About

Anne Maxson joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 2002 and her life has been full of unexpected, (and sometimes difficult to recognize), blessings ever since. She served as a missionary in the Virginia Richmond Mission. She has a doctorate degree in pharmacy and has written medical articles for Livestrong.com. She has presented at BYU-Idaho’s Education Week and has contributed to the Ensign magazine as well as the LDS Living website.  She and her husband, Doug, have two children.

 

I grew up in northern Minnesota.  I was a member of the Lutheran Church until my early twenties.  I give a credit to the teachings, leaders and friendships made in the Lutheran Church as helping me through a difficult childhood.  When I was 23, I was living in Chicago and a little homesick for Minnesota.  I reached out to one of those friends from the Lutheran Church and he explained he was now in Utah working for the 2002 Olympics.  He mentioned in passing that he’d started attending a different church.  I never could’ve imagined how his comment would change my life.  Just that small mention of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was enough to pique my interest.  I learned all that I could as fast as I could and was baptized a short time later.

Shortly after my baptism, I moved to upstate New York and became associated with the amazing missionaries of the New York Rochester Mission.  (Based on the number of influential friends that served in that mission – even before and after my time there – it was certainly part of the plan for me to associate with the missionaries and members of that area.)  Since I was “old” for a sister missionary and currently in a PhD program, I did not plan to serve a mission.  However, a few things happened – like deciding to quit the PhD program – that led me to consider it.  My mom and grandmother were not excited about my desire to serve but the friends and missionaries in Rochester helped me to have the courage to move forward with a mission. And, another friend offered to finance it. I was called to serve as a Spanish-speaking missionary in the Virginia Richmond Mission.

I didn’t really have a “home” to go to after my mission. I spent a short stint in Arizona before begrudgingly fulfilling the Convert Checklist.

☑  Join the Church

☑  Serve a Mission

☑  Move to Utah

Next on the list was, of course,

◻  Get Married

That one took a little longer than expected and it took starting pharmacy school for it to happen.  After I finished pharmacy school, my family and I moved to Idaho.

In early 2017, I started feeling a pull to share some of my stories and experiences as a way to help others so I started this website.  It is definitely out of my comfort zone to put myself out here like this but I feel it is the path I’m currently directed to take.  In the short few months I’ve been doing this, I have been so touched by some of the stories I have shared with me.  I am much more comfortable hearing “About You” so please use that Contact tab to let me know your stories.