Hi, I'm Hillary

I grew up in Nevada, USA. I'm a stay at home mother of 4. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I love staying home with my children. Going on vacations as a family are the highlights of my year. I love to read. I love music. I play the piano and teach lessons to children.

Why I am a Mormon

I am a Mormon because of the peace and joy I feel when I am following the teachings of Jesus Christ. Reading the Book of Mormon, translated by Joseph Smith, fills my spirit and gives me courage to stand up for truth and righteousness when the world is contradictory.
Seeing the birth of my children has had an amazing impact on my testimony that there is indeed a God in heaven. Each new perfect child is a miracle and blessing that brings a precious reverence into our home.

Personal Stories

How has your knowledge of the Plan of Happiness changed/benefited your life?

When my grandfather passed away it was a hard time for me. I was very close to him. I missed him terribly. He wasn't a member of my church and I was concerned he hadn't made the same convenants and promises that I had in this life. But I know that he will have the choice after this life to be taught the gospel in the Spirit World. My family did his baptism and other ordinances in the temple so he will have a chance to accept the gospel in the Spirit World. It gives me great comfort to know our family will be together when we die and that there is life after death. I know I will see my grandfather again.

How I live my faith

One way I live my faith is being active in my women's organization. It's a service society. I've had the opportunity to serve others in illness or any conceivable need, physical or spiritual. When a baby is born, the ladies get meals out to the new mother. When someone is moving, there are women serving at a moment's notice in watching children, packing boxes, bringing meals and cleaning. I have been on both ends- giving and receiving this help. Everytime I am engaged in this I can feel the love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for me in allowing me to serve in their place and to be served when I've needed it most.

What is the Relief Society?

Hillary answered...

It's the women's service organization of our church. The women have a network where they check on each other and make sure needs are met, physically and spiritually. Relief Society serves, but also is a place of learning, literacy and teaching each other the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Karen answered...

To me, Relief Society means friendship. It's an opportunity to know and love and learn from other women from so many different backgrounds and situations and ways of looking at life and yet they are truly my sisters! I can't tell you how many times I have been wrestling with an issue in my own life and there, during the course of our class or other conversation, comes the answer. I know that Heavenly Father so often works through others to answer our prayers, and to me Relief Society is a huge example of that. I'm grateful not only for those who reach out to me, but for the opportunies to reach out to others through Relief Society. It is an inspired program and a wonderful asset to my life!

Why don’t women hold the priesthood in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? How do Mormon women lead in the Church?

Leeny answered...

This is a question I had to really consider before joining the Church. My mother is a non-denominational chaplain, and both my sisters are pastors. Female leadership in church settings is very important to my family.

It is to me as well. I think many people become offended when they learn that only men hold the priesthood because they misunderstand it. The priesthood is a tool given to men in order that they might serve others more. It does not in any way give them power or dominion over women. Those people who suppose the priesthood is a way to control others are deeply mistaken.

My husband is a priesthood holder, this means I am too. I have claim on my husband's priesthood power. Even more than he does. If I am sick, discouraged, or in need of help I can call upon my husband to give me a blessing through the priesthood that he holds. I then recieve many blessings because of my husband's worthiness to work in behalf of Christ. My husband is never able to give himself a blessing though. If he is sick or discouraged he must call on other priesthood holders to administer to him. My husband holds the priesthood so that he can bless me and our child - never himself.

The priesthood is the power of Christ on the earth. It allows those who hold it to serve their families in the same way Christ served the Church. Did Christ do any deed for himself during his earthly ministry? No. Christ spent all his energy serving the people. This is what the priesthood does for my husband. It infuses him with Christ's compassion and ability to love, and then my husband is able to use that celestial love in our family.

Why don't women also recieve this special gift then? The simple answer is women don't need it. As women we are innately endowed with compassion, selflessness, and love. Think about the way a mother loves her child. I believe there is nothing more pure and similar to Christ's love for us, than a mother's love for her children. Women naturally have the ability to love as Christ does.

In an ideal situation, which is what God always intended for us, there are two partners in marriage. There is the husband and father, a priesthood leader who can be called upon to administer blessings and serve in Christ's name. And there is also the wife and mother, who is blessed with the ability to love as Christ loves and sacrifice for her family. These are two seperate and divinely appointed roles. Each complementing the other. Both make a complete home.

Women do not hold the priesthood because they do not need it. Women have other God-given powers that raise them up to the task they are called to. A man is appointed to serve his wife and children - it is the power of the priesthood that enables him to do this.

I am grateful to have a husband who is worhty to use the priesthood in my behalf. It has blessed me many times and I know that it is a special gift from God - not only to my husband, but to me as well.