upon our common life. Religion in public is but the public opinion of those citizens who are religious.

(This article was written in 1992, but the principles may still be of interest, even as some of the specifics of recent important public policy issues are not included.)

As an FYI, Leaders of our Church attended the inaguration of Barack Obama. You can read more about that here and here.

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We welcome your thoughts, but we do moderate comments. Please keep your comments respectful.

The post <i>Review, Reflect, and Report</i>: “Religious Values and Public Policy” appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this talk. Also, do you have any thoughts or resources on the topic of hope you would like to share? Use the comment form, or send us an email at ‘mormonwoman’ AT ‘gmail’ DOT ‘com’

The post <i>Review, Reflect, and Return</i>: “Faith, Hope, and You” by Richard C. Edgley appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

The post <i>First Person Essay:</i> “Come, Let Us Anew” appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

But here’s our first “Review, Reflect, and Return” post. We want to share articles, talks, videos, etc. that we have found interesting and meaningful, and invite you to share your thoughts and feelings about them. Simply use the comment form below, or you can email us at ‘mormonwoman’ AT ‘gmail’ DOT ‘com.’ The hope is that we can learn and benefit from each other’s reflections.

This week, we will focus on two talks, actually, both by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

The first we think is a fitting message for a new year, especially given all the difficulty we have seen recently with economic struggles, political unrest and conflict worldwide, and many other challenges. President Uchdorf’s message, “The Infinite Power of Hope” reminds us that hope can be an anchor in our lives, even — or especially — in difficult times. We look forward to enjoying your thoughts about this powerful principle.

His second talk, “Happiness, Your Heritage” was directed to women, and was one that touched a lot of people. We would love to hear your thoughts about it. How does this talk help you think about your day-to-day life? Your talents? Making choices about how to spend your time? How do creation and compassion help you find happiness and peace in your life?

Whether you are LDS or not, we hope you take the opportunity to read these articles, and come share your thoughts with us.

If you have an article, talk, video, or other material you think would be good for this feature, please let us know!

The post New Feature: <i>Review, Reflect, and Return</i> appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

It’s the time of year when people set goals and have great plans for change and progress, and we at Mormon Women are in that mode! We wanted to give you a glimpse at what things you can look forward to here at our website. And we want your help!

At the beginning of each week, we will invite people to share their thoughts, experiences, and feelings about different topics. So, for example, this week, we would love to hear about your thoughts on the new year. Do you do resolutions? If so, what is on your goal list this year? If not, how do you mark the new year? Have you read an inspirational post on the topic? (Over the next couple of weeks, we plan to share some links, so if you are aware of a link, let us know and we’ll consider it.) On questions of the week, feel free to use the comment form (comments are moderated, so they may not show up right away) or you can email us at ‘mormonwoman’ AT ‘gmail’ DOT ‘com’

We’d also be interested in what kinds of things you want to share or read. What questions do you think would be worthwhile to discuss here? (Again, you can comment below or email us.)

On Wednesdays, watch for inspirational spotlights on Mormon women, complete with photographs capturing a moment in their lives. (If you know someone we could spotlight, please email us!)

At the end of the week, we will have a “Review and Report” feature. We will share an article, talks, video or other media and invite you to read, listen, or watch — and then come share what was meaningful to you. (If you have a talk or article you want to recommend, once again, please email us.)

We have other plans in the works, so come back often. And if you have any suggestions or requests of what kind of content you would like to see here, please feel free to email us.

We hope that 2009 will bring you all wonderful things, fulfilled goals, and some uplifting and enjoyable content here at Mormon Women. We hope you will participate with us in sharing and learning from each other.

The post Happy New Year! appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Temples are sacred structures to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Once dedicated, entrance is only available to those who are members of the Church living by certain standards. This isn’t out of a desire to be restrictive, however. Boyd K. Packer explains:

A careful reading of the scriptures reveals that the Lord did not tell all things to all people. There were some qualifications set that were prerequisite to receiving sacred information. Temple ceremonies fall within this category.

We do not discuss the temple ordinances outside the temples. It was never intended that knowledge of these temple ceremonies would be limited to a select few who would be obliged to ensure that others never learn of them. It is quite the opposite, in fact. With great effort we urge every soul to qualify and prepare for the temple experience.

It’s understandable that there is interest and curiosity about Mormon temple worship. Before temples are dedicated, the Church holds open houses to allow anyone (member or not) to take a tour and see the inside of the temple, and learn a little more about why temple worship is so important to Mormons.

The Draper, Utah temple will hold its open house for the public beginning on January 15, 2009 and ending on March 14, 2009.

For those who are interested in attending the open house, attendance is free, but tickets are needed to help manage crowds. Advance reservations (which are requested by open house organizers) can be made online at www.lds.org/reservations (there is a limit of ten reservations online) or by calling 1-800-537-6181 (toll free) or 801-240-7932 (local).

If you are unable to attend, and/or are interested in seeing some photos of the inside of a Mormon temple, see this article. You can also find more pictures here at the MormonWiki (the article contains other links as well.)

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Read what Mormon women have written about the temple here.

Or you can search on the topic at lds.org or watch a video about one woman’s joy at discovering that, through temple ordinances, her marriage could last forever.

The post What Does the Inside of a Mormon Temple Look Like? appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

The author E.B. White (1899-1985) once said:

To perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year.

Is it difficult to see Christ in Christmas when focused on the wrapping? Perhaps. But, perhaps contrary to popular belief, I don’t believe these thoughts have to push out the “true meaning” of Christmas. Instead, they can evoke a feeling of love, service, excitement, childhood faith, and a longing for peace.

It is true that there are times, amidst all the wrapping of gifts, the baking of goodies, and the stringing of lights when our anger, frustration, and exhaustion can catch up with us. We wonder if any of the traditions are even worth it! How could these details possibly remind us of the Infant Jesus? How does it remind us of His life and mission?

But it only takes a moment to see the hidden treasures inside of the stress and chaos.

For example: We stress over service, but laugh with joy at a gift given. We worry over a performance, but rejoice with an evening of spectacular music. We sacrifice time to decorate and bake, but we are surrounded by family and friends, enjoying the symbols of love and peace (and eating good food!).

For many, truly celebrating the birth of Christ means moments of quiet reflection. It means focus upon what the birth of a Savior did for us. This is good! But with that focus, I believe we can see significance in family traditions, inspirational Christmas concerts, fun parties, gifts, decorations, and food. With all of it can come a unity and a desire to be better than we are —and isn’t this what the Christmas season is all about?

I can understand people simply fleeing the mountainous effort Christmas has become… but there are always a few saving graces and finally they make up for all the bother and distress.
– May Sarton (1912-1995)

-by Cheryl

The post Unwrapping Christmas Chaos appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

There is also a video about Angela that MormonSoprano has shared here.

See more sculptures and find out more about Angela’s work and her non-profit foundation.

The post Interview with Angela Johnson, Sculptor and Singer appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.