Hi, I'm David H.

I grew up all over the U.S. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I am married, four grown children, one at home attending college. We live in a large city in the southwestern U.S. I am a lawyer. I am a democrat and fairly liberal politically.

Why I am a Mormon

I am Mormon because I believe in a God who loves me and who loves all creation, and because I believe God wants me to be Mormon. Why do I think God wants me to be Mormon? Because God sent me to a Mormon home to be born and raised. Because, as I have studied core Mormon teachings and scripture (including the Bible and the Book of Mormon) they have resonated within my heart and mind. Because as I participate in my religious community, I become more like the person I believe God wants me to be.

Personal Stories

Why/How do you share the gospel with your friends?

For me, the gospel is the message that there is a God who is our spiritual parent and who loves us and is involved with our lives. It is the good news that God's son, Jesus, descending from His godly throne to live and suffer as a human being enabling us to be reconciled with Him and with God. I share this good news with others in two ways.

First, "sharing the gospel," includes a sharing of my feelings, ideas, thoughts, and experiences with others about the Divine, about life and its challenges or purpose. It means listening to and striving to understand the feelings, ideas, thoughts, and experiences of others about those topics as well. I have friends of many religious or nonreligious persuasions. Some understand God similarly to the way I do, some understand God differently. Some are not sure God exists, some believe there is no God. Interestingly, I find that our thoughts, feelings, ideas and experiences have much in common, and that discussing them in a nonthreatening way strengthens each others. I do not share the gospel in a hope for a friend or acquaintance to change their religion. I share--and listen--for mutual enrichment.

Second, sharing the gospel means following Jesus in doing good. The Apostle James wrote in the New Testament that pure religion is "to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction". That is, another way I strive to "share the gospel" is by joining with others, of whatever faith background, in doing good to others inside and outside of faith communities.

Could you talk about your baptism?

I was baptized in 1963 in a Mormon Church building in Westchester, New York, shortly after I turned 8. I remember it like it was yesterday. Another young boy from my congregation was baptized at the same time, as well as two teenage young women--baby sitters for our family--who had decided to join the Church. I was smiling ear to ear and very excited. As a younger child, I had looked forward to the day when I would be old enough to be baptized, to be accountable for my conduct, and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. I learned how baptism was a symbol of renewal and of cleansing. A few days before being baptized, I had a nice talk with our congregation's leader, the bishop, who asked me questions to be sure I understood what baptism meant. My father baptized me. And my family came to watch. Both my father and I were dressed in white clothing. He told me how to hold my hands and to bend my knees to help him immerse me in the water. Upon coming out of the baptismal water, I felt renewed and excited. After drying off and changing back into regular clothing, those of us who had been baptized returned to the congregation and one at a time were confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Which of the Savior’s teachings have influenced you in your life?

One of Jesus' teachings that has had a great effect on me is to love and pray for those who I may not like, or who may not like me. The temptation for me, though, is to pray that God will some how "punish" those who have been unkind to me or to others. But as I have prayed, and remembered Jesus' teachings on the subject, I instead tried to perceive how God might see such an individual. And I realized that God loved even those individuals who I did not like. And I began to feel a hint of God's love for them in my own heart. And I prayed that God might continue to deepen that love in my heart for all, and that God, who knows what is best for everyone, would exercise that knowledge and love and power to bless those individuals in a manner best for that individual, whatever that might be. And it brought great peace to me.

How I live my faith

I try to love God and to love God's creations. I participate in my Mormon community of believers by attending meetings each week, taking the Sacrament (our communion), listening, and sharing. I visit homes of other members in my congregation as a "home teacher". I serve in the Church's 12 step addiction recovery program, modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous. I am chair of the Boy Scout committee in my congregation.

What is the Atonement of Jesus Christ? Why was it necessary for Jesus Christ to sacrifice His life?

David H. answered...

I understand the Atonement as intended to heal the breach between God and human beings, a process by which God reaches toward us so that if we reach toward God (including through rituals, sacraments or ordinances) we can become one with God and one with each other. God (the Son) descended from the godly throne to become human and mortal, and to feel the pains, challenges and temptations of life. Through that "condescension"--that "at-one-ment"--God (the Son) took upon Himself the pains of all humanity, including physical torture and death. God is, therefore, a "wounded healer", who can heal us, and who knows what life (and death) are like. And as God returned from the dead, resurrected (a dying and rising God), we too can be returned from physical, emotional, spiritual death through that same gift of God.
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Why are only some Mormons allowed into temples? Is there something secret going on in Mormon Temples? What goes on in Mormon Temples?

Don answered...

Recently I taught a Sunday School lesson about the Apostle Paul who was cast into jail because of being falsely accused of taking non-jews into the holy parts of the ancient temple. The penalty for doing so was death. It caused me to think of the sacredness of the temple, and that people throughout history have gone through a preparation process in order to approach God through temple worship.

In our time, both members of the church and non-members who have not prepared are turned away from the sacred parts of the temple not because of secrets, but rather due to the sacred nature of the temple and the preparation required to go there. Anyone can go to the temple, given they prepare themselves and demonstrate that preparation in a visit with those responsible for qualifying persons for entrance to the temple.

I love the peace that comes from being in the temple, having prepared myself to approach the Lord in His house. I feel His Spirit there. I am grateful that others who are there have prepared themselves in the same way.

Anyone who wants to know more about the nature of the temples can ask any missionary what it takes to qualify to go there. My personal experience and witness is that it is worth qualifying oneself and experiencing the beauty and peace that is constantly there.