Hi, I'm Brandon

I'm a doctor, a musician, and a father. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I love to develop my talents and discover new ones! For a long time I've enjoyed the influence of music in my life and played piano and eventually participating in choir. I also grew up with four brothers and all of us to this day are great friends and love to hang out, play soccer or ultimate, or just joke around and have a good time. At college I met my sweetheart who also has a love of music and we are always on the lookout for piano/violin duets to learn together.

Having graduated from medical school I am enjoying a new phase of my education in residency training. While my work is difficult at times it is also very fulfilling to learn to take care of patients. When I'm not busy at the hospital we enjoy spending time together and we especially love being brand new parents to our baby daughter!

Why I am a Mormon

I grew up in an environment where a love of the gospel of Jesus Christ permeated our home. Growing up with parents who love me helped me at a young age to understand that I had a Heavenly Father who knows and loves me. My faith in the gospel grew as a young man when I learned to pray to Heavenly Father for answers and search the scriptures. The principles taught in the Church are uplifting and bring joy to my life. I feel like my beliefs are a part of the way I live my life everyday - they sustain and uplift me. Through persistent prayer I have come to know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves and knows me and blesses me and my family. As I've tried to live the principles of the gospel, I find a sustaining peace and comfort in my life that carries me through challenging times. I know the gospel is true and that the teachings of Jesus Christ are a continual blessing in my life.

Personal Stories

How has the Book of Mormon brought you closer to God?

The Book of Mormon to me is a powerful witness of Jesus Christ and of his role as our Savior and Redeemer. I love to read through its passages about righteous men and women who learned to overcome adversity, who found answers to their prayers and who received guidance from a loving Heavenly Father. Page after page witnesses of the reality of Jesus Christ. Inevitably I find as I read through its passages that I feel the love of my Heavenly Father and the witnessing influence of the Holy Spirit that its teachings are true. I love how the book contains a promise that through study and praying in faith, we can come to know that it is true through the power of the Holy Ghost, and that by the power of the Holy Ghost we may know the truth of all things. How true that statement is! I know that as I have studied and prayed that I have felt closer to my Heavenly Father and my family.

How I live my faith

As a member of the church I feel like even as my wife and I have moved from place to place for my education and training, each time we find ourselves arriving to a new community of friends and fellowship that really carries us and gives us the chance to serve as well. As members we constantly are given opportunities to actively participate in our congregation and serve others. One of my favorite ways of participating is with the choir, especially during the Christmas season. I find music to be a powerful way to convey my faith and to feel more deeply the love of my Heavenly Father. At times I am invited to play piano for church meetings, either as we sing hymns or as part of a special musical number or to play for the children as they sing for the congregation. It is always a joy to play an active role in the worship service and to share my faith through song or music.

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

Brandon answered...

The simple answer to this question is yes! We believe that the family is central to the plan of our Heavenly Father and that through His plan and keeping commandments that he has provided to us that we may live together forever. The temple is a peaceful and sacred place where we can learn about our purpose here on earth and ultimately make covenants with our Heavenly Father that can enable us to be together forever. This is one of the most comforting and uplifting truths that we believe as members of the Church. I love my family and I believe that God's plan for us is to be happy and to be able to live with Him and each other after this life.
Amanda answered...

YES!!! This is one of my favorite parts of the gospel. I believe that my family will live together in heaven. I will know my family as my family members. My husband is my husband for now and for all eternity. My children are my children here on earth and for all eternity. I know that if something happened to one of us that I will see them again. I love this about the church. Before joining, I always had a question about this concept and when taking the discussions from the missionaries this came up. Makes me love the church more and more.

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.