Hi, I'm Katie

I am from Alaska. I am an entrepreneur, a mother, a pseudo-hairdresser, an alto, and a patriot. I am a Mormon.

About Me

I am the 5th of 10 children raised in Alaska. Growing up there, I gained a mental toughness that has helped me weather some storms in my life. Along my way I have experienced marriage, divorce and re-marriage. My anchor has always been my Savior and His gospel. I am now the mother of 3 beautiful children and wife to an amazing man. We enjoy riding bikes together, playing games, exercising, dancing in the living room, and camping. I love to cook and my family loves to eat. We make the perfect team like that. We find that the best part of our days are the times when we are together. Our days always end with family scripture reading and prayer. My children know their Savior.

I am a doer. People sometimes ask me if there is anything that I CAN'T do.....my reply is always, "there isn't anything that I won't try."

I love to bike, read, cook, SEW, create, fix, BLOG. I love the smell of rain, fresh laundry and babies. Seriously, the 3 best smells in the world.

Why I am a Mormon

I heard recently that all truths fit into one eternal round. To me, this is the essence of my testimony. This is why I am a Mormon. Each principle of the gospel fits so snugly into the next principle that I know it to be the truth. I have prayed to know and I do know. I cannot deny something that I know to be true and since I cannot deny it......I live it. I am a Mormon.

Personal Stories

Please explain the part prayer plays in your life?

I pray every day. I know God already knows me and my needs and struggles, but it is also important that I take the time to know Him so that I can learn to trust Him more. Through prayer, I am able to communicate my fears, my needs and most importantly....the things I am thankful for. My Faith is strengthened as he reveals his tender mercies to let me know I am heard.

I may be one among trillions, but I know that God hears my prayers and that makes everything else okay. Even through trials, it makes it okay because I know he sees a bigger picture and when the trial is over....I too will see why His hand was stayed.

Why do Mormons do family history or genealogy work?

An occasional phrase heard from my children through the day is, "It's not fair!" when they think they have been treated unfairly.

Family History is knowledge about our ancestors, but the main reason why its so essential to Mormons is because saving ordinances (meaning ordinances or covenants that have to be made in order to return to our Heavenly Father again and live in his presence) must have been performed in order for people to return to our Heavenly Father. However, there have been some people on this Earth who did not have a chance to hear the gospel and its JUST NOT FAIR!

Family History allows us to identify real people in history and do their ordinance work (baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost as well as other covenants) and record and organize it. It is our duty, in the least, to make sure that our family, those that we came from, have that CHANCE to accept those ordinances even though they have passed away. It is still their choice to accept those ordinances or not.

How I live my faith

Basic answers are basic because they are fundamental to growth. I make a best effort everyday to study my scriptures, pray, and be a wise steward of my time and talents.

Some of the other ways I live my faith are:

I am the Young Women's President in my ward which means I am in charge of the program put together for the girls ages 12-18 in our geographical boundary. We teach lessons at church on Sunday geared specifically towards the girls needs as well as have activities during the week to strengthen their friendships and testimonies. We have a lot of fun but we learn some amazing principles about the gospel while doing it!

I am also a visiting teacher. Once a month I am asked to give a spiritual message to 3 selected women. I have a companion who I go with and we usually visit in the homes of the women we are teaching. We mostly end up chatting about life, interests and things that our husbands usually tune out. However, we always intertwine it with principles of the gospel that uplift and strengthen us. We create friendships so that in times of need, they know who to call.

Every Monday night we have family home evening. All of us gather together and stop what we are going. This usually includes starting with a song, prayer and then a planning our schedules for the upcoming week. We then begin teaching our children (or sometimes our children teach us) about basic gospel principles, rules of the house or any concept really that we want to teach. Sometimes we just play. Sometimes we do service. Sometimes we just need a break and we go swimming. This is time we spend together learning and doing. We ALWAYS end with a treat. Our kids do not let us miss FHE and when we do....we hear about it all week.

My husband and I do our best to be our best. We help each other and are good reminders to each other about what is good, better and BEST. We try to be the best parents, spouses, housekeepers, financial advisors, friends, examples, drivers, etc. We sometimes fall short and on those occasions, we are quick (usually) to repent and move forward with a new resolve to do better tomorrow.

Do Mormons worship Joseph Smith?

Katie answered...

No. We are grateful that Joseph Smith, at such a young age, was able to bring about such a great work but this is Christ's church, not Joseph's. We worship Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith was a prophet.
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Cort answered...

We do not worship Joseph Smith. We worship our risen Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ and God our Eternal Father. We hold Joseph Smith in the same regaurd that the Children of Israel held Moses in the Old Testement. He is a great man, and we love, respect and look up him as a Prophet of God, but he can not bring us salvation. That is only done through our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the head of this, His true Church.

Are all Mormons required to serve a mission?

Nick answered...

"Required" is an interesting word when it comes to faith and religion. In the Mormon Church no one is "required" to serve a mission. Church membership is not revoked for not serving a mission. In this sense, they are not required, yet serving a mission is encouraged at many stages in life and in many different capacities throughout the world.

Missionary service is a tremendous blessing, a challenge, and one of the main focuses of the faith. The life of Jesus Christ was the life of a missionary in many respects. Performing service for one another, preaching the glad message of the gospel, and increasing the faith and dedication of God's children are exemplified in Christ's life and mirrored by those in missionary service.

To dedicate a portion of one's life in service propels those who serve and those who are served into a better life. During my two year mission to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and during my two year service mission with LDS Family Services, I was greatly blessed and strengthened. (I hope those whom I served found some value in my service as well.) That strength has taught me to better navigate this life, has kept my family relations intact, and has been the method of helping others overcome their trials as well.

Spiritually speaking, I don't find value in reflecting on what my life would be like without serving a mission. Instead, I rejoice in knowing that without that time in missionary service my life would be significantly less happy and productive. In my life, serving a mission has taken on many of the characteristics of a "required" act since I can't picture myself progressing very far without having served as a missionary. While not required to be a member of the Mormon church, missionary service has been a critical and welcome part of my life and growth spirituality. I will be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to serve missions, and look forward to serving in many more.