Hi, I'm Bobbie

I'm a college student. I love to dance crazily, sing, write, design, and volunteer. I'm the only Mormon in my family.

About Me

I am a college student majoring in Secondary Education and English with a minor in French Education. I love reading - especially the classics. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, The Scarlet Letter, and Les Miserables are the best stories in the history of ever in my opinion, of course. I enjoy writing poetry and random rantings about my life or life in general, but not nearly as much as I enjoy talking to my friends. I like cooking - even though many of my experiments end up discarded at the end of the day. I love graphic design and enjoy playing with Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator in my spare time - yes, just for fun. I know, I'm a bit of a dork. I hate to admit it, but I watch Dr. Who and think it is extremely entertaining but don't tell my little brother he'd make fun of me. I am an alumni of Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-ed service organization, and spent three summers working in PR for the local agency that provides Head Start and Early Head Start services to at-risk children and families.

Why I am a Mormon

I haven't been a Mormon my whole life. As a matter of fact, I'm the only Mormon in my family. When I was in high school, my parents got divorced. I had grown up my whole life believing that my parents were happy - that we were the Brady Bunch... but with only two kids. When they split, not only did I have to deal with the separation, but I also had to deal with the realization that my parents' happy marriage had never been quite as happy as it had seemed. I had built a lot of my faith and most of my dreams on my parents' stable marriage. Every hope and all the trust that I had built upon the seemingly steady foundation of my childhood and our family, including my dreams of true love, came tumbling down with the divorce.

We didn’t really go to church when I was a child, but we talked about God and sang Southern Gospel music in the car. I spent most of my childhood and early teen years just assuming that there was a God and that Jesus Christ had died on a cross in some far distant past. But when I slipped into a depression after the divorce, I questioned the very existence of God. I was jaded and bitter. I lost the simple joy, happiness, and love for others that I had carried with me in my childhood. It was replaced by negativity, distrust, and anger. I remember writing in a journal, “Being a grown-up has nothing to do with age. Some old people are not grown-ups. You only grow up when you have experienced something so horrible that you realize how bad the world really is.” I believed that I had grown up. The worst part was that I didn’t believe there was any way out of it. If this negativity and sadness, this hatred and anger was all part of growing up, it was irreversible. I had resigned myself to spending the rest of my life jaded.

But thankfully, Heavenly Father had another plan.

I had a few friends who were Mormon in high school. I used to have discussions with them about what they believed. They always seemed to know what to say to make me think. I remember sitting with one friend in the theatre during play practice one day. He started talking to me about the Mormon belief that families can be together forever. Something inside of me seemed to perk up. I began to ask questions frantically. What did he mean families could be together forever? How? Why didn’t everyone know this? How did he know? It made so much sense. I started attending an early-morning church class for high school students with him. For months, I asked question after question. Who is Joseph Smith? How did he translate the Book of Mormon? How can I know if it is true?

As I asked questions, I learned that I could ask Heavenly Father and he would tell me in my mind and in my heart by the power of the Holy Ghost whether or not the things I was learning were true. I prayed for months to know whether or not the Book of Mormon was true. As I read it and attended church, waiting for a miraculous vision to verify its truthfulness, my life changed. I became happier and smiled more. One day, while I was praying to know if the Mormon Church was true, I remember feeling the difference between how I felt as I prayed and as I read my scriptures and how I felt when I was at school or work. I realized that the spirit had been quietly confirming the truthfulness of the gospel all along. I just hadn’t been listening closely enough. Not long after this realization, I was baptized and became a Mormon.

So why am I a Mormon? Because my spirit recognized the truth of the gospel. Because my Heavenly Father loves me and is helping me grow to be who He wants me to be. Because my Savior lived, suffered, died, and rose for me and everyone else. Because families can be together forever. Because love doesn’t have to end in divorce or in death. Because Heavenly Father loves my family and will help sort things out in the next life. Because the circle will be unbroken. Because I am needed on this earth to be a light and a beacon of hope to those around me. Because there are people around me who are stuck in a world of darkness, despair, depression, anger, and hate – and I have the gospel that can bring them to themselves. Because I like to smile.

Personal Stories

How does making right choices help us make more right choices?

Before I was Mormon, I used to curse a lot. I had been raised in a home where cursing was unacceptable, but as I spent more and more time around my friends, my language became more and more crude. I remember cursing around one of my Mormon friends. He never asked me to stop, but for some reason, it felt wrong to curse around him – like I was cursing around a kid or something. I began apologizing whenever I would curse near him. As the annoyance of apologizing grew, I cursed less and less. Before long, I realized that I wasn’t cursing at all. I was so happy with the change that I had made and felt so good about my transformation that I found confidence to change other things in my life. With every bad habit that I changed, my ability to change others became stronger.

How I live my faith

I live my faith in my church, my community, and my personal life.

I go to church with other people who are 18-30 and unmarried. While we have six older, married leaders, most of the organization and planning is done by the young single adults. I have served in many capacities since I joined this group. Last summer, I taught a Sunday school class for approximately 30 people. That was so much fun because I really got to dig into the scriptures and share my own personal experiences that related. For the last year, I have served as the leader of the women’s organization where I serve approximately 30 sisters by planning activities, making sure that everyone’s needs are being met food, clothing, shelter, etc., and making people feel welcomed. I also serve on a committee that works to help 18-30 year-olds in a wide geographic area come to Christ.

Church isn’t the only place that I live my faith though. I volunteer in my community and have worked with organizations such as the American Red Cross, Project Linus, Alpha Phi Omega, and Head Start. I have also volunteered as a tutor at local elementary schools and as a visitor at local nursing homes.

More importantly, I seek every day to find little ways that I can enhance the lives of those around me. I am a firm believer that EVERYONE is a son or daughter of God. I strive to love every person I meet – even when that is difficult. I have found that the more I work on seeing the good in other people, the better people actually are. I love reaching out to my friends and acquaintances when they are going through difficult times. I love when I unknowingly answer a prayer. Heavenly Father will bless our lives with miracles, but most often, he does so through other peoples’ service. I strive to be an instrument in His hands, used to bless the lives of those who are within my realm of influence – Mormon and non-Mormon alike.

What is the Relief Society?

Bobbie answered...

I remember when I first joined the Church I was confused by all of the phrases that Mormons used. One of the ones that confused me was the Relief Society.

The Relief Society is the Lord's organization for women on the earth. It is an active group of women that were organized by the authority of God to influence the world. The Relief Society provides a place where sisters can increase their testimonies, strengthen marriages, families, and homes, provide service to one another and the world, and learn more about the gospel and other things.

The Relief Society meets in local areas every Sunday. These weekly Relief Society meetings are supplemented by local activities and additional meetings. There is a General Relief Society broadcast every year that is broadcast to Relief Society sisters all over the world. Every Mormon woman who is 18 years or older belongs to the Relief Society.
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Karen answered...

To me, Relief Society means friendship. It's an opportunity to know and love and learn from other women from so many different backgrounds and situations and ways of looking at life and yet they are truly my sisters! I can't tell you how many times I have been wrestling with an issue in my own life and there, during the course of our class or other conversation, comes the answer. I know that Heavenly Father so often works through others to answer our prayers, and to me Relief Society is a huge example of that. I'm grateful not only for those who reach out to me, but for the opportunies to reach out to others through Relief Society. It is an inspired program and a wonderful asset to my life!

What are some of the ways that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helps those around the world?

Spencer answered...

I had the opportunity to see first hand how the Gospel has changed lives in every way. I served for the church in South America and saw that the teachings of the gospel helped countless individuals in financial crises, relationship problems, health issues, quality of life, personal happiness, political and social issues, and every imaginable aspect in life. I saw people with addictions overcome them and change their lives. I saw the jobless gain work through help of the Lord and help of the church. I saw marriages improved and even saved. I witnessed the sick and inflicted cured through faith. And so, to answer what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does to help those around the world, I would testify that it blesses lives in every aspect.