Hi, I'm Reva

I'm a musician, a mom and a class clown. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

My life has been full of music. My mother put a violin in my hands when I was 3 and I've never put it down. I've toured playing every type of music that I could find to play Classical, Celtic, Rock, Hip-Hop, Folk, and especially Jazz. Thanks to the support of my parents I've performed my violin on 4 continents.
After years of planning to become a rock star, life took an unexpected turn when I met the man I would marry. Now, I'm a musician-turned-mom in the Midwest. In my former life I played many different venues, and now I have a decidedly smaller audience. I'm still me - I love to play and rock out, and I feel like this mom gig is my alter-ego.
I used to think I was too nuts to be a mom, but now I realize that's my biggest strength. My kids love to dance as I introduce them to the best music and we have family jam nights together. My life may not be what I'd planned on, and I'm immensely grateful for that!

Why I am a Mormon

Elder Neil Andersen said something that perfectly answers this question for me - "Faith is more than a feeling. It is a decision." The more I search and research the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints answers all my questions. I have faith that I am following the plan laid out for us by our loving Heavenly Father so we can return to Him, and that gives me a peace I need to survive the bumps of every day.

How I live my faith

When we serve, the Lord amplifies our efforts more than we expect. My parents insisted that my brothers and I learn to play the piano. Some people are natural pianists, but I am not. In spite of earning a Master's Degree in violin performance, I've never been strong at the piano. In the church there are no paid pianists or any musicians. We all volunteer and give where we can. When we moved to a small town in rural Brazil who had no organist, pianist or any other "ist" I accompanied the congregation on my violin rather than attempting to play the piano. I've always dreamed of making all ten of my fingers dance across the keyboard, but it's just never been something that I could do.
A year and a half ago, my husband's career brought us to rural Wisconsin where, thankfully, there were plenty of pianists. Given my musical background, I was asked to lead the children in their music during the weekly primary classes. Since I'd spent the previous years teaching music to children this seemed like a logical fit for me and after a rocky start, I found my way. Unfortunately, due to conflicting responsibilities and moves, after the first year we ended up without a pianist to accompany our little children and their piano-talentless teacher. There was no choice but for me to step behind the keyboard and trust the Lord.
After a few weeks of practice and serious prayer my piano playing began to blossom and I am now playing better than I have before in my life. My position as worst pianist in the congregation has not changed, but I am able to play just enough to serve those around me. I've felt the hand of the Lord as he has increased my talents and blessed me to the point where I can serve him where I am needed.

What is the Mormon lifestyle like? How do Mormons live?

Reva answered...

Mormons are all different from each other in their own way - some are parents, some are CEOs, some are farmers, and we live all over the world. Some are quiet, some are loud - and some of us sporadically sport blue hair! The one thing that we all have in common is that we are are trying, working for the same goal - to return to our Heavenly Father some day as honorably as we can. Because of the gospel, we have some tools to help us do that, such as scripture study, church attendance, and church activity. No matter what we do in life, our religion grounds us and helps us keep our priorities straight. My typical day involves loads of PBSKids, playing with blocks, occasional refereeing, reading "Go Dog, Go!" ad nauseum, and trying to keep my house from becoming a HAZMAT site. I don't use coffee or other stimulants to keep me awake, but somehow I manage. We try to keep our expenses down and give 10 of our income to the church. And there's church service - a LOT of church service! Between 3+ hours of church every Sunday and meetings in between, I feel very blessed to get to serve - and I've received amazing service when I needed it as well. As one my daughter's favorite songs says - "When we're helping we're happy!"
Serge answered...

Family is everything to us. Our family spends lots of our free time together because we like each other. Life gets crazy with teenagers, dance practice, after school academic decathlon, usually with a toddler in tow, but no matter what, every Monday night is Family Night.

The kids know that every Monday we spend time together and nothing gets in the way of it. It's our commitment to each other. We bake cookies, have lessons about the Savior, work on personal goals, go to the park, go geocaching, play board games or just go out for ice cream.

We do lots of things together. The point is that at least once a week we spend an hour or two together, just for the sake of being together, just because we love being together as a family. It's not as perfect as it may sound, with all the poking and "she's in my spot," and all the other crazy things family members do to each other when scrambling for a spot in the living room, but we try real hard. It takes effort to make sure we don't miss, but it's worth it.

I'm not sure the kids will remember all the games we played, the places we went or what we did, but I hope they always remember that we loved each other enough to dedicate one night a week to be with each other. And that we spent every Monday night together for as many Mondays as they can remember because family is everything to us, and every member of our family is important.

What is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' attitude regarding homosexuality and same sex marriage?

Gregg answered...

We believe the Bible and other records passed down through centuries, that God has spoken to man starting with Adam and Eve and continues to speak to us in modern days. God loves us and knows what will bring us true joy in this life and in the life to come. He has declared and continues to command that sexual relations are only to be practiced between husband and wife, legally and lawfully married. He has ordained marriage for the purpose of binding husbands and wives together in a special relationship that can last not just in this life, but for all eternity, and to bring children into the world and nurture them.

Others will fail to understand these truths or try to change them, but the family is central to God's plan and he continues to make his will quite clear on this matter. As members of his church, we will defend these truths.