Like most young girls, Teresa Jack, dreamed of being a Disney princess and specifically, Ariel. But not all girls grow up to take the Disney princess with them on their full-time LDS mission. When Teresa was a full time missionary, she brought Ariel with her. Not only that, but in our interaction with her, she said that Ariel helped her bring one family into the gospel.
“She got baptized because I knew Ariel. We connected talking about Ariel and she asked if she could come to church with the ‘princess missionary’. Her entire family followed her and were baptized.”
Image used by permission from Teresa Jack
Ultimately, people choose to get baptized because of their faith in Christ, but we can use our common unique interests (like Disney princesses) to open doors and break down the social barriers.
Now that Teresa is back from her mission, she is using her love for Ariel to spread the gospel once again. A little more than twenty-four hours ago, reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian took a picture of Teresa dressed up in a modest Ariel costume at the Hollywood Bowl’s showing of The Little Mermaid. Teresa was sitting just a few rows in front of the Kourtney and Kourtney wanted to show her kids Teresa’s adorable costume. The picture taken was then shared with Kourtney’s 41 million Instagram followers in this post:
This photo has now been liked by over 300,000 of her fans. Teresa reacted to this post on her personal Facebook saying:
“Modest Mermaids ?
I went to sleep last night a happy little mermaid and I woke up famous. You have all seen now that I got the blessing of meeting the lovely Kourtney Kardashian last night and she honored me in allowing me to portray Ariel to her children and posting me on her Instagram.
Thousands of people now know me as Ariel and I have wanted that title forever, but anyone who truly knows me knows that the title I wore the proudest was “Sister Jack” When I served as a full time missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When I was a young girl, Modesty wasn’t very important to me. It was when I served a mission that I decided to honor my body that Heavenly Father granted me by revealing it less. I found my comfort zone and I believe everyone has a different one. That’s ok! I don’t know where everyone else’s comfort zone is, but I know where mine is. And getting to be a mermaid in a bikini top is a far cry from my comfort zone…
The Kardashians have a different comfort zone when it comes to modesty than I do, and Kourtney agreed that my costume was still beautiful enough to share on her Instagram. I’m not here to shame anyone with a different modesty standard, but I do want to inspire and uplift girls who are seeking to be modest. Modest isn’t always the hottest, but I don’t care about being “hot.” I think modest is beautiful and I do hope that I can be seen as being beautiful. Beauty starts within! We live in a society that encourages immodesty, and while that may be fine for some it makes life difficult for others who choose not to dress that way.
I want to argue that class is always in fashion. There were literally hundreds of girls dressed as Ariel at this concert, but mine was of the few which covered the midriff and shoulders. Kourtney liked mine and agreed that it was beautiful. When she honored me on her Instagram she honored a modest choice. I want younger girls to know that you don’t need to let society dictate your fashion choices! You don’t need to be your moms age to appreciate the quiet dignity that comes from serving yourself and the Lord in how you dress.”
Teresa told us that she just wants to use this platform while it’s relevant to discuss standards and uplift others who are striving to protect modesty. She also wants to keep this conversation about modesty going. Reach out to her on her TravelTeresa Instagram.
