Conversion Stories | Mormon Women

September 22nd, 2010 by admin

Coming to Know Him Who Suffered

Galina Goncharova

On June 10, 1990, Galina Goncharova became the first member of the Church to be baptized in Moscow, in what was then the Soviet Union. In this interview she describes her journey to the Church, the ravages of alcoholism on her family, and how the gospel has helped her to forgive and given her power to change her relationships with others.

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Posted in: 61 - 70 years old, Conversion Stories, Conversion Stories, English, Personal Challenges, Personal Challenges, Russia, Sisters Abroad, Sisters Abroad, Widowed - Tags: alcoholism, conversion, convert, disease, LDS woman, Russia

August 18th, 2010 by admin

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Ties That Bind

Pauline Sanchez

Pauline Sanchez was born in her grandmother’s hogan on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. From the age of eight until graduation from high school, Pauline spent her school years living with a white family in northern Utah as part of the church’s Indian Placement Program. Pauline describes feeling lost within different worlds and how her native language helped her understand the value of her experiences. She is on the Advisory board at The Anasazi Foundation, a wilderness treatment program for troubled teens and their families. She, with her husband Ezekiel, were honored as the 2001 Arizona Parents of the Year, and in 2002 received the National Excellence in Parenting Award.

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Posted in: 51 - 60 years old, Conversion Stories, Conversion Stories, English, Magnifying Motherhood, Magnifying Motherhood, Married with children, United States - Tags: adoption, Arizona, education, family, Indian Placement Program, language, LDS culture, mormon heritage, motherhood, Navajo, Utah

July 27th, 2010 by admin

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Nothing Short of A Miracle

Gina Traynor

From Dublin, Ireland, Gina talks candidly about her struggle with infertility. A lawyer by training and a convert to the Church, Gina overcame a fear of doctors and hospitals to complete IVF treatments, resulting in the birth of her daughter Ella. Gina reveals a deep gratitude for her supportive husband, although not a member of the Church himself, and their precious daughter.

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Posted in: 41 - 50 years old, Conversion Stories, Conversion Stories, English, Ireland, Married with children, Personal Challenges, Personal Challenges, Sisters Abroad, Sisters Abroad - Tags: convert, Europe, family, infertility, legal, Mormon women, motherhood, part-member marriage

June 23rd, 2010 by admin

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I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go

Ruth Wise

As her name suggests, Ruth epitomizes wise, eternal choices: After being the only one in her family to join the church in her native Bolivia, Ruth came to the United States to pursue additional training as a dentist. The death of her first child was crushing, but she chose to endure two more pregnancies, each resulting in a healthy child although requiring months of bed rest. She is currently pregnant a fourth time. Ruth discusses how she uses her time while on bed rest, how she uses her dental skills for good, and how she appreciates being able to spend time with her children.

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Posted in: 31 - 40 years old, Bolivia, Conversion Stories, Conversion Stories, English, Magnifying Motherhood, Magnifying Motherhood, Married with children, Professional Paths, Professional Pursuits, Sisters Abroad, Sisters Abroad - Tags: careers, conversion, convert, Dentist, depression, education, faith, graduate school, Mormon women, pregnancy, South America

May 26th, 2010 by admin

11 Comments

Finding Refuge in the Saints

Saroeun Phin Eav

From 1975 to 1981, Saroeun Eav fought for her life and the lives of her children as she suffered under the rule of the Khmer Rouge in her native country of Cambodia. In this excerpt from her life history, Saroeun tells of death-defying escapes, bearing children in labor camps, and, eventually, her escape to the United States where she joined the Church and raised her children in the gospel.

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Posted in: 61 - 70 years old, 71+, Cambodia, Conversion Stories, Conversion Stories, English, Magnifying Motherhood, Magnifying Motherhood, Married with children, Personal Challenges, Personal Challenges, United States - Tags: Cambodia, conversion, convert, faith, family, Mormon women, pioneers, prayer, refugee

December 3rd, 2009 by admin

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A Road to Redemption

Brittney Poulsen Carman

For almost four years Brittney has been writing about the 18 months she spent in Venezuela as a missionary. While she was there, her father, who was excommunicated from the Church when she was 14 and from whom she had been estranged for years, began sending her letters, photocopies from the journal he kept as a missionary in Colombia between 1973-75. This began a reconnection and reconciliation of their relationship which, by the end of her time in Venezuela, would become the most poignant and enduring conversion of her mission.

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Posted in: 31 - 40 years old, Conversion Stories, Conversion Stories, English, Married with children, Personal Challenges, Personal Challenges, Professional Paths, Professional Pursuits, United States, Venezuela - Tags: graduate school, Idaho, mission, writing

November 13th, 2009 by admin

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The Small World of the Gospel

Faustina Otoo

The first time Faustina Otoo went to church, in Nigeria in 1985, the members’ love made her feel like she was in a “wonderland”. Since that day, Faustina’s journey in the church has taken her back to her native land of Ghana where she now serves as the front office receptionist at the Africa West Area office complex at the Accra Ghana temple. As the single mother of two children, Faustina is especially proud that her daughter is about to graduate from college.

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Posted in: 51 - 60 years old, Conversion Stories, Conversion Stories, Divorced, English, Ghana, Magnifying Motherhood, Magnifying Motherhood, Personal Challenges, Sisters Abroad, Sisters Abroad - Tags: Africa, conversion, divorce, Mormon women, temple

November 3rd, 2009 by admin

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Lost in Learning

Eva Koleva Timothy

As a teenager in Sophia, Bulgaria, Eva sought for truth and found the restored Gospel. Now a mother of three living in the United States, Eva’s passion for learning continues to drive her personal and professional pursuits: “Lost in Learning”, the culmination of her work as a professional photographer, features the original manuscripts and objects used by the world’s great discoverers as they too sought for truth. Eva homeschools her children so that they can share in her search for knowledge.

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Posted in: 31 - 40 years old, Artistic Women, Artistic Women, Bulgaria, Conversion Stories, Conversion Stories, English, Magnifying Motherhood, Married with children, Professional Paths, Professional Pursuits, Sisters Abroad, Sisters Abroad, United States - Tags: careers, conversion, Europe, home schooling, Massachusetts, Mormon women, motherhood, photography

November 3rd, 2009 by admin

12 Comments

Spirit in the Law

Robin Lunt

Robin joined the Church after September 11, 2001, when she reasoned that “if there could be such a force of organized darkness in the world then there has to be an equal opposite force of organized good.” That same year, at age 22, she married a member of the Church and cemented her life to the Gospel. Since attending law school, Robin has worked in energy regulation in Washington D.C. while passionate about resource and environmental issues.

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