Hi, I'm Chris.

I'm the one on the left. I'm trying to be like Jesus. And I get paid to play paintball.

About Me

I love my family. My wife, my daughter, my son, with his crazy hair, and my soon-to-be-born baby girl. I love life and all its experiences. I have an amazing family, and possibly the coolest job in the world, which allows me to tinker around with paintball equipment, go to professional paintball tournaments, and get paid for it.

I've lived and traveled all over, so I can call any and every place home. Born in Arizona, USA, lived in Germany for a few years, lived in Chicago, IL for a few years, lived in Utah for a few years, and now live in Austria. Traveled more places than I can count. I have a passion for people, learning, nature, different places, cultures, history, art, photography, design, and especially the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why I am a Mormon

The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has taught me how to worship. I do not worship a God who, if only we do what He says, will dish out candy bars to His children. I have never felt comfortable with the concept of worshiping a god because a noble tradition tells me God wants me to repeat back to Him how great He is.

Rather, I worship a God that loves me so much, that He wants me to do all I can in my power to become like Him -- and that is how I worship Him, by striving to live my life as He would have me live it. I am a Mormon because I know I have a Father in Heaven who wants to bless me with everything He has. I worship a God who wants me to become like Him. He knows there is no way I can do this on my own, and it will take this entire lifetime of work and experiences, but through the grace of His Son, Jesus Christ, I strive to live my life as He would have me live it. And when I fall, which is every day, I rely on my faith in Jesus Christ to help me get back up, and try again.

I believe His commandment to become perfect, even as my Father in Heaven is perfect Matt 5:48, and one day, after I've finished my time on earth, by the Lord's grace, I know that perfection will come true.

But these are my experiences, confirmed personally to me, in a way only I can appreciate and recognize. I can't give them to you or convince anyone of them. You have to, and can, find out for yourself.

Personal Stories

In what ways have your prayers been answered?

My prayers have been answered in hundreds of ways. I pray for strength & patience, I pray for knowledge and wisdom. My prayers have always been answered in this regard.

Even when I pray for little things. Once I had lost my house key. I was trying to leave the house for a long trip and needed to lock the door. I was getting frustrated, searching everywhere. A still small voice whispered to my mind, that I should pray. Almost perfunctory, I bowed my head and said a quick prayer. In the midst of praying, the quiet impression again came to my mind to look inside the sink garbage disposal -- what?!? So I stopped praying, and there was my key. Somehow in ended up there.

That is a rather simple example. I have a much more spiritual and holy example of prayer in my life as well. I can not share the question I asked, as it is far too personal, as well as the answer. But something had been troubling my mind for awhile. I had awoken early in the morning, and was pondering this question. I read in the scriptures and felt that I should pray about this question I had. Immediately upon asking the question in my mind, I felt a tremendous outpouring of the spirit and a wonderful confirmation was given to me. Both the question and answer were of an intensely private nature, but at the same time, they are questions there are many personal questions we must ask directly to our Father in Heaven as we come to know Him and realize our ultimate destiny. And in asking and receiving answers to your private questions, after you faithfully study and ponder them, you can truly come to know God and experience the joy and peace that his gospel brings into your life.

Which of the Savior’s teachings have influenced you?

"Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength ...Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31

These two teachings have had a profound impact in my life. First, in learning to love God I have recognized that it means I put the Lord first. Not myself, my wants, desires, property, etc., but the Lord. Of course, in practice I don't always do this, because I'm not perfect and won't be until after this life. But I repent and recognize that all I have and all that I am is because I have been blessed by the Lord.

Then, once I recognize how much the Lord has blessed me, I need to look around at my neighbors, both across the street and across the world. And try to love them like I love myself. Another way of saying this is given in modern scripture, "Let every man esteem his brother as himself" (DC 38:25)

Can I think or act uncharitably toward another, while proceeding to reward myself with praise or worldly treasures? Not if I believe this commandment to consider every person I come across to be esteemed with myself. How can I let them go hungry, or pass by a lonely person without stopping to acknowledge that divine spark of potential within them? I can't. This is a bold, great doctrine, that I freely admit I fail at more often than I succeed. But I'm trying to be better, as Jesus would have be be.

Some of the most rewarding moments in my life are when I helped out a person in need; the shear joy on desperate strangers' faces as I stopped to help them. The young man laying in the street who gained a realization of his own worth, as I lifted him up and took him out to a restaurant and spent the next hour getting to know him. I could share more, but suffice to say, when I help people in this way, I'm doing what the Lord would do and learning how to live up to these two great commandments in the process.

How has attending Church services helped you?

Attending Church has allowed me to look around and recognize that I am not alone. Everyone else in this world is struggling to find meaning and purpose in their life, even those coming to church. So attending church has helped me see one of God's great purposes in this life. To bring us all together so we can help each other, and become better in the process.

It's all too easy to become focused on my own needs. Church services help me to not only see my peers and elders who are striving to do what is right in this life, but helps me to learn from those faithful saints and sinners in the past. And it helps me to recognize that in the church we're all saints and sinners at different points in our lives.

We are all God's children. If we have the courage to come together, the patience to help each other along, we can become better people day by day. I find as soon as I stop attending church, I lose sight of this, and start to focus more on myself and my own problems, and I lose the real personal power the comes from faithfully attending church as often as I am able. Once a week hopefully!

How I live my faith

I live my faith by following the example of Jesus Christ. It's a nearly impossible task to live up to, so I strive to do it bit by bit, day by day, and I must rely constantly on His help and forgiveness.

Practically, this means I try to recognize that we are all flawed, imperfect people, but God wants the best for us. So I strive to live up to that by focusing on two things: loving God first and loving my all my brothers and sisters on this Earth as myself. It's the most rewarding thing in the world to strive to live my life in accordance with what I believe the Savior would do in my situation. To look at others with love. To find ways to help them. To help bear their burdens, give them support, go out of my way to do something nice for them.

I live my faith by recognizing that the Lord loved us all so much, he lived a perfect life and died for each of us, individually, so that we might live again. The least I can do in turn is serve my brothers and sisters. In doing that, my life has been filled with love and purpose.

What is the priesthood?

Chris. answered...

The priesthood is God's power. It is the authority to act in his name and the power to bless the lives of others.

The priesthood is what more fully brings God's power in our lives. Not the power to command. Not the power to control. But the power to bless. The power to demonstrate God's love unto all His children by officiating in the ordinances, which He has given for our salvation -- such as baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the sacrament, and blessings of health, comfort, and counsel, just as we read in the Bible and Book of Mormon.

Although God has ordained men to the priesthood, there is no blessing from the priesthood which a man receives that a woman will not also receive equally, for God is no respecter of persons.
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Ethan answered...

I like to approach questions by looking at the words of things

"priest" has reference to either the concept of one who leads, one who is elder, or one who is holy I like to remember that the words 'holy' and 'whole' are linked by a common ancestry. When something is 'holy' it's essentially saying that it's complete, that it's healthy..

And "-hood" makes reference to the state of being, and not just any state of being but a state of being that's worthy or correct for it's placement. That is, that it's done properly.

So one could say the priesthood is leadership or a point of reference that's completely suited to the position in which it's been placed.

Another way to look at it is to say it's God's perfect order. That is, it's God's perfect arrangement.

In our Church we often give a definition of priesthood as being "the authority to act in God's name" and that's exactly what it means to be a part of God's perfect order. If God commands something to be done by you, and you do it, then you are acting under, and with that portion of God's authority that he's permitted you to exercise within his perfect order.

Just as with any instance where someone tries to act in the name of someone else there are bound to be those who try and do so falsely. That's why God has things ordered in such a way that one can know for certain if someone has His God's authority, or not.

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Michael Johnston answered...

Because we believe in continuing revelation through Prophets as in the days of old, i.e. Moses, Abraham, this is uncomfortable for some people because media has made our Prophets seem like evil men leading people astray, when they are just trying to teach us correct principles so that one day we all may return to live with our Father in Heaven.

Another reason is because we believe in the sacred nature of temples, meaning only worthy members may enter the Temple so people think that evil rituals are performed. However, in reality the nature of the temple is uplifting and beautiful and gives us clarity to what the purpose of life is, the plan of salvation, and other topics such as life, death, and the atonement of Christ. The temple is not "secret, but it is sacred. However, we encourage all to live so that they may one day enter the temple.

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