Nikki Pendley

 

Nikki was born in Seattle, Washington. She was the 2nd of 4 kids. When she was born, she had a hole in her heart (an ASD) that didn't close on its own, So at age 4 she had open heart surgery. This really scared and bothered Nikki's mother. Her mother was contemplating the situation one day, having a little prayer in her heart about how upset she was that her daughter had a big, ugly scar on her chest, when she heard the Spirit say to her mind, « My son has scars too. » That changed her whole perspective. Over time the scar faded significantly and the surgery has been an incredible blessing in Nikki's life. It has allowed her to live a totally normal and healthy life with just a few minor side effects today.

Because of Nikki's heart problems, when she was younger, her mother was very protective of her. She would never let her do sports or play rough, so Nikki spent a lot of time on the swing set reading. This forged a lifelong love of reading. It also gave her a great academic start. In high school she went on to be a 4.0 student and be part of the honor society. She went on to receive a full ride scholarship to USU.

Nikki's family moved from Seattle to Atlanta, Georgia when she was in 3rd grade. They lived in Atlanta for 5 years and came back to Utah. First, living in St. George and then Lehi. She attended 3 different Jr. High schools. After settling in Lehi, Nikki realized how much she missed living in the mission field. She loved how in the mission field all the LDS kids would hang out together and sincerely try to support and love one another. It took a long time in Lehi to make friends and break into the cliques.

Because of this experience Nikki decided no matter what, she would never belong to a clique. So when she was in high school she was friendly and friends with everybody. She wouldn't even let herself eat lunch with the same people every day. She made sure she was always sitting at a different table socializing with everyone. She kept herself busy by being president of the drama club and was on the debate team, she also worked in the catering company at Thanksgiving Point . Finally during her senior year, she and her mother reached an agreement, and she started running on her own– finally getting the exercise she had long desired.

After high school, she took that full ride scholarship to USU and headed up to Logan. She worked as an RA in the dorms, a job she loved. It gave her some extra spending money to have fun with and she made lots of friends. However, during her Senior year, she decided she really wanted to get an apartment and move out of the dorm life. This wasn't easy since there was only 2 weeks before the term started and there were no open housing contracts to be found.

During that summer, she worked 4 jobs. She was a lifeguard, a swim instructor, was on the USU activities staff and worked for summer housing- hosting groups like EFY and sports camps. One day after work she came home and flopped down on her bed. The thought came to her to call up an old friend she hadn't spoken with in quite a while. At first she dismissed the thought, but as it usually goes, it wouldn't leave her alone. So she finally called her up only to find out her friend was trying to find someone to buy out her housing contract. Nikki had found an apartment.

After securing her apartment, she went home to Lehi for a little visit. While driving on the way back to Logan she started thinking about how she had dated a lot of guys and was really just tired of the dating-for-fun scene. During that ride she had an overwhelming feeling that if she met someone, it was time to take the plunge.

The Monday after school started, Nikki hurried home from her job as a lifeguard to the first ward activity of the school year. Being that she had been in the pool teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding all afternoon, she really wanted to run home and freshen up, but she ran out of time. She decided to go anyways, but only intended to just drop in and make an appearance to meet some of the people in her new ward. On her way out the door a man named Chad Pendley walked in and stopped her and asked her about her lifeguard job, because he had also spent time lifeguarding. They ended up talking for an hour, it was like no one else was in the room, just the two of them. She found out he actually lived in the apartment just above hers. He asked her out a week later and within 2 weeks, they were engaged and married three months later. (That might be a ward record).

Nikki had struggled with PCOS, cysts on her ovaries, so she was unsure if she would be able to have children, but apparently the Lord just overlooked this infertility issue, because she got pregnant on her honeymoon. After that, there followed 5 children rather quickly, all except the 2nd one were natural pregnancies (they did need some fertility treatment to get pregnant with that child). Because the babies came so quick, after graduating from college, Nikki became a full-time stay-at-home-mom right away. She taught piano in her home for a few years, but after the 3rd child came, she couldn't keep up with the kids and teach, so she retired as a piano teacher. She hopes someday to be able to pursue a career, but for now she feels extremely committed to being there for her children.

Nikki and Chad first moved to Boise, ID and then went on to live in Pennsylvania. They loved living in the East and the mission field, but started feeling a tug to come back West to live around family. They decided anywhere west would be fine- except Utah. Chad applied to several jobs over the course of 14 months, but nothing was working out. Finally, he applied for one job in Utah and he got an interview and an offer pretty quickly. They felt like it was the right thing for their family to do, so he took the job and they ended up here in our neighborhood. Although, it wasn't what they thought they wanted, they have actually enjoyed many things about being here. Mostly Nikki loves that her children were able to spend time with and have a deep relationship with Chad's mom before she passed away.

What a treat to have a ward member like Nikki. She is so approachable and that makes her such a wonderful addition to our ward. We are grateful for the many talents she brings and kindness she shares with others so freely.