Getting to know me......

Hello again Brothers and Sisters, My name is Kathy Sparrow and I grew up in Pocatello Idaho . I served a lds mission to Detroit Michigan and presently live in Kalispell Mt. I am married and have 2 teenagers. I have struggled with my weight since my mission and child bearing. I weighed 265 pounds when I decided to have surgery. Dr. Donald Waldrep from Roseville Sacremento performed my lapriscopic surgery Jan 2nd 2003 and I went home 2 days later on the 4th ( My birthday) the best gift I ever gave myself. I have been extremly blessed with my surgery and results. I havent had any complications and have done wonderful and thank my Father in Heaven daily for this gift in my life. I have gone through some incrediable changesin the last 18 months. I have gone from a size 4x to a size 12 sometime I am able to fit into a size 10. I have excess skin as well and am presently looking into plastic surgery for a tummy tuck and a breast lift and reduction. I am a very out going person who loves to chat and share life experiences. I have gone thru some hard times in my life from being excummicated from the church to being re-baptised and awaiting to receive my temple blessings again this coming May. I am sure your wondering why am I sharing this ???? Because I have gone thru Hell and back to gain what I threw away because of life pleasures that lure us into temptaion and how easily we can fall into satan traps. I am currently writing a book about my excummincation and all that one goes thru to be re-baptised again into the only true church. I am here to help others who are struggling with their weight and as well as in their life. I love the gospel and the lord. I recently returned from Nauvoo and was able to watch the Joseph Smith Pagent and visit all the historical sites in Nauvoo. What a awesome experience to go there and to see all that the earlier saints endured while living in Nauvoo. I also was able to do baptism for the dead in the beautiful Nauvoo Temple what a choice experience. I loved it. Well I dont want to scare anyone away but invite everyone to get to know me ..... Thanks Kathy

Welcome Kathy, Thanks for sharing with us a bit of your life. This forum is a quiet one. I would love to see it pick up and get busier. I kind of get tired of posting on the Over 50 forum -- cause I am not 50 nor anywhere near. You can find out quite abit about me in my profile - the first part of it anyway. Nauvoo is WONDERFUL. We always say "Next Year" (we are about 5-6 hrs away). Well guess what. Next year I WILL be down 100 lbs and WILL be feeling better and WILL have the energy to chase 2 (maybe 3) children and WILL enjoy myself -- and ditto for my DH who also just had WLS. Hmm...your from Pocotello..how big is that town? A long life time member of our branch and her dh have/are moving back there. All of their children are grown. I dont' know her maiden name. Margaret moved back last winter and is waiting for Gerry to sell the house. She is here now for the summer though I think. SHe is living in her parents house. Their name is: Margaret and Gerry Bench. From Platteville WI. They have 12 kids. She is just the sweetest lady!! Anyway, thanks for the intro and looking fwd to getting to know you better. Love, Gala

Thanks for sharing - it sounds like your visit to Nauvoo was wonderful! I went there 200 years ago when I was 12. (ok it was only 23 years ago but it feels like 200) but so much has changed since then!! I am an 8th generation member of the church. I have 3 wonderful but very challenging kids - one with autism, one with bipolar disorder, and one with extreme ADHD - A challenge a minute, but a reward an hour. I had open RNY on 3/2 of this year and have lost 102 lbs so far. I feel great. I just got a new used car that is the nicest car I have ever driven (leather interior, cd changer, etc.) and I feel like a million bucks in my thinner body, nice car, new used clothes from other wls buddies, etc... I have never had this much confidence!! (I have gone from a size 34 to a size 18-20.) Well, I need to run - my youngest (the autistic one) is yelling and my oldest (the bipolar one) is going nuts about it... she cant deal with noise in the morning. Take care, Sherrie

Hi Kathy - My name is Melody and I live in Shoshone, Idaho. Thank you for sharing a little about your life and congratulations on doing what you needed to do to become re-acquainted with the church. When I was 17 years old my family moved from Southern California to Rupert, Idaho. I hated it! LDS were a minority in the town I lived in, in California so we were expected to set a good example. When I moved to Idaho, the LDS were a dime a dozen and the kids my age bragged in church about the drinking and partying they did the night before. I felt like I wasn't in the same church anymore. None of the other youth in the new ward even acknowledged I was present, let alone spoke to me (being fat certainly didn't help my popularity). I went to Ricks College - loved it but went back to Rupert and back to the same uncaring, unfeeling ward. This led me to be inactive. As a result I married a non-member. My husband threatened to divorice me if I went to church. I had really low self esteem because of my weight and I believed him. When our third child was 7 years old I decided that I needed to take these children to church. My husband and I moved from Rupert to Shoshone. The ward in Shoshone was awsome. Much like the ward I left in California. I told my husband that we were going to church and he didn't care. I'm sad about all the years I wasted by not attending church. My husband even let all three of our children get baptized. My husband is real supportive of the children going to church (although he has NO interest in going with us). When my son turned 12 and time to receive the priesthood, my husband refused to allow it. In the church my husband attends the mature men are deacons. My husband saw how some of the 12 year old boys acted (like 12 year old kids) and he thought that was being disrespectful to the office of the deacon in a church. We have since had 2 more children. My husband has been very supportive of our going to church. He even gave permission for me to receive my temple endowments. My son stopped going to church when he wasn't able to participate fully in all the activities of the young men (passing the sacrament, doing baptisms for the dead, etc). My son is now turning 21 and isn't interested in the church (breaks my heart). My other 4 children are all girls and they are very active in church. My children have paid an awful price for my marrying out of the church. We have NO priesthood in our home. I miss it terribly. Reads like I've written a book. I'm looking forward to visiting with you and getting to know you. Melody