Hi, I'm Karen

I am a big city girl from small town Oklahoma. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I'm a stay at home mom who loves reading, shopping, and exercising. I enjoy being outdoors and playing sports. I also love sewing, DIY projects, and finding a great bargain. I served a full-time mission, graduated college, was a law school wife, and had a successful career. Now being a mom is what I do and being a Mormon is who I am.

Why I am a Mormon

I am a Mormon because I have a testimony of Joseph Smith. I know that he is a prophet of God. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I have felt the Spirit of the Holy Ghost as I have read and prayed to know for myself.

I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows me and wants me to be happy. And for the Savior who set the perfect example.

I love the opportunity I have to serve in the church. It has helped me to develop a great love for the members of my ward and make great friends.

Being a Mormon has brought so much joy in to my life that I could have never experienced without the knowledge of my Savior and my purpose here on this Earth.

Personal Stories

Think about your everyday activities. What are things you act upon each day where you cannot see the end results? How does faith move you to action?

I try to be a friend to everyone. There have been times in my life when I felt like no one wanted to be my friend. It was a very lonely place to be. I never want anyone to feel like they can't be my friend. i try to greet new people, make people feel included, and show love to everyone. My faith motivates me to reach out because I hope in someway, they will feel loved and do the same for someone else.

How I live my faith

By striving every day to show love to those around me, I do my best to live my faith.

While serving my mission, I learned the importance of love. Loving people regardless of where they come from or what they look like, but loving people because they are children of God and there is so much I can learn from them.

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Elizabeth answered...

It's funny, I used to call the Mormon Church a cult too. I just didn't understand it.

Mormonism isn't weird or strange. Its members don't perform satanic rituals or brainwash teenage boys into walking around from door to door in suits and name tags (nor is anyone forced to -- everyone who chooses to serve a mission does so out of their own free will and choice).
I used to call Mormonism a cult because it seemed foreign and unfamiliar, which I deemed scary. The same thing happened to Jesus' first followers as well: they were accused of cult worship too! Others who understood little of what Mormons truly believe told me lies about so-called "practices" in the church which, in reality, were just made-up stories and falsehoods intended to give the church a bad name.
When it comes down to it, a lot of people just don't understand this church, and lies about it spread like wildfire. Mormons believe that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Savior and the Redeemer of the world, plain and simple.
Is that so weird or cultish?
Today, there are close to fourteen million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide, and more live outside of the United States than inside. That doesn't seem very cult-like to me!
Lynn answered...

Some call Mormonism a cult because it is not a "traditional" Christian church. The primary complaint of the "traditionalists" (generally Protestant Churches) is that we do not believe in the doctrine of the trinity as it relates to the nature of the Godhead. The doctrine of the trinity was codified in the Nicene Creed in 325 AD, many years after the death of Christ and the Apostles. It basically says that the Godhead, The Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are one being in "substance." Since Mormonism does not accept this doctrine, they say we believe in a different Christ than they do and therefore are a cult. It is curious that this "trinitarian" doctrine is not taught anywhere in the Bible.

Mormons believe the Bible is the Word of God. The Bible (and the early church established by Jesus and His Apostles) teaches that the Godhead indeed consists of The Father, Son and Holy Ghost. But, it teaches that they are: 1) three distinct individuals as expressed in Acts 7:54-60 where Stephen is being stoned. "He being filled with the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God." And it teaches 2) they are one in purpose, not in substance (John 17 where Jesus offers his intercessory prayer, particularly verses 20-23.) This is what Mormons believe.

It is noteworthy that the early Christians were called the "sect of the Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5) and were considered a cult by the Sadducees and Pharisees, the predominant religions of the day.

Why do Mormons perform proxy baptisms in their temples?

Patty answered...

Proxy baptisms are Heavenly Father's solution to the conflict between the need to be baptized in order to obtain eternal life, and the fact that not everyone gets the opportunity to be baptized in this life. We preform baptisms on the behalf of our ancestors, and then our deceased ancestors, in the spirit world, are given the opportunity to choose whether or not they want this baptism to be valid for them.