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Lindsay Hart is a woman of many talents, and she’s put them all to good use. As a Spanish speaker, she has helped build up Spanish-speaking branches in her area. As a photographer, she photographs children with terminal diseases for a non-profit she founded. She’s also acted as foster mother to her cousin. She’s working towards her own version of her personal best. I was born in Provo while my parents were students at BYU. A few years later our family moved to San Diego, which is where I grew up. I went to BYU Idaho (then Ricks College) for two years, then served my mission, then finished up at BYU and graduated in public relations with a minor in dance. During my college years I got to travel a lot with the contemporary dance company: I went to Ukraine, Fiji, and New Zealand and I loved my experiences. Lindsay Hart You served a mission in Bolivia. Tell us about that. Yes! All the traveling I did at BYU made me very interested in a mission. I wanted that crazy, middle of nowhere jungle experience, and that is exactly what I got. Bolivia is a third world country, so it was very humbling. There was a lot of walking, and the heat was intense. There was amazing reception and incredible people. Toward the end of my service as a missionary, I was up in the Amazon on the border of Brazil. Women would go to the river to wash their clothes and the missionaries would sometimes go there to help and also give discussions on the side. I didn’t realize that that is where all the mosquitos are. I ended up contracting malaria! I spent a month in the hospital, and I almost got sent home, but I promised the Lord if I could just stay and get better I would do anything. I finished my mission, and when my parents came and picked me up we were able to take the first family I’d baptized to go through the temple in Cochabamba. That made all the hardships I had experienced with malaria worth my staying. When I got home I reconnected with Blake, a really good friend from before my mission. He had served his mission in Spain, and I’d always thought it would be neat to marry someone who spoke Spanish as well. We got married a year to the date of my return. My husband and I moved to North Carolina so he could go to graduate school. Once we located to Charlotte, our stake president found out that we both spoke Spanish, and asked if we would be willing to serve in the Spanish branch. Blake served for 3 years as a counselor and 3 years as the branch president. Our first two children were born there, so it was great to be able to raise them in that environment; everything was in Spanish: primary, Sacrament meeting, etc. Lindsay Hart And around this time you also started your photography business? Yes! It was a crazy time for us. And to add to that was the start up of my business. I’ve always loved photography. I wrote for the school newspaper in college and got to cover the Winter Olympics and take pictures. I’d also taken some photography classes. I love being creative and I wanted to do something to help contribute to my family, but I also wanted to be able to do it on the side so I could keep my family my top priority. I opened my photography business: Hart to Hart Digital Photography & Design. I also love to teach photography and over the past year I’ve had the opportunity to be featured monthly on a local television program called “Charlotte Today,” where I get to teach segments, such as “taking better photos” or “decorating with pictures” etc… I also love that my job allows me to teach my own children by example. Sometimes when I’m photo editing I’ll have my 7 year old come and sit on my lap and I can let him see how I do things. My business continues to grow, and for that I am so thankful. I’ve begun to go international and even shot a wedding in Italy last year. Next stop Dubai! Will you explain the non-profit work that you do as well? I have a non-profit part of my business called “Photography with Hart” where people can nominate terminally ill children to have their photographs taken. It has been a touching experience to help these families capture that time. I remember receiving thank you letters from the family of a child I photographed. He had recently passed away and they were so grateful to be able to have something beautiful to remember him by. Through this part of my business I became involved with a group called the American Mothers Association; an inter-faith, non-political, non-profit organization that strives to recognize the invaluable contribution mothers make to the future success and happiness of children and society. I entered some of my work in their National Graphic Arts Competition and won first place. I was able to go to New York to accept the award, which was a great experience. Lindsay Hart and Her Children I understand you took in your cousin as a foster-child. In the summer of 2011 I flew back to California to attend a funeral. My 13-year-old cousin, who I didn’t know very well, was there too. He came from a very challenging home life with a number of problems. I felt very strongly that we needed to take him home with us! It was another crazy time in my life. I was pregnant with my third child and my business was really taking me off and keeping me very busy, but still I felt like we needed to do this. So we had my cousin come live with us. He had never been to church before. After living with us for just a few days he said, “Man, you guys pray a lot!” It was such a wonderful experience for our family to be able to share the gospel with him. We didn’t want to push him but he did go to church with us. It was hard for him to learn and understand as we still attended the Spanish Branch, and so we were released from the branch and began attending an English ward. He was eventually baptized and has since returned to live with his mother. Lindsay Hart You have so much going on. How do you keep it all together? I just do the best I can. I’m lucky to have a husband who is so very supportive. As women, we might read another woman’s blog or see something on the internet and feel a little overwhelmed or insecure… like we don’t measure up to others. It’s difficult but we need to try our very best to not compare ourselves. We’ve all been blessed with different abilities and talents. I am grateful for mine and my goal is to be my own version of my personal best, and to work the hardest I can to make my dreams and my family’s dreams come true. I also know that, no matter what happens, I’m the only one who can choose my own happiness and attitude. I love the thought from Eleanor Roosevelt that happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product of a life well lived. At A Glance Name: Lindsay Hart Location: Charlotte, NC Marital status: Married Children: Three Occupation: Business owner, photographer Schools Attended: Brigham Young University, Ricks College On The Web: www.harttohartdigital.com/ Interview by Katherine Wilkinson.

While growing up in Alberta, Canada, Elizabeth Bectell swore she would never live on a farm. But after graduating from college and serving a full-time mission, Liz found herself back in familiar territory. Now she’s a cattle rancher’s wife near Cardston, finding happiness in her choices, her family, her community, and her trust in a loving Heavenly Father. I grew up in different towns in Alberta, Canada. Now I live with my husband and children on a cattle ranch twelve miles out of Cardston. We have 200 head of cattle. We’re three miles from the Montana border, right by the mountains. Cardston was settled by LDS pioneers in the 1800s, and they built a temple here. It’s not a very big town, about 3,500 people. There’s a high population of LDS people. I have pioneer heritage and was raised in the Church. Did you expect to end up so close to where you’d started? No! I swore that I would never marry a rancher or a farmer. I swore that I would not end up here. I never wanted to be stuck on a farm. When we were engaged, Jeff said, “Well, this is what our life is going to be if you want to marry me. So you have to decide if this is what you want to do.” It was a struggle for me to get to the point that I was okay with it. It wasn’t an easy decision. My dad was a farmer for a while when I was growing up and I have family members who are farmers. It looked like a lot of hard work and not always a lot of pay. You get paid once a year and that’s it. I knew we would probably never move, that we would stay right here. I wanted to travel and see the world. In fact, even though I’d grown up in Alberta, I’d never stayed in the same place more than six years while I was growing up. But I decided I just had to choose to be happy. Wherever you are, you just have to choose to be happy. An Aerial View of the Ranch It was a challenge at first. But it’s a beautiful place that we live in. We have a beautiful view of the mountains. I told him I’d marry him for his view! It’s a beautiful place to raise your children. We have wonderful, wide-open spaces. We have a hill that we go hiking on. It’s a beautiful place to be. And your children learn how to work in this kind of life. Our kids are getting old enough now that they can work on the ranch and help with cows. We work together as a family, which is a great thing. Tell me about your family. I’ve got five children. Damon is thirteen. Lindy is eleven. Rachel is ten. Coulson is seven; he’s excited because he’s getting baptized in June. Tyler is four; he stays with me at home. A lot of our time is spent with family. Our kids are close in age, so they have basically always played with each other. We enjoy having game nights together. They just discovered Risk. Friends are starting to be a little more important to them as they’re starting to be in middle school. What is your everyday work like on the farm? When we were dating, I knew it was true love because I used to come out to the ranch and ride the tractor so I could be with Jeff. I haven’t ridden it much since. When you have five little kids it’s a full-time job for sure! Now that the kids are getting older, they’re getting busy. I have to run them to all their activities in town, which is important. The last few years my kids have been big enough to babysit, so I’ve helped on the tractor once in a while. I thought I’d never do that. But sometimes being out on the tractor is easier than being back at home! Right now we’re heading into calving season. That’s the really busy season for my husband especially. He has to check the cows every couple of hours to see if any of the cows need help having their babies. Lots of ranches have hired hands, but we don’t, so he does the checks all night long. It’s fun to see all the new baby calves, but it’s a challenging time because he’s sleep-deprived. I haven’t been much help because I’ve been busy having babies all these years. During calving season? Actually, yes. I have a whole bunch of spring babies. I only had one in December and that was heavenly because my husband could actually help me a little bit more than with the others. Do you have extended family nearby? My parents and grandparents live in Glenwood, about 35 minutes away from us. It is nice to have them close. When my husband was graduating college—he has a degree in zoology—his grandfather died so his family asked him if he would like to run the ranch here. So he came to run the ranch and lived with his grandmother. When we got married, she gave us her home and moved to town, to Cardston. She’s been a big part of our lives for a long time. When I was a young mom she babysat my kids for me while I did errands. Her home is like our home away from home in town. She was a librarian for a lot of years, and she read books to kids, so everywhere you go in Cardston, when you say Mrs. Bectell, everyone says, “Oh! I remember when she read to us at school! She was wonderful!” Elizabeth Bectell and Her Children My husband’s family has deep roots here. His great-grandparents ran this ranch, but they died in the flu epidemic of 1919. Their son, my husband’s grandfather, was three years old when he was orphaned. He was taken in by relatives, but he later came back and took over the ranch. So the ranch was always very dear to Jeff’s grandfather because it was his tie with his parents he barely knew. My husband spent summers here as a child, so he learned to love the ranch. It was his home base and he loved it. Wow! Your husband’s connections to the place are very deep. How have you made yourself a part of that community? We have a Parent Link Center in our community with free programs to help with parenting. For example, they have a program called “Stay and Play,” where you can bring your child and meet other parents and play with your children and get parenting tips. I have a degree in Speech Language Pathology from BYU, and I’ve done some speech and language activities for the Parent Link Center. Right now I’m doing story time at the library. I do the “Tales for Tots” program twice a year for six weeks. It’s really fun to get to read stories and do crafts and snacks with the kids. It’s not exactly in my field but it gives me an opportunity to be involved in the community. Helping out at the school has helped me be involved. And of course our ward family has been important. A friend and I decided that we wanted to use our minds more and discuss literature, so we started a Relief Society book club almost six years ago. It’s now opened up to not just our ward. That’s been a great thing. We have women in their eighties and women in their twenties and everything between. That’s been a great way to connect as well. Our “Run Like a Mother” group is another way I’ve connected with the community. A bunch of women meet at the swimming pool parking lot Saturday mornings and go for a run. We just did a moonlight 10K race together. Can you run on the ranch during the week? We have gravel roads, but lately we’ve had grizzlies on our land, so it’s a little more nerve-racking. Grizzly bears?! Yes. I used to take the kids for walks all the time, but now it’s a little bit more worrisome. We actually were out playing and walking around in the willow trees in our field one day in spring, and the kids were going to run up the hill when we saw a bear under a tree looking at us. We called, “Come back to the truck!” but the bear just kind of ambled off. It was scary, but it helped me see the bear wasn’t going to attack me right off. I still get a little bit worried about running on the ranch, but I do it anyway. My husband actually has a second job with the Carnivore Working Group to deal with the bear issues. So the bears have given us more income, but you can’t be as carefree sending the kids out to play. Besides our community in Cardston, we have the community here where we live. It’s called Carway, after the Carway border crossing. The people on the ranches in Carway get together every year and brand cattle. That has been a great thing for our rural community. Every spring we take turns going to each other’s ranches and working the cows together. First they have a roundup. They go out on horses or quads and round all the cows up into a corral. Then they get on horses and rope the calves and brand them and give them their vaccination shots, and then they let them go. Different people do different jobs. We have ropers. My husband wrestles the calves and holds them down. They work the cattle in the morning and then we all gather in the farmhouse and have a big branding dinner together before they go out and finish with the cattle. Some women help with the cattle and other ranch wives will come in and help put on the big meal for everyone. We all help each other. That has been a great way for our community to be together. Their Beautiful View Where do the kids go? They help out! My older son is starting to learn to wrestle the calves, so that’s pretty cool. When they’re younger they’ll watch the gate to make sure the cows don’t get out when they’re not supposed to. And the kids like to sit in the back of the truck and drink pop all afternoon. That’s a fun time of year because all the neighboring ranches just work together. Sometimes you’re so busy that you don’t get together much until branding time but then you can renew your friendships. It’s great. Tell me about the family you grew up with. I grew up in what you might call a blended family. When I was five and my older brother was nine, my parents adopted two children, a sister two months younger than me and a brother one year younger than me. When I was seven they adopted another little sister. There were challenges to it. For example, I had been the baby of the family and got kicked out of that role. And trying to make a new family was challenging, just like it is for any blended family. It was challenging to blend our backgrounds to my siblings’ backgrounds. They’d had a difficult time in their previous childhood, so some of the issues and challenges that they had faced affected our whole family. And of course they had to fit in with strangers, which had to have been hard for them. But it was fun, too. My new sister, who was just two months younger than me, gave me a built-in playmate. I came to realize the importance of social work because of our adoptions, so when I first went down to [Ricks] college, I was planning to become a social worker. But slowly I realized that, much as I admired what social workers do, I didn’t have to shape my entire life around what had been important to my family as I grew up. I could find peace for myself in my own thing. I could make choices. I still wanted to help people even though I didn’t want to be a social worker, so I studied communication disorders at Ricks and got a degree from BYU in speech language pathology. You served a mission after college. How did you decide to do that? I was going to graduate and I was trying to decide whether to get a master’s degree or what to do. It was a real confusing time for me. Back then I was always worried about what was coming next. I was all stressed. I remember thinking about going on a mission and feeling really peaceful about it, so I decided that’s what I was going to do. You served in the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission. What were some of the important experiences you had on your mission? The Missionary Training Center was wonderful. I thought every member of the Church should go to the MTC just to immerse themselves in the scriptures and learn about the gospel. I loved that. After the MTC, though, I had to face my fears and weaknesses and just keep going forward. What were your fears? I had to be out in front of a group, speaking and putting myself out there. That was scary. Sometimes people just wanted to be tourists and didn’t want to hear about the gospel, and I didn’t want to offend those people. I had to get over that fear of offending them to share the gospel. I got better at it as I went along. When I was a missionary, the sisters assigned to Temple Square would be assigned to a different mission in the United States for four months near the end of their mission. That gave us more opportunity to teach people and to maybe see people join the Church. I was assigned to California. Seeing people baptized was amazing, seeing the joy on their faces, and feeling their joy in coming into the gospel. Elizabeth Bectell and Her Family On Temple Square, I was amazed at the stories of the sisters from all over the world and how they had sacrificed to join the Church. Lots of them were converts. That was a great experience, to meet sisters from all over the world and to work with them and to learn to accept and appreciate other cultures. You mentioned that when you were younger you always worried about what was coming next but that now you don’t. How did you change that about yourself? I think it’s a matter of being grateful and trusting that Heavenly Father knows who I am and what I need. His ways are always perfect. He’s sent people to my life or given me opportunities to grow or learn when I’ve needed them. For example, when I’ve felt I need to do something with my mind, He’s sent me job opportunities, like the Parent Link Center and the library story time. Trusting Him means being willing to be in the moment. When I was a kid I thought, “I’ll be happy when I’m sixteen and can date.” When I was a young mom I thought, “It’s so difficult!” But as my kids get older, I’m learning to just love the stage that I’m in. I hope I can teach my kids that you don’t always need to be looking forward. It’s good to have a vision of what you want, but there’s value in just being happy with where you are. It’s a much happier place to be than always worrying and stressing. I’m almost forty, so maybe that’s part of it: I don’t care as much what other people think of me. I’m more grounded with being who I am and being okay with who I am. Are there gospel practices that particularly nourish you? I’ve kept a journal for a long time, but a few years ago I started using a scripture journal. In the past, my journals had always been, “Oh, sorry I didn’t write,” or “Oh, I forgot to write.” But I decided I’m just going to be okay with whatever I choose to write at whatever time. My scripture journal is in a coil notebook because it’s easy to write in and nothing fancy. The summer I started, I would get up before everyone else, and it was so beautiful and so quiet. I would study my scriptures and write my thoughts in my journal. It helped clear my thoughts and helped me to see what answers to prayer I got. What joys have come to you from having the gospel in your life? I always wanted a family where we got along, where we were loyal to each other, where we had a good marriage. The gospel, I think, has helped me do that as my husband and I try our best to have a good marriage. I think that children can feel that peace that comes from making family a priority, and from feeling connected to Heavenly Father. Living gospel principles makes me happy. I know that Heavenly Father knows me and knows what I need at the time that I need it. I’m discovering more and more that the Savior’s Atonement was not just for the redemption of our sins but is to heal us of our sadness and our sickness. I’m learning to lay my burdens at his feet. If I’m feeling jealous, I can say, “I’m going to lay this at your feet because I don’t want to do this anymore,” and that brings peace into my life. That’s a new understanding of the power of the Atonement for me. It makes a huge difference that I don’t have to hang on to things, that I can give them to Him and He will take them from me. At A Glance Name: Elizabeth Bectell Location: Location: Cardston, Alberta, Canada Age: 39 Marital status: Married Children: Children (number and ages): Five (ages 13,12, 10, 8, 4) Occupation: Occupation: Homemaker, Children’s Library Program Storyteller Schools Attended: Schools Attended: Ricks College, Brigham Young University Languages Spoken at Home: English Favorite Hymn: “I Need Thee Every Hour” Interview by Annette Pimentel. Photos by Stephanie Smith Photography.

Marie-Laure Oscarson suggests that “having it all” means something different for everyone. For her—a mother, a university professor, and a convert to the LDS Church—it comes down personal revelation about specific life choices regarding her family, her profession, and her religion. Marie-Laure’s path has included the Catholic faith, French existentialist philosophy, a curiosity about the Amish lifestyle, and the Mormon missionaries who helped rekindle her faith in God’s love. You were raised in France in the Catholic faith and are now an LDS woman living in Utah. How did that transition come about? During my last year of high school in France I had a philosophy teacher who was an atheist. God did not exist for her. She really challenged my beliefs. Although I was raised Catholic, I started reading existentialist authors and found a lot of meaning in their words. It made sense to me. I thought, “Okay, there is no God. I need to fight for my own happiness. I cannot count on some supernatural power to make me happy; I need to do it on my own.” I was reading all of these books and was not hanging out with my friends anymore. It got so bad that my dad called my friends on the phone and ask, “Can you get Marie-Laure out of her room? She’s with her books again.” So my friends would come over and ask, “What’s going on?” And I would say, “We are all dying! Do you realize that we’re dying?!” I had this really clear sense that life was coming to an end, and that I had to figure it all out. It was an intense and very lonely time in my life. My questions burned inside of me, and I had to find answers. I felt really sad as I would think, “Wow, I’m by myself. I am on my own.” I really missed communion with God and the Spirit, although I couldn’t quite articulate it at the time. Marie-Laure Oscarson After I finished my high school degree, I went to a college in France for one year and then decided I wanted to improve my English, so I chose to go abroad to America to live as a nanny. I ended up in Philadelphia, and nannied for a family with two little kids. While living in Philadelphia, I started attending the Catholic Church again to see if I could find what I was searching for. This congregation spoke in tongues and was very different from my low-key experience with the Catholic Church in France. One day, while I was at home, the missionaries knocked on the door. They scared me a little bit because I thought they were going to push their religion on me and behave as intensely as the Catholics down the street. I thought, “Oh no, I don’t need more of this.” I told the missionaries that I was not interested and sent them away. During this time, I became interested in the Amish who lived in the area, and I thought their lifestyle and devotion were fascinating. The other nannies and I attended a Fourth of July celebration, and as we were watching the fireworks, I noticed a large group of young people wearing suits and dresses. These were the Mormon missionaries, but I thought they were a group of Amish youth. I really wanted to know about the glue that bound them together. I didn’t spend any time with the members of my Catholic congregation outside of church so this group of religious young people was interesting to me. I went over and started talking to them. One of the burning questions I asked was, “What, for you, is the purpose of life?” After talking for a bit, I realized that these were not the Amish people but the Mormon missionaries! The other nannies discouraged me, saying, “Don’t talk to the missionaries. All they talk about is the Bible.” I said, “I have questions. These are people who know about their faith.” So, the elders started teaching me in the library, and I felt the Spirit very strongly when I was with them. They would teach me the gospel, and I would feel so good. After I would return home, that feeling was gone. I shared my concerns with the missionaries. They gave me the Book of Mormon and said, “You’ve got to read.” My doubts lessened when I read the Book of Mormon. As I read, the book became my best companion. I read, and I cried. For the first time in my life I felt the deeper connection that I had been searching for. It got to the point where I could not depart from the Book of Mormon, and I would sleep with it right next to my pillow. It was a safety blanket for me–it was the law, the safety, the peace, the truth, and the light that I had been looking for. I could feel power in its pages. It was wonderful. My doubts also lessened when the missionaries taught me how to offer personal prayers. My Catholic prayers were very meaningful and sincere but they were all recitation. When I prayed personal prayers, the Spirit felt obvious. Right before I decided to get baptized, I knelt down, and I prayed. I was able to recognize the Spirit. It started in my head and moved down into my toes. It felt like a sweet, kind presence that I was missing before. From that point on I thought, “Of course I’m getting baptized. I know these things are true.” I was baptized shortly thereafter. Were there particular doctrines of Mormonism that really resonated with you? One of the things that resonated the most for me was the doctrine of eternal marriage. Up to that point, I had lost faith in marriage. My parents’ marriage went through many ups and downs. They stayed together, but I really questioned their decision to stay together after a point. Growing up, I idealized the relationship between Jean-Paul Sartre–the big existentialist philosopher–and Simone de Beauvoir, who was a great feminist in France. Sartre had his apartment in Paris. De Beauvoir had her apartment in Paris. They never got married. They never wanted children. They were a couple but they had their separate lives, too. That was my ideal: I would have my career. I would have my life. My significant other would have his own apartment and his own life, and we would meet up to eat together. When the missionaries taught me about celestial, eternal marriage, it was like a dream come true. All of the sudden, I realized that this type of marriage was right and true. I developed faith in a kind of marriage that can be wholesome and healthy and beautiful. Marie-Laure Oscarson and Her Husband How did your family respond to your conversion? My conversion to Mormonism was very difficult for my family as they were devout Catholics. I was baptized in Philadelphia, and they had a hard time with the fact that I had made this decision while I was so far away. I wrote to them, and we talked on the phone. My mom said, “You know you are an adult. It’s your choice. But watch out.” She was a little bit concerned as she had heard about polygamy. I tried to reassure her. Shortly after I was baptized, I returned to France. While I was home, my mom tried really hard to get me back into the Catholic Church. My grandmother was devastated because I was not participating in our cultural traditions like drinking a glass of good wine at dinner. My dad had these old bottles of wine that he had inherited from his father. They were still covered in dust when he placed them on the dinner table to show their age. I would not drink this wine, and my grandma said, “What is going on with you?” It was a little shocking to them. I knew so deeply that I was doing the right thing that I was fine with their reactions. I prayed often that they would accept my choices, and eventually they did. Their feelings have really evolved. What brought you back to America to stay? I lived in France for a year after my baptism, and then felt this burning desire to go on a mission. I felt godly, divine intervention encouraging me to serve. I was called to England, and the first question my mission president asked me was, “What are your plans after the mission? Have you ever thought about Brigham Young University?” Although I planned on living in London after my mission, he planted the idea of BYU into my mind. I ended up changing my plans and moving to Provo to attend BYU after my mission. Marie-Laure Oscarson and Her Family While I was a graduate student at BYU, I taught French at the MTC and then got a job in BYU’s French department teaching beginning French language classes. One day during class, this tall, blue-eyed, blond student showed up, and my goodness, I could not help but notice him. Because I was teaching this class and he was a student, I couldn’t go out with him! The following semester when he was no longer in my class, we happened to find ourselves in the same seminar, this time both as students. He asked me out and we started dating. We didn’t date long before we got married, but we’ve been together for 14 years and have four children. Do you have any plans to move back to France with your family? Not in the near future. My husband currently works at BYU as a Humanities professor, and I am a part-time adjunct professor in the university’s French department. We try to take the family back to France every two years. Although some part of me hopes there will be another adventure in the future, raising children here in Utah has been perfect. I like that it feels safe. I love that we’re such a strong-knit community. I love that my children have many friends. I love that we are so close to nature and that we can experience it with the children. I love that we can easily go hiking or snowshoeing with them. You live in a community that advocates traditional roles for women. Have you felt support from your peers as a woman and mother who works outside of the home? In the culture I’m from, most women and mothers work outside of the home. Everything in French society is structured to support women’s professional lives. For example, day care is readily available for working mothers. My mom worked, and I was brought up with the expectation that all women work. People in my immediate community here are great about this. There are several moms like me who have one foot in the working world. My colleagues have been great. They know my family situation, and some of them have been so helpful. I’ve never felt criticized or been accused of being a bad mother. My husband and I have had to learn to juggle our schedules. Overall, though, I think my job has helped me become a better mother. Marie-Laure Oscarson The home can be a very difficult environment–it’s a lot of menial tasks mixed with wonderful connections and relationships. I did not know what motherhood would be like when I got married. When I had my first child, we were living in Berkeley. I was not working the semester my first child was born and my husband was really busy completing his PhD. I remember the first month of motherhood really well. As much as I loved this little baby and did not want anyone else to take care of him, I cried a lot. I wondered, “Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing? Who have I become?” All of the daily tasks were very menial and repetitive. The sleep deprivation was difficult. I’m glad I had that space to really crash with my baby and then survive together and grow to enjoy those moments with him. Now that my babies have grown and become a bit more independent from me, I like to be in the workplace engaging in other ways with people. It has also been good for me to step out of the house and get my mind in a book once in awhile. As a mother I feel like so many people need my attention at once, and it’s so busy. It’s been really healthy for me to ground myself in thought and study instead of doing, doing, doing all of the time. Do you have any advice that you could give to young women who want to balance work and motherhood? I could not do it without my husband. Having a husband who is wonderfully involved with the children is important. My husband knows how to take care of the kids and how to deal with the house. When he comes home from work he steps into this family universe, and he does wonders. Having his support is of primary importance. The second important factor for me is having a job that brings a lot of joy. My job has fed my mind and helped me build relationships with my students. I can’t say that I’m juggling it all perfectly, though. Sometimes it’s not very graceful. Sometimes my kids see that I have too much work and that I’m stressed out. I try to apologize to my kids when that happens. Do you think women living in America can have it all–career, family, social life, etcetera? I asked my friend this week, “Can I have it all?” and she said, “You can have it all, but not the way the world sees ‘having it all’.” I think it is a very personal path. My version of “have it all” is very specific to my family and to my profession. I know that spiritual revelation will guide me through difficult decisions. I have felt God talking to me, leading me, and guiding me. This gives me a lot of courage and determination. The peace and love that I feel testify that God lives; even when doubt creeps in, I can turn to prayer and feel that knowledge of His love again. Faith in God’s love is what anchors me in this life as I continue to make family and career decisions. Marie-Laure Oscarson I went to my mission president’s funeral a few years ago, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was there. During his address, he said that when we leave this life, we take three things with us: Our covenants with God, our relationships, and our character. As I go through life and repent of my attitudes or mistakes, I remember what Elder Holland said. I remember that I’m taking with me my covenants and the goodness that God has given me. When my kids are hugging me and pouring their love upon me, or when I feel so much love for my children and for my husband, I remember that this is eternal. No one can take this from me. This knowledge really gives me a foundation; it gives me roots even though I am thousands of miles from where I was born and raised. I am very grateful for this. I know that with God, all good things take place. At A Glance Name: Marie-Laure Oscarson Location: Provo, UT Age: 44 Marital status: Married Children: Four (ages 13, 10, 8, 4) Occupation: Adjunct faculty at Brigham Young University Baptism: September 1988 Schools Attended: BYU Languages Spoken at Home: French and English Favorite Hymn: ““Souviens-toi” (in French hymn book) Interview by Krisanne Hastings.

The LDS Women Project started with one sister telling her story to another. We have interviewed over 250 Latter-day Saint women in more than 25 countries. Our stories are our heritage. We are part of a journal-keeping culture, a blogging culture, a memorializing culture that treasures the stories of those who have gone before us. Interviews The LDS Women Project started with one sister telling her story to another. We have interviewed over 250 LDS women in more than 25 countries. Our stories are our heritage. We are part of a journal-keeping culture, a blogging culture, a memorializing culture that treasures the stories of those who have gone before us. As we each work to build a relationship with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Parents, we hope these stories from Latter-day Saint sisters will inspire every woman to make deliberate and meaningful choices in her life as she seeks to fulfill her individual mission on this earth. If you would like to nominate someone to be interviewed by one of our producers, please email us at interviews@ldswomenproject.com Trina Caudle: THE CENTRALITY OF RELATIONSHIP Trina Caudle is a writer and editor with emphasis on personal stories and relationships. She brings that talent and skill set to the LDS Women Project as our Interviews Editor. Elizabeth Ostler May 15 12 min read GATHERING OF TRIBES, Gathering of Tribes: Cindy Quinney, Shane Manning & Amber Irwin Gathering Of Tribes is a nonprofit organization founded to support Native American and First Nations Latter-day Saints in the US and Canada by working collaboratively with the Church to nurture faith in Christ, support family history work, and celebrate cultural identity. The impetus of the LDS Women Project was to refute the idea that being a Latter-day Saint woman had to look one certain way, and to demonstrate that our diversity is our strength. Gathering Tribes exemplifi Elizabeth Ostler Sep 12, 2025 16 min read NOTHING STOPPING HER FROM LOVING HER SON, Karla Autrey Karla Autrey’s son came out to her as gay after he completed his mission. She did not understand at first how to accept his sexual orientation but has poured herself into learning unconditional love for her son and providing support to our LGBTQ members. Trina Caudle Jun 14, 2025 13 min read PERSONAL INTEGRITY, Neylan McBaine Neylan McBaine founded the LDS Women Project and published the first interview in September 2009. She has since worked on multiple projects such as publishing the book “Women at Church” in 2014 and leading the non-profit Better Days 2020. She continues to promote women’s visibility and empowerment in the Latter-day Saint sphere. Elizabeth Ostler Apr 11, 2025 14 min read KIRTLAND COUSINS, Susan Jackson Susan Jackson shares her story of growing up in Utah, raising a large family, and volunteering extensively, including teaching seminary and serving in various Church roles while living across the U.S. and internationally. She also details her unique experience volunteering at the Kirtland Temple with Community of Christ, the deep relationships she built there, and her emotional response to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchasing the site. Trina Caudle Mar 15, 2025 15 min read WISDOM AND TIME, Georgina Bringas Georgina is an artist from Mexico City, Mexico, where the stereotype of an artist does not necessarily align with gospel living. She works to portray gospel principles through abstract art. Jenny Willmore Feb 14, 2025 10 min read WOMEN ON THE STAND, Amy Watkins Jensen Amy Watkins Jensen lives in a California stake with a practice of having women leaders sit on the stand in ward and stake meetings to increase the visibility of women and partnership among all leaders. In 2023, the Area President instructed the California stakes to end women leaders sitting on the stand. Amy began the Instagram account “Women on the Stand” in response. Trina Caudle Jan 4, 2025 14 min read MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS, Audrey Chaves Aubrey Chaves experienced a personal faith crisis as a young married adult relating to Church history and polygamy, and wondered if she should continue to be a member. Through a lot of questions and exploration, she expanded her faith and transformed her spiritual life. She now hosts the Faith Matters podcast with her husband, Tim. Trina Caudle Dec 6, 2024 15 min read TRUSTING IN THE LORD, Wendy Gonzalez Wendy Gonzalez shares her family’s story of emigrating from Venezuela to the United States. Jenny Willmore Oct 23, 2024 6 min read MIRRORING THE FATHER’S LOVE, Nalweyiso Barbara Katende Ojera Barbara Katende is a Latter-day Saint in Uganda and shared her personal history and testimony with the LDS Women Project. Trina Caudle Sep 22, 2024 7 min read MAKING MORMONISM HER OWN, Allie Bradford Brown Alice (Allie) Bradford Brown grew up in Provo, Utah as the daughter of a BYU professor and a homemaker, and the granddaughter of a Latter-day Saint feminist icon. But stereotypes have not been her path as she forges her own way through life. Allie is also the Director of Fundraising for the LDS Women Project. Trina Caudle Aug 30, 2024 12 min read GO FAR, STAY LONG, LOOK DEEP, Marci McPhee Marci McPhee retired to care for her mother, who passed away sooner than expected. She consulted with the Lord about what to do next and has felt called to a new location every couple of years to provide community service and to learn. Trina Caudle Nov 10, 2023 15 min read 1 2 3 4 5

The LDS Women Project (formerly the Mormon Women Project) is a platform to amplify the diverse voices, experiences, and wisdom of women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, showcasing that there's no single way to be an LDS woman and offering resources for more egalitarian worship. Find interviews, podcasts, essays, and special series exploring faith, culture, challenges, and spiritual growth, aiming to build connection and understanding within the community. Stories of Diversity & Faith FROM WOMEN OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS The LDS Women Project amplifies the voices, experiences, and faith journeys of Latter-day Saint women. Honoring the sacred journey GET INVOLVED Sisters Interviews Explore the diverse voices, experiences, and faith journeys of Latter-day Saint women. Discipleship Essays Engage with thoughtful reflections on faith, identity, & community. Written by LDS women for LDS women. Discover Resources Find empowering quotes, lesson supplements, & editorials that deepen understanding & strengthen faith. "I'm staying right here, to cultivate my bit of God's Kingdom so that both my sisters & brothers have fertile ground in which to grow. Are you with me?" Neylan McBaine, Women at Church In memoriam Carol Lynn Pearson: We Were Made for This Interview with Elizabeth Ostler Carol Lynn Pearson passed away on July 29, 2026. It was our great honor to interview her in 2023 for this project. We are grateful for her fierce advocacy, passionate writing, abundant humanity, and deep love for the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is already missed. READ MORE Wounded Souls AN ESSAY IN DISCIPLESHIP BY ELIZABETH OSTLER New Essay! There are people reading this who have dreams that have not been realized, expectations that haven’t been met. Others have experienced divorce, miscarriages, infertility, infidelity, homelessness, and job loss. Some of us have buried lovers, buried children, buried parents, buried sisters. When we find ourselves in these moments, we often ask, Why? READ MORE Support Us HELP US MAGNIFY WOMEN BY SHARING THEIR STORIES & CONTRIBUTIONS Because of you, we can inspire and enlighten people around the world. We depend on the kindness of donors like you to keep this work moving forward. Please consider making a donation to sustain The Latter-day Saint Women Project. DONATE Subscribe to our newsletter. YES, SIGN ME UP!

This series focuses on the experiences and insights of active Latter-day Saint women married to men who are not members of the Church, or to men who have left the Church. Each story is a generous and vulnerable offering. Mixed-Faith Marriage This series focuses on the experiences and insights of active Latter-day Saint women married to men who are not members of the Church, or to men who have left the Church. Each story is a generous and vulnerable offering. Meant To Be I was the girl who dreamed of getting married at 18 in the temple and having six kids. I did not imagine I’d ever be still single and old enough to serve a mission. Lucky for me, the Lord had different plans for me—I think the Lord knew that I needed a little more preparation for what he had in store for me and my life. I ended up serving a mission in Salt Lake City, and spent the entire time on the east side, serving in suburban areas much like the one I grew up in. Anonymous Dec 18, 2018 5 min read A Sense of Freedom I was raised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I sang songs about marrying in the temple in primary. I learned that a “celestial marriage” meant that I would marry a man who held the Priesthood, and was worthy of that Priesthood as a member of the same church. Both of my parents were members and I remember walking to church together, sharing traditions of reading scriptures together (sometimes), family prayer (sometimes), and praying before every me Anonymous Dec 14, 2018 3 min read Supporting His Journey As I reflect back on those impressionable years between the ages of 12-18, I fondly recall having very real desires and aspirations to heed the counsel of my young women leaders, when the time was right, to choose a man who could take me to the temple. And I did. My first marriage was in fact a temple marriage. But like many temples marriages, unfortunately mine ended in divorce. I was six months pregnant with our son when I separated from my then husband. Tiffany Nevares Dec 11, 2018 3 min read Sifting Through Unmet Expectations I asked a friend for a blessing when I was considering getting engaged to my husband. I was told that I had made countless good decisions in my life leading up to that point, and that God trusted my ability to make a good decision here too. Melissa Marshall Dec 7, 2018 4 min read Practicing Heavenly Vision Perhaps my patriarchal blessing was subtly preparing me for this life; at age 14, I was told that I would be the spiritual leader of my home. As this was given 30 years ago, that was a surprise. It was just assumed that the father in the family would be the leader. McArthur Krishna Dec 5, 2018 4 min read Mourning and Hope My husband and I have been married for nine years. The Church was extremely important to him when we were dating and engaged, and during the first few years of our marriage. He loved serving in the church, attending the temple, and especially had a deep testimony of the importance of reading your scriptures regularly and paying tithing. Anonymous Dec 3, 2018 4 min read My Personal Equation My husband and I met while we were both new teachers at an inner-city high school in Las Vegas. We were young, inexperienced, and frustrated. We were transplants: Christian from Kentucky, I from Utah/Oregon. We fell in love quickly. He was my life raft at a time when I was doggie-paddling across a turbulent ocean. Kim Cowart Nov 27, 2018 3 min read Between Me and the Lord My first boyfriend was a poster child for the church: intelligent, active, and preparing to serve a mission. He’d shaken the hand of the prophet and held several youth leadership roles. He sexually assaulted me before and after his mission. He now serves as a bishop. Anonymous Nov 26, 2018 3 min read A Celestial Relationship This story is about me—which feels odd because whenever I have written it before I’ve made it about my husband. We met at BYU, fell madly in love and were married in the Oakland Temple. We finished school, moved to Washington State, and started a busy life with children, callings, careers, and life. We have been a good match. I always credit his kindness and consideration and encouragement. Jennifer Barnhart Nov 24, 2018 5 min read Evolving Charity I never thought I was in a mixed-faith marriage because I believed my faith was the one and only true faith, and that my non-LDS husband was just a missionary work in progress. My insistence that my worldview is the only valid worldview is probably one of the primary reasons why I am in my third marriage. Kim Powers Nov 23, 2018 3 min read Not a Last Resort Interfaith marriages are often underrepresented in LDS discourse on dating, marriage, and eternal life. Although I’ve often heard marriages like mine described as “backup” options, for me it has been a joy formed through much prayer, study, and lived experience. Julianne Weis Nov 20, 2018 4 min read A Changing Marriage We were waiting for our early morning flight for our family’s long-awaited trip to Disneyland. My husband came walking down the concourse with a Starbucks drink in hand. Our 10-year-old daughter asked what he was drinking, and he replied, “a caramel macchiato.” I inwardly fumed, as I was exhausted by preparing our family of seven for a big trip and this was the venue my husband used to tell our children he drank coffee. M. Leavitt Nov 19, 2018 3 min read 1 2