Women of Virtue -- Tamera

Friday is here again, and that means it's time for another interview! Hip hip hooray! This week I interviewed Tamera.  I met Tamera when our ward boundaries changed about 7 months ago, and we ended up in the same ward.  Tamera has a beautiful family, with lovely, well behaved children.  Tamera is so friendly and always upbeat and positive about everything.  I admire how calm and composed she always is, and she just has this feeling of peace about her.  I'm glad she took time out of her busy schedule so I could get to know her better.  


Tamera--

I am the oldest of three girls and was raised in Phoenix, AZ. I met my husband while attending Institute of Religion classes at Phoenix College.  We have been married for 17 years and have lived in Alaska for the last 12 years.  We have 7 children – 2 boys and 5 girls.  The oldest is 11 and the youngest is 9 months.

How does living the gospel bring you joy? 

The gospel defines who I am.  I am a daughter of God and that brings me so much peace, hope and reassurance.  I know that I’m not alone.  I know that my prayers will be answered because I have a loving Heavenly Father. I know that everything will work out because we’ve been promised that we won’t have any challenges that we can’t handle.  If things get tough I just have to apply more work, faith, and hope.

 With 7 children and being a homeschooling mom how do you find time for the essential things in your life like personal scripture study and personal prayers?

I’m laughing as I read that question – it is a challenge.  I try to get early so I can have some quiet time to study the scriptures.  That doesn’t always work because I have some early risers.  I also don’t have walls in between bedrooms in my house-under-construction so, if I’m up someone else will be too.  Babies also seem to instinctively know when that alarm will go off and feel it usurps their responsibilities, so they get up even earlier.  Despite those challenges, most of which everyone has, I make time.  If I don’t get it done first thing in the morning then I get it at nap time, or when the kids are outside playing, or after the little ones go to bed.  I just have to make the time.

What does being modest or modesty mean to you?

How and what do you teach your children about modesty?

I think modesty means showing respect for our bodies.  Not just in the way we dress but in the way we act as well.  How we dress influences how we behave and how others perceive us.  We do the “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes” modesty check. Can you put your hands on your head without your belly showing?  Are your shoulders covered?  Does your shorts/skirt/dress go to your knees?  Can you touch your toes without showing your back or front?  We talk about taking care of our body like a temple.  We don’t want to put anything on it or in it that would show disrespect for our temple.

The proclamation on the Family says, "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."  What does this mean to you as a woman?

I think this in an ennobling doctrine.  The Lord created us as male and female.  We are different (yet equal) and we are that way by design.  I love the talk The Joy of Womanhood by Margaret D. Nadauld.  She states:

“Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.”

Do you think your attitude affects the feeling and mood in your home?  How?

Oh boy howdy it sure does. If I’m in a black mood it seems to be contagious.  The children are quarrelsome and more demanding of each other.   

Pres. Hinckley said that women are the guardians of the hearth, what does that mean to you?

Being a guardian of the hearth means that I protect my home and family from anything that would be degrading.  That includes (but is not limited to) music, movies and books that I think are not appropriate.  I feel another part of that is making sure that we (not just the children) only participate in the best activities.  Everyone has to find their own balance. 

What is your favorite/one of your favorite quotes or scriptures about motherhood or womanhood and why?

The motherhood scriptures I always come back to are Alma 53:20-21

“And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.  Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.”

And Alma 56:45-48

“And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites. For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall… Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.  And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.”

These are my favorites not only because of what those young men report learning from their mothers but also because of how Helaman describes them. Their mothers were certainly guardians of the hearth.  I hope someday that my sons’ Mission Presidents can say the same things about them as Helaman said of his stripling warriors.

Thanks, Tamera


If anyone would like to ask me any questions about me and or my family, I will be happy to do a post and answer them.  Also, if you have any questions for my next Woman of Virtue Interview leave a comment and I will be happy to ask them.