How I live my faith

I try to live my faith by being a good example of what I believe a Latter-day Saint should be. To me, this means serving my fellow human beings in whatever ways I can. Oftentimes, I have rendered service as a part of my Church "callings." More often, though, I have found my own ways to serve in my community. Some of the most memorable ways in which I have been able to serve are these:

Almost twenty years ago, just prior to the colapse of the former Soviet Union, I became aware that a fairly large number of refugees were coming to the United States and that a sizable number of them were being resettled in Salt Lake City. My husband and I decided to volunteer as sponsors for one family, a man and his wife and their young son. These three wonderful people had literally fled Azerbaijan for their lives. As believers in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, they were persecuted mercilessly by their Muslim countrymen for their beliefs. Thinking about the persecution of members of my own church who had been driven from their homes in the dead of winter by their fellow Americans, my heart went out to this family. As part of our commitment to them, we furnished an apartment for them, helped them find jobs and learn to adapt to life in a free country. We became very close to this family and even though they have moved to another state, have maintained an enduring friendship with them.

A few years later, we sponsored another refugee family. This family a man, his wife and their daughter and son was from Bosnia. They were Muslims who had been forced from their homes by so-called Christians. They spoke less English than the family from Azerbaijan had, and we had less in common with them than we'd had with the first family we'd sponsored, so I realized at once that this experience was going to present us with a new set of challenges. It, too, turned out to be very rewarding. One of our goals was to help them realize that it's wrong to judge people by their their ethnicity or their religion. I believe we were instrumental in helping them come to realize that not all Christians were like the ones who'd driven them from their homes and killed their relatives. Conversely, we grew to respect them and their religious traditions and were their guests at a wonderful feast celebrating the conclusion of Ramadan.

I have had a number of other experiences serving my fellow human beings, all of which have enriched my life. I have volunteered teaching English as a second language to immigrant families as well as literacy and reading skills to American adults who had never learned to read. I also volunteered with the Red Cross when families from the New Orleans area were being temporarily relocated in my city following Huricane Katrina. All of these experiences have given me the opportunity to show others what I believe it means to be an LDS Christian.

My Church "callings" have included working with the children, the teenage girls, the women and new members and prospective converts. I love teaching adults. My favorite callings have been teaching Relief Society which is the Church's women's auxilliary and Gospel Principles lessons tailored for people who are either newly baptized, thinking about joining the Church or just need a "refresher course" in the gospel basics.

For eleven years, I served as a Building Hostess at the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City. This was my very favorite Church calling. As a Hostess, it was my privilege to welcome visitors to the building's 26th floor observation deck where they could take in magnificant views of Salt Lake City. I was able to meet visitors from around the world and to point out some of the city's most interesting and important sites. In this capacity, as a non-proselytizing part-time church service missionary, I loved being in a position where I could leave first-time visitors to Salt Lake City with information that would help them enjoy their trip to the Church's headquarters.

Recently, my husband and I served as part-time missionaries with the Church's Hispanic Initiative. We were assigned for two years to a small Spanish branch about twenty-minutes away from our home. During this time, we did not attend church at our own ward congregation but with Spanish-speaking members of the Church here in Salt Lake City. We were able to get to know so many of these wonderful Church members and help newly baptized members learn more about the gospel.