Interviews

On April 6, 1994, the airplane carrying the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down over Kigali. That moment was like “oil on fire,” setting off the devastating Rwandan Genocide. Yvonne Baraketse’s father, Chief of Staff of the Rwandan army, was also on the airplane and killed in the attack. Yvonne was 14 years […]

The decisions that have shaped María Felipa García Pérez’s life haven’t been made because they were the easy ones, but because they were the right ones. Her love of family and love of the Savior have given her the strength to have difficult conversations with family about her baptism, to serve a mission, and then […]

Las decisiones que dieron forma a la vida de María Felipa García Pérez no se tomaron por su facilidad, sino porque fueron las correctas. Su amor por familia y por el Salvador le han dado la fuerza para tener conversaciones difíciles con su familia sobre su bautismo,  hacer una misión, y luego regresar de la […]

Mary Xavier was born and raised in Bangalore, India. She and her family were introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when she was a teenager. Mary experienced true conversion while teaching the basic principles and truths of the gospel in Primary where she served as the president. Throughout her life, Mary […]

Paula Garner always wanted to be a farmer. As an adult, the opportunity arose to care for a small flock of Santa Cruz sheep, a critically endangered breed. Due to her husband’s job moves, they have transported their animals from California to Louisiana to Connecticut. The Garners have one of the largest flocks of Santa […]

Leetoane Mats’aba describes herself as “a happy soul filled with promises and blessing of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.” She lives in Lesotho, the Southern African country sometimes called Kingdom in the Sky because of its lofty elevation. After losing both of her parents, she was drawn to the truth of the restored gospel […]

Ruth Yeboah is a passionate advocate for women. Born in Ivory Coast, she immigrated to the Bronx, New York as a young teen. Ruth was raised in a religious home where she developed a love for Jesus Christ and a Christian life. She went on to become a Child Protective Specialist, a foster care system […]

Brigitte Madrian decided in eighth grade that she would get a PhD someday. She graduated from BYU with a degree in economics, then went on to fulfill her doctoral dream at MIT. Since then she has passed through the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University, to return finally as the first […]

Listen to this interview at the Mormon Women Project podcast, available on all platforms. Emily Bates suffered severe migraines from a young age, leading her to pursue a career in science in order to study the genetic causes of the condition. She now is an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and runs […]

Anne Apuakehau grew up in a religious home in Bangalore, India. Following her third oldest sister’s baptism, Anne listened to the missionaries and gained her own testimony. She and many members of her family were baptized and became some of the first members of the Church in India. Anne became a passionate member missionary and […]