Hi, I'm Mary

I'm a wife, stay-at-home mother of three, and a singer. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

The loves of my life are my family, music, learning, and all things related to personal and family history.

I have been married to my wonderful husband for nearly 10 years. We have 3 beautiful daughters. We love to spend all our "free time" playing games, reading, watching movies, and working on projects.

I have been singing for others since I was four years old. I love doing performances with my family and have done so since I was a child. I enjoy singing with our stake choir, especially for our Christmas concerts.

I love learning and managed to finally earn my Associate Degree in Music, after going to school off and on for 10 years. Why did it take me that long? Well, because I decided to work so that my husband could finish school and then my kids took priority.

I believe that now is the time to start working on a personal or family history. I consider myself young, so I am not one to think that it is only for those who are much older. I am not particularly good at finding family history information yet, but I am working on ways that I can gather what others have found and make it available for my family. I love reading the stories of the everyday life of my ancestors. I enjoy maintaining our family blogs as a way of journaling personal history and I hope that someday these stories will be special to my posterity.

Why I am a Mormon

The gospel of Jesus Christ, found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, just makes perfect sense to me.

I was raised in the church and so I do not have a particular moment of conversion to tell. Instead, my conversion has happened over many years. I attended other churches in my youth, but I never was able to feel the spirit touch me any where else.

I have found that the more I study the scriptures, the more I am inspired by the Holy Spirit that it is true. I can feel the truth of the gospel in my heart and even though I may not understand it all, I cannot deny that these things are true.

Personal Stories

How can your talents and gifts bless others?

I think that music can touch the soul in a deep and meaningful way. I have been blessed with the ability to sing and it is truly my passion. Sharing this talent has never come easy to me.

I was born with a hearing loss. I have really struggled with this and have at times found it difficult to hear the correct pitch. This caused me to struggle with stage fright as a youth. Then I heard one of the leaders of the church, share a story of losing a talent because he had not shared it and it really struck me. I may not have been blessed with good ears, but I have been blessed with a decent voice. So I decided to work hard to develop my talent so that I could share my testimony through song.

It has taken some time, but I finally grew confident enough and have learned to rely on the help of the spirit. I enjoy singing solos often now, because I try hard to feel the words in my heart and sincerely mean what the songs say. I know that as I have done this, others have been blessed to feel the spirit during my performances. I am so grateful for the talents that God has given me.

How I live my faith

In addition to singing with the stake choir, I have been given the chance to share my testimony through music on several occasions. I know that this has been a wonderful way for me to show others what I believe.

Currently, I am in the presidency of the women's group of our ward, and I do a lot of planning of activities. This calling has given me the opportunity to share my beliefs on a pretty regular basis. Because of this my own testimony has grown in so many ways.

Why don’t Mormons drink coffee, tea, or alcohol? What is the Mormon Church’s law of health and proper diet?

Braden Scothern answered...

We do not drink coffee, tea, alcohol, use tobacco, or illegal drugs because of a commandment known as the Word of Wisdom.

The Word of Wisdom was a commandment revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith in 1833. It tells us the importance of keeping care of our bodies because they are temples. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

We know that while from the outside it may seem restrictive it really gives us freedom it blesses us physically and spiritually. The things that we are counseled to stay away from in this law from our loving Heavenly Father help us keep our agency. When you are addicted to something you have given up some of your agency, it controls you. Satan tries to use addictive things to bind us down so we cannot focus on our relationships with the Lord.

In addition to us keeping our agency we are promised these things in the Word of Wisdom: "all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments... shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures... And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen." (D&C 89:18-21

So those who keep the commandment are able to be in tune with the Holy Ghost more. That is a great blessing because it is the Spirit that helps us stay on the path to eternal life and teaches us all spiritual truths.
Molly answered...

God gave us the ability to choose. There are substances in coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco and other harmful drugs that limit our ability to choose. The intent of the law of health we follow is to preserve our ability to make good choices. This law of health is called the “Word of Wisdom”. It not only guides us regarding the substances to avoid, but also those to include in our diet. We are told to eat fruits and vegetables in their season, include grains, and eat meat sparingly. We are promised that if we follow these guidelines we will be healthy, able to learn and accomplish all that is required of us by our various roles in life. I am grateful for the blessings I receive from following the Word of Wisdom.

As a Dietitian I especially love this law of health because as I’ve seen the US guidelines for nutrition develop they are now aligning with what the Lord told us many years before. I believe that the guidelines set forth in our law of health are the minimum requirements for good health. It may be necessary for some people to avoid certain foods or eat a lower fat diet, or avoid caffeine entirely, but these specifics are not mentioned in the law of health and are to be determined by each individual.

What is being a Mormon like?

Michael answered...

The shortest answer that I could give is that it's AWESOME.
But really, it's great! The standards of the Church help me live and love a more clean life, and help me enjoy what I do every day.
Sometimes it's hard, but I try to think about WHY I do it all. It's like working out- I don't always enjoy it, but I keep thinking about the finish line and why I'm working out.
Like Captain Moroni wrote on the ensign banner he called the "Title of Liberty" to rally the country to understand why they were doing what they were:
"In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children."
Being a Mormon makes me love life more. And I sure live a lot of it!