Liz Howell is one of my heroes. Nearly nine years ago on 9/11, most of us were focused on the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City. But Liz was focused on the Pentagon, 228 miles away in Washington, D.C. That’s where her husband, Brady, had just landed his dream job in national security following graduate school. Tragically, Brady did not survive the attack.

Liz could have gone home to Honeyville, Utah, and given up her dream—to become a nurse practitioner. But three months later, she helped carry the 2002 Olympic Torch from Atlanta to Salt Lake City. Her segment? Up the south lawn of the White House, where she handed the torch to President George Bush. And then she finished graduate school.

Liz is my hero not because of her past challenges but because of her persistent courage. After graduate school, she served—at age 30—an LDS mission to Portugal. She then went to work for LDS Charities, the humanitarian arm of the Church.