Gary and Debbie Shapiro - December 2015

Gary and Debbie Shapiro
March 2016

 


In 1951, I first felt the powerful, sweet spirit of Mormon temples as I knelt in the Salt Lake Temple with my father (a son of Romanian immigrants) and my mother (a daughter of Utah pioneers) and we became an eternal family. In 1969, after completing a full-time mission to Germany, I was married in the same temple. My wife and I are the parents of seven sons and two daughters and we currently have 41 grandchildren.

My career was primarily as a computer programmer. I retired in 2015. I am presently serving a second full-time mission, this time with my wife as my missionary companion and this time in New York, New York.

During the 1970's, I compiled and co-published an eleven hundred page scripture reference book. In 1989, I authored a feature article about the definition of pornography for the Ensign magazine.

When I was a child, my father converted to Mormonism from Judaism. The reasons he gave for making that change, and the reaction of his and my mother's families, convinced me that he made the right decision. Now, even many years after his death, my own prayers to God and my own study of the gospel continue to strengthen the commitment to Mormonism which I inherited from him.

In 2004, I began publishing on the web (my site is here) and the following year I started blogging (my blog is here).  I blog mainly at LDSBlogs.org.  Most of my blogging friends are younger and better educated than I am and some of them aren't even very friendly.  But I enjoy the lively discussions.  The group calls itself the Bloggernacle.

Here are two pictures of my family:

 


Our children (Nov. 26, 2009).

Above: With my wife and our nine children. Below: The same group, but with spouses and grandchildren. (Both pictures taken on Nov. 26, 2009.)

Our family (Nov. 26, 2009).