Hi, I'm Kyle

I grew up in Utah. I love my family and work with the elderly. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I have a lovely wife and three great children. We love to go out to eat and go boating. I enjoy playing the guitar, snow skiing, water skiing and being with my family. I enjoy reading books.

Why I am a Mormon

I chose to be a Mormon because when I do what is preached in the church, I grow nearer to God and I feel peace and joy. I have also noticed that when I don't do what is taught, I don't feel good and I feel farther away from God. Even though I was raised in this church, there came a time for me, as there does for everyone, where I had to find out for myself if what my parents believed was true for me. Over time, through prayer and pondering, I noticed I felt the spirit of the Lord testifying that this church was true. I would feel the spirit of the Lord when I would read the Book of Mormon. I would feel the spirit when I would attend my church meetings. I would feel the spirit when I would pray. I am a Mormon because the Spirit of the Lord has testified to me that I should be.

Personal Stories

Why do Mormons go on missions?

Mormons go on missions for a number of reasons:
1) When I find something wonderful that could help others, I like to share it. That is one reason I served a mission. I found the gospel and wanted to share it, so I moved to Spain for two years to share with them.
2) We have been asked to. Our church leaders have asked worthy young men to serve a mission. We believe our leaders are called of God, so what they ask is what God asks of us, so we do it.

How I live my faith

I volunteer as a leader in the youth group at my church. I primarily serve with the 16 - 19 year old boys as a scout adviser. Each week we have an activity. Some weeks it is a simple activity like having a career night where we meet with someone who has an interesting career. Other times we'll go on over-night camps - maybe go snow skiing and stay at a cabin.

I also volunteer as a Home Teacher where I visit a few families every month to share a spiritual message and also attend to any temporal needs.

What are Mormon church services like? Are visitors allowed at church meetings? Can I attend church?

Kyle answered...

Sunday services for Mormons consist of three meetings: 1) Sacrament Services. Everyone attends this meeting. We sing, we pray, listen to speakers and most importantly partake of the Holy Sacrament. 2) Sunday School. During this meeting the adults go to a separate meeting from the children. The children also break up into many smaller classes for Primary. 3) Priesthood, Relief Society, Young Men & Young Women. During this last meeting the men go to Priesthood meeting to learn how to be better husbands and fathers. The women go to Relief Society to learn how to be better mothers & wives. The youth (ages 12 - 19) go to Young Men and Young Women. The children stay in Primary.

Visitors are always allowed and very welcome. Every chapel has a permanent sign on the building that says, "Visitors Welcome." When you do visit, walk up to the first person you see and introduce yourself. In Mormon churches many times there are 2 or 3 congregations meeting at the same time, so it can be difficult to recognize if you are a visitor or a member of a different congregation. So when you introduce yourself, let the person you are talking to know that you are not a Mormon and that you would like to attend services.

Meeting times are different depending where in the world you are. Services are always on Sundays. If you arrive at the church at 10:00 in the morning you are most certain to find a service in progress.
Brian answered...

Mormon church services are unique. When I first started attending I felt three hours was too long to be in church, but I quickly grew to like it because I realised that each of the three meetings has a very practical, edifying focus. The Sacrament meeting is the principal meeting and it is where everyone (women and men, young and old) come together to have the sacrament (communion) and hear talks by their fellow church members. Since there is no paid clergy, Mormons take turns speaking to the congregation about how a particular principle or doctrine has strengthened their faith in Christ. Depending on the size of the congregation, a Mormon can speak as often as once a year to once every two or three years.

In Sunday School, the youth attend classes according to their age and the adults attend a class together. The curriculum varies from year to year, but the focus each year is on a book of scripture and how its lessons can help us develop stronger families, be better neighbours and parents, etc. For example, this year (2011) all the adults are studying the New Testament.

In the third hour we group together as men and women. The men's class looks at how the gospel of Christ can help us in our roles as men, husbands, fathers, etc., while the women study how Christ's teachings can help them be better women, wives, mothers, etc.

Visitors are welcome in all of these meetings.

Who founded Mormonism and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

Jordan answered...

Jesus Christ. The name of our curch is the Curch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When Christ was on the earth He started a church and it was organized by apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers. Of course the organization that he set up later fell because people didn't want to hear from them. So later on, in the 1800s, Christ and Heavenly Father found it to be the right time to bring that same organization back to the earth. And they then called another prophet, the same way Christ did when he was on the earth. And that Prophet's name was Joseph Smith.