Hi, I'm Connie

I'm a small-town girl at heart. I love my husband and my three kids, and I love being a Mormon.

About Me

I grew up in Southern California and later in Southern Nevada. I am a person who loves people. I enjoy meeting new people and laughing with friends. I love to read, throw parties, and play card and board games. I thoroughly enjoy seeing new places and things. I was fortunate enough to serve as a missionary for the church in Russia, and being a desert girl, I'm proud to say that I not only lived through a Siberian winter, but loved it. I now am happily married with three beautiful children. I love spending time with my family. I love the LDS church and sharing my personal witness of its truthfulness.

Why I am a Mormon

I ultimately owe my membership in this church to my wonderful and faithful parents, who raised me as a Mormon. As a child, I was taught to be a good citizen, to help my fellowman, and to have good ethics. Most importantly, I was taught to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all I do. I am so grateful for the guidance I received as a youth because it eventually led me to find out for myself that this church is true.

I learned for myself of the truthfulness of this church simply by living by its teachings. As a youth, I found I was much happier and felt a sense of security and protection when I was following the standards of the church. On the other hand, when I gave in to bad judgements or made bad decisions, I felt confusion in my life and a sense of loneliness. I learned that Jesus Christ is always willing to forgive me and give me a second chance. I know from these experiences that I am happiest when striving to live the way Christ lived. Being a Mormon has blessed my life in more ways than I can articulate. Now as a mother, I can think of nothing more important that I could teach my children than the gospel. I love being part of this church!

How I live my faith

I love serving in my congregation. One of the things I love about this church is that each congregation works together like a family. We do not have paid clergy; instead we have opportunities to use our talents to serve each other as teachers, leaders and in a variety of other capacities. This teaches us skills and attributes as we try to serve each other as Christ would. My life has been greatly blessed as I have given of my personal time to the Lord's ministry and served my congregational family. Currently, I work with teenage girls and I really enjoy it.

I strive each day to live my life more like my Savior's. It's not easy, since I have many faults and shortcomings. I find that daily prayer and scripture study help, as well as keeping the standards of the church.

How can I find someone to talk with, in person, about the Mormon religion?

Aly answered...

On Mormon.org you can chat with a missionary online. At first I didn't feel comfortable inviting missionaries over to my house, so I chatted online with a missionary in Utah. I found that missionaries are just normal people, with normal hobbies and interests. After that I felt more comfortable, and I submitted the form to request that missionaries come to my house to teach me. Missionaries are very knowledgeable and can answer any questions you have about the Mormon faith.
Stephanie answered...

One of the best ways to learn about basic tenants of our religion is by checking resources like this website, chatting with the missionaries, and have them send you some resources (like a Book of Mormon, videos, etc.) and then try finding the closest LDS chapel in your area by looking in the phone book or online. They can have missionaries come to your home and teach you if you wish. Another good way is to go to church with a friend or an acquaintance of yours who is LDS, and they can also connect you with the missionaries. If you don't have any of those resources nearby, chat with the missionaries and they will find a way to have someone connect with you. There's probably more Mormons around than you think.

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Scott answered...

Perhaps because they see how close-knit we are as a community, and it can be somewhat hard to understand this support network if you have never been part of something quite like it.

Sometimes we hear that some others may perceive or presume that members are 'brainwashed' with information and forced to conform to some standard. To those I would say that is exactly the opposite of what actually occurs under the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, Satan's way is to force people to conform. Study the life of Christ and you'll understand that He never forces, but instead always invites.

Freedom to choose is something that we believe is one of God's greatest gifts to mankind, and is fundamental to our faith. All people (Church member or not) are always free to choose what to believe and how to act (we call this agency) and are encouraged to seek understanding of the reasons for any invitation that Christ or the living Prophet extends to them.