Hi, I'm Kristen Nicole

I'm a university student, an all American girl, and I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I am a student studying English teaching. Right now I'm planning a trip to India where I'm going to research Tibetan digital literacy. I love designing flowers, speaking French, singing in choirs, and being a student! Some of my favorite topics to study are literary theory, biology, psychology, calculus, dance, religion, and music. I also have an inexplicable fondness for baking bread and a burning desire to travel.

Why I am a Mormon

My parents are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I grew up in Utah going to LDS church services every week. However, my conversion is still a special and distinct memory that didn't occur until I was fourteen. I moved away from my childhood home and neighborhood just before I began sixth grade. By the time I began seventh grade I was struggling with heavy depression. I hated myself. I often lived in a dark pit of hopelessness, hurting myself sometimes for attention and sometimes secretly, because I thought that's what depressed people did. My depression continued to drag me down until just before I began high school.

That summer, after returning from an Especially for Youth program, I spent a lot of time reflecting on the many things I'd learned from years of going to church. On August 12, 2006, I realized that I know my Father in Heaven loves me, and because I know He loves me, I know that he lives! I decided to allow the Holy Ghost to guide me and to use my life to serve my Heavenly Father and follow Jesus Christ.

When I felt the joy and hope of faith that day, I knew that I would still have trials in the future. I wrote a letter to myself in order to help with those trials. Here are a few excerpts:

Dear Kristen,

If you are reading this you must be having a hard time in life, and here I am to help.

Kristen, you are a child of God who loves you unconditionally. You are amazing and you can do anything you set your mind to. When it seems like the world has turned its back on you, you can remember that Christ never will. You also need to remember never to forget him, to come unto him and be completed.

. . .

You are beautiful in every way. Your God and Savior love you no matter what. You are a good person. You are intelligent and spiritual. You can become anything you want to become. Kristen, you are never alone. When life seems impossible, why do we keep going? Because Christ has made it possible.

. . .

My note continues for two more pages with specific encouragement and counsel. It may seem silly, but those words of faith that I wrote to myself when I was 14 have blessed and inspired me through other depressions. They motivated me to set goals and work to achieve them. They help me to strengthen my faith and find comfort.

When I turned to Jesus Christ, He healed my depression. He carried me out of the deepest pit I've ever fallen into. Sometimes I still struggle with depression, but I now have divine strength as I struggle to overcome it. I believe I will struggle with depression throughout my life, but I can do that with my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost helping me.

I am a Mormon because I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and I love Him. I am a Mormon because I have found joy and hope in Christ by following the living prophet. I am a Mormon because I receive divine guidance from the Holy Ghost when I live as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches me to live. I am a Mormon because I cannot live without divine help.

Personal Stories

What is hope and what do you hope for?

Hope is trust in Heavenly Father, believing that things will work out. More than anything I hope to be happy! I hope be a wife and a mother, to keep my faith throughout my life, and to learn as much as I can about this amazing world we live in.

How I live my faith

I currently serve in a leadership position in my chapter of the Church's organization for women. My wonderful friend Tilly and I visit three of the girls in our society each month, at which time we discuss boys we like and schoolwork we dislike, the good things in our lives and the hard things as well. We also talk about a religious topic, share scriptures, and pray together. In addition, every month I visit about eight of the women in my organization to build personal friendships. I do my best to help these girls as I see that they need it.

With three other of our chapter's leaders, I attend regular meetings in which we discuss the ways we can help the girls we lead. We plan activities and church lessons to provide spiritual guidance and enjoyment in their lives.

To serve my community I volunteer most weeks at the House of Hope, an addiction recovery home for mothers and their children. I especially enjoy playing with the children, some of whom are very shy but love to blow bubbles! Since I was in high school I have tried to participate in some sort of service each week, including tutoring, visiting and singing hymns in a retirement home, helping church missionaries to practice teaching Christ's gospel, and the House of Hope.

Do you really believe there is a prophet like Moses alive today?

Kristen Nicole answered...

Yes, I really do. I have heard the prophet speak, and I believe that he speaks the word of God just like Moses did. I know that God loves His children and that He wants them to be happy--not just His children who lived at the same time of Moses but His children who live now. That's why God gave us a prophet today, so that the prophet can teach us the correct way to happiness.
LaWana answered...

Yes, I truly believe there is a prophet today leading our church and bringing blessings into the world. Why would God provide a prophet in olden days, but not now? Did He love those people more than He loves us? Did they need guidance more than we do? Is the world less confusing now than it was then? The answers to all these questions are no. It only makes sense that God would have a prophet now as He did in days of old. He loves us just as much as He did those people long ago and we need Him just as much as they needed Him then.

What are Mormon women like? Do Mormons believe in equality of men and women?

Kathy answered...

In 1776 the Declaration of Independence declared all men to be equal. However in 1830 when the Book of Mormon was published and the church established women and people of color still had no legal rights. The Book of Mormon declared 'Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one... (1 Ne 17:35) and '..black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile' (2 Nephi 26:33). Joseph taught and lived this. He authorized the Church's women's organization The 'Relief Society'.

When the church moved outside the U.S. borders, they created the State of Deseret with their own constitution which gave ALL adults the right to vote. The State of Deseret was later divided into US states. When the Woman's right to vote began in 1913, women had the right to vote in 4 states: Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado and Utah.- all part of the original State of Deseret with their large Mormon populations. The Relief Society actively supported the Sufferage movement.

The church has always encouraged women to develop their skills and education. The Relief Society sent and paid the schooling for one of the first women at Medical School. Nothing has changed. Motherhood is emphasized because it can be a woman's greatest role - for children are our future. It can also be a woman's greatest joy. Jobs, looks, accomplishments etc will fade or be forgotten, but a loving close family won't, And thanks to grandchildren it will continue to expand.