Marissa Carlson - “Navigating Mists of Darkness to Partake of the Glorious Light”

Marissa Carlson was born and raised in Southern California. A true California girl at heart. She is a

convert to the church. She was introduced to the church from her husband Anthony Carlson in the summer of 2009 when they met. She was embraced by the Carlson family and began to take lessons with the missionaries and decided to be baptized a few months later. When she was baptized, she felt the love of and for God and had a desire to have a more personal relationship with God. Over the course of the last 13 years, she has cultivated that relationship and has seen the blessings because of it. Having the gospel in her life has shaped the trajectory of her life for the better. After joining the church, Marissa had a desire to further her education and decided to apply to the church schools. She was accepted at BYU-Idaho and graduated with a Bachelor of Science of Communications with minors in Art History and Photography. During her time there she also served as 1 st counselor of her Relief Society in her singles student ward and as Relief Society President in her married student ward. In 2012, Marissa was sealed for time and all eternity to her best friend and love Anthony Carlson in the Los Angeles temple. In 2013 they moved into the Arcadia ward where they still currently attend. Being in that ward has been a source of joy and happiness and she has been blessed from all her associations in her ward family. In the 9 years she has been in that ward, she has served as Relief Society teacher, Young Women’s Counselor, Primary Chorister, and most recently was released from serving in the Arcadia Stake Relief Society. In 2015 they welcomed their first child Gwendolyn Eve Carlson and in 2017 their second child Rowan Gabriel Carlson. She says that her greatest blessings call her “mom.” Marissa was a stay-at-home mom for 5 years. It was a time of much love, growing, and learning in the ways of motherhood. When her son Rowan started pre-school, she had a desire to return to the work
force. She had previously worked at a dental office the year before having her daughter. By a
miracle and divine timing, she was hired at her children’s pediatric dental office in 2020. It was
there that she fell in love with the dental field and felt inspired to pursue further education in
becoming a dental hygienist. For the past 2 years, she was working at the dental office while completing pre-requisite courses for dental hygiene program one class at a time but recently decided to go to school full-time. She is currently attending Pasadena City College and will be applying to several schools for their dental hygiene program in the Spring of 2023. Though there have been trying times in balancing a rigorous school schedule and being a mother and wife, she has felt the sustaining strength from the Lord and from her family, especially her husband. She has come to understand that “with God, all things are possible.” -Mark 10:27 When she’s not studying, Marissa enjoys cooking (and eating) delicious food, reading, making memories with the family, being a social butterfly, playing board games, attempting to be crafty from time to time, and snuggling up with her kids and a book.