Meet a Real Mormon!

First up, Mormon isn't the right word to use--but it got your attention, yes? The actual name of the Church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is admittedly a mouthfull. Members prefer to be called Latter-day Saints. Mormon is just a nickname bestowed on us by outsiders due to the name of the Book of Mormon. Being good sports, we've used it a time or two ourselves (Mormon Tabernacle Choir), but these days, with the polygamists trying to take over the name, it's time to go back to the real thing. We're not, you know, polygamists. The polygamists are the FLDS, not the LDS.

Now that the technicalities are out of the way, it's time to introduce your host. I'm Terrie and I've been a member of the Church since I was seventeen-years-old. I found it while on a nearly life-long quest to figure out which church was true. I knew there could only be one, because, like Joseph Smith, I went to church after church. They all taught contradictory information, and yet all said they were the true church. Or, they said all churches were equally true. Even as I child, I knew that couldn't be. God is not a God of confusion and truth is truth. There are prophets...or there aren't. We lived before we came to earth...or we didn't. Jesus is our Savior...or He isn't. Only one answer could be correct to each of those and I was determined to find it.

And I did. And the answers to the above questions would then be...there are, we did, He is. In that order. I already knew the answers to those questions, long before I met my first Mormon, but I couldn't find a church that agreed with me until I did meet those Mormons.

Beyond my religion, I'm married (once, to one man, and he's married once to one woman), with three grown children. I'm an author, traditionally published--one book out, one due out in January if all goes well. I run the literacy program at church and as part of that, teach English as a second language in a free class as a volunteer.

Unlike the typical member of the Church, I hate cooking and cleaning, although I'm working on it (on good days), can't sew, and can't sing. I can't bake cookies, but I can bake bread. I love being with young children, so when I'm not serving in the children's organization, I am offering to substitute teach there. I write a blog for LDSblogs.com explaining the Book of Mormon to people who aren't LDS but want to read it--you can read along with me, and read my commentary as you go.

In whatever time is left after writing, helping my husband with his business, preparing lesson plans and not cleaning, I am teaching myself Brazilian Portuguese and trying to learn how to write fiction.

There. That's out of the way. Let's get down to business. Please feel free to use the comments area to ask intelligent questions, but not to attack. That means to be respectful of my religion and everyone else's, also. No spam--it will be obliterated. I practically live on my computer, being a writer, so I will catch it!

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