“We should do something to celebrate this landmark anniversary,” I thought. “Maybe I can do something.”
Over the years, I’ve learned that I am most fulfilled when my work reflects my inner values.
But isn’t our model Jesus, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief? . . . Faith cannot eradicate our longing for those who die.
The decisions that women make in their homes and in their communities are the very things that make them effective leaders.
How did your journey with conservation and bookmaking begin? Have you always been drawn to this?Nope. I did not know craft bookwork existed. Granted, I did have a short-lived college work-study job in the library where I bulk-bound periodicals into plastic binders. And my husband, Barry, had a job in the engineering library doing repairs on the circulating collection. But it isn’t exactly a direct path to book conservation from a high school love of chemistry and college economic history studies.Amelia Anne SorensonInteresting! How did you come into it then?In hindsight, this work makes perfect sense. When young, I wanted […]
Interviewed by Rachel RueckertHow did you first get involved in genealogy? What sparked the interest?It really started a few months after my mission. My dad, a photographer who had collected family photos since he was very young, called me one night to say he had just discovered the names of two ancestors written on the backs of their pictures (he had long since made copies of all his photos to preserve the originals and for the first time in years was handling the originals). Dad was so excited that I decided to go to the BYU library one evening after […]
The editor spoke with mail carrier Jaelynn Francis as she went about her delivery route in Smithfield, Utah, on a December afternoon. With her cell on speakerphone in her Postal Service uniform pocket, she drove the mail truck from house to house, stuffing letters and magazines into mailboxes, jumping out to take packages to porches, all while watching out for children, dogs, and after-school traffic. Our interview has been edited for concision and clarity.What is your official job title?I am a mail carrier. I like to call myself a “Mail Ma’am.” I have worked with the post office off and […]
Tell me about the process of creating Ditto Kids magazine. How did you come up with the idea? How long did it take you to create the first issue? How did you decide on content?I have three small children, and when my oldest was about three, I saw how easily and quickly kids begin to pick up on the biases and racial attitudes that they see around them. We were doing so much in our family to teach diversity and inclusion and kindness — but I quickly learned that isn’t enough. Kids need to learn history, true history; they need […]
Tell me about the many ways you’re engaged in your communities.I work with PIK2AR (Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources), a nonprofit organization geared toward empowering disadvantaged members of the greater Salt Lake City community by providing resources that help them help themselves. I facilitate peer-to-peer women’s support groups, run a Pacific Islander writing group that focuses on issues affecting the PI community, host the PEAU Book Club where we read the works of Pacific Islander authors, and I am actively engaged in planning and executing the National Pacific Islander Violence Prevention Conference each year. Additionally, I have worked as […]
Exponent II provides feminist forums for women and gender minorities across the Mormon spectrum to share their diverse life experiences in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. Through these exchanges, we strive to create a community to better understand and support each other.
