Knowing that God has never left me alone and will never leave me alone is what carried me through the abuse.  I thank Him every day.

My testimony is rooted in the knowledge that once we are in Heaven, I will finally be able to talk with my sister.  I can't wait to hear her side of the conversation after all these years.

How beautiful is the green earth / The stars, the heavens above / But what would the whole world be worth / If we didn't have each other to love?

 "We come back because Zion is worth occasional discomfort.  We come back because Zion is the most unpredictable, exciting, satisfying place in the world to live."  -Maurine Whipple
I couldn't agree more.

Some people look up at the star filled sky and feel insignificant.  Because of the Plan of Salvation I look up and feel blessed....and I wonder if He will trust me with the keys to the car.

I once declared this book "unreadable."  Sixteen years later, I tried again.  My testimony will never be the same.

Forever.

His love a beacon in the night.  
His words will be my light 
To carry me to Him.

I like that God believes in second chances.

And prove me now herewith, if I will not open you the window of heaven.

"Mormonism is truth; and every man who embraces it feels himself at liberty to embrace every truth: consequently the shackles of superstition, bigotry, ignorance, and priestcraft fall at once from his neck; and his eyes are opened..."

Chiasm in the Book of Mormon is an X that marks one spot of my faith.

We only met for a fleeting moment in the ER...but I hope to live with you for eternity.

Braća smo. We're brothers.

I was baptized in 1978 shortly before my husband. We were sealed to our children in the Temple in 1987. At the time of our Sealing, I had no idea he was involved in an extramarital affair and had been for almost 10 long years with my best friend, who was also a member of the Church. We attended the Temple once to be sealed and never returned.

When I found out about the affair, I was devastated, and I made a terrible mistake. Understanding the principles of the Gospel, I asked to be excommunicated and lived as a non-member, still retaining my Testimony, for 20 years.

In 2007, I met my current husband who was a non-member but was interested in investigating the Church. He was baptized in January, 2008, and he rebaptized me in February, 2008. He has received his Temple endowments, and I am hoping that my Temple Blessings will be restored in January, 2010 so we can be Sealed.

I love the Gospel.

Without the Atonement, I would still be living without the Blessings of my Baptism. I so look forward to having my Temple Blessings restored. It is true: We must understand the wonderfulness of 'good' before we completely understand the awfulness of 'bad.'

Thank you for allowing me to share my Testimony with you.

Hello, Friends

We've been getting some lovely links from the Bloggernacle. Reese and jeans at beginnings new jumped in feet first, adding our button and noting us in their Web Crawl (wouldn't creating these postcards be a great activity for your Young Women?); Today in the Bloggernacle from Mormon Times sent a shout out our way; Feminist Mormon Housewives and BCC both noted us in their sideblog. It feels like the Welcome Wagon stopped for a visit. Thanks for making us feel right at home.

And hello, new friends. We're so glad you're here.

If you like what you're reading so far (or not!) send your own Reason for Hope our way. We're looking forward to sharing the postcards we've already received (seriously, I kind of want to post them all at once... they're really great), and the only thing that will make it better is posting yours.

What are the quirky, lovely, aching, personal, inspiring, unforgettable reasons that you began and continue to make the LDS church part of your life? Put together your thoughts, a picture, a scripture or quote, a visual testimony to contribute. Be cheesy or serious, be insightful: be you. Let us know why you're Mormon.

More details here.

Being Mormon, to me, means that no matter where I go, no matter what language or country, there is always someone I can connect with: some one who loves me.

I got to learn the most beautiful language in the world. I met incredible people. And I taught people about God for two years.

I can take two things with me: my mind and my relationships.

For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have? Mosiah 3:19

He is everywhere, but He makes the most sense to me in this church.

I was forgiven. And I know it.

About

Since the very beginning, sharing testimony has been an important part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Usually these testimonies have relied heavily on words… spoken from a pulpit, written in letters, and published in tracts or The Ensign. At Hopefully Mormon the challenge is to think of testimony in a new way. The task is an exercise in detail: distill all those words into just one important element of personal testimony and complement that with an accompanying visual.

Testimonies are multi-faceted and complex. We don't expect any single submission to capture a complete experience with Mormonism. At their very best, these carefully considered details can enlarge our hearts, expand our understanding of our fellow Saints, and answer the exhortation in 1 Peter 3:15 "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." Hopefully Mormon is a place to share our reasons for hope.

Postcard art isn't a new concept. Neither is sharing hope. But we're hoping this combination of the two will be as inspiring to you as it is to us and that others can connect with us as real people with real reasons for being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"I will fulfill my promises."

Orrin Porter Rockwell:  The guilty pleasure of my faith.

And let the sun, moon, and the stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers! D&C 128:23
 

Just as a Nebula creates a star, our Savior created us and the universe we live in. I marvel in awe at the complexity of the world and the gift of life.

Who We Are

Rachel is raising three sons and is interested in art and design, good ideas, and Photoshop. She likes books, taking classes, and just graduated from Primary to serve in YW.


Kjerstin is an English grad student at BYU, interested in fine cuisine, travel, and words. She served a mission in Armenia and likes to run and teach.


Annie graduated in English Language and Editing from BYU. She likes starting projects (not necessarily finishing them) and is interested in devouring mid-century modern design, teaching her daughter, making things, and eating Kjerstin's fine cuisine.

Guidelines and Legal Stuff

Some general guidelines for using the site and for consideration as you compose a Reason for Hope to submit.

• Standard practice is to post a Reason for Hope anonymously with links to mormon.org or other relevant content as we see fit.  We will leave comments open as standard practice, but we can close them per your instruction.  All comments will be moderated.  Bullying and personal attacks are unacceptable...play nice.
  

• A testimony is complex and multi-faceted, so multiple submissions are accepted and encouraged.  Send as many Reasons as you'd like.
  

• Respect the copyright of others.  The LDS church holds the copyright for standard distribution Church images.  So be creative. Find images that are in the public domain, paint something, draw something, or use your own photograph.  And be careful about sending in images of other people.  Get permission where necessary.

Legal Notice

Hopefully Mormon reserves the right to select, edit, and arrange submissions, and to remove information from the Hopefully Mormon website at any time at its sole discretion. No image from this site may be used for any purpose without expressed written authorization, the only exception being that you may post one image as a link to this site.

By submitting information to Hopefully Mormon, you grant Hopefully Mormon a perpetual, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, distribute, and otherwise exercise all copyright and publicity rights with respect to that information at its sole discretion, including storing it on Hopefully Mormon servers and incorporating it in other works in any media now known or later  developed.

It Starts

Well, here it goes: Hopefully Mormon. Welcome, and thanks for checking in. Today will be a day of introductions, rule-setting, and the debut of our first official Reasons for Hope.

Postcard art isn't a new concept. Neither is sharing hope. But we're hoping this combination of the two will be as inspiring to you as it is to us and that the world will see that we are real people with real reasons for being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We are excited to embark on the building of this community, and we look forward to seeing the reasons for your faith.