Hi, I'm Kiera

I'm a typical college student. I'm a big sister, friend, and future teacher. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I grew up in a family of nine kids- and yes, I am right at the front! In high school, I loved singing, dancing, and getting good grades. Now in college, I am studying to receive a degree in Communication Disorders (which leads into the Speech-Language Pathology field). I am an avid reader, I love to laugh, and I enjoy hiking, four-wheeling, and swimming. One of my favorite quotes is by Henry David Thoreau: "Be not simply good. Be good for something." I try to be "good for something" every day, and someday I hope to make a big difference in the world. But until then, I'm mostly focused on making it through each new semester!

Why I am a Mormon

Originally, I was a Mormon because my parents are members of the Church. I was raised in the Church and it's all I've ever known. However, as I entered my preteen years, I began to wonder if being a Mormon was for me- if the religion was true. Since then I have prayed, studied the doctrines the Church teaches, and tried to live them every day. I'm a Mormon now because I've found that I love the doctrines, or the truths that the Lord has revealed through scriptures and living prophets. Those truths make me happy. As I pray about them and study them, they bring peace to my mind and warmth to my heart. As I live the gospel of Jesus Christ, my heart is lighter and life is more meaningful. I love this gospel because it brings me a depth of happiness that nothing else can. That's why I'm a Mormon.

Personal Stories

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

In John 7:17, the Savior teaches "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself" (New Testament, King James Version). This simple sentence has had a profound impact on my life. I used to think I could just hear doctrine taught and know whether or not it was true. To an extent, this worked. I felt good inside when I heard the Savior's teachings or read the scriptures. But recently I came across this scripture and it hit me more powerfully than it ever had before. It means that I, personally, can know what is truth by living different principles and seeing which ones bring me peace, happiness, and a closer connection with God.

One principle I wanted to test the truth of was prayer. I wanted to know whether the Lord really heard, cared about, and answered ME, as He was said to have answered so many other people. So I began praying more earnestly and more often. And I know, because I have lived the principle for myself, that God does hear me, love me, and answer me.

I've tried this formula for several other principles, such as repentance and faith. Each time, I have been blessed to know the truth of the principles in a way that I couldn't have unless I had personal experience with them. God lets us know which principles are of Him when we take the initiative and try out His teachings for ourselves. As His scriptures say, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8). My faith in and appreciation for the Lord has grown tremendously as I've lived His teachings and come to know for myself that they are true.

Please explain the part prayer plays in your life?

I have been diagnosed with a few chronic illnesses that are very difficult for me to deal with each day. They often leave me exhausted, frustrated, and hopeless that I will ever recover. But I have found that as I pray to my Heavenly Father, I am able to feel peaceful and hopeful. I feel as though I am enveloped in His love, and that is what gets me through each new day. Because I have prayed to Him and felt that peace and love, I know that He is real. I know that He loves each of us, His children, more than we can even comprehend. I know for certain that He hears me when I speak to Him and that He will hear and answer you as well. After all, Jesus Christ promised when He was on the earth that "all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matthew 21:22), and by praying I have learned for myself that the Lord always keeps His promises.

How I live my faith

As a Church, we believe in living our faith every day of our lives. The things we do on a daily basis come from the example that our Savior Jesus Christ set for us in the scriptures. He spent His life studying the scriptures (Matt. 21:42), praying to His Father in Heaven (Matt. 14:23, John 17), and serving and loving those around Him (Luke 7, Mark 5). He also taught others what God was like and how they could return to live with Him after death (John 8:19, John 10:27-28, John 6). He promised His followers that they could have the gift of the Holy Ghost to be with them after His death and encouraged them to follow the feelings they received from that source (John 16:7-14). As individuals in the Church, we try to do those same things.

To be honest, I don't know what my life would be like without this gospel. My life IS my faith. On a daily basis, I love to read the scriptures, pray, and write new insights about the gospel in my journal. I try to follow promptings I receive from the Holy Spirit. These are thoughts or feelings that lead me to do good works. I attend church on a weekly basis, and I volunteer for service projects as often as I can.

My favorite way to live my faith is to teach others about Jesus Christ and His gospel. Recently I served as a teacher of gospel principles to the women in my ward (congregation). I loved that opportunity because it allowed me to study specific doctrines, reaffirm my own belief in and knowledge of them, and then spread the joy they brought me to others. That's really what living Jesus Christ's gospel each day is all about-- finding joy and lasting happiness and sharing it with others.

What are Mormon Temples used for?

Kiera answered...

Temples are a sacred place where worthy individuals can go to make covenants with Heavenly Father. Those covenants entitle them to receive great blessings from God. Temples also provide a place for eternal ordinances to be performed. A man and a woman can be married there and sealed together forever. Then death has no power to end their relationship. Children can also be sealed to their parents in the temple. Ancestors who passed away without a way to be sealed to their families can be sealed through vicarious work. God meant for the family unit to continue forever, and temples are the places He provided to forge those bonds. Since ordinances with eternal consequences are so sacred, God has His children build special places for them to be carried out, and He has each individual meet specific standards of personal worthiness in order to enter them.
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Corey answered...

A temple is a house of the Lord, a place where we may worship our Heavenly Father and feel of His presence. It is a sacred place where no unclean thing can enter. Because of the importance and sacredness of the temple, a temple recommend is required and is received based on individual worthiness within the church in order to enter its holy walls.

The temple is where I go to find answers, to find peace, and to feel the Spirit. We are encouraged to go as often as possible and to attend seeking Spiritual guidance. Inside we perform sacred ordinances for ourselves and more often for others, those who are deceased. God requires that all to make covenants in order to return to His presence and many died without the opportunity to make these covenants. In the temple we perform the ordinances for them in their name giving them the opportunity to reject or accept the ordinance and thus enter into the presence of the Father. The temple is a very sacred and holy place.

What are some things that tell to you there is a God?

David H. answered...

I identify with Fyodor Dostoevsky, who once wrote: "It is not as a child that I believe and confess Jesus Christ. My hosanna is born of a furnace of doubt." I respect people who find it difficult or impossible to believe, because of the incongruity of so much unjustifiable hurt and pain in the world or because the affirmative evidence for God's existence does not seem compelling. But yet I believe. I believe in a God who is powerful, knowledgeable, loving and good. I see God in the heavens and earth. I see God in the principles of physics, evolution and natural selection, psychology, engineering, mathematics, the arts and the humanities, among others. I see God in the multitude of faith (or nonfaith) traditions throughout the world and among all peoples, giving meaning, purpose and direction to God's children and creations. Yes, there is much inexplicable hurt, pain and injury in the world, and yes, God's respect for our free will and freedom to believe requires that the evidence for God be noncompelling. I do not pretend to know easy answers; I look forward one day to receiving explanations or understanding of those tough questions. In the meantime, I am grateful for the whisperings from God's spirit and for occasional experiences that, to me, seem like "postcards from God", confirming to me God's love and care for me and for all creation. I have never seen God personally, but I have experienced God and I have met God's children and seen God's creations.