by Keith L. Brown | Jan 24, 2014 | About Mormons
Catherine M. Stokes graduated from DePaul University in Chicago with a Bachelor’s degree in nursing. She served as vice-chairman of the board of trustees of the InnerCity Youth Charitable Foundation in Chicago from 1990 to 2006. In 2006, she retired as a Deputy Director for the Illinois Department of Health.
After moving to Utah, she served on the board of the Utah AIDS Foundation, and currently serves as the membership chair of the Utah Chapter of the African-American Genealogy & Historical Society. She is featured in the book, Mormon Women: Portraits & Conversations, and was recently named a member of the new Editorial Advisory Board for the Deseret News.
Finding the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Stokes first became acquainted with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in June 1978, while flying to a nurses’ convention in Honolulu, Hawaii. The pilot had suggested that those visiting the islands should visit the Hawaii Temple, which had just been renovated and was open to the general public. The temple was closed the day Stokes went there. She did meet a pair of missionaries at the visitors’ center who were unable to satisfactorily answer the questions that she had, so she filled out a referral card, requesting more information. (more…)
Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.
by Keith L. Brown | Nov 20, 2013 | Famous Mormons
Horton Alexander “Cotton” Rosser is the owner of Cotton’s Cowboy Corral in Marysville, California, as well as, “one of the most successful stock contracting firms in professional rodeo,” the Flying U Rodeo Company, which is the oldest rodeo company in the world and the major supplier of rodeo stock in the United States. According to John Bascom, a relative of Rosser’s wife, Karin Allred Rosser (Miss Rodeo Utah from the Ogden, Utah area), the Flying U Rodeo Company was begun by J.C. “Doc” Sorenson of St. Anthony, Idaho. Bascom also states, “My late father Earl Bascom worked for that outfit when Doc had it back in the 1930’s.”
Earl Bascom was born in Utah in 1906, but he was raised in Alberta, Canada. His ingenuity led him to learn all that he could about horses and cattle thus helping him to become a rodeo champion. He also invented, designed, and made rode rigging that is still being used on the rodeo circuit today. In his later years he studied art, and he and his wife, Nadine, taught at schools in Southern California at high desert. When he died in 1985, Earl Bascom was “remembered throughout the West for his ability to span two seemingly disparate pursuits – rodeo and art.” [5] (more…)
Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.
by paulah | Jul 10, 2013 | About Mormons
Judy Nelson Ward, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes inadvertently called the Mormon Church), was recently named Arizona Mother of the Year at the American Mothers, Inc., convention held in New York City. The organization recognizes mothers each year and selects a national winner during the convention. Women are selected based on nominations by the community.
Ward, who lives in Mesa, Arizona, is the mother of seven children and grandmother to 34 grandchildren. She was a little embarrassed by the award, but said she is thankful to “stand up for motherhood.”
How Mormons View Mothers
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ respect motherhood and the role of women to nurture children. They believe that motherhood is part of a woman’s divine nature and designation, even if she does not bear children during her life on earth. They believe that motherhood is a divine role given by God to all women.
There is nothing in this world as personal, as nurturing, or as life changing as the influence of a righteous woman. . . . All women have within their divine nature both the inherent talent and the stewardship to mother.1 (more…)
Paula Hicken was an editor with the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship from 2000 to 2013. She earned her BA degree in English from Brigham Young University. She edited Insights, the Maxwell Institute newsletter, and was the production editor for Faith, Philosophy, Scripture, Hebrew Law in Biblical Times (2nd ed.), Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture, and was one of the copy editors for Analysis of the Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. She also helped manage the Maxwell Institute intellectual property and oversaw rights and permissions. She has published in the Ensign, the Liahona, the LDS Church News, and the FARMS Review.
by Terrie Lynn Bittner | Aug 16, 2012 | About Mormons
Michael Otterson, head of public affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says that if you want to understand what makes members of his church tick, you have to go to church with them. Often called Mormons, members of his church are assigned to congregations known as wards. Assignment is based on a member’s home address.
Otterson says that journalists want to call and ask questions, but they really need to leave their desk and go to church on Sunday. They won’t be asked for money and won’t need to kneel or do anything at all but watch, really. (They might need to pass the sacrament (communion) trays to the person next to them, but that’s all.)
For Mormons, the ward is an important part of their church membership. Although Mormonism is a 24/7 religion and members pray, study, and keep the commandments at home and in their daily lives, there is something special in their connection to their ward, which becomes a second family. No matter where they move to or travel to, they can be certain of a warm welcome on Sunday morning in a church building. The same is true of people who are not Mormon. (more…)
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
by dwhite | May 14, 2012 | About Mormons
by Dallin
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often misnamed Mormons) believe that God is the father of all of our spirits. Each of us lived with God, our Heavenly Father, before we were born. Paul wrote, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). We are all spiritual children of God and are, therefore, brothers and sisters to each other. This is what Mormon missionaries go out to the world to teach.
One reason Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”) build temples is to help each of us, the children of God, to commune with our Heavenly Father and to ultimately qualify ourselves to return to Him after this life. Mormons believe that we can speak to God through prayer and that He answers those prayers by communicating feelings to our hearts and thoughts to our minds, as well as through the actions of others. The reality of our relationship with God and our ability to speak with Him as our Father are two major messages The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shares with the world, sometimes through Mormon missionaries. (more…)
Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
