Hi, I'm Mike

My life changed when I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "Mormon" at age 15

About Me

I grew up in New York in a large family. After HS, at age 18, I moved to California to attend an aeronautical university. A few years later, I was asked to be a Missionary for the ”Mormon” Church in Texas. While I was there, I worked with many military individuals and families in the Army, Air Force, Navy, & Marines. After my Mission and more schooling, I joined the Air Force, eventually working with their Space program. Because I loved what I was doing so much, I stayed in until “retirement.” Today, I continue working in the Space field, trying to make a difference. I am very happily married ~25 years!, have three sons and one daughter, and one very cheerful grandson. Besides spending time with my family, some of my other passions are, traveling, hiking, SCUBA diving, flying Cessna 172’s, watching good movies, and reading or listening to good books.

Why I am a Mormon

Growing up in New York was not easy. By age 15, I had experienced much of what can be summarized as "Growing up too fast." At this point in my life, I was looking for real answers. What was life for? Who is God? What happens to me after I die? How do I fit in all of this? It was during the summer of 1977 that I found myself in large crowds of “friends” feeling very much alone. One night late summer, as I lay in bed, I prayed for the very first time out loud, “God, please let me know if you are there.” Tears of sadness filled my eyes as I fell asleep. Life resumed the next day with high school. A few days went by. Then one day, I heard a knock at the door. It was the “Mormon” missionaries. They looked very happy to me, not in some fake way, but in a way I was searching for. I invited them in and they taught me a lesson about someone named Joseph Smith, Jr. and a book called The Book of Mormon. They asked me if I had ever heard of the “Mormons” or knew any. I told them it was the first time I had heard the name, except for a commercial I saw on TV for music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They said that was their Church’s official “choir” and that they performed all over the world to sing about Christ and the “restored” Gospel. Then, they asked me three questions: “Have you ever wondered where you came from? Why you are here on Earth? and, Where you are going after you die?” I could hardly believe it. How could they have known what I spent the whole summer thinking about? They left me with a copy of the Book of Mormon, with certain passages marked. They asked me to flipped though it and read the passages and to “pray about it out loud on my knees.” I told them I would read the book passages before our next visit together, however, I had never prayed out loud on my knees before. They asked me if they could show me how. We all knelt down in my living room and one of the missionaries prayed. He did not pray like anyone I had heard pray before. He prayed very sincerely, out loud, but in a soft, respectful voice, calling upon Heavenly Father, thanking Him for many different things and for “finding” me, and asked if Heavenly Father would bless me in knowing if the Book of Mormon was true or not. He then closed the prayer in the “name of Jesus Christ, amen.” I noticed when the missionaries were in my home, I, who had been very gloomy, was happy and smiling. Several days went by and I realized early Saturday morning I had not yet read the passages in the book that I had promised the missionaries to have read by their next visit… in 3 hours! I locked my bedroom door and got on my bed and started reading. Almost immediately, as I read, I felt a wonderful, warm sensation in my chest. My mind seemed to be filled with light, and as I read on, I was surprised that tears were flowing down my face. I was not much of a crier back then. After about two hours of reading and being filled with joy, I finally reached the last marked passage and knelt down on the floor next to my bed to pray. Once again, I was filled with this wonderful, peaceful, feeling that literally filled me with light. I knew, without any doubt, the Book of Mormon was true. I was so excited to tell the missionaries about my experience. When they came by that afternoon and I told them, they said to me, “That was the Holy Ghost bearing witness to you that the book is true.” I told them it was the first time in my life I had ever felt it. It wasn’t long before they invited me out to the meeting house. When I entered the building, again, I was filled with light and joy. Everyone was so genuinely kind and welcoming. I knew I had finally found what I had been searching for. In October, 1977, I was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thus began the wonderful journey of being a member of the Church. Since then, I have served as a Missionary myself, met a wonderful young lady who also served as a Missionary who I later married. We have four wonderful children, one that has also served a mission and his wife also. We strive to follow the Savior, Jesus Christ, to remember Him, and to do kind acts of service each day. Life is full of meaning and purpose. Death is nothing to fear. Striving to have a strong, loving family is central to all we do. We know God will bring us all back to Him, if we will but follow the path His perfect Son set for us. And so, with God’s help, we will.

Personal Stories

Please share your feelings/testimony of Joseph Smith.

Although I learned early that the Book of Mormon was a true book from God, I did not know for myself if Joseph Smith had that First Vision until almost one year after I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “Mormon.” It was in 1978, when the Church in New York held a large, regional conference near the town of Palmyra, New York, close to where Joseph saw the vision. As I visited that area and heard the story rehearsed to me, I greatly desired to know for myself if it was true. I always figured it must be true because Joseph was the one who translated the Book of Mormon and brought it to print. However, I had not yet received a witness like I did with my first reading of the Book of Mormon, nor had I prayed about it to ask God if the First Vision really happened. When I returned home from the regional conference trip, I was filled with desire to know once and for all if the Vision occurred. I listened once again to the story of the First Vision on audio tape when suddenly, without me realizing it, I was back on my knees, thanking Heavenly Father for the Restored Gospel on the earth and for Joseph Smith having the First Vision. It was then, I “awoke” while I was praying, that I had the same experience as before, except much more intense, of being filled with joy and light, and the words came to my mind, “Joseph Smith did see the First Vision. God lives and loves you.” I knew that answer came from God and that I had received my answer I was searching for. I have never once doubted the three key answers I received from God that year that the Book of Mormon is from God, that Jesus is the Christ and that God loves me and wants me to be happy, and that Joseph Smith did see the First Vision which has changed the world and my life forever. I know for myself that Joseph Smith, Jr. became the first Prophet and legal representative of the Lord, Jesus Christ in our time and that today, Thomas S. Monson carries that great responsibility and Divine Calling.

How I live my faith

Like most Mormons, or "LDS" for Latter-day Saints, as we like to call ourselves, I too enjoy going to Church on Sunday to worship and to fellowship with others I see there. However, for me, being LDS also means making a firm commitment to being much more than a Sunday churchgoer. It means striving to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ at all times and in all places. This is not an easy thing to do. Fortunately, we have lots of help from Heavenly Father, the Church, and from each other. Each family member is encouraged to say their own private individual prayers daily and to read the scriptures often. Great strength and inspiration comes through these means. The Church provides many programs to strengthen the individual and family, such as allowing each member to serve in men, women, youth, and children organizations. Each of these teaches members how to be more like Christ and each of these gives the member an opportunity to serve without pay, selflessly, to better another’s life. The Church teaches members to hold a family night, called Family Home Evening, to teach Gospel principles and to have fun together and strengthen the family and the individual. Monday nights are normally reserved for this purpose. In addition to these programs, the Church fully supports the Boy Scouts, and it is not uncommon to have a Scout troop as part of each congregation. Added to this is a youth night during the week for teenagers, ages 12-18 years old. Members also visit each other every month and every member and family is assigned a “Home Teacher” to watch over them and help them achieve their potentials as children of God. Also, every woman over 18 years old is assigned a Visiting Teacher to assist her in her sacred role as a daughter of God. I have personally participated in many of these activities and currently enjoy serving in the men’s program and serving as a Home Teacher, along with my 16 year old son.

What is the First Vision?

Mike answered...

This is when Joseph Smith, Jr. went out into a grove of trees in Upstate New York to pray to learn which of all the Churches in his area he should join. Similar to my experience, at age 14, for the first time in his life, he knelt down to pray out loud to God. In his experience, God the Father and His son Jesus Christ, appeared to him and spoke to him as one man speaks to another. The Father introduced the Son and told Joseph to “hear him.” Jesus spoke to Joseph and told him to join none of those Churches but to wait for the time when He would “restore” His Church back to the earth. Joseph learned many things in the First Vision, mainly that God loved him and that mankind was created in God’s image. He also learned that God was not through giving men revelations and direction.

Do Mormons practice polygamy?

Clayton answered...

No, we don't. People typically mix up Mormons with their reformed break offs. Several of those groups practice polygamy, even though historically the commandment from the Lord to have plural marriages has been repealed.