Hi, I'm Shannon.

After 12 years of practicing Ob/Gyn, I decided to take the best job and stay home with my 3 children. I am a Mormon.

About Me

I am a very active wife and mother of 3 great kids who has a lot of interests and seeks to learn new things and develop new skills all of the time. I am a student of life! I decided to give up my career practicing medicine to stay home with my kids and it is anything but easy! It is the most challenging thing I have ever done. It did however allow me to spend more time developing my culinary skills! I love to cook and would one day like to go to culinary school. We have a big garden and love to preserve summer time treats for the winter. I grind wheat andbake all of our bread, make jams and involve my children in as much as possible. I love my husband and appreciate his support of me and my decision to care for my family full time. We love spending time as a family. The most important people all fit in our 4 walls. I am so grateful for the opportunity to stay home. I do some work as a medical expert for a local television station. That keeps me on my medical toes and it is a lot of fun. My husband and I are inventors as well and work together to balance the demands of our projects. We have 2 patents pending.

Why I am a Mormon

All of my life I knew that our Heavenly Father loved me. Even as a very young girl. I was not raised in any denomination, but spent time with friends going to summer church camps and attending their meetings. I never attended church regularly growing up, but we celebrated the traditional Christian holidays and would have considered myself a Christian. It was not a way of life for me, just a silent knowledge of Jesus Christ as my savior. When the missionaries taught me about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ it was as if I was the only one in the room and the message pierced my heart. I felt like I had heard the story before and it brought me such comfort to know that I was a spirit child of our Heavenly Father and he loves me. His son Jesus Christ was sent to earth to experience all of what we experience here on earth. He suffered every temptation, trial and misery we as human beings do here on earth. By coming unto Christ we can lay all of our burdens at his feet and our burdens will be light. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and the changes it has brought to my life. I am Mormon because I know this gospel is true. I know that Heavenly Father restored His church here on earth and this is the same gospel that Christ taught while he was upon the earth. Being Mormon gives me a blue print for my life. It brings me peace to know that I can return to live with our Heavenly Father some day and I can overcome death just as Jesus did because of the sacrifice he made for every one of us.

Personal Stories

Please share your feelings/testimony of Joseph Smith.

Just reading the question brings such soft sweet spirit to my heart. Joseph Smith was a 14 year old boy with a third grade education. Many of us have family members that age. His family were farmers of meager means. He lived at a time when there was a lot of religious unrest and debate. All groups claiming their own differences and correctness. Much of what they taught was true. The differences and debates brought questions to the mind of Joseph and he wanted to join but did not know which one was correct or true. This was on his mind for some time and he decided to do what the Bible teaches in James...let him ask of God. He knelt in a grove privately and prayed sincerely on his knees to Heavenly Father. He saw a vision of Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. He was told not to join any of the churches and as time went on it became clear to him that he would be the Lord's prophet here on earth chosen to restore Christ's church here on earth. The amazing this to me was that he was visited by an angel, the angel Moroni, that told him of sacred scriptures and where they were placed in the earth. He visited him for 4 years at the same time each year and taught him things and bore witness to him. He was then able to dig up the plates of gold that the scriptures were engraved on. The writings on the plates were contemporary with the Bible dating 600 B.C. to 400 A.D. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. It proves the Bible is true. Joseph Smith translated these plates over a period of just 65 days into English which in now known as The Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith was a young boy, who as a young man with a 3rd grade education was the Lord's prophet until the age of 33 when he was brutally murdered because of his testimony of the truth. Almost 200 years later we are 13 million members strong and growing because of the faithfulness of a young man. I received a very strong witness from the Holy Spirit when I first heard the story of Joseph Smith kneeling in prayer and it is confirmed every time I share the story. The Book of Mormon is a book with a promise. Pick it up and read it. Ask in prayer if it is true. I did and my life will be forever changed!

How I live my faith

I try my best everyday to represent our Savior. He is my example. I draw closer to Him by reading my scriptures and praying everyday. We pray as a family. We hold family meetings every week to teach the gospel to our children. My husband and I work together and place our focus on what God's plan is for our lives. It takes discipline and some days we fall short, but I always know that I can seek our Heavenly Father's counsel through prayer and scripture study. We attend our church meetings every week and soak up the lessons. They fortify us in this ever changing world. I love to nurture and serve the people in my family, my church family and community all because of the changes the Savior has made in my heart.

Mormons believe Jesus Christ is their Savior. Why do we need a Savior?

Shannon. answered...

There is absolutely nothing we can do as an individual to earn our way in to heaven and gain eternal life. None of us is without sin. It is by the loving sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ that it is possible for us to have eternal life and live with Him and our Heavenly
Father again. We should have tremendous hope that we can over come sin and physical death by coming unto Jesus Christ.
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Trisha answered...

There are doctrinal answers to why we believe we need a Savior to redeem us from the Fall of Adam and to return us to our Father in Heaven that you'll probably come across here. But let me tell you why I need a Savior personally and what He does for me. Christ suffered personally for my pains, sorrows, and sins so that if I ask Him too, He can take them from me. I have been the victim of abuse in my life, and yet through Him I have been able to lay it all at His feet, freely forgive, feel peace, find love, and understand how important negative life experiences can be in teaching us humility. Daily He takes my pain and replaces it with pure love so that I am no longer a victim, but a victor. I need a Savior because He knows me, and through him my flaws become strengths and my pain becomes peace.

What are Mormon church services like? Are visitors allowed at church meetings? Can I attend church?

Brian answered...

Mormon church services are unique. When I first started attending I felt three hours was too long to be in church, but I quickly grew to like it because I realised that each of the three meetings has a very practical, edifying focus. The Sacrament meeting is the principal meeting and it is where everyone (women and men, young and old) come together to have the sacrament (communion) and hear talks by their fellow church members. Since there is no paid clergy, Mormons take turns speaking to the congregation about how a particular principle or doctrine has strengthened their faith in Christ. Depending on the size of the congregation, a Mormon can speak as often as once a year to once every two or three years.

In Sunday School, the youth attend classes according to their age and the adults attend a class together. The curriculum varies from year to year, but the focus each year is on a book of scripture and how its lessons can help us develop stronger families, be better neighbours and parents, etc. For example, this year (2011) all the adults are studying the New Testament.

In the third hour we group together as men and women. The men's class looks at how the gospel of Christ can help us in our roles as men, husbands, fathers, etc., while the women study how Christ's teachings can help them be better women, wives, mothers, etc.

Visitors are welcome in all of these meetings.