Hi, I'm Sarah

I love photography and working with photos. I'm a student studying web design. I work in an art gallery and I love being a Mormon.

About Me

I have a wide variety of interests. I've tried quite a few things in my life. I stuck with piano, but I tried organ and recorder. I've played piano for 8 years, and am still playing. I've tried art, and loved doing it, but didn't really have the creativity to stick with it. I love photography, and am good at it, but don't want to do that later in life. I also spend a lot of time in photoshop, and I'm getting quite good at it.
I'm currently in college. I'm only a freshmen, but am pretty dead set on my major. I started out as a Business major, but quickly found that every job they talked about in business had no appeal to me. I am taking a family history class and I love it. So, I looked into jobs, and I am now a family history and genealogy major.
I have 5 siblings and I'm the second oldest. One thing I've learned from my family is hard work. Every Saturday we weren't out playing like everyone else. We were either landscaping, cleaning the house, or doing one of the endless odd jobs. I learned growing up how to have fun while I work. I've really loved all the time that I've spent with my family. My family members are my best friends.

Why I am a Mormon

Ever since I was a little kid, I've been going to church. My parents always set a good example of what it meant to be Mormon. I haven't always had a testimony. I've always agreed in the standards they set forth, but sometimes as a child I doubted whether there was a God that loved me. As I got into high school and life got busy, I asked my dad what he did to manage a busy life, and he said he relied on the Lord. I took his advice and found out for myself that there is a God in heaven that loves me, and he helped me make it through all the woes of high school. I'm a Mormon because I love the love that his gospel and he holds for me. I've never felt stronger love than that which I feel from my Heavenly Father.

Personal Stories

Why do Mormons do family history or genealogy work?

When we do family history work we gain a connection to all of our ancestors in the past. It is wonderful to learn about their lives and to see how their lives have changes our lives now. We also do family history work to provide our family with the ordinances that we believe are essential to return to our Heavenly Father. I personally love learning about all the wonderful people I'm related to and reading their personal journals to find out what they did in their lives and what joys they found in the gospel. I believe that when I learn about them and do their temple work they smile down at me from above.

How I live my faith

I've done a lot of things to live my faith. My favorite thing was teaching 6 and 7 year-old children about their savior and Heavenly Father who loves them. I love seeing their faces as they learn something new, and it means something to them. I also love listening to their stories. Little kids have the best stories. I also live my faith by serving others. I'm glad that we have service. By serving other, I learn more about myself. Every winter I help to shovel snow for the elderly that lived around me. As I provided this service I learned that I love work, and I love the snow. I also loved talking to these wonderful old men and ladies and hearing the great stories they have. They really have a lot of lessons to share and I love learning from them. Ultimately I live my faith just by smiling and loving everyone I come in contact with.

What is the Relief Society?

Sarah answered...

The Relief Society is an organization for woman 18 years and older. It was organized to help provide woman with a place to be to not only learn more about the gospel and grow their faith, but to provide love and friendship. I love attending Relief Society activities because I feel such love from everyone their. The women who are called to be the Relief Society presidents are called of God, and lead and love the women as God would want them too. They really care and think about each one of the women who they are called to serve.
Kaitlyn answered...

The Relief Society is the organization in the Church where women come together to strengthen, serve, and teach each other. It's Motto is "Charity Never Faileth" which women of the Church live by to bring relief to the weary and down trodden. Women meet as a Relief Society each week to learn about the Gospel and grow closer to Jesus Christ. Women are asked to serve in many capacities within the Relief Society and give of their time and talents. There are also activities where women share skills and do service for those in their community as well as victims of disasters around the world.

Who founded Mormonism and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

Joseph answered...

I went on a bicycle ride one day with a friend of another faith. He was a believing Christian but told me as we rode that he believed churches and organized religion are unnecessary and that the best way to find truth is to look everywhere. He bought into the notion that there are "many ways to the top of a mountain."

I think there's truth in that view, too. I believe that God wants us to find truth everywhere we can get it. And yet something nagged at me about his view. As we hit the steeper part of our ride, I said, "I think that's a cop out." (We have a pretty comfortable relationship - we talk pretty bluntly with each other). "If there is a God, don't you think He'd have an opinion about what's right and what's wrong? And don't you think He would have a plan for His children? And finally, don't you think He'd want us to know the truth about that plan? If so, how can you believe He would not create some credible and organized way to help us figure out what is true?"

Throughout history that way has been to reveal the truth through prophets. As my friend and I spoke he saw more clearly that there was no reasonable argument for why God would say, "2000 years ago prophets were a really good idea. But today I changed my mind."

Joseph Smith did what prophets always do. He revealed new scripture that confirms all that we had before. He restored God's full Gospel. And he pointed us to Christ. I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. And now my friend does, too.