Hi, I'm Russell

I'm a Mormon. I do a little bit of everything from music, to computer, to the outdoors, everything. And I'm a Mormon.

About Me

Well, to start out you might want to know where I'm coming from so you can know where to start. I'm a band nerd, a choir geek, a computer nerd, an Eagle Scout, an athlete, and was a Mormon missionary. These things take up most of my time. I'm also from one of the biggest states in the union, Texas. So it your a very musical/ super logical person, you've come to the right person, because that is me!

Why I am a Mormon

I was born a Mormon. So to some for you, you're already clicking the back button. "Another Mormon that doesn't know where I'm coming from." Now hold on there, I do to. Just like any member of this church, you have to come to know if it's true for yourself. It wasn't easy. I remember when I truly wanted to know if what I had been taught all my life was true. Was it possible that I had been living a lie? This question formed in my head. This tormented me for a long time, until it drove me to do something, to find out. But how? So I thought about it. The only I could think of was test out what they have been telling me for years, to read The Book of Mormon. It didn't take long. I read it in about a 2 weeks. I had tried many times before, but this time was different. I wanted to know. After finishing I remember thinking about what I just read. Logically if I wanted something I would go read everything written by anyone, whether it was for, or against. But to be truly honest to the test, I had to do everything that it entailed. That would mean to pray to know if it was true. There was no angelic visitation, no voice from heaven, but there was something at that moment that sparked and burned within me. That is when a scripture that I had read in it came to my mind. It had said all good thing come from God. To this day I have yet to find a bad thing that have come from The Book of Mormon, and I have read it many times. And it doesn't matter how much junk you throw at me that say this or that about it, because I remember what that Spirit whispered to me that day in my room. And that is why I am a Mormon.

Personal Stories

Please share your feelings/testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel.

The Restoration. That is what it is. It is the Restoration of Christ's Gospel in it's fullness once again on the earth. Not a man's oppion, not an idea, not a new way of thinking. It is His gospel. The one He taught the people in Palestine. The one He taught to the American people. The one He teach to us through modern day prophets. I know that Joseph Smith under the direction of Jesus Christ Himself restored Christ Church once again on this earth, for no man can do that, only Christ. I know that this is the only way that you can truely come to know your Savior. And I know just as Peter did that this is true. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

How I live my faith

I live my faith in the little things I do. I read the scriptures, I pray, I'm will to share what I believe, and I serve others and in the branch of the church I live in now.

How is the Book of Mormon different from the Bible? How did Joseph Smith obtain the “golden plates” or Book of Mormon?

Russell answered...

Well, there are some difference, and some similarities between The Book of Mormon and the Bible. Some difference, The Book of Mormon is written on the other side of the world in the Americas. It is also written by different prophets of God. Some similarities, They teach the exact same gospel of Christ. They testify that Jesus is the Christ. Joseph obtain the record from an angel called Moroni. He then proceeded to translate it through the power of God.
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Who founded Mormonism and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

Mark answered...

The most direct answer to the question is a group of six men who signed their names to a founding document on April 6, 1830. The room was filled with believers, but six signed to fulfill New York state law. Preeminent among them was Joseph Smith, Jr. who was designated the first elder and apostle by revelation. It is Joseph Smith, Jr. who is most often referred to as the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Joseph, as a young man of eighteen years of age, was visited by an angel, the one mentioned in Revelation 14:6, who told him where an ancient record was buried which contained a history of a group of ancient, American Christians, and which also contained the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This record was translated by the gift and power of God by the young man with the aid of others as scribes and witnesses of the translation.

During translation they learned of the need of further organization, and this tiny group sought out God who sent additional angelic messengers which conferred authority from God to organize His Church again upon the earth, as it was in Biblical times. This group and those who believed their stories of miraculous events met in a farmhouse on April 6, 1830 in upstate New York to create an officially recognized organization that could hold the copyrights to the record that was translated as the Book of Mormon as well as other rights granted to religious societies.

It is called the Mormon church because of the book revealed from heaven, which is unique from all other Christian churches.