Hi, I'm Marie

I'm a Mormon. I'm also a professional organizer & an author. I’m a wife, a grandmother & a non-traditional university student.

About Me

I am a professional organizer, nationwide speaker, and a published author. I write for various venues and appear as a featured guest on TV and radio. I've been a radio show host and am dedicated to helping men and women find greater organization skills, both in their personal and professional lives.

I have interests in many other areas. I love to scrap quilt, make pressed-flower greeting cards for friends and family, and write personal histories. I'm married and together my husband and I are the parents of five sons -- 1) a Math Education professor, 2) a emergency medicine resident, 3) a computer science doctoral candidate and a husband and father, and 4) a graduate with an animation degree. Our youngest son passed away as a young child from leukemia.

My husband and I grow a vegetable and fruit garden as our summer hobby and share woodworking projects together on colder days. Our family are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I'd be willing to share my beliefs with any interested parties. It is for this reason that you will find I often write articles from an L.D.S. perspective.

Why I am a Mormon

For me to be a Mormon is to be alive. I was raised in the Church, but as all people must, I came to my own testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through study, prayer, and serious questioning.
I was raised in a deeply religious home where family prayer, personal prayer, and scripture study were the norm. My parents loved each and every one of us eight children and we knew it. Our family went to church together each Sunday and then gathered again on Monday evenings to learn more about the gospel, have fun, and eat delightful dessert designed and/or commissioned by my mother. I was taught from an early age to be honest, hardworking, and studious at school.
I began to feel my own testimony burning as I entered early teenagehood and was given responsibilities that developed my skills and increased my joy in serving the Lord. I played the piano for the pre-schoolers in Sunday School and served two years in a youth leadership group that supported the religious education of teenagers.
I was married in the Salt Lake City, Utah temple. It was an eternal marriage to my prince charming, Jim, and this bond of love and concern that will reach beyond the veil has sustained us through many difficult times, including unemployment, leukemia and our son's death, and the challenges that always come with life. Because we are a forever family, we will rejoice with our son, Evan, as a complete family beyond the grave. Death has a lesser sting because the certainty of the resurrection burns in my heart.
My children are grown and gone now. I have served in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have served in the community. I have a profession and many goals yet ahead. Still, each morning when I wake, I’m confident the Lord will be near to hear and answer my prayers, that He will help me find answers to today’s needs. I also know that His gospel has been restored to the earth. It is here. It is the Mormon Church. You, too, can be a part of the miracle. Come home …

Personal Stories

What is hope and what do you hope for?

My husband and I have lost a son to leukemia. He was just two years old. His death brought many questions to my mind, many of which have been answered through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am preparing to write his story. I will call it Teddy Bears in Heaven. It is a story of courage, faith, and the generosity of a God who both understood us and helped us along the way. As I review the events I recorded in my journal, I’m sure that I will regain renewed hope in the resurrection and my upcoming opportunity to be with, love, and nurture Evan again. Such is my testimony…

In what ways have your prayers been answered?

When Evan, our youngest son, died of leukemia, it was ever so difficult. I wasn’t sure if I believed enough to trust God’s will. On the especially long days, I prayed often about it. We had worked so hard to help him live. There had been times after his diagnosis when it seemed certain he would regain his health. Then, eventually, he was called home and we were left without this precious son.
About six weeks after his death, I remember praying in deep earnest for peace, for a release from the pain, and for greater understanding. It was after that prayer that I had a deep sense of calm come over me and an answer formed itself in my mind, which was also confirmed in my heart. “My daughter,” I seemed to hear with my heart, “I have always answered your prayers. You know that.” Indeed, I did. “But sometimes, the answer will be no. No, Evan will not get better. It is time for him to come home to me.”
I eventually raised my head and left off sobbing with sorrow but instead with joy. These latter were sobs of a new sort, they were sobs of peace. He had answered this prayer! He had always answered my prayers. I just didn’t understand until this sweet moment that His answer would not always be yes. For reasons I would later and with more wisdom eventually understand, sometimes the answer would be no.
I have come to trust more in God since this experience. I have come to seek Him, but also to listen with deeper reason to believe that He knows best. I still ask for the needs of my soul and the desires of my heart, but now I also seem more able to respect His occasional denial of my request…

How I live my faith

My faith is my life. I pray each morning as I arise. I study the scriptures, including the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Christ, and search for meaning and direction to my day’s responsibilities. Then I write a short entry in my journal, noting the blessings and challenges of the previous day and how the Lord has interceded and prompted me.
I try to live the Word of Wisdom, a guide given by the L.D.S. Church for the well-being of all members. For me this includes daily exercise, eating wholesome foods, and avoiding ingesting items that might harm my physical self, diminish my mental capacities, or be a poor example to others.
I am currently serving in a Missionary Training Center where I support new, young missionaries. I also love and nurture them as they prepare to serve missions in various parts of the world, speaking various languages including English, Spanish and Thai.
I have returned to school again as I believe that to become more educated is what the next season of the life should hold for me. Such a project will give me the chance to better teach others, to understand life at a deeper level, and to make more sense of my eternal purpose in God’s plan.
Always, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed me on the good days, succored me on the difficult ones, and sustained me when death has removed those I love from the nearness to my soul. God does live living His Gospel has made it easier to strive for a good, gentle life in His service.

Why do Mormons believe in “eternal life?”

Marie answered...

I was a young bride when I first became comfortable and then confident that there is a resurrection. This testimony was burned into my soul early one Sunday morning when I was studying the scriptures, praying, and pondering on life. It surprised me to learn such a principle of truth. I knew no one who was seriously ill, had no one who has passed away recently, and for yet many years lived without the threat of death to anyone I loved.
Then a new, more difficult season began and I had cause to remember the sureness of this testimony of the resurrection I held close in my heart. My first cousin, Lucy, died of a brain aneurysm. Soon thereafter, our youngest son contracted and eventually passed away from leukemia. Then my mother walked through the veil after a useless fight against a brain tumor. Her own mother died soon thereafter. Since then, others have gone on including my father, aunts and uncles, and other close friends.
In this intense season of learning the lessons of death and sorrow, I have often relied on my sure knowledge of God’s existence, His love for me, and His tender mercy in allowing me, before I needed to know, that there is life after death, that life is eternal, and that there is purpose, His purpose, in giving and taking as He does.
The day will come when I will be reunited with those I love and care for with all my heart. We will live together, growing, learning, and serving our God forever. Of this I am sure…

Do Mormons worship Joseph Smith?

Daniel. answered...

No. I've never even met the man.

One night I was on the front row of a concert. A big star came to the edge of the stage and held out his hand. EVERYONE rushed forward, climbing over each other, pushing and wedging themselves along, just to touch him. I almost got caught up in that too, and was about to rush ahead when a little voice kicked in "He's just a man. What's the big deal?" At that moment I vowed to never adulate anything less than deity. I will not go to my knees for anyone but a Loving God.

I respect Joseph Smith like I respect any man who tries his best to live according to his conscience. I hope maybe one day I'll get to chat with him over lunch--or over whatever kind of meal they offer in the life beyond. But I cannot worship a man, for why should I place and value one person any higher than another?