Hi, I'm Mary

I am a San Diegan. I love marine biology and study sociology. I make up my own words to songs. I'm a Mormon!

About Me

If life were an assorted bag of candy, the individual sweets that would best fill mine are family, service, music, world studies, children, muppet movies and licorice.

San Diego is my nest, but this is one chick who almost didn't hatch. I was born a "blue baby" but thanks to a sincere conversation between the Lord & my mother, I am here today. Now, not only am I not blue, but I'm slightly red from being out in the beautiful sunshine a little too long the other day. Splendid!

After a lifetime together, my best friend and I realized how much we help, inspire, and love one another, and thought we liked it so much that we'd keep it up forever! We were married in the SD temple July 23, 2011. A very good day.
Eternity will be all the more fun with my six extraordinary siblings around. They sing, they dance, they juggle, they could get by on sheer charm if they had to. Give them a call if you need anything. I do!

My mind often wanders through Argentina & Guatemala. In both places, my sole focus and purpose was to serve others. The methods were different (in Argentina, I was an official LDS missionary; in Guatemala, I volunteered in an orphanage), but the motivation was the same: I love people, and I love helping them.

I have been more than blessed in life, and I hope I can help others even a fraction of how much others have helped me. That's why my next goal is (***drrrrumrollllll***): Law school! Wish me luck!

Hugs, smiles, daisies, and sunshine,

Mary

Why I am a Mormon

Some other day, I'll write with more detail for you. Today, you should just know that although I grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when I was about 14 I craved my own personal assurance that it was the right and true church of God. The night before I was to head off on a camping trip for other young girls of the Church, I knelt to know if all the camps, talks/sermons, activities, and such were worth it: was there really a God and did He organize all these things? Did He put a church on earth? But especially poignant in my mind was the question, "Are you there?"
As I sat there in the darkness, an overwhelming power settled in my heart, that I can only describe as pure love expressed in a Fatherly embrace. No physical arms surrounded me, that I could see anyway, but I felt a tremendous love. That love was expressed so simply though. So unmistakably. Just like a hug!

I know God lives. He is my Father and yours. If you haven't already come to know Him, you will be surprised by His patience and tenderness. You will be amazed by His firm justice and impressed by how He balances it with sweet mercy. I love Him very much. God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to teach us, comfort us, encourage us, and help us. ANYONE who comes to know Jesus will also come to know the Father. I know that! It makes me so happy! If you don't know what I mean, you can. That's great too.

Personal Stories

How can your talents and gifts bless others?

Each person has tailor-fit talents and abilities. No one person can do everything. When many people work together, there is a richness in results. There is a power to produce that is far greater than any one person could do by his or her self. One person, however, is a good motivational starting point. :)
May we all strive to be a person who inspires many people to come together and accomplish the impossible! Whether it be curing a disease, understanding a community, solving a problem, or getting someone to smile, all worthwhile ventures are all the more impactful when many people participate.

How I live my faith

I live my faith with a smile! It's the best way to do it. The Book of Mormon teaches that the word of God is one of the great contributors to our happiness. So every day I read the scriptures - the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and/or the Pearl of Great Price. I am one who really enjoys analytical thinking, so I find meditating on what I read and writing about it very very fulfilling.
I attend church weekly and try hard to apply what I learn in the week. The doctrine learned there and the uplifting worship services motivate me to work harder to improve the world. Another thing I love about church is that everyone there is like family to me. And it doesn't matter in what part of the world I am, I always feel welcomed, loved, and supported when I walk in an LDS meetinghouse. I know that the Spirit of the Lord is there. It's a beautiful thing. Oh, and don't get me started on temples....

The only thing better than having something beautiful or good is being able to share it with someone else, so another way I make the most of my faith is by teaching gospel principles to others. I have found that in any situation, there is some way to bless and strengthen another person (whether they're members or not) by sharing these principles. I have found this to be the most influential form of service I have ever offered anyone. Lives are changed for the better when people start living the gospel.

What is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' attitude regarding homosexuality and same sex marriage?

Mary answered...

I have many homosexual friends, and I have best friends who are gay rights activists. They know my stand on same-sex marriage, and I know theirs, but guess what? We are still friends. I hope you and I can be friends too, as I try to explain a portion of what I feel about the issue of same-sex marriage.

According to principles that I believe were established by God to protect both men and women and provide for their temporal and eternal welfare, only marriage between a man and woman is allowed. This marriage must entail complete fidelity from both parties. Just as post-marital sexual desires and impulses should be controlled, pre-marital ones are equally tameable.

The LDS Church penalizes no one based on their sexual orientation. What someone feels is not equal to what they do. Once someone acts on same-sex attraction, they are committing sin. Merely being attracted is not a sin. It is not easy or simple or enjoyable to suppress one's physical appetites. Frankly, I'm not even sure of all the reasons it is commanded that we do so (though I know of the basic reasons). What I do know (and believe me when I say I do know this) is that God has ordained marriage between man and woman. He always has reasons, and we usually don't understand them for quite some time. But I know with all my heart that it is for the good of all people, regardless of sexual orientation, that marriage only be permited between a man and a woman.
Gregg answered...

We believe the Bible and other records passed down through centuries, that God has spoken to man starting with Adam and Eve and continues to speak to us in modern days. God loves us and knows what will bring us true joy in this life and in the life to come. He has declared and continues to command that sexual relations are only to be practiced between husband and wife, legally and lawfully married. He has ordained marriage for the purpose of binding husbands and wives together in a special relationship that can last not just in this life, but for all eternity, and to bring children into the world and nurture them.

Others will fail to understand these truths or try to change them, but the family is central to God's plan and he continues to make his will quite clear on this matter. As members of his church, we will defend these truths.

Can husband and wife be together forever? Do you believe that families will live together in heaven?

Matt answered...

The Lord would not command us to love each other so much during our lives only to tear us apart in the next life. We are one flesh just as the Lord is one with his church. The scriptures say that we are not to be put asunder.
Christ gave his apostles special revelations on this subject:
Matthew, Chapter 16:
Jesus said to his apostles:
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

What else would his apostles bind, and what else could the Savior mean, if not marriages? Christ put no limit on their binding power to bind relationships and covenants. Their power extends into heaven.
And he continued by saying:
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
– because some things are kept sacred until later times when the world is ready to receive them.
Temple sealing and eternal marriage are primarily the subject of modern revelation through prophets in our time.

In the latter days, according to prophecy, Elijah has returned to join families together. Malachi 4:5-6. We believe that prophets in each age bring new revelation from God. Amos 3:7.
This latter day revelation has finally made clear how families are kept together in heaven—something people have wondered about throughout the ages. (Ephesians 5:32, wherein it says that the subject of marriage in Biblical times was “a great mystery”). In our time, the purpose of marriage and family is clear: ordinances are being performed to unite the whole human family throughout all dispensations of time. It is a unique work for the latter days. These modern revelations free human kind from the depressing, and divorce-promoting idea that the family becomes meaningless in the life hereafter. The Lord would not put us in a world so alien to our heavenly home. In heaven, families are the eternal organizational unit in his kingdom.