Hi, I'm Leeny

I'm a wife, a mother, a writer, and a Mormon.

About Me

I am an easily excited individual who loves everyday life as well as the big adventures. It is possible to find beauty in everything with the right kind of glasses. Most days I shoot for my "positive" prescription.

I am married to a wonderful, intelligent, and very loving husband and am also a new mother. Choosing to be a mother has brought a multitude of blessings into my life I never expected. One of them is the ability to love so completely and to fully appreciate the miracle of one individual.

I have many different interests. I usually have a new obsession every two months so I try to steer clear of the expensive ones since they aren't guaranteed to last. The one thing my heart has always belonged to is dance. Growing up I made multiple sacrifices to keep dancing, I worked in the local studio washing mirrors to pay for lessons, I moved out when I was 16 to attend a boarding school for dancers, and I spent almost every hour practicing and practicing. Dance continues to be my number one obsession, but I must admit it no longer consumes all my time and enrgy.

I thought nothing could become more important to me than dance. But when I felt the Spirit prompting me to turn down a dance scholorship and attend a different University I realized other things could be more important. It was a heartbreaking decision but I have never regretted it. I still dance as often as possible. And the best dance partner I could ask for is my daughter, who is always willing to twirl.

I chose to major in English Literature, and books are my greatest weakness. My husband says I am a very economical wife and mother, but I have a severe problem with books. It is a brutal struggle with self-control every time I enter a bookstore. For other literature addicts like myself - I feel your pain.

Life is wonderful. I am grateful to have so many people and things to love, and so many people willing to love me back.

Why I am a Mormon

This is a question I must answer frequently. I am the only member of my family, and they often have doubts about my decision.

The simplest answer, but also one of the most frustrating for people, is because I know the LDS Church is the church Christ has established on the earth.

It begins with my faithful parents who taught me to love the Savior more than anything. I grew up in first a Catholic, and then a Protestant home. I will not say that organized religion is a primary concern in my family, but God has always had first place. My parents gave me a strong foundation of faith, hope, and courage through their example.

When I began investigating the LDS Church I had many doubts. My youth pastor told me many discouraging things about it, but I wanted to find out for myself. The stories he told me about Mormons did not match the example of my LDS friends.

My friends encouraged me to read the Book of Mormon, saying that was the only way to truly know if they were truly followers of Christ or if they had been decieved. I agreed that this was a reliable way to find out.

Fortunately, I learned that the Book of Mormon was another testament of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith was a Prophet from God, and that being baptized would allow me to be a member of His restored Church.

Unfortunately, I was faced with many painful experiences and decisions because of this. Although there was incredible opposition during the years I waited to be baptized, I learned to wholly depend on God and His plan. I learned that as long as I had faith God could, and would, work miracles.
God has proven Himself to me in times when I could not stand on my own.

I am a member of this Church because it has brought me closer to Christ than anything else. I am a Mormon because I love the Savior, and want to follow Him. I know that this is His Church and that it will lead be back to His presence.

Personal Stories

What have you done successfully to shield your family from unwanted influences?

My husband and I want our children to be happy, our marriage to be strong, and a good feeling to be present in our home. We try very hard to be careful about what influences are present in our home.

Because of these desires, we have chosen to spend our time watching uplifting and clean movies, instead of sifting through television shows. It is becoming more difficult to find amusing television shows that are also appropriate for people who are striving to live after Christ's example. We enjoy our time watching movies we know aren't questionable and know this has greatly increased the sense of comfort, peace, and joy we feel in our home.

We are also careful about what we view on the internet. We use filters that block any pornographic images and we quickly close any programs that have demeaning or inappropriate material.

I also return books that could be questionable. I want my children to be safe from all harmful media, even if that means getting rid of a book I otherwise enjoyed. It is more important, to me, that my children can find enobling literature in our home than that I have the latest or most popular series.

We may be a little obsessed with media cleanliness. But I believe protecting my family from the destructive influences of pornography, violence, demeaning language, or seductive material is the most important thing.

Could you talk about your baptism?

My baptism was unique. I had heard of the Church when I was fifteen, had developed an understanding and knowledge of Church doctrine over the years, and then made the decision to be baptized. My parents were unsure about my joining the LDS Church though, so it was necessary for me to wait until I turned 18 before I could be baptized.

My parents were unsupportive even after I made my decision clear, and it became a choice between becoming a memer of the LDS Church or continuing to live with and be a part of my family.

This complicated the feelings I had around the time of my baptism. I was very excited and happy to be baptized, and I wanted to be blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost. At the same time, I was devestated by, what was then, the loss of my family. It was a very difficult and very blessed time for me. I chose to act in faith and believe that everything would turn out all right.

The day of my baptism, I did not have my beloved family with me, but I had wonderful, supportive, and loving members of the Church surrounding me, who made me feel welcome and cared for. It was hard not to be with my own family, but I knew that I was being accepted into a new family - the family of Christ. I could feel the Spirit as I was baptized and felt a confirmation in my heart that I had made the right decision.

My baptism was a wonderful experience and a day that I fondly remember. No matter the circumstances, doing the right thing and choosing Christ above all others will bring blessings that far outweigh any sacrifice we must make.

How I live my faith

In my opinion faith should not be reserved for those defining moments when tragedies come.

Faith is an everyday principle. It must be exercised continually, or it will weaken and eventually disappear. I strengthen my faith by speaking with my Heavenly Father every morning and every night, and anytime in between. I read the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon everyday so that I can have a firm foundation to understand Him by. I try to serve everyday so that I can see the prayers of others answered, and strengthen my own faith through them.

In my mind faith is lived by keeping the two greatest commandments: Love the Lord God with all your heart. And love your brother, neighbor, stranger, or enemy for that matter, as yourself.

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.
Cynthia answered...

Family is very important in the church for more reasons than can be explained here. Holding the priesthood is just one of these reasons. Husbands act and bless their family with their priesthood, but wives benefit and honor the priesthood through their husbands. It is a symbiotic relationship. As I have participated in the church in various activities I have come to understand my importance as a woman in the church. There cannot be one without the other.

How can I know Mormonism is true?

Evelyn answered...

One of the best things in life is that we can freely communicate with God; our Heavenly Father. Because He loves us so much, He has blessed us with the precious gift of prayer. Through prayer we are able to counsel with Him and whatever we ask sincerely, He will make it known unto us. The scriptures can give you a surety of this. In Matthew 7:7 it says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Another example is in the book of James 1:5-6, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

If you would like to know that what you have heard is true after learning or taking the discussions from the missionaries or any member that has shared a message with you, go to Heavenly Father in prayer and ask Him. I know that He will send His spirit to testify the truth of it unto you. His spirit will give you feelings of peace, hope, comfort and happiness.

Sometimes we do not get answers to our prayers as soon as we may want them to come but never should we lose hope nor get discouraged; as you continue to earnestly study and search for the truth and exercise patience, the truth will gradually be unfolded unto you. I have a testimony of this, for my answer came as I earnestly and patiently continued to investigate the church.