There was a time a few months ago when I had been away from home more than usual. Being away during those four days or so was a drastic change because my husband had been working overtime so I’d had A LOT of time with the kids. It is easy to take them for granted when you’re around them during 95% of your waking hours.

On the Sunday morning of that week, my daughter and I went to our church meetings early for her youth choir practice. After practice was over she and I sat waiting for the rest of the family to arrive. When the meeting started and they still hadn’t arrived, I began to get a little nervous. Then I saw them coming down the aisle, handsome husband and adorable children marching to their seats. As my two-year-old daughter turned into the aisle and saw me her face lit up (two-year-olds give great greetings, even if it was a loud “Mommy!” in church). She had been bathed by Daddy and was wearing her new Christmas outfit, shiny as a new penny. Behind her followed my son, his cowlick sticking up (but that’s just characteristic for a seven-year-old boy, super glue couldn’t even keep that thing contained). My 9-year-old daughter looked pretty and excited, it was neat that she could understand the importance of listening to an apostle speak at this very special meeting. She leaned forward in her chair to find Elder Nelson and then smiled when she recognized his face from General Conference.

Baby sat at my feet and went through my purse, pulling credit cards from their segregated slots and crumpling up receipts she felt I held onto too long. It kept her happy so I didn’t care. My son sits still in church well, as long as someone is scratching his back, but I can only do that for so long. So he and my two-year-old gave out about the same time, just before Elder Russell M. Nelson got up to speak. My husband took the baby out while my son squirmed the rest of the meeting. Not so perfect, but my older daughters made up for it. The feeling I got when I saw their rapt attention on an apostle of the Lord warmed me through and through.

Today I could see the young woman my oldest daughter is becoming. Around this time, she got a cute new haircut and we spent hours scouring shops to find a dress she liked that was modest and fit well. She looked beautiful, and felt it too. It is great to see her stand tall, despite her towering height. We talked about her Personal Progress goals and she mapped out a short-term plan. This daughter of mine, who dragged her feet through several years, now has a determination to succeed. It isn’t a pronounced anthem to the world, but an inner knowledge that she can, and will, do it. Praise the heavens, I am so thankful for it. My nine year old is still working to find out who she is, having a great older sister to follow will be a help to her I’m sure.

It is hard to imagine when you hold a newborn in your arms that one day that child will be independent and strong, able to make their own decisions wisely and make a great life for themselves. But now, now that my children are a little older, I can see that vision for them as unique individuals. It is wonderful to watch them grow and learn everyday. To see them become people, unfolding to the world like a new flower. I hope to do my very utmost to enable all those great things in their lives. We’re all learning and improving in this family, hopefully I’m far enough on the path myself that I can help my children.

How I love them, I never would have known without being where I am right now. How great they make my life, I can’t even describe. How rich our future, only heaven knows.

Thanks to God for my family and our opportunity to be together forever.

The post A Mormon woman’s reflections on gratitude for family appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

~by Jess

Hi!  My name is Jessica but most just call me Messy Jess.  I grew up in the Mormon Church. I married in the temple at age 26 and eight years later I am happy to be a stay-at-home mom with four children. I like to be active and busy.  My two favorite things right now is photographing my children’s every move and working out at the gym.

As a child I moved over 45 times before I graduated from high school.  Life was hard.  Most of my life lessons were learned from my mother as she lived the gospel as a single parent.  Her life was full of grace and sacrifice and service.  It is because of my mother that I have become who I am today.

I gained my true testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ after I graduated from high school.  Until then the gospel was something that had been taught to me – the ways of my family.  I took care of many children in their homes as their caregiver.  I experienced different ways of lifestyles and religion.  I spent summers on the island of Nantucket where many churches bellowed their sermons and music filled the Sunday morning air.  I relished the time I spent wandering from church to church being a guest in their house of worship.  It made me question the way I was raised and made me think about God and his purpose.

I pondered how Joseph Smith must have felt with so many churches claiming to be the true church as well as the faith and desire he had to serve God and to know who He was.  I myself wanted to know God and to know what God wanted from me.  I wanted to know if the things my mother had taught me were true.  I needed to know for myself if the things written in the scriptures were true.

I think it is through trials that I have grown closer to God. I think he wants us to remember Him and he wants us to talk with him in prayer.  He has always given me what I needed to progress and learn and grow. He has placed people in my life to help me.  Friends, teachers, mentors, and family.  Even when I felt alone I was never forgotten.  There were gentle reminders if I chose to look for them.

I am grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to know that I have a loving Father in Heaven and the miracles of forgiveness is through my Savior Jesus Christ.  I am so blessed to be able to teach this to my children so that they know who they are and whom to look for when they need encouragement or comfort and even to know whom to give thanks to.

Having a testimony of the gospel isn’t just something you believe in….it’s the way you live day to day.  It is who you are.  A child of God.  I pray that you will have the courage to allow God’s spirit in your life.  Yours truly, Jess

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

One morning, a few months ago, I stood next to my husband, Dustin, in front of the mirror in our bathroom. I think we were both brushing our teeth. My thoughts for the previous several days had dwelt on men and women, their roles, their differences. You see, I had just read a book that was set in a different time when men had to be warriors. A time when they had to protect and defend their wives, families and country. Dustin and I were both bare shouldered because it was morning and we weren’t dressed yet. As we were standing next to each other in front of the mirror, I couldn’t help but observe the differences between him and me, a man and a woman. His shoulders are broad, well-muscled and strong. While I am a fairly strong woman, I relished the study of his shoulder versus mine. I looked so small next to him. So delicate. So… feminine.

A friend of ours recently passed away, leaving behind a wife and two small children. As we went to the viewing and hugged each of his family members who attended his body, his newly-widowed wife hugged me fiercely and, through her sobs, conveyed to me that this just isn’t fair! She didn’t want this! This wasn’t supposed to happen! They were supposed to grow old together! She isn’t supposed to be a widow at 28 years old! Her feelings of confusion, anger, heartache and sorrow washed over me. All I could do was sob and tell her, “I’m sorry.”

If tragedy were to strike my family as it did our friends’, I know I could take care of myself and that I could provide for my children if the need arose. I’ve always known that and I have confidence in myself and my capabilities. That being said, the events of the last few weeks made me realize that I cherish being taken care of. It is a joy, a privilege, and a blessing. I treasure that my husband’s main desire is to provide for his wife and his children. I honor the fact that he is a man who wants to be the breadwinner. I relish my role of being a feminine woman who knows she can take care of herself, but allows her husband the honor of doing it for her.

And, for me in my life, the complete awareness of my own capabilities coupled with the choice to be dependent on my husband, despite what I can do or be, is a choice I make willingly and gratefully.  A choice that has born the sweet fruit of joy and mutual respect between him and me, a husband and a wife.

Clancy grew up right in the middle of her family of seven… mom, dad, sister, brother, Clancy, sister, brother.  She is now the happily married mother of three and a half children ages 9, 7, 4 and a baby due in March.  Her interests include (but are not limited to) writing, singing, being with her family and playing Ultimate Frisbee.  Having been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints her whole life, she is currently enjoying the fulfillment of her calling as Ward Choir Director.

The post First Person: Shoulder to Shoulder appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

My name is Amanda and I am an LDS woman. I have been married to Bryan for ten years and we have three children – a boy who is 8, a girl who is 6, and another boy who is 4. I was born and raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My mother is an active member of the Church and showed her testimony and faith to us by taking five children to church meetings each week by herself.  Her doing this showed me how important the church is to her. My father is a baptized member of the church but doesn’t attend church. He always supported my mother in bringing us to church and would help to get us ready, but he never attended with us. It would have been much easier for my mother, I suspect, to stay home and not bother. I am so grateful to her that she didn’t take the easy road.

I was raised in Utah, where almost everyone (then) was a member of the LDS church. We went to church with our friends and neighbors. I loved being with so many people that shared my beliefs and standards. It was a safe place for me. When Bryan and I had been married for eight years, we moved from Utah to Oregon. Here, we are not surrounded by members, and that has been a hard adjustment for me. I miss going to church with my neighbors, but I have enjoyed branching out and meeting people from all walks of life. It has given me the chance to really show people what is important to us as well.

When I find myself with down time, I love to read and watch movies. I get nightmares easily though so nothing too scary! I spend time reading every single day. I also play volleyball in a league with other women each week. I love the physical activity and it gives me a breather from my regular life that I need. I am a crafty person, so I do some quilting and scrapbooking. I am not a perfectionist though so my quilts are always far from perfect. And that’s okay with me.

I am a stay-at-home mother – a homemaker. I enjoy it. Sometimes I find myself wishing that we had more money and I consider trying to find an outside job. I am a trained hairstylist and I miss regularly doing other people’s hair. I find that I when I am considering finding a job, the Lord reminds me why it is important for me to be in the home with my children. I enjoy taking care of them and being there for them. It is good for me, and I find that I am constantly learning new things about my “job.”

In church, my calling right now is Provident Living [preparedness] Specialist. I am new at the calling and I am not really yet sure what it means. I hope to help the women in my ward to build a three-month supply, [see this article as well], to learn to garden and be self-reliant, to use food storage, and to know how to budget and be responsible with money. We’ll also focus on exercise, nutrition and emotional and social health. I am also on the RS meeting [formerly Enrichment] committee, which is where a group of us plan midweek activities for the benefit of the ward Relief Society sisters.

In a former calling a few years ago, I was serving in the Young Women organization of the ward I was in. Our stake president [who oversees about 10 local congregations (wards/branches) issued a challenge for the youth to read the entire Book of Mormon over a summer. It meant reading a lot of pages each week to finish in the amount of time presented. I didn’t feel like I could issue a challenge to the young women in my group and not do this myself. Before this time I had not read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover, because when I study scriptures, I tend to research a specific topic that I want to know more about. Over the course of the summer, I was able to develop the discipline that I needed to read the book in such a short amount of time. I was able to have a greater understanding of verses that beforehand I would have found confusing. I was also able to feel the truth of the book – I now know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is scripture; another account of the Savior, a companion to the Bible. And I know this to my core.

I love being a LDS woman because I love knowing that I am part of a worldwide sisterhood. I love knowing that there are many people out there that believe what I believe, that understand and can help me. I love that I know that I can be with my family forever if I make the right choices here. I love going to church and feeling that spiritual uplift that encourages me through another week. I know the reason I am on earth, and I know where I am going when my life is done. I know that the Lord loves me.
___
For more portraits of Mormon Women, please click here.

The post Portraits of a Mormon Woman: Amanda appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.