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Jenna Alton

Jenna Alton is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Utah County with her family. She graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University, where she studied journalism. But her proudest accomplishment is being a mother to her two young children. If you need her, you can probably find her in the mountains or at a thrift store.

Kirsten Ward

Kirsten and Greg met at their babysitter's wedding when they were six. Kirsten knew she would marry Greg one day and waited 11 years for Greg to ask her on a date. Both Greg and Kirsten grew up in Los Altos, CA. They raised their daughter Rebekka in the Seattle area. And moved to Cottonwood Heights, UT when Bekka graduated from University and found the man of her dreams in Utah. Although Kirsten always wanted to grow up to play pro football, she graduated from BYU and went into global business development for high tech firms and currently works for Microsoft in global business advisory. She serves as a Relief Society teacher in her ward. And loves spending time with her family sailing small boats through transparent blue waters in tropical destinations around the world.

Jennifer C. Lane

Jennifer C. Lane is Neal A. Maxwell Research Associate at the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. Her Ph.D. is in religion with an emphasis in history of Christianity from Claremont Graduate University; her B.A. and M.A. are both from BYU. She served as Dean of Religious Education at BYU–Hawaii. She has written Let’s Talk about Temples and Ritual and Finding Christ in the Covenant Path: Ancient Insights for Modern Life.

Michelle Bury

Michelle is a Utah transplant from Colorado and if you ask her how she’s doing, she’ll happily let you know that she is living the dream. Michelle is a graduate of BYU which means every fall, you can find her cheering on her BYU Cougars Football Team and if you listen closely, you can probably hear her shouting at her TV about the games. A self proclaimed “Jill of All Trades”, Michelle enjoys a menagerie of hobbies (horseback riding, cake decorating, playing softball, gardening, watching Jeopardy, etc.) and has a life hack for almost any problem. She has a deep love of the gospel and believes that being authentic with sharing the highs and lows of her testimony will help her connect better to others as we all navigate this journey called life.

Greg Ward

Greg didn't know what the word "Mormon" meant until he started dating Kirsten senior year in high school, though had a crush on her for more than a decade. Suffice it to say Kirsten was Greg's missionary, taught him the Gospel, introduced him to BYU, and waited for him while he served a mission in Venezuela. Greg graduated BYU with a degree in Electrical Engineering, though always preferred the business side of things. Currently he is COO for a life sciences instrumentation company in Provo, UT. Greg's hobbies include paragliding and sailing.

Jessica Nelson

Jessica Nelson is a historian and documentary editor for the Joseph Smith Papers. She completed a BA in American studies at Brigham Young University and an MS in history at Utah State University, where she held the Milner/Butler Editorial Fellowship at the Western Historical Quarterly. Her thesis, titled “‘The Mississippi of the West’: Religion, Conservatism, and Racial Politics in Utah, 1960–1978,” was awarded the Lester E. Bush Best Thesis Award by the Mormon History Association in 2018. Previous to joining the Joseph Smith Papers, she worked as a research assistant for the women’s history team at the Church History Department.

Monica Nystuen Westbye

Monica Nystuen Westbye was born in Drammen, Norway. Although she was baptized at the age of 8, she considers herself a convert. After losing contact with the church, she reconnected with two missionaries from Utah at the age of 23. She is forever grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and for her faithful grandmother’s draw of the Plan of Happiness. Both helped keep Monica close to Christ and Heavenly Father.

Gerrit J. Dirkmaat

Josie Candland

Josie is a fun-loving, spontaneous dancing, always laughing soul who believes people should hug more. Born and raised in Mesa, Arizona she moved to Spokane with her family for her junior and senior year then moved to St. George recently completing her freshman year at Utah Tech. She sees the gospel in a different way than most, which prompted her early morning seminary teacher to say, “You should start a gospel podcast for kids,” which she is still trying determine whether or not was a compliment. A fond phrase of hers is “I love me some Jesus,” and she is convinced if anyone has a secret handshake with Jesus, it’s her.

Daryl Austin for the Deseret News