Hi, I'm Heber

My first name is pronounced 'Hee - Burr'. It's kind of a Mormon name.

About Me

I am a Professor of Finance. I have been married for 20 years and have 5 beautiful children. My hobbies include backpacking and watching movies.

Why I am a Mormon

Reason 1: The Book of Mormon

I was raised in the church. My parents were devout members of the church and taught me the gospel from an early age. Then when I was a young teenager my father told me that I should find out for myself whether the Book of Mormon was true. He told me to read it cover to cover and pray to ask the Lord to tell me whether the book was true. I took that advice. As I read and prayed a love for the book grew in my heart. I found that reading the Book of Mormon made my day better. I was happier and became more like the person I wanted to be.

I still read the Book of Mormon regularly, almost daily in fact. I never get tired of it. When I have troubles in my life and I pray for help I often find that the solution is in the Book of Mormon. Little things will jump out at me that apply to my life. And it continues to be the thing that helps me be who I want to be. It calms me when I'm worried or angry and lifts me up when I'm down. I think the two things that have been most important in my life in terms of spiritual growth and happiness are prayer and reading the Book of Mormon.

Reason 2: Church Meetings

There are no paid ministers or pastors in the church. We each take part of the responsibility for making the organization run. You might say that the church is run by amateurs. So when you attend a meeting the sermons are not polished and professional. We all take turns giving sermons (we call them "talks"). Some people are natural speakers and some aren't. Because the speakers are our friends we don't care about eloquence. When it's our turn each of us tries our best to express the feelings of our hearts and what we have learned recently about how the Lord's gospel works in our lives.

But I think the most important part of the church meeting is at the beginning when the teenage boys bless bread and water and we each eat and drink in remembrance of Jesus Christ. We call this the sacrament. It's a simple ceremony but I have found it really makes a difference in my life. If I miss it one week I notice it in the way I feel all week. The sacrament seems to renew me each week in some way.

Reason 3: Mormons

I like associating with fellow members of the church. In general mormons are pretty cool people. They aren't all the same but we all share a bond. So moving to a new location isn't as intimidating for me as it is for someone who isn't a member of the church I think. No matter where I go in the world I know I can find new friends at the local mormon church. Because we all work together to make the organization run we get to know each other pretty well. There are plenty of opportunities for disagreements and hurt feelings of course. But mormons learn to take this in stride and "get along". It's really a great group of people to be a part of.

Personal Stories

How has the Holy Ghost helped you?

The most important thing the Holy Ghost has ever done for me is to help me find my wife.

My wife and I were dating in college and we had begun talking about marriage but I wasn't quite sure enough to "pull the trigger" so to speak. So I began to pray about it.

Then one day I was visiting with the Bishop of my congregation. We were chatting about life and he asked me what was going on in mine. I told him who I was dating. He interrupted and said "I've been wondering who would notice her! She is such a great girl." He began going on at length about her great personality traits, all of which I knew of course. But as he was speaking it seemed as though another voice began speaking in my ear saying "that is really true" about each thing he mentioned. As this continued I began to get really excited. After I excused myself I ran to her apartment and got on my knee and asked her to marry me. I've never regretted that decision because I "knew" that she was the one for me. And it was because of the Holy Ghost whispering in my ear that I knew it.

What has helped develop greater harmony in your home?

We have found that reading the scriptures together and saying family prayer has a big impact on the harmony in our home. Our children range in age from 4 years to 16 years so you might think that they wouldn't all enjoy listening to the scriptures being read. But actually even the younger children seem to respond to the spirit of the scriptures. Fights between siblings seem to melt away when we start reading together. Afterward we pray together before everyone heads to bed.

How I live my faith

My family and I are active in our local congregation. I've had lots of assignments in the church over the years. So I've seen the church from lots of different perspectives. I was a missionary in Europe as a young man. My wife and I served as Temple Ordinance Workers together (those are the people that assist in the temples). I've also had various teaching and administrative assignments. So I feel like I know the church pretty well and how it works. I've enjoyed all the assignments I've had in the church.

How can I find someone to talk with, in person, about the Mormon religion?

Heber answered...

One easy thing to do would be to ask a mormon that you know! You'll find that mormons are happy to share their beliefs although they are reluctant to shove them down people's throats. If you don't know any mormons you can simply walk into a mormon church on almost any given Sunday (check the mormon.org website for local meeting times). Just tell someone you are a visitor who came to check things out. You can stay for a meeting and see for yourself how it works. Pretty much anyone you talk to will be happy to answer any question you might have. No question is off-limits really. We don't get offended by questions so feel free to ask what is on your mind.

A guy did exactly this in our congregation a few weeks ago. I invited him to sit with me and I leaned over from time to time to explain what was going on. Afterward we had a good conversation about the church and he asked many questions that I did my best to answer.

The other thing you will find is that in any congregation there will be some missionaries (usually two young men about 20 years old) who specialize in answering questions. They can also come to your house and tell you more if you like.
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Stephanie answered...

One of the best ways to learn about basic tenants of our religion is by checking resources like this website, chatting with the missionaries, and have them send you some resources (like a Book of Mormon, videos, etc.) and then try finding the closest LDS chapel in your area by looking in the phone book or online. They can have missionaries come to your home and teach you if you wish. Another good way is to go to church with a friend or an acquaintance of yours who is LDS, and they can also connect you with the missionaries. If you don't have any of those resources nearby, chat with the missionaries and they will find a way to have someone connect with you. There's probably more Mormons around than you think.

Does The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endorse political parties?

Josh answered...

No. The church advocates principles and doctrine but does not endorse a certain political party or candidate. If you look in the United States Congress, you'll see members of the Mormon church sitting on both sides of the aisle from the current Senate Majority Leader to a 2008 presidential candidate.

However, the church is involved in the public arena when political initiatives intersect with principles of Christ's gospel. When this happens, the church will release a statement advocating certain principles and encouraging members to uphold these principles. This type of action often leads to confusion. Church support for an initiative for religious reasons should not be taken to imply support for a particular political party. These are two distinctly separate activities.