Mother of God Monastery
110  28th Ave. SE ~  Watertown,  SD  57201
Phone: 605-882-6600  Fax: 605-882-6658
monastery@dailypost.com

COMMUNITY

SISTER CHERYLYN DINSMORE

I am grateful for my parents, Frank and Matilda Dinsmore for choosing to join the Catholic Church as young adults and passing their faith on to me, my sister and two brothers.

Throughout my childhood years, the only contact I had with religious sisters was at St. Mary's Hospital in Pierre, SD and the sisters who came to teach summer school catechism.  I remember when I was in the 8th grade the sister teaching the class asked how many wanted to be a priest or a sister when they grew up.  One boy and one girl raised their hands.  I remember having a "strange feeling" at the time and asked myself, "How do they know?"  I wondered about it from time to time.  At the time I graduated from Midland High School, I decided to attend Mount Marty College in Yankton, SD.  While I was there, I attended daily Mass and was drawn to the morning prayers sung and recited by the sisters before Mass.  Gradually the thought of entering the convent seemed to become stronger and more frequent. 

After two years of college, I got a summer job at St. Mary's Hospital in Pierre.  I worked in the diet kitchen and mixed up the formulas for the new born babies.  One day, Sister Rosemarie stopped at the milk lab and asked me if I had decided to enter the convent.  I think the spirit poked me and I blurted out "yes."

I got to know a number of sisters.  It seems that things just kept happening that finally led me to enter the convent at Sacred Heart in Yankton.  I liked the sisters mostly for their Benedictine family spirit and their joyful spirit and love of the liturgies.  I stayed because I was accepted and felt that was what God wanted for me.

As I look back over the years there were many ups and downs but each experience caused me to grow in some way or you might say was a blessing in disguise.

At the present time, I serve as school librarian and computer lab coordinator for St. Joseph Elementary School and serve as music coordinator for SS Peter and Paul Church.

My goal in life is to love God and others through the Benedictine way of life.