Lili De Hoyos Anderson is a first generation American. Her mother is French and her father is Mexican. She was born in a little border town in Texas, but her family soon moved to the Midwest, where she grew up in Michigan and Indiana. When she started high school, both her parents began teaching at BYU, so the family moved to Provo and she graduated from Provo High School.
Dr. Anderson attended BYU and graduated in Sociology. Social science runs in the family. Both her parents are retired professors of Sociology and her husband, Chris Anderson, is also a social worker with Church Family Services.
After almost 20 years of being a full-time homemaker, Dr. Anderson completed her own Masters in Social Work degree. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has a full-time private practice in individual, marriage and family counseling. Later, Sister Anderson completed her PhD in Marriage, Family, and Human Development at BYU and for several years taught part-time there for the School of Family Life.
The Andersons have eight children. They are affectionately referred to as the “Alphabet Kids” because their names are Adam, Bethany, Caitlin, Dominic, Eden, Faith, Graydon, and Harper. The Andersons now have thirty-seven grandchildren.
Sister Anderson is an avid reader. She also enjoys sewing, music, quilting, making stained glass windows, and photography — not much of which she currently has time for.
She has published in the ENSIGN and in various books and journals. She wrote her first book at the request of the BYU students taking her class on the Family Proclamation. Her second book, CHOOSING GLORY, is available in paperback and Kindle.
Since moving to Utah, Sister Anderson served two terms as president of AMCAP (Association of Mormon Counselor And Psychotherapists), a worldwide organization. She has also served on committees for the Public Affairs Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lili’s greatest love, after the gospel and her family, is teaching. One of her favorite callings was 5 years of teaching early-morning seminary in Las Vegas. In June 2021, Lili started a weekly podcast, also called “Choosing Glory,” and is delighted to be able to teach, testify, and defend the faith that she loves in a medium that is accessible to people everywhere.
The Anderson family has lived in Oklahoma, Chicago and for 15 years in Las Vegas, where their first four children graduated from high school. The family moved to Utah in 1998 and the younger four finished growing up here, where Chris and Lili still make their home in Draper.