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Hi, I'm Jessica Leigh Bernard

I am a mother. I am from Vermont and I am a Latter-Day Saint.

About Me

I am a single mom. I am 37 years old. I live in an apartment. I help my son with his paper route. I have social security income. I cook, bicycle ride and tend my plants on my balconey. I am also an aunt to 2 beautiful children named Emily and Owen. Both of my kids were born in July. I love birthday celebrations and barbques. I enjoy swimming in the summer a lot.

Why I am a Mormon

Because it is right for me. Because I love my exfiance and he is a Latter Day Saint and was raised a Latter Day Saint. Because I have enough evidence to believe that it is true. Because it feels better to be a Latter Day Saint and because I know that God loves me. Also because if I am sealed to my family in a Latter Day Saint temple than we can be together forever.

Personal Stories

Please explain the part prayer plays in your life?

My son and I pray together and I believe that God hears our prayers and answers them, even perhaps above some others, because our prayers are virtuous and said in the right way.

Which of the Savior’s teachings have influenced you in your life?

The 10 Commandments.

How can we develop greater harmony in our homes?

Having our children actively involved in church.

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?

Monday through Friday I get my son Ezra up and out the door to school. He is in 1st grade. I do not know how his day will be, but I know that the public school that I have him enrolled in is one of the best in the country and I have faith that he will be blessed by going there. I recently found out that my son will be in second grade next year. It is this kind of reinforcement of my faith that keeps me going in hopefully the right direction. I also recently saw on a website for "great schools " that his is listed as a 7 out of 10 which I find encouraging.

How has attending Church services helped you?

It gave me faith in my community.

How has The Book of Mormon helped you understand the purpose of life?

Reading it gave me a historical, literary view of the world, but also being actively involved in my ward for the last 10 years I saw many families raising children the right way and it taught me how to be a good mother and have a family of my own.

How does making right choices help us make more right choices?

If we are used to making the right choice than we will make the right choice again, because it is familiar to us. Also, if we see the good in life than it is easier for us to act on that. I can give an example of this. My children were born 6 & 7 years ago. So for 7 years I have abandonded my bachlorette life style and I have been busy surrounding us with healthy people, trying to provide more income, a nice home, a nice vehicle, preparing 3 healthy meals a day and positive mealtimes, being actively involved at the school, trying to get to church more, etc. Now that my children are full grown kids and not babies anymore I am beginning to take notice of the good that has happened on Earth in my childrens' life times and the big picture in that way... most gorillas in Mexico and The US have been released from research facilities. The Vermont State Hospital has been reduced in size. The Latter Day Saint Church continues to grow and be a church with a large populous on the Earth today. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan ended. The US had our first black president, etc.

How has the Book of Mormon brought you closer to God?

I know that love and logic go together. That is what I consider the atonement to be like... a complete absorption of love and logic in to each other.

What has helped develop greater harmony in your home?

Having a child to love and care for and provide structure for.

Please share your feelings/testimony of Joseph Smith.

I think that Joseph Smith was a loving and happy person. I know that he was close to God and nature in a way too, because he worked as a farmer with his father and because of his experience in The Sacred Grove. He was human.

Can you think of a specific challenge in your family that Gospel Principles helped overcome?

As sad as it may seem I am the black sheep in my family. Being a LDS gives me another place to find community for my son and I and family type support/ strength.

Why do Mormons go on missions?

So that others can make the choice to become Latter Day Saints.

Why/How do you share the gospel with your friends?

By going to church. I think that my neighbors used to see it when the missionaries would come to visit. I have handed out Books of Mormon, by doing my best to be a good example.

Can you talk about the missions of the Church and your participation in them?

I have never been on a mission, but when the missionaries taught me about The LDS church before I was baptised my fiance sat with me through the lessons and the missionaries or elders told us that there are missions for adult married couples. Atleast one of my fiance's sisters told me that she had been on a mission for The LDS Church in South America in Brazil. My fiance's sisters explained to me that the missions that women go on are shorter than the missions that men go on. The mens' missions can last up to 2 years.

In what ways have your prayers been answered?

When I was a child growing up in the beautiful countryside of East Montpelier, Vermont sometimes I would be coming in at night from feeding my horse and my pony and I would look up at the sky and say "star light star bright first star I see tonight wish I may wish I might have the wish I wish tonight " and then I would wish or wonder if there was some prince out there for me. Then in college I believe that I met him. He was a Latter Day Saint. He taught me about the church and asked me to marry him.

Please share your feelings/testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel.

I think that it is about the atonement.

What blessings have come through your faith in Jesus Christ?

Being an active member of The Latter Day Saint Church for more than a decade and being a good mother.

Why do Mormons do family history or genealogy work?

so that they can do Baptisms for the Dead which is a temple ordinance

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

It was more than a year ago that I deactivated my Facebook account and began working on my mormon.org profile instead. I pray morning and night. I have my own home and I do not have to live with my parents anymore who are Catholic and always try to push their beliefs on my family and I. One really sad thing about my upbringing was there was to me this sense that if Christ returned God would somehow be taking my father's glory of being a parent from him. My dad does not accept that The Latter Day Saint Church was the way for us to be together forever. I always have LDS scriptures in my home. There are also unwanted influences that have to do with health. We do not have alcohol in our home unless it is for cooking at temperatures that will burn the alcohol out of it. We do not have a coffee maker. If some one comes over and they want to smoke they have to go outside.

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

1. trying to get custody back of my oldest son
2. prayer, repentance, scripture reading
3. trying to get a temple recommend
4. I had my first priesthood blessing the other day... in my home.
5. Trying to bring in more income and being somewhat successful in that.

Could you talk about your baptism?

August 21, 1999: baptised
August 22., 1999: confirmed

It was simple. It was complete. It was at the Paradise Valley Stake in Arizona which I find to be beautiful. There were like 30 people in attendance. The only people that I knew were my one friend and the missionaries.

How has the Holy Ghost helped you?

The Holy Ghost prompted me to become a Latter Day Saint.

How can your talents and gifts bless others?

I help my son with his homework. I gave my neighbor hand me downs for her children today. I made salmon cakes and gingerbread cookie dough this evening for my son and I. I read The Three Degrees of Glory to my neighbor the other day. She is an investigator of the church.

What is hope and what do you hope for?

Hope is a feeling that things will be okay. I hope that I will have enough money, a house with a yard and my own car and that I will be married asap to Tom and sealed to him and my two children.

How has your knowledge of the Plan of Happiness changed/benefited your life?

I am a good mother. I have healthy structure in my life. I know the true difference between good and bad and right and wrong. I have a beautiful home.

How I live my faith

I love my family. I love Christ. I try to get to church as often as I can which is hard, because I am low income and I live in rural Vermont. I do all of the things that good Latter Day Saints do. I follow the words of wisdom. I read the scriptures. I pray. I obey The Ten Commandments and The Law of Chastity. I hold family home evenings and I repent often. I try not to work or shop on Sunday.
Most of my activities revolve around being a mother and church.

How can I know Mormonism is true?

Jessica Leigh Bernard answered...

pray and ask the holy spirit to reveal to you whether or not it is true.
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Sean answered...

Before I was baptized, a missionary told me that I could read the Book of Mormon and find out for myself if it was true. I liked that idea. I've always been a person who wanted to know the truth for myself. After the missionary had suggested I read it, I decided to try. It was a big step of faith to pick up a book and read it without knowing for sure. Over time, I developed a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true.

The same goes for knowing if The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true Church of Christ once again established on this earth. A simple prayer to your Heavenly Father can open so many doors of truth.

The real way that I know it is true is how it has helped my life. Without the Church, I'd be lost. I am grateful for it, and for the knowledge I have that it is true.

How can we come to know our Father in Heaven?

Richard Maden answered...

Just start out with a small prayer to God and just this one act will start you on a path that will bring you into a relationship with Him. Don't be afraid to ask for guidance from the missionaries this is the thing they live for.