Portfolio: Question 8

8. What activities have you been involved in within your faith-based organization?

I pledge to support and promote positive programs for children and families.

My faith-based organization allows a lot of opportunity for service, and therefore, personal growth. Within my church, I have served mostly as a teacher—of children, teenagers, and adults. In the fourteen years that I have been a mother, nine of them have been spent teaching music to children. It is my absolute favorite responsibility. My husband has diagnosed me with a disease called O.T.T.D. (Over-The-Top-Disorder) and it manifests it quite evidently when I get to combine a passion (music) with another passion (teaching children) on top of another passion (the gospel of Jesus Christ.) We have a lot of fun together.

I have also had the opportunity to teach adults. One year, my assignment in the congregation was to teach an Enrichment lesson (a monthly meeting held on a week night in addition to Sunday meetings) on a pre-assigned topic. Besides teaching about the assigned topic, I made it a point to include the phrase “Heavenly Father wants you to succeed gloriously” in every lesson, and sought to uplift the fifteen or so women that regularly attended the meeting. I even wore a costume each month to emphasize my theme. By the end of this year of service, we had doubled the regular attendance of this meeting. I like to think that my lessons played a role in that increase.

I have also enjoyed the opportunity to work with youth. I’ve been an advisor and counselor in my church’s organization for young women. I’ve also been invited on several occasions through the years to speak at special youth meetings outside my own congregation, such as Girl’s Camp firesides, New Beginnings, special Standards Nights, Evening of Excellence and Stake Youth Conferences.

Several years ago, I gave a presentation in church about my journey to law school and a career and finally to my decision to stay home full time with my children. My bishop recommended I submit the talk to our international church magazine. The result, an article called “Mother, Come Home,” was published in the April 2007 Ensign Magazine.