Lisa began by telling us her
patriarchal blessing says that she will have choice friends placed around her
that will bear her up and help in times of trouble and be there in times of joy. She is thankful for the love and support of
the friends here in Relief Society and feels richly blessed.
Lisa was born in San Jose and is
the youngest of three. She has two older
sisters. When she was three, her father
died and since her mother is Danish, they moved to Denmark. Lisa spent her summers at the beach in
Denmark and did horseback riding, synchronized swimming, and Girl Scouts while
growing up. She was raised Lutheran, the
main church in Denmark, and was baptized as an infant and confirmed at age 14. In
preparation for her confirmation in the Lutheran faith, there was a lot of
studying. At this time, she remembers
really wanting to believe in the teachings, but didn’t feel a connection. Other
than traditional ceremonies, such as weddings, Lisa went to church
infrequently, perhaps once a year.
Her love of music began during her
early years as her elementary music teacher introduced her to different
instruments. Lisa learned to play the
guitar and was always singing and playing until she would lose her voice. When she was 16, Lisa and her family came
back to the United States for a visit.
Her mother connected with the man who had been the best man at their
wedding. Her mother fell in love and
married this man and they have been married now for many years.
When Lisa was 18, she was tired of
school and wanted a break so she became an au pair for two children in
Miami. This family was Southern Baptist
and so Lisa went to church with them and she made the choice to join the
Southern Baptist church.
Following her job as an au pair,
Lisa went back to Denmark and worked for a short while. She then moved back to
California with her mother. After some
time, she started working with her first voice teacher at Yuba College in
Marysville. After she graduated from
this community college, she received scholarships to attend the University of
the Pacific (UOP) in Stockton. At this
time, spiritually, she had given up. She
didn’t understand the whole spiritual process and really didn’t believe in God.
She began having problems with her
voice. It was discovered that she had a polyp
and a node on her vocal cords. Although,
she couldn’t sing well at this point, she sang with the choir. The choir sang some beautiful music that
touched Lisa but she didn’t know what the feeling was. Eventually, she had surgery and began to have
voice therapy to regain her voice. Though
she expected that this might be the end of her singing pursuit, after the
surgery, her true voice appeared, and she was able to sing as she never had
before. She performed in several operas
and received her degree in vocal performance.
Lisa went on to go to graduate
school at Indiana University in Bloomington, a top music school. At orientation, on the first day, she was
sitting near two pianists and they became friends. It turns out that these
pianists were LDS and they would talk about the Church. These friends would talk about keeping the
Sabbath day holy and Lisa wanted to know more.
One of the friends gave her a Book of Mormon (which she has today) and
she began attending church and meeting with the missionaries. They told her that the Holy Ghost would teach
her. Lisa was expecting/wanted a big
experience to feel the Spirit, but she realized that it was a sweet, gentle
feeling instead of something big, like a bolt of lightening or similar. They read Alma 32:28, which says: “Now, we will
compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted
in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast
it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it
will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling
motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a
good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea,
it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious
to me.”
The words of the hymn, “Lord, I
Would Follow Thee” resonates with Lisa and is still one of her favorite
hymns:
Savior, may I learn to love Thee,
Walk the path that thou hast
shown,
Pause to help and lift another,
Finding strength beyond my own.
Savior, may I learn to love Thee,
Lord, I would follow Thee.
Lisa wasn’t baptized right away
but continued to study and learn about the Church. Once she was baptized, however, she spent a
lot of time with the missionaries, going to appointments with them, etc. At this time, Lisa had the Spirit speak to
her saying “I was with you then” and she knew that Heavenly Father has been
with her and knows what she is going through at any given time of her life,
such as her throat surgery, her conversion, etc.
She met Brad, and they were
married in the Chicago, Illinois temple.
She had confirmation from the Spirit that everything would be all right;
everything would work out. After
graduating Lisa got to participate in the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco.
A year later, she became pregnant with
her twin boys. Also, at this time, she
and her husband were serving in the singles ward. One of the babies, had severe health
issues. Brad gave him a priesthood
blessing and thankfully, he is healthy today.
Although Lisa’s husband has doubts about the Church and has become
inactive, she is comforted because Heavenly Father has told her that everything
will be OK.
Lisa closed by thanking all of
those who have taught her and her family and who have been there for them. She feels so blessed. Lisa knows that through her struggles that
she needs to hold up her part. She knows
that Heavenly Father is always there for us.
