Laura Fayone Willes, a Salt Lake City native, holds a degree in American Studies from the University of Minnesota. She has published two previous books, Minnesota Mormons and Community of Faith. Laura has been an early-morning seminary teacher, Gospel Doctrine teacher, and stake Relief Society president, and she served a full-time mission with her husband, Mark, as he presided over the Hawaii Honolulu Mission. She and her husband are the parents of five children and grandparents of twenty.