Ruth grew up in Sandy, Utah and currently resides in South Jordan, Utah with her husband and four children. She has degrees from both the University of Utah and the University of Phoenix. Aside from that, she’s probably a lot like your Grandma. She likes to spend time with family, is addicted to the library app, and listening to audiobooks while cleaning. Her favorite hobbies are digging in the yard, doing Monday-level New York Times crossword puzzles, and taking care of her family (including extended family and those friends she claims as family). Ruth delights in thrift stores and has a talent for finding good things. Other hobbies include watching documentaries, America’s Test Kitchen, and Monty Don gardening shows. She shows her love to others by cooking and baking for them, and she is the neighborhood go-to for missing ingredients. Fun facts include that she can rarely follow a recipe exactly, and that she has a habit of tinkering in the kitchen using only what she has on hand. According to her kids, she is “really good at cooking,” the “best mom in the world,” “caring,” and “good at drawing slugs."

Grown from the good grounds, Paige celebrates differences among culture, faith, and people. In between story times and adventures with her children she speaks, teaches, and presents on themes radiating from the intersection of the humanities and deity and has addressed thousands on the glory of diversity, the exquisite beauty of individuality, and the fulfillment of creation.

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich was born in 1938 in Sugar City, Idaho. She graduated from the University of Utah in 1960 with a BA in English. That fall she moved with her husband, Gael Ulrich, to Boston, Massachusetts so he could begin graduate work at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). During the next ten years, while engaged with her growing family, she worked with a dynamic group of Mormon women to produce a popular guidebook to Boston (a fund-raising project for their local congregation) and helped to found a Mormon feminist newspaper. Exponent II (now a magazine available in print or on-line). Taking one course a semester, she completed an MA in English at Simmons College in 1971.

Lyndsey Howell was born and raised in beautiful Bangor, Northern Ireland, a country divided by religion. Her grandparents converted to the Church in the 1960s and she is thankful for their decision to listen to the missionaries. Despite being the only member of the Church through most of her high school years, she is grateful for the opportunity that gave her to develop and defend her testimony to her peers. She is married to the “world’s best home teacher” after they met at their BYU ward and he faithfully visited her every day with offerings of Diet Coke and an eternity of happiness. They are the parents of five children, and call the Pacific Northwest home. She holds a Bachelor of Music from BYU, and especially loves to share her testimony of the gospel through music. Her family is her greatest passion, and she loves spending time with them, whether it be snow skiing, boating, or snuggling together watching movies, eating good food, and making each other laugh until they cry.

Kara is a dedicated disciple of Christ, patient spouse, and ever-loving mother. Her dedication to her family is unparalleled and she strives every day to make sure they all know how much she loves them. Being the mother of Grace is the fulfillment of an eternal dream. Kara has a love for fitness and loves creating yummy vegan dishes for her family. When she isn't taking care of her family or serving in Young Women, you can find her building her business. Kara and her sister co-founded a home decor business in 2020, House of Turnberry. They thoughtfully curate beautiful ribbon sets and pour their hearts into all facets of their business. In those few moments that she has to herself, Kara loves to organize, decorate and be a personal shopper for her friends and family.

Lita Little Giddins was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Southern California. She has been involved in the recording, commercial, film, and musical theater industries. She is a graduate of BYU, with a BA in socio-cultural anthropology and an MA in clinical social work. She is currently Assistant Dean for Diversity, Collaboration, and Inclusion for the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at BYU.

Matthew J. Grow is Managing Director of the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In that capacity, he leads a team of history professionals who collect documents and artifacts, preserve them, and promote understanding of the Church’s past through a publishing program, a research library, a museum, and many historic sites. Grow also serves as a general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers and Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days. He has published widely on Latter-day Saint history and American religious history. Grow received his PhD in American history from the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife Alyssa live with their four children in Sandy, Utah.

Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife is a Latter-day Saint relationship and sexuality coach as well as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the state of Illinois. She has a PhD in Counseling Psychology. Her teaching and coaching focus on helping Latter-day Saint individuals and couples achieve greater satisfaction and passion in their emotional and sexual relationships.

Lee Benson has written slice-of-life columns for the Deseret News since 1998. Prior to that he was a sports columnist. His subjects have ranged from the Olympic Games (10 of them) to the arrival of the Jazz to the origin of fry sauce. A native Utahn, he grew up in Sandy and lives in the mountains with his family.

Colleen Thomas is a Chicago-area journalist. She taught early morning seminary for five years and has “graduated” like the students to the stake institute program, where she now teaches young adults with her husband, Jonathan. Just for kicks, the two of them set a goal to climb to the highest point of every state in the US. They skipped Alaska but recently celebrated finishing the other 49.