Hi, I'm Eilene

I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I am a mother of eight children. I love being a mother. I have always wanted to have a large family so I feel very grateful it happened for me. I was raised in a family of seven siblings, five sisters and two brothers. My siblings and I got along well, we always had someone to hang out with and we still love the times we get together. My father once told me that if you want to do something good for your child, give them a brother or sister. I came to agree with him. There were definately many trials and challenges that came to my family but also many rewarding experiences and fun times too. Having my family was one of the best choices I have made.
After I graduated from high school I attended nursing school and loved learning about health. I worked as a nurse for a couple of years then started to raise my family. Learning Nursing skills helped in raising my family, especially having a child with epilepsy and facing all the broken bones and stitches. I also enjoy learning about health through Nutrition. I like to experiment with making healthy recipes to feed my children and now my twenty-eight grandchildren. Sometimes they like it and sometimes not.
I like being with my family at the beach, camping in the beautiful canyons, hiking and swimming. Being in the outdoors gives me a feeling that all is well in the world. I also have tried to look on the bright side of Life and to find happiness everyday.

Why I am a Mormon

I was raised by parents who taught the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our family. I desired at a young age to know about the purpose of my Life and what I could do to be a good person and to be happy. When I was Baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I felt the Holy Ghost at that time fill my soul with happiness and peace. I have had a strong desire to feel this same influence throughout my life. As I made the choice to live the teachings of the Gospel, my testimony continued to grow and I could see how much my life was blessed for being a member of this Church. I know this is Jesus Christ's Chruch and that it was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. We have the fullness of His Gospel on earth today even with a Prophet and Apostles. I love being a Mormon.
I have felt the blessings of raising my children with the teachings of the Gospel. I have been strengthened through many difficult challenges of health, financial problems, and the stresses that come from raising a large family.
My Faith in my Heavenly Father's plan has been the guiding influence in my life.

How I live my faith

I have served in church callings teaching children, young adults and in the women's organization. I have noticed that serving in a church calling has given me an opportunity to keep learning new things and strengthened my confidence. I was normally quite shy and it was difficult for me to speak in front of a large group. I decided to accept callings, even if they were difficult. At one time, I was asked to be a leader in the Womans Organization and felt that I was very inadaquate and uncomfortable in this position. I decided to put my whole heart into serving and just had to think I felt confident. After some time I felt many ideas come to my mind that would be helpful for the women I served. My love grew for them and for the calling as it helped me turn to my Heavenly Father for guidance and support. Over the years, I can see how much my callings in the church blessed my life.
I also had the opportunity to serve a church mission to Norway with my husband for eighteen months. We worked with the young Missionaries in teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who wanted to learn more about our church. We also served in the Center for Young Adults. We had activities, classes, sports, play's and meals. This was a wonderful experience for me and one that I would like to do again. I felt my family and I were blessed so much through this time.
One way I try to live my Faith every day is that I try to be aware of the needs of people around me. I feel if we can help and support each other, we can bless both our lives. I feel that each person is important to our Heavenly Father and I want to treat them as I know He wants us to treat each other.

What is faith?

Kempe answered...

It's another word for commitment. When assessing one's own faithfulness, it may be easier to ask, "How committed are you?"

Commitment
Elder F. Burton Howard of the Seventy

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=a4237cf34f40c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
Cary answered...

Faith is a huge topic, rarely fully understood even by people who talk about it a lot. In the Mormon conception, it's a step of confidence between mere belief and full knowledge. It's perhaps best described by contrast with these two extremes on the continuum on which they all lie. First, faith is not that passive thing we call belief because it's a principle of action. So for someone to have faith, they have to be motivated to put a belief into practice, not merely be content with keeping it in their mind. For example, we believe that Christ is the Savior, but because we have faith we ACT as if this were true, and follow His example as best we can. In fact, "acting as if..." is a fairly good phrase to define faith. On the other hand, faith is not "perfect knowledge" either. There is enough of an element of uncertainty about the thing we have faith in, that it takes an effort of conscious decision-making to test our faith's hypothesis. If we had a full knowledge of a thing, that whole test, and the faith to find out if it's true, wouldn't be necessary. Atheists will argue that faith is mere belief (and baseless, at that), but what I have described for faith here leads to a more "scientific" approach that Atheists would like to admit is operable in the minds of the faithful. The proper response to a scriptural assertion, then, becomes not blind obedience, but rather careful thought, hypothesis forming, and testing. As tests come back proven or unproven, faith will grow in the right direction until it approaches "perfect knowledge".

What is the Book of Mormon?

Ben answered...

We believe in a loving Father in Heaven who desires all of his children to have His precious word. "Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?" (2 Nephi 29:7).

Of course, with any thing concerning God, it is important to find out, personally, if the work is true. What better source can we trust than God Himself? Through prayer we can know, independently of anyone else, where the truth lies concerning any matter.

In the introduction to the Book of Mormon we read: "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost." I testify that this pattern of revelation is true. If we take the time to study it out in our minds, ponder upon the truth and ask God, in faith with desire to act upon our answer, that we will receive. He has answered me, and He will answer you when you ask in faith.