Hi, I'm Andrew

I'm from Utah. I absolutely love ultimate frisbee and taking pictures. Laughing is a remedy for the Soul. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

Well, I'm a young man who Loves the Gospel, or the teachings of Jesus Christ. During High School I was pretty out going. I ran Track and Cross-country for 4 years, tried out for the soccer team (didn't make it), was on the Yearbook staff, played the piano, was voted "most school spirit," but most importantly I loved my family. My Dad is from Grand Junction, CO while my mom is from Mesa, AZ. They met at Brigham Young University and it has been a love story ever since. I have one Sister who is married and two younger brothers. We have had many hard times together, but we always look for the good in life and truly remember our purpose here. It has really really really helped me out in life especially just recently. I am a member of the US Army Reserve and completed Basic Training last winter (2010). It was my first time away from home, but my knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly gave me strength and comfort during this time of hardship and pain (literally). I graduated Basic with top honors and continue to excel in different aspects of life. Many people literally have asked me why I'm so happy all the time. It is because of my Love of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Love he has for me.

Why I am a Mormon

While I was raised in the Church we all still need to choose to "be a Mormon." I had my discovery experience when I was 16 years old. I was going through a ton of doubt in my life, and really began to question what I had been taught all my life. I decided to follow advice given through out the years...Pray about it! In a most sincere prayer I poured out my desires to God in really wanting to know the Truth. I received my answer as if some one right next to me was talking and I felt an overwhelming sense of Peace and Joy. The voice said to me, "Fear not, I am still here and forever will be. Be still and Know that I Am God." At that same time I received a witness that the Book of Mormon was true, and that Joseph Smith was the Prophet called to restore the true and living church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Since then I have lived the gospel to the best of my ability, and have always put my Trust in God.

Personal Stories

Please explain the part prayer plays in your life?

Prayer is our direct connection to Heavenly Father and we can tell Him anything. We can express gratitude for our blessings, talk about how life is going, ask for help/guidance/strength to overcome every day hard ships. For me personally prayer has played a HUGE role. It gives me the opportunity to literally talk to and have a conversation with our Heavenly Father. How awesome is this! Heavenly Father is anxiously waiting to fulfill your dreams, but he can't if we don't pray and don't believe.

Why do Mormons go on missions?

Imagine having the cure for cancer. Would you keep it a secret? That is what we feel like when we share the Gospel with others, and that is why Mormons go on missions. We invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the Fullness of the Restored Gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End. We go on missions to help other people understand how the Gospel can bless them and have true happiness not only in this life, but in the eternities to come.

Please share your feelings/testimony of Joseph Smith.

Joseph Smith is a man that I honor and revere, because I can see so much of myself in him. Let me explain. Joseph Smith wanted to understand God's plan for him and for all of us. He didn't understand why if there was so much confusion about Jesus Christ when everybody taught out of the same Bible. He wanted so badly to know for himself what was right and what was wrong, it fueled his desire to understand what God's plan truly was. In our lives we too go through these stages. Take one second to pause and think about the world in general. What do you see? Confusion? Craziness? Love? Despair? Hope or a lack there of? Those are some of the Things that I notice, and its scary sometimes. But the Story of Joseph Smith brings hope and happiness. One day He read in the Bible the Epistle of James chapter 1 verse 5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him." From this scripture Joseph learned as well as anybody else, that we CAN receive wisdom from God. Joseph decided to do this very same thing, to pray to God about it. What happened is the most important event that has happened on the Earth since the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In his own words he stated that "I saw a pillar of light exactly over head above the brightness of the sun which descended gradually until it fell upon me," he goes on to say, "when the light rested on me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of the spake unto me, calling me by and name and said, pointing to the other, 'This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!" That day Joseph literally saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. The heavens are not sealed. God still talks to man today through living Prophets, and that is exactly what Joseph Smith was. A Prophet called to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its Fullness to the earth. This is too good not to be true.

How can your talents and gifts bless others?

No body is the same, our individual talents and gifts are what set us apart from anybody else, and we're to use those gifts for the betterment of other peoples lives.

Personally I love seeing and making others laugh and enjoy life. Life has too many chances to live and grow for us just to sit and twittle our thumbs. When others see my extremely optimistic outlook in life, many ask "where does your happiness come from?" It comes from my sound understand of the Fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his Teachings. The one thing about happiness and laughter is it's contagious in a good way of course!.

I also LOVE music. I play the piano and find lots of joy in playing for other people. I play for anyone and everyone who wants to hear. By no means am I perfect or a professional, but I simply do my best. That much, Heavenly Father expects from me.

How I live my faith

I have lived the Faith by doing as Christ did. Christ went about doing good to all men and served them. He didn't do it for self gratification or for worldly praise, but for the Love he had for the people. That is what I have done and am still doing as a Member of Christ's Church. By helping others, we not only help them come closer to our Savior, but we too feel that sweet spirit of Love. That is exactly what I am doing right now, by serving as a Missionary in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission and I truly love it with all my heart.

What is the priesthood?

Andrew answered...

The Priesthood is the Authority, or Sacred Trust and permission, to act in the name of God for the Salvation of God's Children. It is given directly from Jesus Christ Himself through a line of Worthy Priesthood holders. All worthy Males can prepare to receive this priesthood. We can receive this trust as we show our faith in Christ and be baptized, and continue to progress in life. Holders of this Sacred priesthood are expected to always follow Christ's example of Love, Gentleness, and Kindness.
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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.

What is the Mormon lifestyle like? How do Mormons live?

Serge answered...

Family is everything to us. Our family spends lots of our free time together because we like each other. Life gets crazy with teenagers, dance practice, after school academic decathlon, usually with a toddler in tow, but no matter what, every Monday night is Family Night.

The kids know that every Monday we spend time together and nothing gets in the way of it. It's our commitment to each other. We bake cookies, have lessons about the Savior, work on personal goals, go to the park, go geocaching, play board games or just go out for ice cream.

We do lots of things together. The point is that at least once a week we spend an hour or two together, just for the sake of being together, just because we love being together as a family. It's not as perfect as it may sound, with all the poking and "she's in my spot," and all the other crazy things family members do to each other when scrambling for a spot in the living room, but we try real hard. It takes effort to make sure we don't miss, but it's worth it.

I'm not sure the kids will remember all the games we played, the places we went or what we did, but I hope they always remember that we loved each other enough to dedicate one night a week to be with each other. And that we spent every Monday night together for as many Mondays as they can remember because family is everything to us, and every member of our family is important.