Hi, I'm Jill

I love my family.

About Me

I am a runner. I am a swimmer. But the greatest thing I am is the mom of seven amazing children. They keep me busy, but I love the fun the bring into my life. When I'm not shuttling kids around or cleaning up after them, you will find me reading, sewing, knitting, or baking cookies. I love to run and swim in the early morning hours before everyone is awake. I don't even take music along because my life can be kind of noisy, and I love the quiet time to think and ponder.

Why I am a Mormon

I come from a long line of mormon pioneers who crossed the oceans and plains to come to Salt Lake. I grew up in the church and was baptized when I was 8.

I do have a testimony that this church is true. I have seen miracles in my life that have shown me that Heavenly Father is there.

I cannot imagine not having my family forever--both the family I grew up in and the family I have now. I know that when I live the teachings of the gospel, it is the way to keep my family eternal. Living the gospel is the way to happiness.

Personal Stories

In what ways have your prayers been answered?

I always tell my kids, "You never know when you are the answer to someone's prayers." There was a day at the coast a few years ago, where two of my boys were playing in waist-deep water, and then were swept away by a riptide. As I helplessly watched this happen, I uttered a prayer for Heavenly Father to save them. It just happened that there was a man fishing on a rocky point just where my boys were being swept past. He was able to grab them from the ocean and pull them to safety.

This fisherman told us that he had been relaxing at home that afternoon, but he kept hearing a voice telling him to go fishing on the point. He kept brushing it off--it was a hot afternoon, and he knew he would not catch anything. He finally could not deny the prompting, and picked up his fishing gear and walked to the point. He said, "If I hadn't been there, your boys would be dead."

I am so grateful that this total stranger had listened to this heavenly prompting to go fishing that day. It really taught me to just go with it when I get a feeling that I should call someone or offer to do something. Many times I have learned that the person I helped was praying for that help.

What are you doing to help strengthen your family and make it successful?

I try to make sure that we all sit down to dinner together. I believe that if this could happen in every home, no matter what the make-up of that family is, the world would be a better place.

At dinner, we talk about funny things that happened, or things we learned or saw that day. Each person gets a chance to talk. I can't say that our dinners are fancy or that the food is particularly memorable, but the time we spend talking and laughing together will be remembered for all of our lives.

I also bake a lot of cookies. Kids will sit in the kitchen after school and eat cookies and talk to me. Their friends will even come over and talk to me because they know there are cookies.

How I live my faith

I take advantage of each day to interact with my family in a positive way. The time will soon come when my kids start leaving home, and I don't want to have any regrets of things I should have done with them, or should not have done. They are my treasure, and I put them above all else.

Right now I am serving in the youth program in our ward. This means that each Wednesday night I organize and participate in an activity with the girls ages 12-18 in my congregation. I absolutely love working with the youth. They teach me so much, and it is a great joy to see them learn for themselves that living the church standards is really what makes them happy.

Why do Mormons believe in the Bible?

Jill answered...

We believe that the God of the Old Testament is the one and only God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God that we worship today. He is the father of Jesus Christ. He directed his prophets of the Old and New Testaments just as he directs our prophet today.

Our church doctrines of temple worship, baptism by immersion, baptism for the dead, fasting, and tithing are all doctrines taught in the Bible.

We believe that holy men and prophets from all times were charged with the sacred duty of writing the words of God and of collecting them and preserving them for future generations. This collected history from the story of Adam and the creation in the Old Testament to the words of St. John in the book of Revelation are sacred to us.

The Bible is the word of God.

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Stephen Call answered...

In my opinion the real reason people say the Mormon Church is a cult because they don't understand. saying that it is a cult is an easy way to excuse themselves from learn more about it. Its like saying "sushi is slimy raw dead fish" or "computers are of the devil" its easy not to try / learn about stuff if you pair it with a negative word like "devil" or " slimy raw dead fish"