Hi, I'm Skyler

I'm a Music Making Minneapolis Minnesota Missionary and I am a Mormon

About Me

I love to sing! It's my passion in life. I can't truly express who I am unless I'm immersed in beautiful music. There is nothing like the magic that comes when voices come together in unity expressing an emotion that can't be expressed any other way. I love the magic that comes from a stage. I wish life could be a musical! I not only believe in bringing voices together in song, but in purpose. All of us as human beings are on the same team. I love music because no matter where in the world we are, it is a universal language that everyone can share and understand. My dream is to travel the world and immerse myself in other cultures of song, and to share my very small piece. I LOVE to play Ultimate frisbee. It's the only sport I'm somewhat good at and it's a sport you can play at night if you have a light up frisbee! There's no end to ULTIMATE! I have a wonderful family of a beautiful mother, a wonderful father, and my role model, my brother and his soon to be wife. I am serving as a missionary in the beautiful state of Minnesota for two years, and it has been the best and most rewarding experience thus far in my life.

Why I am a Mormon

I was born into a Mormon family, as many are, but there was a time in my life where I needed to know for myself if it was true. When I turned 16, I had still never read the Book of Mormon for myself, and I had a lot of questions about if all that I had been taught was true. I decided to read the Book of Mormon and pray with sincerety to know the truth. It didn't happen right away, and it took a lot of faith to keep moving forward. I finished and prayed about the Book of Mormon, and I knew it to be true. I obtained a witness that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and that my wonderful family can be together forever, as part of God's plan. I continue to seek to strengthen my testimony, drawing from the experiences I had in the past, and obtaining continuing witness today. Wholesome music and sharing it with others played a huge role in my testimony. The love that the Savior has for me and for all of us keeps me going day by day.

Personal Stories

How can your talents and gifts bless others?

There are so many opportunities in the church to share your talents and your strengths with others! We are encouraged to uplift and motivate each other. If I struggle to understand something, I can always rely on someone who has walked the road I have and has a talent for teaching in a way I'll understand. In turn, I can use my talents to help others who are weak in the areas that I have worked to strengthen. As a youth, I had struggles with understanding the scriptures and keeping my testimony strong, but I had leaders in the church who uplifted me and encouraged me to motivate myself to learning and continually reviving that faith that is realize is so important. Those leaders have a talent of working with youth. In turn, my love for music has helped others who have a desire to strengthen that talent. We can all help in so many ways! We're all the same team as humans. We are all children of God and we all have the same goal of Eternal Life with Him. We help each other to achieve that.

Please share your feelings/testimony of Joseph Smith.

As I said before, i grew up in a Mormon family, but there's a point where you have to know for yourself that the doctrine that is taught as well as the origins are true, and one of those concepts is modern day prophets, and the first of these modern day prophets was Joseph Smith. The concept of Joseph Smith recieving a vision of God our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ was suprisingly the easiest thing for me to accept and gain a testimony of in many ways. First of all, I loved that fact that I could relate myself to Joseph Smith in so many ways, as we all can! Joseph Smith was of no large reputation, and neither was his family. He simply had a question. Who doesn't? I believe that all of us ponder about that wellfare of our souls in regards to what happens after this life. We can all relate to Joseph in that regard. The real message for me though is that Joseph Smith showed us an example on how we can obtain truth from the only source of all truth. Relating to Joseph Smith was definately a contributing factor, but it still wasn't enough. Like him, I had to go to the source of all truth. As I prayed and studied and pondered myself, I recieved light and knowledge and truth. I know that Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw, and that all his teachings as a prophet are from God our Heavenly Father. I know that we have a prophet on the earth today that leads and guides us. Not only that, but we have direct communication with our Heavenly Father who knows us personally and perfectly, who can confirm truth in our minds and hearts.

How has the Book of Mormon brought you closer to God?

As I read the Book of Mormon, the Holy Ghost almost literally whispers to me through the pages. I have a greater understanding of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It outlines my purpose in life and teaches me how to find happiness. I know it's true because I've read it and prayed to God to know if it was true. i recieved an undeniable witness of it's truth.

How I live my faith

I live my faith today by sharing it with others. I know that I have been blessed more than I can explain in words, and I want others to experience that indescribable joy that comes from knowing the truth. I serve as a missionary, sharing my tesimony and sharing the Book of Mormon. Most importantly, I share the foundation of my testimony, which is the love that Jesus Christ has for us and the gifts that he has given us and continues to give.

What do Mormons believe concerning the doctrine of grace?

Skyler answered...

There is absolutly nothing we can do on our own to qualify to be in the presence of God. We are imperfect and unclean. Jesus Christ is an expression of God's love, and His desire for us to be with Him again. Christ paid the price for our sins, and through him, our sins of scarlet can be white as snow. Faith in Jesus Christ is absolutely crucial to our salvation. Christ, through His sacrifice is constantly reaching out for us to accept it. We also know that God gave us another gift. He gave us the gift of agency, or the ability to choose. We must choose to reach out and hold on to Christ's hand. We do this by accepting him as our Savior yes, but there is more to it. When we sin (act contrary to the commandments of God) we are choosing through our actions to let go of the Savior's outreached hand, with our agency. His grace is always available to us, but He will not force us to take it. Through repentance, we take the Savior's hand once again and commit to change our nature to be like Christ. That's why faith and repentance are necessary. God is merciful and just. He provides the path, but cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. We must daily repent and strive to change and be more like our Savior.
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Tamara Forsyth answered...

We are all saved by grace no matter how we have lived our life, as long as we believe in Christ and believe that he is our Savior. Most Christian religions believe that this is all there is to being saved. Mormons believe this for the part of being saved in which the body of flesh is reunited with the spirit. For this part of being saved, yes, Mormons believe that all people, no matter how they have lived their lives, will be saved and have their body reunited with their spirit at the resurrection through the grace of God. However, Mormons also believe there is another part to Christ's atonement and being saved, and that refers to his taking on of our sins. To be saved from our sins, and take upon us the name of Christ such that his atonement will wash away our sins and we will have everlasting life in God's presence, we must repent of our sins. After we have done all that we can do, then the grace of God will wash away our sins because of Christ's atoning sacrifice on our behalf.

What is the Church’s position on abortion?

LauraMaery answered...

Parenting is a gift from, and a partnership with, God. There are rare circumstances where, with the approprobation of God, there might be a reason to terminate a pregnancy. But that's a decision to made only after much prayer and both medical and ecclesiastical counseling. The larger principle here is that joy comes of making God a full partner in marriage, and of bringing children into the world within the bounds of marriage.