I grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, being born to Preston Reeder Lee and Lillie Mae McQuarrie on 23 September 1928 at Hyde Park, Utah. I was under the influence of great Primary, Sunday School, and Young Women teachers in a very friendly and loving ward of saints there. I feel that my testimony became much stronger in 1953 when my husband Bob took the discussions from the missionaries in Huron, South Dakota. I then came to realize that Heavenly Father was guiding my life and helping me to gain a stronger testimony so we could raise our children in the right way. We were in a community where the church was new. A small branch of 14 persons was organized in our living room in 1953 before Bob was baptized. We felt like pioneers as we served in that small branch in many callings. I served in the Relief Society there and also taught Primary in our home. Later, when we moved to Brookings, our Huron Branch was much larger with a second building phase (a chapel) having been added to the tiny building that was built first.
The Brookings Branch was small when we moved there in August 1967. Before we moved there we stopped there once to attend church in their first phase branch building and our family doubled the number in attendance. We had first attended there when they were meeting in a small home. We lived there for six years and saw much growth. We loved serving and working there.
We moved to Ames, Iowa in the fall of 1973. For the first time in 20 years we lived within a ward and stake (Ames Ward of the Des Moines Iowa Stake). We lived there for 14 years and gained much experience. I served there in the ward and stake Relief Society, the Young Women, and as a Seminary teacher. In 1987 we became members of the La Crosse Ward where I again served in the Relief Society, Seminary, and as a stake missionary. In December 1992 we were called to serve in the Viroqua Branch, where Bob was called to be Branch President until July 1994. In fall 1994, we served in the Singapore Mission for two years; we will always be grateful for the people we loved and taught in East Malaysia. A branch was organized in Kuching, East Malaysia and shortly after our return home a branch was organized where we had served in Kota Kinabalu. In December 1996, we began service as ordinance workers in the Chicago Illinois Temple.
Each of my experiences in church service has helped me to strengthen the testimony that began to form when I was a little girl in Hyde Park, Utah. I know that we are truly engaged in the Lord’s work, that the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that I am grateful that each of us can be engaged in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.