M. Catherine Thomas is retired from the BYU Ancient Scripture Department and has authored a number of articles and books. She was converted to the Church at age nineteen. Soon after her baptism, she went to the Church College of Hawaii (now Brigham Young University–Hawaii), where she married her English literature professor, Gordon K. Thomas, at semester break in the Laie Hawaii Temple. They have six children and sixteen grandchildren. They recently returned from their fourth Spanish-speaking mission together.