I come from a long line of Mormon lineage. My great-great grandfather was the first Italian to join the Church and gave the church $2500 to finish the building of the original Nauvoo temple.
My mom passed away when I was fifteen but I have three sisters who are my absolute best friends. We grew up strengthening each other and are still each other’s biggest advocates in spite of our many differences.
I work in construction and trust me, it’s a daily reminder of how different men and women are. I’m in a management position that brings me a lot of satisfaction and joy. I live alone in the Seattle area with my dog Frankie and I’m very happily single.
Almost three years ago I married a man that turned out to be abusive, which should be no big surprise since he came from a radical white supremacy background but converted to the Church all on his own. I felt we were supposed to get married. When we first met he quoted me scripture from Genesis that is used in the temple endowment and for some reason I saw it as a sign.
Nine months later, while living in a small town in Central Illinois, he attacked me and tried to strangle me. I called the cops and then called upon my local bishop and Elders Quorum president to help me move all my stuff out of the house. They told me they would not allow the members to help me for fear of liability to the Church.
My sister and her husband, who did not want me to marry my ex in the first place, bought me a one way ticket to get away from my ex. In the following months, I found myself seeking advice from so many different women. I found myself yearning for a blessing from one of my sisters – a feeling so very new to me. It never occurred to me before this that women could or would ever have that kind of power and yet my soul was telling me something my mind had never considered. And given everything that just happened to me, the last thing I wanted was for a man to touch me. But I desperately wanted the healing power of the priesthood.
Needless to say, I wholeheartedly and with all my soul believe women should be ordained.