Hi, I'm Shawnie

I have six children and it was a wonderful life choice. It isn't easy, but it is worth it. I am proud to be Mormon.

About Me

I grew up in the Bay Area, California. I served as a missionary to Honduras. There I learned to speak Spanish and to love those who were from a completely different culture. I later graduated with a degree in Business Finance in 1987. After embarking on an illustrious, corporate career and thinking I was pretty smug, I decided to come home and rear a family instead. I was 27 when I had my first child and realized I didn't enjoy having someone else raise her for me. Then when my son was born, the "working mom" lifestyle that everyone tries to say is OK, definitely didn't feel right for me nor was I giving my children all of my heart. We ended up with six children. This was not my original intent, but I can intelligently say that being a fully dedicated mother in this day and age, requires more energy, smarts, and courage than having a 60-hour/week corporate job. Not trying to be condescending to working mothers in any way, but I've been on both sides of the fence. If you can sacrifice to come home, try it! Your children need time more than they need possessions and vacations.

I love classic literature and really intelligent novels. I am an avid, moderate Republican and get really involved in the political process. Probably too involved.

I help teach a Book of Mormon class for our local Stake and I write frequently on a blog.

I love life. All of it, the hard troubled times and the joy. It is all a gift.

Why I am a Mormon

I should not be Mormon. I was raised in a troubled home where religion was as twisted and distorted as the family dynamics. By all means, my early experiences should have sent me running away from the LDS church, as fast as possible! Everything from my young life pointed me towards being non-religious. What happened? I came across a paperback Book of Mormon left on a coffee table by some LDS missionaries. The book spoke directly to my heart and soul, like no other book could. And I have read many wonderful, poignant books to compare it to. Even now, decades later, I cannot outgrow that book. It always stays a few paces ahead of me, opening my eyes, filling my heart with new concepts and light.

Through the years, the Book of Mormon has taught me that Jesus is the Christ, He is a personal Savior, who is the "true and living" God. "True and living" means "here and now". It means He is actively seeking us in our troubles right this very now. We can have as much conscious contact with Him as we strive for and allow.

I know the Savior loves me, loves all of me. My strengths, my weaknesses, my struggles, my yearnings, my strivings. These are things I have come to know through my membership in the Mormon Church. I am Mormon because it is a huge blessing to be one. My membership in the church brings peace, confidence and brightness of hope. Rare commodities in today's world!

I have heard a lot of people put down and contort the LDS faith. Mostly through false information, through quotes taken out of context and with the blinding emotions of hate and anger. Satan fights our church very hard. I would invite anyone who has been troubled by such tactics to take a simpler, more peaceful path. Read the Book of Mormon and decide for yourself what it really is. I would plead with you to not absorb your opinion from someone else who has an agenda.

There is peace, there is hope and there is direction. Finding it and grabbing a hold of it has been the best journey of my life.

Personal Stories

Please share your feelings/testimony of Joseph Smith.

Believing in a current and living Prophet is a hard concept. I really struggled with this one. Maybe that is why I want to share this particular part of my testimony.

For some reason, if someone has been dead for centuries, it is easier to accept them as prophets: like Moses, Abraham, Peter and others. But then I objectively looked at Jesus's situation. He was accepted by some, but rejected by most in his day. They even crucified him out of blind hate and anger. I realized people who knew Jesus growing up, especially couldn't accept him as the Savior. When he went to preach at the synagogue in his home town, they said "Is this not the carpenter's son?" And they were offended with him and Jesus said "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, in his own house." Matthew 13:55-58. This story told me I need to look beyond my knee-jerk skepticism.

I discovered Joseph was truly a prophet despite my misgivings. First, I tested his works. I read the Book of Mormon for myself. The book speaks for itself with unparalleled power. I knew only a man who was greatly inspired and greatly augmented by the Lord's power could produce such a book. But even more importantly, I got on my knees and asked, asked specifically if Joseph was a real prophet, if I should follow the Church he restored. It took real yearning, and it took more than one prayer - but I kept at it because I was so impressed with the Book of Mormon. One day, I got a specific flood of warmth, light, and joy that draped over my whole being. I was given a specific witness that the First Vision, when Joseph first saw the Father, and the Son was real, pivotal, and important. What peace, what reassurance, what direction this knowledge has given me.

Anyone can have this gift. It is offered freely to all. It takes real desire, yearning and an open heart. I suggest starting with your own personal reading of the Book of Mormon. Reading that book through will increase your ability to have such experiences.

How I live my faith

I go to church every Sunday. I try to keep the Sabbath Day holy by dedicating one day of the week to the Lord and by strengthening my spiritual side. That means I read more scriptures than normal, spend dedicated time with the family and I don't work or do normal housework even when my laundry room looks like it may explode - actually that "resting from your labors" practice is pretty nice. I don't shop, visit restaurants or do anything that would cause someone else to have to work either except for absolute emergencies. The Sabbath is not a vacation day, it's a different day from the other days of the week. It's a day to be a little more quiet, a little more reflective and to give service. It makes me a better person the rest of the week.

I say prayers, lots of them. I look for ways to help others. I practice at having the finer virtues of character such as patience, kindness and embrace a moral code of fidelity to my husband, not only in action, but in thought and intent as well. I care about my spouse, my family, my neighborhood, my community and my country. I get active and involved.

My faith means I will respect you and esteem you and believe that you are very valuable and a literal child of our Heavenly Father. You matter a lot. And I will be thinking that in the back of my head whether I get to know you or we remain strangers for now.

I regularly study the Scriptures which include the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. I believe that we can have the help of the Holy Spirit to influence us, inspire us and instruct us. Reading scriptures and saying prayers help bring the Spirit into my life, and it is the Spirit that helps make me a better person than I could be on my own.

What do Mormons believe about the Holy Ghost? Who is the Holy Ghost?

Shawnie answered...

We believe in a Heavenly Father, His son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost, a.k.a. the Holy Spirit. These are three distinct personages who are united in love and purpose. The three of them make up the Godhead. Each of these three play their own divine role. These three are one in purpose, not to be confused with being one person.

The Holy Ghost's job is to influence, instruct, inspire, comfort, and testify of the Father and the Son to our hearts and minds. When we bear testimony of a particular truth, we give the Holy Ghost the opportunity to shed its warm, reassuring influence to others. It will also signal to our own hearts and our minds the rightness of any real truth we come across. Our hearts usually have to be willing and humble to have such experiences. It takes practice to recognize and encourage the Holy Ghost to be in our lives but it is well worth it.

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Stephen Call answered...

In my opinion the real reason people say the Mormon Church is a cult because they don't understand. saying that it is a cult is an easy way to excuse themselves from learn more about it. Its like saying "sushi is slimy raw dead fish" or "computers are of the devil" its easy not to try / learn about stuff if you pair it with a negative word like "devil" or " slimy raw dead fish"