Hi, I'm Dana Michelle

I'm a mother. I'm a wife. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I love to read and write and paint and cook. I collect quotes. I enjoy photography. I met my husband in high school, 22 years ago. He is a convert to the church. We have five children. Our oldest son is currently serving a mission in Pennsylvania. Even though it's a sacrifice to be away from him, we believe it's worth it!

Why I am a Mormon

I was born in an active LDS home. It would be easy to just take for grated the things I was taught growing up, but even though I was raised in the church, I have studied and prayed and searched and questioned for myself to know if it was right for me. In my heart, I feel the Holy Ghost peacefully confirm to me that the Book of Mormon is a book of scripture and that Joseph Smith restored to this earth in the latter-days the church that was originally organized by the Savior, Jesus Christ. I know I am a daughter of God and I know that because He loves each of His children, he sent a Savior to sacrifice himself so we could have a way to repent and be made clean and return to the presence of God one day.

Personal Stories

What have you done successfully to shield your family from unwanted influences?

The very best way to protect your children from unwanted influences is to make sure they are exposed to good, wholesome influences. For example, as a family, our standard for entertainment, like music, television, internet and movies, is very high. As parents, we have the same standards for ourselves that we expect from our children. Several years ago I decided to do an experiment. I challenged myself to change the music I listened to for just 6 months. I wouldn't listen to anything with questionable, distasteful lyrics, or anything that offended the Holy Ghost. It’s not like I was listening to bad music, I just wanted to see if it would make a difference if I listened to better music. I was impressed, shocked actually, at the amount of change that took place in myself. I had more patience. I wanted to serve more. I had more compassion. I found myself taking more time to listen and to care. My heart was more open to the influence of the spirit and I was noticing more opportunities to learn from my trials. I was more aware of my blessings. I was, and in fact still am, amazed that all this and more came about just by giving up music that wasn't inviting God into my life. I never went back to my old music. And as my sons have gone through their teenage years, they have made good choices in music and I can tell that they are happier and more positive because of it. I heard a quote many years ago, "Too often we've been so busy watching TV in the front room that we haven't noticed Satan slipping in through the back door." I think that's eye-opening. We can't be so busy "entertaining" ourselves that we fail to notice the negative influence it can have on our families.

How I live my faith

I work with young women and try to help them realize their own potential for good in this world. I reinforce the teachings they receive in their homes and encourage them to maintain good, open relationships with their parents.

In a world where values are eroding and family relationships are devalued, I stand for modesty, fidelity, reverence, honesty, hard work, charity and kindness. As a mother, I feel I have a most important role in keeping the filth, chaos, contention, despair, and ungodliness of the world out of my home. I try to raise my children in an environment of peace and love, innocence and safety, faith and courage, hope and joy.

Why are Mormons asked to donate 10% of their income to their Church?

Dana Michelle answered...

Tithing is a biblical commandment. In order to understand tithing I think it is important to understand stewardship. In this life, nothing I possess or receive is mine, but is instead given to me by a loving Heavenly Father. Think about it, when we die, the only thing we take is our knowledge: our memories, our relationships, our convictions, but no possessions. So everything I have, I am acting as God's steward over. That means that everything belongs to Him. If He gives me 100% to take care of, not yet as my own possession, and then asks me to give back only 10% and says I can keep the other 90%, I'm getting a really good deal and have no problems paying a 10% tithe. Tithing helps me to manage better what God has given me, because there is accountability when I figure out what the amount is that I need to pay. And tithing helps me to be unselfish. In the Old Testament it promises that if we pay our tithing, the Lord will open the windows of heaven and pour out more blessings than we will have room to receive. I think I like the blessing of unselfishness best of all.
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Kristen answered...

This is nothing new, nor is it exclusive to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Many faiths practice alms or a tithe, including Islam and Sikhism.

A voluntary religious contribution of 10% is a tithe or tithing. This type of offering is mentioned many times in the both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In the book of Genesis, chapter 28 verse 22, the ancient patriarch Jacob covenanted with the Lord, "and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."

Everything we have, our lives, the earth and everything in it, have been given freely to us by a loving Father in Heaven. He asks only a small portion in return to help build his kingdom on the earth.

When my husband and I were first married, we decided to make paying a 10% tithe a top financial priority, and it has been a great blessing to us through the years. In Malachi, chapter 3 verse 10 it states, "Bring yea ll the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you thei windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." This has certainly been the case with us.

I realize that 10% of one's income can seem like a large sacrifice. However, when the law of the tithe is kept, it serves as a portal through which great blessings (both tangible and intangible) can flow. The Lord always finds a way to bless those who do what He asks them to do.

Why is family so important to Mormons?

Greg answered...

After I joined the Mormon Church I learned about the importance of families. Not long after that I realized that if I was going to follow this teaching I needed to tell my father that I loved him. That was very difficult for me since my dad and I argued so much. I spent the better part of 2 weeks trying to determine how I could do this. When the time came I found that the words came more easily than I had thought. From that point to the time he died, about 22 years later, he and I had an entirely different relationship. We were now friends. And I found how much I regretted all our arguments while growing up. And now I find that I miss him and more fully understand how important our families are.