"Tina Grippy"
Continuing with the biographical sketches of
the women serving the Remnant Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on its
Women’s Council is Tina Grippy. Tina lives
in Independence and attends Center
Congregation, which meets in the same
building where the church has its
headquarters offices. Three years ago Tina
was asked by the First Presidency if she
would serve on the Women’s Council. She
quickly took on the role as secretary of the
Council and is a faithful recorder of their
activities. Tina recently commented, “I
think it is a great testimony of how the
Lord leads us in our council meetings by the
things we are able to accomplish – such as
the women’s retreats and the one-day seminar
in late winter.”
Tina has been a member of the faith for
thirty-two years, having been baptized as a
child. She grew up in Pineville, Louisiana
and attended the Alexandria/Pineville
Mission of the RLDS church. Tina is the
daughter of Jim and Barbara Gates and has
three siblings; sisters Pam and Julie and a
younger brother, Eddie.
After high school she attended and
graduated from Northeast Louisiana State
University with a degree in Office
Management. After graduation she moved to
Dallas, Texas with one of her good friends
from college who was going to be employed by
J C Penney Company. It turned out that
Penney’s felt Tina was also a good fit for
them and they hired her to work in their
Banking and International Service
Departments.
Tina and her future husband met at a
Valentine’s Day dance at a Catholic Church
in Dallas. David was not a member of that
church but had gone with his best friend
just for something to do, just as Tina had.
They began to date and were married later
that same year on December 8, 1990, staying
in the Dallas area until moving to
Independence in 1998. Once they were in
Independence there was opportunity for them
to attend church and become a part of the
activities taking place in the Remnant
Church. David was baptized in 2001 and
they’ve been jointly busy in their service
since then.
After their move Tina worked for UMB Bank
and then the Raytown School District in
their food service department. For most of
the last three years she chose to give
her time to their children as an at-home
mother. She and David have three boys, Alex
14, and Zachary 3 and Cody, 18 months.
Recently, Tina began working part time as an
infant hearing screener at St. Luke’s East
Hospital in Lee’s Summit. David’s
background is in commercial building
management. He offers a lot of
encouragement to Tina as she’s gone back to
the work world, even on a limited basis.
At Center Congregation Tina and David were
the youth leaders for a few years. Tina was
one of the Handmaiden’s leaders for a couple
of years and now serves as her
congregation’s representative for
Handmaidens. This is an organization for
girls of the church who are between 1st
and 6th grade. It takes a
dedicated group of women to plan the program
for the year and to make sure its goals are
realized. Tina is also very supportive of
David as he fulfills his role and duties as
a deacon in the church.
Tina bears many strong testimonies of the
Lord’s involvement and leadership in their
lives. She chose the following testimony to
share at this time.
“God Answers Prayers!”
I married outside of the church and didn’t
think I’d ever be able to “gather to Zion”.
Julie, my younger sister, moved to
Independence when our son, Alex, was six
months old (1995). At that point, I started
praying that the Lord would make a way for
us to be able to move and that he would
touch David’s heart.
David grew up in Dallas, Texas, so I didn’t
think he would ever agree to move. Don’t
ever let anyone tell you that the Lord
doesn’t answer prayers! Three years and
many prayers later, in January of 1998, we
agreed to put our house up for sale and in
March we had a contract. We moved our
furniture and David into an apartment in
Blue Springs. Two weeks later, I received a
job offer from UMB Bank and Alex and I
joined David.
My prayers then turned to David, that he
would want to join the church. In April,
2001, he was baptized – after another three
years of prayer. In December, 2002 David
was ordained to the office of Deacon.
During this same time, David and I wanted
another child but weren’t able to have
more. Again, I started praying daily that
God would bless our family with another
child. Five years later (and lots of
prayers) we were blessed with a baby,
Zachary. Then a surprise blessing a year
later, Cody.
So, even if your prayers aren’t answered as
quickly as you would like them to be, don’t
give up! God’s timing and plans are
perfect. God is Good!