Hi, I'm Mark

I grew up in Salt Lake City Utah, but now live in Missouri. I am a home builder.

About Me

Hello, I am a Father of 7 and Grandfather of 12.

We are living in Missouri. The last two years we have lived on a 20 acre parcel for the first time in our lives . We always lived in the city. It is great. Before we moved from the city we started a life that has so much more peace in it than ever before. This has to do with us becoming active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We still like to do things like ski, golf, waterski, surf when an ocean is close and I used to race moto-x, but our lives are so much more fullfilling since we decided to return to the Lord. We actually don't need as much entertainment to stay happy the way we used too. I guess we will explain more about that in the section below called "Why I am a Mormon".

Why I am a Mormon

First I want you to know that the word "Mormon" is actually a nickname that people who were not of our faith gave us because it was easier to say. The actual name of our church is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Before we decided to become active members we lived a life of Bars, sports, entertainment 24/7 and work. We tried to somehow find happiness by having more and more fun and partying more and more. No matter how great the vacation or how intense the entertainment we were always left feeling hollow, like something was missing. Our relationship felt incomplete. Our jobs felt unfullfilling, and our vacations and entertainment became harder and harder to feel like we were happier because of them.

What purpose were we serving? What good were we doing? Where was the happiness? Where wa s the peace? We moved from 7000 square foot homes to twin homes. Bought motorcycles, big boats and lavish vacations. What started out being 90% fun turned out over the years to be 5% fun and 95% hollowness and frustration.

After we decided to change, we desperately needed some miracles from the Lord to help us change our life, habits and be comfortable being happy and peaceful. Without explaining all those things in detail. The Lord finally after years of struggling to change miraculously gave us a new heart and desire for the welfare of others.

We have attended many churches of other faiths even since we have become active. We have wanted to share our new found peace and the sweet spirit we feel with others. As we have met many wonderful people of other faiths we have gained an even stronger testimony that "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" is the church that Jesus Christ personally created.

How I live my faith

I must express one of many things that makes me motivated to live my faith with all my heart. We are the only church I know of that everyone is volunteer. No leader is paid. Each person has a job and is called by the Lord to different positions at different times. Just as Christ was not trained to preach we are not trained either. There is no ulterior motive like money as to why we should share this message. We just want you to experience the Lords spirit as we do.

Last year I was teaching the 16-18 year old boys. This year I am secretary to our Bishop setting up his appointments etc. Also I am in charge of the building maintenance and scheduling. I am also partly in charge of an old historic building we are restoring for the church. All of us men are home teachers. A home teacher goes at least once a month to the families that he is assigned to and delivers a spiritual message to them as well as checking on the temporal welfare of that family.

Who knows next year I may be called to watch the 3 year olds in the nursery. The point I am making is that it is not about position or status in Jesus Christ's church. It is about feeling priveledged to serve the Lord in what ever position we are called at the time, not about moving up.

As you may recall the Lord himself set the perfect example serving others.

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

Mark answered...

The Book of Mormon is very similar to the Bible. It is a record of Gods dealings with his prophets and people. The only real difference is that the people in the Bible lived around Jerusalem. The people in the Book of Mormon lived in America thousands of years ago.

Joseph Smith was shown by an Angel of God named Moroni where to find the golden plates that the ancient Americans wrote on. He took those plates and by the gift and power of God was given the ability to translate from ancient languages to english which gave us the record of the Ancient inhabitants of America and gave us a second witness that Jesus is the Christ and our Lord and Savior.
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Why don’t Mormons drink coffee, tea, or alcohol? What is the Mormon Church’s law of health and proper diet?

Molly answered...

God gave us the ability to choose. There are substances in coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco and other harmful drugs that limit our ability to choose. The intent of the law of health we follow is to preserve our ability to make good choices. This law of health is called the “Word of Wisdom”. It not only guides us regarding the substances to avoid, but also those to include in our diet. We are told to eat fruits and vegetables in their season, include grains, and eat meat sparingly. We are promised that if we follow these guidelines we will be healthy, able to learn and accomplish all that is required of us by our various roles in life. I am grateful for the blessings I receive from following the Word of Wisdom.

As a Dietitian I especially love this law of health because as I’ve seen the US guidelines for nutrition develop they are now aligning with what the Lord told us many years before. I believe that the guidelines set forth in our law of health are the minimum requirements for good health. It may be necessary for some people to avoid certain foods or eat a lower fat diet, or avoid caffeine entirely, but these specifics are not mentioned in the law of health and are to be determined by each individual.