Hi, I'm Joseph

I grew up on a small farm, I am a massage therapist, a writer, a future psychologist and I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I grew up on a small family farm. I love reading and learning new things.

As a child I because of how much I was bullied by other children I struggled with depression. At one point in time I felt so bad about myself that I seriously debated about if I should put myself out of everyone else's misery and commit suicide. Now I am happy with who I am, and I know that is thanks to the blessings of my Savior.

If I did not have the faith and trust I have in my Savior Jesus Christ I would probably want to see many things changed about my life, but I am far too grateful for everything I have been given. As I look back at all of the struggles that I went through, and all of the sorrow that I have felt, and when I look at, the good that has come into my life and the lives of those around me, all thanks to my faith in Christ, I am filled with gratitude for all that I have been given, even the trials.

Why I am a Mormon

I am a Mormon because I prayed and asked God if this was His Church.

Through all of my struggles as a youth, I always had the hand of God reaching out into my life lifting me up when I needed it most and even occasionally letting me fall, so that I could learn a powerful lesson.

As hard as all of my various struggles were, I must thank my Lord and God for His wisdom in giving them to me. Through them I have not only been able to, grow closer to my Father in Heaven, and develop a deeper and more personal relationship with my Savior, but I have also been able to help others who have had similar struggles as I have.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because, I know that if I did not have the blessings that I receive from faithfully serving my Lord, then I would not have the strength to face this world. I am happy, at peace, and have a positive outlook on the future ahead of me. What makes it even better is that all of these blessings come so long as I simply choose to have faith in Jesus Christ. I cannot think of any reason for why I would consider any other path in life.

Personal Stories

In what ways have your prayers been answered?

There have been times when I have been struggling with some huge problem and ended up going through some of my old journal entries and ended up finding the answer to my prayer to help me overcome that particular struggle.

Other times, I have been struggling and all I had was a hope that I will be able to, somehow, overcome the struggle I was facing, then in answer to my prayers, God placed someone else in my path who did not have that hope. So I would try to share with them that same hope that I was blessed with, and before I knew it, we had both found a way out from underneath of the struggle that we had been dealing with. There have been many times that this has happened, and each time when it is needed most, I find wisdom gently and powerfully flowing into my mind allowing me to help my friend.

I remember once, my family was trying to find my sister who was lost, and after a prayer I had offered a thought had crossed my mind of heading towards a star, in the sky. After a brief battle with myself over how "cheesy" the idea seemed, I went ahead and followed the prompting."

Most of the time when I pray for help I am given hope, peace, and comfort. The trial might not leave, but my ability to endure will be increased.

Why do Mormons do family history or genealogy work?

We have been given so very much, and blessed in so many ways. We have Christ's Gospel in our lives. What more can we ask for?

As one ponder about the blessings that you have in my life, you almost cannot help but eventually ponder those who have gone before you and helped you to come into being. And when you do you will realize that many of those people have not had the same opportunity to accept Christ's Gospel that you have. When you gain that realization you will be eternally grateful to know that through His infinite mercy, Christ has given us a way to extend the same blessings that we have in our life, to all of those who have come before. And it all starts with genealogy.

What blessings have come through your faith in Jesus Christ?

Everything that is good in my life has come thanks to my faith in Jesus Christ. As I grew and matured, and started to exercise my faith more and more, I started seeing more and more blessings come into my life.
As result of the harassment I was subject to in school among other things I ended up slipping into a severe state of depression. As part of that depression I gained a hatred for myself. I truly thought I was a complete waste of everything. As I continued to live the way that God would have me live I found my way out of that depression and have gained a new appreciation for the kind of person that I can be with God's help. I have also gained some extremely valuable experience that I can, and have used to help out those around me overcome similar struggles to what I have been through and in the process I have been able to help them come a little closer to the Savior.

Please explain the part prayer plays in your life?

Whenever I am feeling down I can turn to my Father in Heaven for comfort. Whenever I am facing a problem that I do not know how to deal with, I can turn to my Father in Heaven for help.

The knowledge that God is there, that He does care about us, and that he wants to help us, has helped me through every trial I have had in my life.

Why do Mormons go on missions?

For me it was a two fold reason. A mission was just something that I had always wanted to do was the first part of why I went. The second part is because of the joy that has been brought into my life thanks to my membership in the Church. I could not even begin to tell you how much joy I have found through following Jesus Christ. I went on a mission to try to share that joy with others.

Could you talk about your baptism?

I was baptized almost 2 months after I turned 8 years old. I wanted to wait to be baptized so that my dad could be there to perform the baptism. He was still returning home from finishing service with the military. There were several well-intentioned people who felt the need to try to convince me that I did not need to wait for my father to get home to be baptized. However I insisted and would not bend.

The reason for my determination was that I realized, even at that tender young age that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was in fact God's Church. I did not fully understand the ramifications of my decision, but I think that can be said of most anyone at any age with most any big decision they make.

I remember very clearly how good I felt as I was getting ready to be baptized. I actually started giggling right afterwords because of how good I felt. However I was so concerned that I might have been disrespecting the sacred nature of the ordinance that had been performed and the one that was about to be performed that I asked my dad about it, and he explained to me that I was feeling the Holy Ghost, which I then went on to be given.

Which of the Savior’s teachings have influenced you?

Growing up I frequently dealt with depression. Often times I only had a hope that I could find a way out of the struggles that were so prevalent in my life. As I made my way through my various struggles I would find others who were struggling in a similar manner as I was, who did not have the same hope that I had.

Even though all I had was hope, I still would reach out to them. I had to try something. So I did and time after time as I would reach out to them I would find myself learning how to help my new found friend and myself at the same time.

Now as I look back on my struggles, I find myself grateful for what I have learned and been through. When I look back on all the tears shed, I see only tools to help more people that I may find who are struggling in ways I have been helped past.

And now when I find myself at the beginning of another struggle, I see only more tools to learn to help more people. Even amid the tears I may shed I see only tools to help new friends out.

How I live my faith

Anything and everything I possibly can do in the Church I will. The more I can get involved the happier I am. My faith and determination to follow the teachings of the Savior are not blind nor are they anything that comes naturally. It is a very conscious effort on my part to develop my faith and serve in the church as well as follow the Savior's teachings.

I would never claim to be anywhere near perfect, but I will claim that I simply strive to follow the Savior, Jesus Christ, as best I possibly can.

I have two different callings in my local congregation. The one I have had for the longest is helping organize some of the efforts to visit the members of the ward, and make sure that they are all still doing okay.

I have also just barely been called to help organize my local congregation's service efforts.

In both of them I regularly find that I am not doing my best, sometimes it is a new problem, but most of the time it simply amounts to I have let other things take a higher place in my life than they should.

I enjoy the struggle of striving to follow my Savior with all of my heart, might, mind and strength. As I put in my meager efforts I constantly find that I have been blessed, not only for being willing to put in the effort in the first place, but I constantly also find that I am blessed for doing the task I set out to do in the first place. I then must gaze back and look at not my work but God's work that He did through me.

It is a humbling realization to have, and one that I am extremely grateful for.

Do Mormons regard the Bible as Holy Scripture and the word of God?

Joseph answered...

One cannot accept the Book of Mormon as scripture and not also accept the Bible as scripture. The Book of Mormon testifies of the Bible. The Church wants the members to us both so much that our current editions all have an extensive foot note system that includes cross references to passages that discuss similar things.
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Jesus answered...

I personally enjoy The Bible as one of my favorite books. I know it is the word of The Lord. As I read the bible, I also tried to study where it came from. Before joining the church, I did believe that the bible was the word of God. But why? I believed in it before reading it... Well, the reason why I know, is because I ask God and He answered me. There is no other way. I wasn't there when it was translated, so how can I know? Some people just believe that it is true because everybody else says so. Heavenly Father can answer our prayers, why don't we ask Him?

Can husband and wife be together forever? Do you believe that families will live together in heaven?

Matt answered...

The Lord would not command us to love each other so much during our lives only to tear us apart in the next life. We are one flesh just as the Lord is one with his church. The scriptures say that we are not to be put asunder.
Christ gave his apostles special revelations on this subject:
Matthew, Chapter 16:
Jesus said to his apostles:
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

What else would his apostles bind, and what else could the Savior mean, if not marriages? Christ put no limit on their binding power to bind relationships and covenants. Their power extends into heaven.
And he continued by saying:
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
– because some things are kept sacred until later times when the world is ready to receive them.
Temple sealing and eternal marriage are primarily the subject of modern revelation through prophets in our time.

In the latter days, according to prophecy, Elijah has returned to join families together. Malachi 4:5-6. We believe that prophets in each age bring new revelation from God. Amos 3:7.
This latter day revelation has finally made clear how families are kept together in heaven—something people have wondered about throughout the ages. (Ephesians 5:32, wherein it says that the subject of marriage in Biblical times was “a great mystery”). In our time, the purpose of marriage and family is clear: ordinances are being performed to unite the whole human family throughout all dispensations of time. It is a unique work for the latter days. These modern revelations free human kind from the depressing, and divorce-promoting idea that the family becomes meaningless in the life hereafter. The Lord would not put us in a world so alien to our heavenly home. In heaven, families are the eternal organizational unit in his kingdom.