Hi, I'm Donovan

I love my family, the church, and history.

About Me

I am a married father of soon to be five children(four boys with a baby due in November). I am still finishing school, but I hope to get my PhD in history by the end of the year. I am currently looking for a job in a market that is not too job friendly. I love spending time with my family, watching movies, and playing basketball.

Why I am a Mormon

As a historian one of the things that I study is West African history, specifically African Spiritual systems. One of the things that impresses me most about these indigenous spiritual systems is that they are integrated into all aspects of the person's life. I strive to live my faith the same way. "Religion" is not only something that I do, it is something that I am. Through personal prayer, I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I have prayed personally to my Father in Heaven and asked him about the truthfulness of the gospel and scriptures, (the Bible and the Book of Mormon). I have asked Him if Joseph Smith was a prophet. He has confirmed to me through the sweet whisperings of the spirit that it is all true Joseph was a prophet, the scriptures are true, and President Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today. This confirmation has instilled in my soul a desire to be the best that I can be and to share this message with all others that are willing to hearken.

Personal Stories

How has attending Church services helped you?

For me, by the time that I get to Sunday Morning, I often feel like the woman Christ met at the well mentioned in the New Testament, only I am thirsting after the fountain of living water. As we go through the week, it can be a draining experience physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I know with the pressures on my time of completing school, raising my family, and looking for a job, I need that time at Church to regroup, recommit myself to what is most important in life, and to continue on.

How does making right choices help us make more right choices?

I feel that making choices is like anything else that you learn to do. The more that you do it the easier it becomes in the future. If one wants to make right choices in big decisions for the rest of your life, you need to start today by making right choices on little decisions.

What blessings have come through your faith in Jesus Christ?

I cannot imagine my life without a personal knowledge that Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. It is through him that I am everything that I am, and have received everything that I have. I would say that one of the greatest blessings for me at this time in my life is the blessing of hope. Hope, that everything will work out alright. Hope that I can become what my Father in Heaven wants me to become. Hope that I can be the type of spouse that my wife deserves. Hope that I can be the type of father that my children need me to be to not only survive, but thrive in this world. In my life, faith in Jesus Christ and hope are inseperably connected.

Please share your feelings/testimony of Joseph Smith.

I know that Joseph Smith Jr. was a prophet of God. As a historian, I am well aware of many different stories, some true some not, about Joseph Smith. I know that he was not perfect and that he made many mistakes, however, that does not make him any less of a prophet in my eyes. Indeed, it makes me all the more thankful for him and the work he did, and makes me better appreciate the divinity of Heavenly Father's plan for us. God called Joseph to be a prophet in spite of Joseph's imperfections. If God only chose perfect people to do his work, then our Savior would have had to do it all himself, but God uses ordinary people to perform his work. However, the work that they do is anything but ordinary. The Church that God restored through Joseph is God's Church. I know that Joseph translated the Book of Mormon and that it is true.

What have you done successfully to shield your family from unwanted influences?

I cannot speak about what to do with teenagers in the home yet (However, in eleven years we will have four teenagers in the house, that will be quite the experience!), but some of the things that we have done for our family of younger children have helped us to protect our family. We have decided for ourselves that we are not going to get cable t.v., or any sort of electronic gaming system in our home for the foreseeable future. We have plenty of movies for our children to watch if they want to, and our oldest boy has plenty of experience playing video games either at his friends' houses, or in a controlled environment on the computer. I feel like being semi-unplugged has helped us to shut out many unwanted influences in our house. We don't have to deal with the innuendos and low morals of many t.v. shows, nor do we have to worry about our kids picking up foul language from the television (there are plenty of other places that they can pick it up from, why add one more?). At the same time, our most successful shields have not been the things that we block out, but the things that we do to build up. We read our scriptures and pray every day both individually and as a family. On Monday night of every week we have a Family Home Evening where we spend time talking about our week, planning the calender, teaching each other, singing, and of course doing fun activities and eating desserts as a family. Filling our time with these activities while taking out some things that most of us do too much of anyway has really made our family stronger.

How I live my faith

I strive to do the things that God has asked us to do everyday such as read the scriptures, pray with all your heart, serve others, maintain a personal journal etc. I also serve in various capacities including being a scoutmaster and a home teacher which is a person that visits a few assigned families each month to share a spiritual message, find out how they are doing and if they need any help with anything, and generally just friendship them.

Who is the Mormon prophet today?

Donovan answered...

The president of our Church and the Lord's prophet today is Thomas S. Monson.
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Amber answered...

President Thomas S. Monson is our current prophet. He is called of God to receive revelation for us today. I am grateful for living prophets and apostles to lead and guide us in this troubled world. I know that they are called of God, and if we follow their counsel we will be happy.

What is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' attitude regarding homosexuality and same sex marriage?

Jenny answered...

My father is gay and I have many friends who are gay. Though we have some differing opinions and beliefs, we have a great relationship - each respecting the other's right to choose their own way. Its no secret that the Church does not support gay marriage. We believe that God's plan for the family is, always has been and always will be a man and a woman and their children. However, the perception that the church is anti-gay is inaccurate. We support the rights of all men and woman to exercise their free agency and be entitled to the same legal rights as anyone, as long as they don't erode the principles on which our country was founded - freedom of religion. The scriptures affirm that homosexual behaviors are a sin, but I believe Christ understands the extreme difficulty that a gay person would experience refusing to act upon their same-sex attraction. I also believe that through Him, all things are possible and that no person is unworthy or undeserving of His love and the benefits of His atonement.