Hi, I'm Aaron

I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I am a PhD student studying information systems. I have a pet bearded dragon named Gena. I have an all right road bike. My family raises llamas. I love to go back packing when I can get the chance.

Why I am a Mormon

I was born into an LDS family, but I have my own reasons for my faith. I'm actually just a very believing person. You tell me that God acts in my life today? You tell me we have a prophet today who speaks for God? I can live with my Family Forever? Great!

I have my moments of doubt as well and wonder if there really is enough evidence to believe it is true. I have a really hard time believing the Book of Mormon was fabricated by Joseph Smith instead of translated from ancient plates as claimed. I've heard it said best that "a bad man couldn't fake it and a good man wouldn't." Read it for yourself. Does it seem like something someone was writing to prove they were a prophet?

My greatest witness though comes from the moments where I've been pondering something that was troubling me in my life--an important decision, a serious disappointment, a problem in my family, an idea comes to me that I had not heard of, expected, or even thought about before. It feels right at the time because it comes as a very strong yet very peaceful feeling. I also later learn about why that idea was right. I trust the source of those ideas.

Personal Stories

What are you doing to help strengthen your family and make it successful?

I have a couple younger siblings that are still finding their place in life like me--still not married, still going to school or finding their careers. I try to help them keep a positive attitude about things happening in their lives by having faith that Heavenly Father has a plan for them and that things will generally work out. Only recently in the past couple years have I started to be willing to accept that things will work out all right even if I don't pass this certain exam or even if I dropped out of grad school entirely as long as I'm doing my best. I try to help them feel less afraid of how the future will turn out since I wish someone had done that more for me.

How I live my faith

The most important thing I do on a regular basis is to ponder things that are written in the scriptures. If they are really true, and the things that happened for the people in those books really happened, then what does that mean for me in my life? Then I want that amazing thing for a long time until it happens. The Lord delivers.

I go to church for three hours three different meetings every Sunday. The most important meeting is sacrament, where we take bread and water. This is similar to Communion in other Christian religions. Once a month I fast for two meals and pray for a special need such as a friend in the hospital or to be able to do well at teaching.

We also perform ordinances such as baptisms for our dead ancestors in more sacred buildings called temples. We believe that everyone has the opportunity to accept that Jesus Christ is their Savior if they didn't have the opportunity in this life.

Since I'm single, and in a single's ward, I spend a lot of time socializing with other LDS members. There is some kind of social activity almost every night of the week. These are usually group games or ultimate frisbee or Bible Study-like gatherings. Some are formal and others are informal. Anyone is invited. It is very important, though not mandatory, for an LDS person to marry in their faith. This is mostly because to be married in this life AND in the next, we believe you must be sealed to each other in a temple. You can only do this if you have been baptized into the LDS church.

I think part of living my faith is feeling better about not always being able to say no to people.

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Aaron answered...

Well, I served an LDS mission in France where I was called a "sect" cult almost every day. When you're a missionary, you wear a white shirt and tie, AND a black name tag. People would think we were in the FBI, social workers, or the people who check your tickets on the train all the time. I imagine if this is all you saw, you might think something weird was going on. Don't worry, we don't dress that way all the time. I also think some people think that since we have a prophet, we may follow him blindly.

However, I find myself thinking and pondering more when I try to follow counsels of prophets, not less. Take for example counsel on avoiding viewing innappropriate media. It's easy for me to understand why I shouldn't view pornographic material. It pushes your emotions beyond control and it's sleezy. Violence, however, is harder for me to take a position on. It's difficult to tell what kind of impact watching lots of violence has on you. I'm not a violent person. I'm not really an aggressive person at all. However, I have learned recently that becoming desensitized to violence can also make you less sensitive and patient with people in general. That's something I want to work on, so I will choose not to watch violence for that reason, not just because I was told not to. At the same time, I'm glad to have been given this counsel--otherwise I wouldn't have done anything about it.
Kevin answered...

I suppose that new and different things have always been a challenge for some. It seems possible that the New Testament Christians might also have been called a cult: they were few in number, taught new, or at least different, doctrines and were lead by strong, charismatic leaders (a study of the early apostles like Peter or Paul bears this out).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called the Mormon church) follows the teachings of Jesus Christ as contained in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We do not worship our founding prophet (Joseph Smith) or our current prophet (Thomas S. Monson). We teach that men are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrice on the cross and that as we strive to follow Him and keep His commandments, that redemption becomes personal.

If others persist in defining the Church as a cult, in spite of our rather obvious Christian beliefs and doctrines, then we will simply have to agree to disagree.

Do you really believe there is a prophet like Moses alive today?

Tom answered...

I do believe that there is a prophet alive today. This was a concept that I struggled with when I was investigating the Church because I was skeptical of ancient prophets, much less a living prophet. As I worked with the Bishop and Stake President (local Church leaders), I began to see that they could receive revelations for my benefit as well as other Church members for whom they have responsibility. Seeing God's power through these good men that I came to know personally helped me realize that our Heavenly Father directs his Church through modern day prophets.