Meet Celeste LaFollete

Thank you for sharing with us Celeste! We are excited to get to know you.

I was born and raised in Oklahoma. I met my husband at BYU-Idaho where I studied Health and Nutrition and he studied Business/Pre-Med/Finding a hot wife. We came to Midwestern way back in 2006 for my husband to attend medical school. He graduated in 2010. We then moved to Quincy, IL  for residency, where I thought I was gonna die for 3 years. I'm happy to report we survived-marriage, children, and sanity intact. Well, mostly intact. We are back now for good. Hallelujah! My husband, Martin, is a family physician for Abrazo. I love the Bellair ward and I love Phoenix so I am thrilled to be back here! We have three crazy children. Emma is 7 and will be attending Adams. Grant is 4. Jeffrey is 2. Now that Martin is finally done with school, I have my own dreams of graduate school. I'll be studying English and History and just about anything I want! I start at ASU soon. If I have free time I love to read--nothing better than quiet time with a book :)

Dessert-Better than Sex Cake (is that too scandalous for a ward blog?)

Hobbies-reading, writing, and arithmetic. Just kidding about the arithmetic--I hate math. But the other two are true. I also enjoy making fun of my husband and thinking up new ways to escape from my children. :)

Season-Ironically, this has occupied my thoughts for years now. I hate tornado season (got enough of that in Oklahoma). I hate winter (got enough of that in Rexburg and Illinois). I hate rainy, cloudy springtime. I hate hot, humid summers. So, what does that leave....Winter in Phoenix? I don't know why Hell is described as a hot place. I imagine it as a cold, frozen place plagued by tornadoes, like a combination between Oklahoma, Rexburg, and Illinois. Winter in Phoenix is just heavenly-my personal celestial kingdom. 

Scripture-2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Love this! Someday, when I grow up, I want to be a fearless woman.

Hymn-Come Thou Fount

Testimony-There was a time in my life when I had serious doubts about one particular aspect of the gospel. I thought I could keep my doubt contained. I thought I could maintain my testimony of the rest of the gospel and just avoid that one particular topic. But doubt won't stay contained. It leaks out. It festers. It moves and begins to contaminate every aspect of your faith. The gospel of Jesus Christ comes as a complete all-or-nothing package. I can't pick and choose what I will believe. My life experiences so far have taught me that there are basically two forces at work in this world, and in my own life: Fear and Love. The Lord has helped me to understand that fear is often the underlying emotion hidden behind things like doubt, anger, jealousy, insecurity, desperation, criticism, guilt, and low self-esteem. Fear drives a lot of my personal ailments. But, it seems that the Lord is trying His best to teach me that love (a.k.a. faith and trust in Him) is the cure. I am gradually learning how to embrace that love and choose faith over fear, but it's hard. My faith is probably smaller than a mustard seed some days, but I really do believe the Lord accepts even that small desire to believe. I also believe in being open to suggestions as the Lord often has better ideas and a brighter view of things than me. Who knew? I have lots of things to be grateful for--like a fabulous husband who is not perfect, but is perfect for me, and three sweet children who will all be in school in 3 years and 1 month, but who's counting...:)