What I did last summer, part 1

So. I realize that I have neglected documenting some pretty important parts of my summer, namely, a pretty cool internship and wonderful trips across the country to see sights, do research, and visit family and friends.

That needs to be fixed.

So, first things first.

INTERNSHIP.

I had the wonderful opportunity this summer to intern at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City. I traveled up to Salt Lake every week and lived every history student's dream--I worked in the archives. I got to handle 19th-century and 20th-century papers and artifacts AND IT WAS AWESOME.

My supervisor is currently working on a project about Mormon women discourses, which basically means that we collected talks given by Mormon women from the 1830s to now, and we put together a "best-of" book of some of the most inspiring talks from each decade. This book will be available to the general public and is meant to be used as a resource for people preparing talks for church meetings. My job was to research bio information for each of the women that we decided to include in the book.

So, I spent the summer researching the lives of lesser-known 20th-century Mormon women.

I know some people would think that is boring and useless.

I disagree.

If there is anything my internship taught me, it is that truly, we all have a story to tell. And the story of Mormon women is not a story to be swept under the rug. Mormon women truly are incredible and dynamic. These women's stories reminded me that Mormon women are not shrinking violets. It takes courage to rebuild a mission destroyed by WWII. It takes a different kind of bravery to close a mission because of war. It takes dedication and awareness to be involved in civic duties--from humanitarian aid to literacy committees. And it takes commitment to choose to live your faith.

Because when it comes down to it, faith is a choice.

And it is a conscious choice.

Faith is power.

And I believe that Mormon women are powerful because they are faithful.

"That I do not accept the faith that possessed them [the Mormon pioneers] does not mean I doubt their frequent devotion and heroism in its service. Especially their women. Their women were incredible." --Wallace Stegner, The Gathering of Zion. 

Minerva Teichart, Not Alone 

Anyway. I'm off my soapbox now. 

Basically, my internship was great. Mormon women are great. Church history is great. 

I think I'm going to eat some ice cream now.