Thanks so much for sharing with us Jess! We are excited to get to know you.
1. Tell us about you and your family. (for example...where are you from? What is your career? Where did you go to school/major? Are you married? What does your husband do? Do you have any children? What are their ages? etc.)
I'm from Orange County, CA. I recently graduated from BYU in English and editing. Before moving to Arizona, I worked as an editor at the Friend (the Church magazine), and I still freelance for them--writing stories and activities, editing articles, and working with their website. I'm also starting a business editing college admission essays. I'm married to David Larsen, the MOST AMAZING guy in the world! He's from Dallas, Texas, and we dated in our freshman ward at BYU. After 3 years of letters (we both served missions--I served in Palmyra, New York), we started dating again and got engaged 2 months later! He just started the DO program at Midwestern.
2. If you had an hour free time, what might we find you doing?
If I had an hour of free time, I would definitely be reading! I go to the library more than I go to the grocery store!
3. Share an experience that has strengthened your testimony or why the gospel is important to you?
This might sound weird, but my unorthodox courthship with David strengthened my testimony! I really liked him, and we had written steadily for over a year when I received a very strong impression that I needed to serve a mission. It didn't make sense at all--I was sure I would never see David again! (Our missions overlapped by three months.) But I felt I should go, so I put in my papers. My mission changed my life, and then I came home and David was still here, so I got to marry him anyway. It taught me that the Lord has a plan, and even if it doesn't make sense to me, I can have complete faith and trust in Him. Things will work out as they should--and when they should.
If I had an hour of free time, I would definitely be reading! I go to the library more than I go to the grocery store!
3. Share an experience that has strengthened your testimony or why the gospel is important to you?
This might sound weird, but my unorthodox courthship with David strengthened my testimony! I really liked him, and we had written steadily for over a year when I received a very strong impression that I needed to serve a mission. It didn't make sense at all--I was sure I would never see David again! (Our missions overlapped by three months.) But I felt I should go, so I put in my papers. My mission changed my life, and then I came home and David was still here, so I got to marry him anyway. It taught me that the Lord has a plan, and even if it doesn't make sense to me, I can have complete faith and trust in Him. Things will work out as they should--and when they should.
4. What are your following favorites:
Desserts: fudge brownies or chocolate chip cookies. Actually, I've never met a dessert I haven't liked!
Desserts: fudge brownies or chocolate chip cookies. Actually, I've never met a dessert I haven't liked!
Hobbies: reading, watching movies with David, working out, traveling
Scripture: 2 Nephi 31:20
Hymn: "How Firm a Foundation"
Scripture: 2 Nephi 31:20
Hymn: "How Firm a Foundation"
Favorite quote: "Dismiss the destructive, and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future" --Jeffrey R. Holland
