I Am a Mormon Monday: Meet Stephanie

About me: 

I drink too much Coke, drive a little too fast, get way too involved in my OCD tenancies... why? Because I work full time and go to school with six kids, two dogs, and a fish. They call me mom, I call them The Circus.  You can just call me Steph.

Why am I Mormon? 

Technically speaking you could say I was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) but I'm not Mormon because my parents told me to be.  My parents didn't attend church regularly and didn't expect me to either.  But even as a child of 8 years old I knew that going to church was something I needed and loved to do. So I would go to church by myself.  The church house was close enough for me to walk to, and I lived near my grandparents so I was able to sit with them at church on most Sundays.  As the years passed my grandparents grew ill and weren't always able to attend church.  On those Sundays in my teenage years I still went to church by myself, but I never felt alone. The gospel of Jesus Christ has always rung true to my heart and soul and I can honestly say I live it, not because anyone has ever told me I had to, because growing up the choice was always optional and always mine, but because of my own accord and convictions that it is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. And that's something that has always been with me.

What is hope and what do I hope for?

Hope is the idea that life is good, solid, and okay.  Even when it doesn't feel like it at the moment.  Hope is knowing that whatever it is we face in this life, it is worth it. Life gets difficult, but in the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, we can "hope on."  ( https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe?lang=eng )  Doctrine and Covenants 45:62 says, "For verily I say unto you, that great things await you;" I hope for that.

How do I live my faith?

I would hope I live my faith with real intent.  Marjorie Pay Hinckley summed it up perfectly when she said, “I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”

You can find out more about me here:

Blog: http://www.circusofmine.blogspot.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thecircus6

Or you can also find me here:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/circusofmine.blogspot

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/thecircus6

Twitter: www.twitter.com/thecircus6

Thank you, Kim, my heart is full.
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If you are interested in being apart of the I Am a Mormon Monday series on Diary of a Brown Eyed Girl, send me an email and I will fill you in on all the details.  Email: bostonksox@gmail.com