Glimmers and Glitches in Zion
April 12, 2018An eight-year-old Mormon can tell you a lot about Zion. At least I could. In response to Sister Jensen’s questions in Targeteer class, I’d raise my hand to give my rote answer: “Zion is a…
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Because I Was a Sister Missionary
April 12, 2018I am a female returned missionary. A decade has passed since I returned from my mission in Germany. Since then I have finished graduate school, lived in Korea for a while, married, had two children.…
The Mistake of the Psycholinguists
April 12, 2018They say people nominalize too much.
We tell ourselves, “I am in pain,”
instead of simply, “I hurt.”
“Pain is not a prison you’re locked in,” they say.
“You hurt because you choose to hurt,
and you can choose to not hurt.”
Two Men Walking, Walking
April 12, 2018
Wild Blossoms of Faith
April 12, 2018Why do I believe? For many years I did not feel comfortable answering this question. I would explain that my ancestors were among the first members of the Mormon Church and were important religious leaders…
Art and Half a Cake
April 12, 2018On Saturday mornings, mother baked good bread.
She always called my two sisters,
My two brothers, and me
To come and eat the crusts hot,
Spread with butter and strawberry jam
Made from strawberries she had picked and washed.
Form and Integrity
April 12, 2018I’ve always wanted to be an artist. Somehow I thought that meant that I had to live like an artist—to find a lifestyle and an art form that is consistent with the ideals I want…
Out in Left Field (A True Story)
April 12, 2018With apprehension I agreed to allow the new girl at Manetamers to cut my hair. Really I had no choice. My hairdresser had run off to Texas with one of the sales reps in the…
Making Sense of Suffering
April 12, 2018My tale begins in 1983—the year I turned thirty years old. It was definitely prime time. I had (and still do have) an incredibly fulfilling marriage with my husband, Lee. Our poverty-stricken years in graduate…
Hazardous Duty, Combat Pay: Working in the Primary | Jesus Wants Me for a …
April 12, 2018We live in a ward on the fringes of Salt Lake City’s central city neighborhood. Demo graphically, the ward contains a core of people who began young married life in their homes and are now…