Hi, I'm Rose

I just graduated in the top 5% of my class. I love to travel. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I'm a recent college grad with a BS in mechanical engineering. I'm working at any job I can find until I land my dream job. I love to travel and have been to many countries including a semester abroad in France. Being outside is another of my passions and so long as it's outdoors, I love doing it. When I can't be out living the adventure, I am most definitely reading about one. I spend more time than I should with my head stuck in a book.

Why I am a Mormon

Most glaringly, I'm a Mormon because my parents are but really, that's not true at all. It is true that both of my parents are active Mormons though my dad converted in his twenties but it isn't true that that is the deciding factor of why I'm a member. In fact, it doesn't even make the top three.
The first reason that I'm a Mormon is because I know it is the Lord's church on earth today. Each time I have gone in prayer to my Heavenly Father asking if this was His church, He has answered that it is. Sometimes this has been a profound spiritual experience but most often it is a simple, quiet, peaceful feeling.
I am a Mormon because it makes me happy.

Personal Stories

Can you talk about the missions of the Church and your participation in them?

Missions are one of the greatest sources of strength in the church world wide. I chose to serve at the age of 21 after graduating from college. It is to this point the greatest blessing in my life. The process begins with a thorough application process designed to provide an accurate picture of spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. This application is sent to Church headquarters where it is reviewed and eventually given an assigned area of service by one of the living apostles. It was so exciting waiting for my "call" to come in the mail. I was anxious to find out where I would be asked to spend the next year and a half of my life!
Opening that letter opened a love in my heart for the people in the area where I served that has only continued to grow. I received a strong impression that the call had come from God and that this was the place that I should serve. I had about four months between receiving my call and reporting to the Missionary Training Center. I spent two months in the training center studying the gospel and the language of the country where I'd serve twelve hours each day. It was incredibly challenging as education was redefined from basically competitive in nature to entirely based on team performance and individual potential. I learned more of the language there in two months than I did in three years of college courses.
I served as a proselyting missionary, which means I spent most of my time teaching other people about our Savior Jesus Christ. Oftentimes this meant knocking on doors or contacting people on the street where we of course got every reaction imaginable. Doors were slammed, people were rude, but doors and hearts were opened as well. Meeting just one person willing to listen could change a bad day into a good one.
The faith and humility of the people I met were continually inspiring. Peoples lives changed as they accepted the truth of the gospel. Drug addictions were overcome, families were healed, and light turned on in peoples eyes. I saw illustrated every day the blessing of living truthfully and the consequences of rejecting truth.

How I live my faith

Living my faith is something that happens every minute of every day. Being new to my current ward I'm in the getting to know you phase. I recently emailed two new girls, who have been assigned to me to visit once a month, as well as my companion assigned to go with me. This "visiting teaching" as we call it has more often than not led me to my best friends in a new area. I'm still waiting for the bishop, the local leader of our ward, to give me my official service responsibility. I hope that it's teaching the women's organization since that's one of my favorite things to do. Whatever it is, I'm excited to find out and get to work!
As a young single person my faith also helps me to fill my free time with uplifting faith building activities. Family Home Evening a program that encourages families to spend an evening together is a little different for me. I currently attend a ward comprised nearly entirely of single people between the age of 18-30. Because this age group is often no longer living with their families, we get together on Monday nights for a short lesson and a game forming a pseudo family each Monday. This week we played capture the flag in a park. It was outside so I loved it!
In addition I attend a bible study class one evening each week. The current theme is "the gospel and a productive life." It has addressed such issues as time management, becoming self reliant, and discovering and developing talents. I've learned so much as the teachings of the Bible, the Book of Mormon and modern prophets have been applied to such real life issues. With activities like these, every time I've moved to a new area, whether it was France or New Mexico, I've had an immediate social support network. It's been like having a group of best friends just waiting to meet you when you move in.
My faith also leads me to serve. In high school I headed up a project to ship all the outdated science textbooks to Africa. In college, I volunteered at the Youth Detention Facility, with Family Literacy, and Adaptive Aquatics, a one on one pairing with developmentally challenged children to let them swim for an hour each week. The more I learn of my savior Jesus Christ the more I want to become like him and lose my life in the service of others.
The greatest experience of my life was an opportunity to do just that. For one and a half years I had the privilege of being a full time missionary for the church. Focusing on Christ every waking hour changed who I am. Nothing is more precious to me than the memories I now have of people emerging from impossible situations through faith in Christ. He truly is the light of the world.

Can a husband and wife be together forever? Do Mormons believe that families will live together in heaven?

Rose answered...

Yes and yes. We believe that if a couple is married in the temple they are given the possibility of an eternity together. Through temple ordinances every couple will be given the chance to accept this blessing. My brother died when he was fourteen in a bike accident. It was really tragic but my families knowledge that we would still be a family in heaven helped ease our pain. In fact we put on his tombstone, "God be with us until we meet again." We believe he is already with God and we are reminded to live so that we, too, can make it to be with him.
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Amanda answered...

YES!!! This is one of my favorite parts of the gospel. I believe that my family will live together in heaven. I will know my family as my family members. My husband is my husband for now and for all eternity. My children are my children here on earth and for all eternity. I know that if something happened to one of us that I will see them again. I love this about the church. Before joining, I always had a question about this concept and when taking the discussions from the missionaries this came up. Makes me love the church more and more.

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Terry answered...

Mostly because of misunderstanding and lack of knowledge about the Church. It's easier for people to believe what they hear from other people (who heard it from someone else, who heard it from another person that read it on the Internet...) instead of making an effort to find out from the source.

In addition, there are small, secretive groups that are not part of our Church that use a modified form of the name of the Church for their own group, and have practices that are similar to our worship services and practices. These groups may be involved in illegal activities, especially polygamy, and when the media reports on them, they do not make an effort to distinguish between these groups and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.