BYU employee since: 2010
My job at BYU is… associate professor of Church History and Doctrine. I teach incredible students the gospel of Jesus Christ, focusing on the family, living prophets and Church history.
I’m currently working on… topics regarding empowering women on their covenant path, in the temple, family, church and community. I also study religious education pedagogy, and the international Church.
I’m currently reading... every major talk and scriptures on temples, covenants and women; Elder Bednar’s “Increase in Learning” for the hundredth time; and “Stay Thou Nearby, Reflections on the 1978 Revelation.”
I get most excited about my work when... I see students excited and becoming self-reliant on the covenant path and when the Spirit guides me to explain something in a better way to help others understand either in my writing or in the classroom.
My favorite part about teaching is... helping students fulfill the measure of their creation and having a good laugh in the process!
The best advice I’ve ever gotten about teaching is... to remember that “the Spirit is the true teacher.”
My favorite discussion with students is... regarding the priesthood, eternal progression, covenants, learning for ourselves.
My advice to incoming freshmen is... to pray hard, play hard, work hard and love every minute of it.
My advice to graduating seniors is... “stay close to the Spirit,” and “where much is given, much is required!”
I became a BYU fan when... I was born. I’m pretty sure my dad sang “Rise and Shout, another Cougar’s come out” when I was born. My parents met at BYU, nine of my older siblings went to BYU, etc.
My go-to BYU Creamery ice cream flavor is... Peanut Butter Trails.
My favorite BYU tradition is... Women’s Conference! It’s not just about the chocolate mint brownies that they hand out at the Marriott Center, but that is a good bonus.
I’ve hiked Y Mountain... hundreds of times.
My favorite spot on campus is... the Harman Building field where we had our wedding reception, the duck pond where we first brought our daughters, LaVell Edwards Stadium for football, Joseph Smith Building north wall with the D&C 88 inscription where I knew I would teach religion, south of campus walking path for memories of grandma and dad and beautiful path.
I chose to come to BYU... because the Spirit guided me here and I love every piece of it!
My go-to comfort food is... chocolate.
Three things that are always found in my refrigerator... are yogurt, peanut butter and berries.
The title of my autobiography would be... “There Is a God in Heaven.”
My favorite quote is… “A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.” ― Joseph Smith Jr.
One item on my bucket list is... going on a women’s Church history photo shoot with my old missionary companions, sisters, daughters, friends, students, husband, etc., with Elder [Jaren] Wilkey, who now works as a BYU photographer.
If I could travel anywhere... I would go to the South Pacific Islands of Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Kiribati with the family because I attended BYU–Hawaii, worked with international Church school and our daughters are part Polynesian.
My fondest memory from my childhood is... when our family would all be together delivering newspapers on Christmas morning.
