Hi, I'm Monya

I was born and raised in Phoenix Arizona. I work for US Airways and currently live in Gilbert Arizona.

About Me

I am an athlete, I love to run, cycle, play volleyball and watch the Olympics. I have 4 children and one grandson. My husband is Eric and a wonderful person, husband and father.
2 years ago while I was training for a marathon I was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer. This diagnosis changed my life, my son left on his mission 5 weeks after my diagnosis, a week after he left I had a double mastectomy and was told my cancer had spread thus needing another surgery, my daughter was married a month later, 2 days after her wedding I started the chemo/radiation process, and a month later my 1st and only grandchild was born. I learned through this journey my Heavenly Father loves all his children so much, there were days when I felt sick and wanted to cry, it was then that I prayed for strength and every time the Lord comforted me and gave me HOPE. Life is so precious, I am blessed everyday to see beauty around me. HE never leaves our side, when I was weak HE was my strength.

Why I am a Mormon

I was baptized a Mormon when I was 10 years old. At the time I don't think I fully understood why I was getting baptized, I remember the overwhelming feeling I had when I received the Holy Ghost. When I was a teenager I read the Book of Mormon for the 1st time, I prayed constantly before and after I read, I wanted so badly to know if this book was true, if it was real, again that overwhelming spirit comforted me it was a warm feeling that filled ever fiber of my body--I KNEW, I knew that the Book of Mormon was true, I KNEW that Jesus died for me and from that moment on I promised HIM I would do my part to be a good person and to keep my covenants I made at baptism. Now that I am a mother and wife, I understand even more of what our Heavenly Father sees in us, what he expects of us. I have never felt restricted, I know as I continue to be obedient and follow the gospel plan I will live with my family for eternity.

Personal Stories

Please explain the part prayer plays in your life?

Prayer has always been an important part of my life--as a young child my parents were divorced, when my father left I prayed to Heavenly Father to help me understand--as a teenager I learned to kneel and pray every morning and night, I learned these things from going to church, listening to my leaders and seminary teacher, Brother Stan Johnson was an incredible example to me, he taught me to pray with a sincere heart, to talk to Heavenly Father not just recite what I had heard others say in prayers. I was being abused at home and knew that the Lord was listening, I promised him to always make good choices and follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he promised me I would survive this temporary situation.
In my early 20's my brother died, I was home with him when it happened, my parents were out of town, this was a very difficult part of my life. One night as I knelt next to my bed to pray for guidance, I felt the presence of my brother, he let me know this was not my fault and that the Lord was listening.
I kept my promise and the Lord kept his, I am married to a wonderful man, have 4 beautiful children and still continue to pray for daily comfort and strength. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago, instead of being angry I knelt and prayed many times during the long hard days of chemo and radiation, I also called upon many others to pray for me, those from other faiths prayed daily for me too. The power of prayer has been constant in my life, I am so grateful for the knowledge of this beautiful way of communicating with our Heavenly Father--he hears, and he answers ALL PRAYERS

How I live my faith

Being a Mormon means loving the Lord with all your heart and sharing that love with others. I have to sometimes ask myself "what would Jesus do?" or "if the Savior stood beside me right now what would I say or do different than what I'm doing? those thoughts have helped me in so many ways to LIVE WHAT I BELIEVE.
I truly believe where ever you are in your journey in life, you can find the strength that you need when you live like you believe in HIM. The choices that have been made in our lives are what make up who we are, those experiences whether good or bad are teaching us, listening with your heart. Many times for my faith to grow all I needed to do was turn whatever it was over the Lord and HE will heal hearts, minds and spirits.
I have had the opportunity to work with the youth in the church, they are our future, I have learned so much from their strength. With so much negative in the media I am always impressed by youth who KNOW, they KNOW who they are, where they came from and what they want their future to be--they LIVE WHAT THEY BELIEVE.
I also have been blessed to work shoulder to shoulder with women of the church, again, I am so filled with happiness when I see the service they provide to others. Every person in this world is a child of God and these women serve by taking meals into families struggling with health issues, financial issues, family problems--one of the things I love the most is how inclusive these women are--we all pray to the same Heavenly Father and he wants us to serve anyone in need.
One of my favorite things in the world to do is go to the Mayo Clinic chemo lab my daughters and I make snack bags for the people going through a rough chemo drip--sitting and talking with these people gives me HOPE, if they allow me we end our visit with a prayer--sometimes I pray sometimes they do--my hearts is overwhelmed with joy when I go. Serving others has always taken my own trials and put them into perspective.

What is being a Mormon like?

Monya answered...

Recently I was asked the question "what is it like being a mormon?". Being a mormon is not the most popular thing to do, and it is comes with the occasional eyebrow lift. I've never been one to hold back what I believe in, I have taken the opportunity to share what I believe with many people. I know so many people who do not agree with our way of living, and that is OK, one of the amazing things I love about being Mormon is the chance to include everyone, to respect and honor all who have faith and hope in something, even if it is different than my beliefs

Being Mormon is important to me. I have never felt superior or better than any other person who walks the earth but being a mormon means no smoking, drugs, alcohol, coffee and moderation in all things. My husband and I have friends of other faiths, many times when we go out and have dinner they will order a glass of wine, they respect that we do not drink and we respect that in their religion it is OK. This mutual respect allows us to be examples of mormons who are inclusive but at the same time practice what we believe.

When I was asked what it is like to be "Mormon" it's easy being mormon because I live what I believe in. I feel normal, I'm a wife, mom and friend to my co-workers and neighbors, just like any other woman I know. I have never been tempted by anything that would compromise my beliefs. I chose this lifestyle, nothing about what I live is harmful or hurtful to others.
Melinda answered...

I think of it as my life style not just my religion. The church is set up to support you and nurture your spiritual growth. That growth comes from involvement with church activities and supporting others. We look out for each other, not just physically but spiritually as well.

What do Mormons believe concerning the doctrine of grace?

Bryant answered...

Grace is the enable power of Christ to be cleansed of our sins. When I think of grace I like to think of a dam. Now the purpose of a dam is to create energy for a city, but how does it do that? The dam holds back the water and creates a huge amount of pressure. A portion of that pressure is released into a very large duct that flows down and spins large turbines. The spinning of these turbines is what creates the energy that we all use every day. Now without that water, could we spin these turbines by ourselves? No, manpower alone is not nearly enough to create the energy needed. There is just no possible way that a human being by themselves could turn those massive turbines. In this analogy Christ is the strong current created by the water from the dam. Without him we would be unable to turn the turbine to cleanse our lives, only he can do it! None the less we do have control of one part of this process, we can interfere. Sometimes in our lives we sin to a point that we have created so much filth to clog up the duct and not allow Christ's flow into our lives. We must be continually watching to make sure that we do not inhibit this process. Thus, "faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." see James 15 Turbines without the pressure from the water is completely useless. Our lives without Christ? "For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." see Romans 623