Chat With a Mormon Online
Your privacy is important to us. Please read our Privacy Policy.
Hi I'm Sean Baenziger
About Me
I'm a 27 year-old guy living in Florida right now starting the career process as a firefighter paramedic and an addictions counselor on the side. I love football and athletics for relaxation, and reading when I actually have time for it. I have one little brother and a couple of parents who love me. Life is good. :)
Why I am a Mormon
This is a very deep question. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has meant much to me over the years. The decision to invest myself in it and its teachings was not a simple one. When I was 16 I frankly had a bit of a rough life. My parents had had a very rocky divorce that they had been arguing in court for years and I was living with my mother with whom I had a very difficult and frustrating relationship. I had gone to church meetings but frankly never taken it or its teachings very seriously. I ended up moving to Florida to live with my father and the enormity of the change in my life caused me to reflect often on who I was and on what I believed. It wasn't easy, but I decided to try to actually practice what the LDS Church taught, to live the principles that I had always known were right, but never quite cared enough about to act upon when I was younger. It was amazing the change that occurred in my life. In spite of all the turmoil and difficulties of a teenage life in upheaval, I actually found myself to be genuinely happy. Things weren't perfect, but there was a sense of peace in my life as I tried to live the way that I always had known was right. After realizing how good a moral life could be, and after talking with several friends of other faiths, I started wondering if the LDS Church was the right place for me. I knew that it was a genuinely good place and that the things that I had learned there had brought me happiness, but I didn't know that it was, out of all the different churches, God's church. After talking with several leaders that I greatly respected, I decided the simplest way to find out what God wanted of me was to ask Him. So every day for several weeks I got on my knees and asked Him if what I had been learning was true, and if this was the place for me. He answered. It wasn't sudden or spectacular, but over time I felt peace about my decision in my heart and simply knew it was true. That is why I am a Mormon
How I live my faith
This is another deep question. All I can do is try and develop a personal relationship with God so that I know Him, try and treat others with the love and respect they deserve as children of God, and live a good life. I have always believed that the essence of true religion is coming to develop a relationship with my Father in Heaven. I know that there are a lot of people out there who feel that God is distant, or not directly involved in their lives. It doesn't need to be that way. Everything you get in this life you have to pay the price for, and sometimes the price is time spent in prayer talking to God and telling Him what's on your mind. Other times, it is time spent reading the scriptures so that you can come to know Him better. Finally, sometimes it is spent helping or serving others, doing the things you know He would do if He was here so you can grow to be more like Him. Whatever the cost may be for us personally, if we are willing to pay it we can invite God into our lives so that He is a direct and active participant, one who walks beside us every step of the way. Sometimes, you just have to go looking for God, and when you do, you realize He's been reaching out to you all along. I try to live my faith by searching for Him every day of my life. One day, I hope to know that He's been proud of the way I've lived.
