Hi, I'm Barbara

I'm happy to be a Mormon.

About Me

I am sixty two years old and live in the Isle of Anglesey, in North Wales, part of the United Kingdom. I joined the church when I was twenty six years of age in Liverpool where I was working at the time. I was an extremely worldly person who had lost any belief in God. A temporary clerk introduced me to her family and friends who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was impressed by their happiness and a wonderful atmosphere that surrounded them. Walking through the chapel with my colleague one day I heard a song being sung, 'I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me...' As a child I had feelings for Jesus and my heart was touched by that song. I wanted to know more...

Why I am a Mormon

Everyone is tried and tested in life and that applies just as much to members of the Lord's church as to anyone else. Before I joined the church I decided that if I wasn't married by the time I was thirty I would kill myself. I am a pensioner now and I still have not married. The thing I wanted most in life has been denied me and I have been extremely distressed lots of times over the years. However, I am still here! Being a member of the church helps you carry on even in the midst of the most awful experiences. Where my own family have failed to be as supportive as I would have wished, the 'family' of church members have been unfailing in being there for me in all my twists and turns.

I have applied the teaching of the Lord which says, 'If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine...' I know therefore that God lives and he has performed miracles for me and has guided me through stormy waters. I have an eternal perspective - I know I shall have my heart's desire sometime, maybe not here in mortality.

Personal Stories

In what ways have your prayers been answered?

When I first encountered Mormons I was a heavy smoker. I would smoke rather than eat. The only good thing about this was that I was very slim. After I had agreed to be taught by the missionaries I had a premonition that on a particular day that they were going to come and challenge me to give up smoking. I lived in a bedsitter in Liverpool and went upstairs to a friend's room and asked her if I could have my last cigarette with her.
Sure enough the missionaries came and taught me what is called 'The Word of Wisdom' which is the Lord's law of health for our day. This included giving up the use of tobacco. Even though I was very new in my relationship with God, for some reason in prayer that night I said the words 'please help me to forget that I smoke. ' Half way through the next day a colleague came and asked me if I wanted a cigarette, and I surprised myself in being able to say 'no, I don't smoke anymore.' So new, but complete was my cure of smoking that I could sit with a crowd of friends and when cigarettes were passed around I would go to take one out of habit, but then stop myself and say, 'I don't smoke anymore' and pass the packet on to the next person. It did not trouble me sitting in the midst of a crowd of smokers. Years later I woke up one morning after having a nightmare in which I had started to smoke again. I knew that if I smoked just one cigarette I would become a smoker again. I know that the Lord's law of health is as valid to our salvation as any of his other laws and it means everything to me to obey and receive the blessings of obedience than having the freedom to smoke.

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

Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom - a quote from Proverbs chapter 4, verse 7. Wisdom is the applied use of knowledge. I feel that it makes common sense to want to spend forever in the best place, being happiest and most comfortable. Once we have learned for ourselves that God is right about what he says - and that comes by practicing what He preaches, it becomes second nature to do the right things. The more we do the Lord's will, the more we see the wisdom of everything he asks of us.

Please share your feelings/testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel.

The teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints slot into place with each other. Everything feels right. I thought the stories about Joseph Smith far fetched when I first heard them but I soon learned that they are true and that every facet of the gospel of Jesus Christ restored through that Prophet is also true and can be trusted completely. I obtained this knowledge by diligent study of all the scriptures and many prayers and also by trying to live according to that which I learned. The Saviour taught that if any man did his will he should know of the doctrine. I have been endeavouring to do the Lord's will for 36 years and KNOW what is right and wrong about most things. I have proved for myself that the Saviour's promise is true.

Why do Mormons go on missions?

My reason for going on a mission was silly. I did not know that at the time but I do now. This Mormon went on a mission as I had read in James 5:20 'Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.' I was such a sinner when I joined the church I thought this meant that going on a mission would be a shortcut to my perfection. The truth is when one goes on a mission for the Lord one becomes only more aware of one's shortcomings and the mountain to climb to overcome them! Thankfully as I grew in understanding the atonement of the Saviour took on more meaning and my gratitude has increased in the wonderful plan of salvation that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have made available to us all.

As a missionary I was blessed with the ability to love people within seconds. Teaching people of the coming of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to the young boy, Joseph Smith in answer to his simple prayer was always, I noticed, accompanied by silence all around us - traffic or background noises seemed to disappear. It was a holy moment.

Even though I may have gone on my mission for the wrong reasons and I was not that good a missionary in my own view, I had many such holy moments as I was given heavenly revelation upon revelation to suit the purposes of each person agreeing to be taught. The true reason any missionary should serve a mission is to enable all of our Heavenly Father's children to enjoy the fruits of the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ which we enjoy ourselves, and they are delicious.

How I live my faith

At first the adjustment to being a 'mormon' is challenging but I found I was amply compensated - I gave up nightclubbing, drinking alcohol, smoking, and worldly thoughts and behaviour, but the wonderful feelings which replaced those things because I made a conscious effort to keep the commandments, especially those found in the 'Sermon on the Mount' (New Testament, Matthew chapters 5 - 7) made any so-called sacrifice worth while. Since my early involvement in the church I have had things to do, Sunday School secretary, single adult leader, teacher, and currently a family history consultant. In the church there is no paid clergy as in other denominations so talks and lessons are prepared and presented by the members. This seems daunting at first and still is sometimes but it is a learning curve which is never regretted. Heavenly Father helps our inadequacy by revealing what he would like to be said or taught, receiving revelation from God in this way is such a joy and an education for us as ideas and concepts leap into our minds as we prepare our assignments.

Why don’t women hold the priesthood in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? How do Mormon women lead in the Church?

Barbara answered...

I must say I had a hard time with only men holding the priesthood for the first few years of joining the church. I was a teenager in the sixties when equal rights for women was prominent in the news.

It eventually dawned on me that women are regarded as equal in the teachings of the Mormon Church. However our responsibilities differ and for this we are given different tools to enable us to function in these roles. As I understand it Priesthood and Motherhood are equally holy and valid in our Heavenly Father's eyes, the men have the one blessing and the women the other and each being an asset to all. Men are needed to work largely outside of the home but because of the demanding nature of children women's responsibilities are mainly home based. In addition to motherhood many women serve in presidencies of organizations within the church and on almost all committees where decisions are made for the benefit of members, however everything is conducted by direction of the priesthood of God which is the power of God delegated to man on earth.

In addition I should add that the true priesthood of God belongs to God and it is up to Him to decide how it is to be used and distributed .In the days of Moses, for example, not every man had the priesthood. It is only in our day that every worthy male may be ordained into the priesthood of God.
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Kara answered...

Women don't hold the priesthood in the church, as this is a teaching that has come from Jesus Christ. However, women have such a significant role to play in the church that personally I have never felt that this is an issue I am concerned with or even think about. My husband and I are equal partners in our family, and the church has such respect and reverence for women and their role in the world. Women in the church also belong to what is called the 'Relief Society' it is one of the largest women's organisation in the world, and fills me with such a desire to serve and do good that when we meet together wherever I am in the world I feel so proud to be apart of it.

Do Mormons practice polygamy?

Sterling answered...

Today, Mormons are commonly associated with polygamy, even though the practice was discontinued in the Mormon Church in 1890 - over 120 years ago!
Today there are still some who claim to be Mormon and who practice polygamy, but it should be recognized that they are not part of our Church - anyone belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints today who practices polygamy is excommunicated and their names are removed from our rosters.
In modern revelation, we learn that we are never supposed to practice this unless specifically told to by the Lord (through the prophet) as was the case with Solomon and David in the Old Testament.

Know that we do not want to practice polygamy. I don't know any Mormons who do. We know that if we were asked to, the Lord would help us to understand why, as He will with any commandment. However, until that day (which we do not expect to ever come), we will neither practice it nor look forward to doing so.