Hi, I'm Ilyan.

I grew up in Washington State. I'm the oldest of 7 siblings. I'm an author and publisher, and I'm a Mormon.

About Me

My name is Ilyan. I am a Christian. Yes, Mormons are Christians. I am also a family man and a United States citizen. I am the oldest of seven siblings. I grew up in Central Washington. I served as a full-time missionary for two years in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I also served on active duty in the United States Air Force for nearly 14 years. I left the Air Force as a captain. I have enjoyed a lifelong passion for aviation. I spent my youth flying single engine aircraft, every type I could get my hands on and my wallet to accommodate. I took a newspaper delivery route at age 14 and paid for my own flying lessons. My first solo flight was five days after my 16th birthday, and I earned my private pilot license on my 17th birthday. After returning from missionary service in Argentina, I earned my instrument rating. Incidentally, I never flew for the Air Force. As life became complicated, the cockpit time of my youth faded into the past. I eventually became a published author. I have never lost my fascination for flight, and with that fascination, I enjoy a deep appreciation for the grandeur of nature and the cosmos. Over the years, I have experienced countless apocalyptic dreams during my sleeping hours, and so vivid and interesting were they that I decided to compose a book about the end of the world and about the state of mankind as the end approaches.

Why I am a Mormon

Why wouldn't I be? Nothing else makes any sense in this world. Nothing else completes the puzzle of mortal life and its role in the eternal scheme of things.

Personal Stories

Why do Mormons do family history or genealogy work?

Read the book Earth Sink and see what could happen if we didn't.

How can we develop greater harmony in our homes?

As a husband and a father, I can help to foster harmony in my home by admitting my own weaknesses and then trying to overcome them, rather than finding fault with my wife or son. If I spend more time working on controlling myself, I will spend less time overcontrolling my family and less time noticing whatever shortcomings they may have. If someone were to ask me to list all the faults I see in myself, and then list all the faults I see in my wife, my own list would be a multi-volume epic, but in my wife I see no fault whatsoever. If I can always see it this way, I will know I am on the right track.

Please share your feelings/testimony of Joseph Smith.

Joseph Smith is the first prophet of Christ's restored Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith is perhaps the only mortal inhabitant of this earth to have ever seen and talked with both God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, after Christ's resurrection. This meeting occurred in a grove of trees in the early spring of 1820. It is a simple and irrefutable fact that Joseph Smith is the prophet who was called to restore the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth. You cannot know this by study and intellect alone. You can only know it by the power of the Holy Ghost, who testifies of this truth to your heart and mind with unequivocal clarity. Ask God, in the name of Christ, if this is not true. Find out for yourself.

What is hope and what do you hope for?

To me, hope is the combination of a desire for something yet to be realized and the belief that it can and will be realized. Hope is closely related to faith. You exercise faith in Christ on the hope that he will forgive your sins and heal you.

Could you talk about your baptism?

I was baptized when I was eight years old by my father. I don't remember much about my baptism, but I remember my dad teaching me about following in the footsteps of Christ by putting cut-outs of paper feet on the floor as a sort of object lesson. While I do not recall much about my baptism, I have developed my own testimony that my choice to be baptized was the first step toward fulfilling my purpose in life, and the first doorway through which I must pass to become like Heavenly Father. Every Sunday, when I partake of the sacrament bread and water, I renew my baptismal covenant to follow Christ and keep his ordinances and repent of my sins, and hope he will forgive me. I have no doubt that Christ has the power to forgive me, and I have great hope that he will forgive me.

How I live my faith

Faithfully.

What is faith?

Ilyan. answered...

Faith is doing something even though the results are at first unseen and unrealized. The scriptural definitions of faith include, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.-Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1. Also, faith is to hope for things which are not seen, which are true.-Alma, chapter 32, verse 21.
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Zen answered...

Of all the definitions of faith I have read or heard, I add the simplest and most complete to me, which is the Love of Christ. I cannot think of a better way to describe faith. Love of Christ is the substance of hope in something evident we can not see with earthly eyes. It is the faith in Christ or the love of Christ that enabled Able to make a more perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 11:4). That love is why we believe in Christ, it is why we have grace, it is why we have works, it is why we have belief, it is why we have hope, it is why we have charity, it is the very essence of faith, and faith is the very essence of the Love of Christ

Perfect knowledge is worthless without faith. For instance, most of us have perfect knowledge that applying a pointed pencil to paper will cause a mark. That knowledge will not make a mark if we do not exercise the elements of faith called works (picking up the pencil, applying it to the paper, and making a mark), belief (that doing so will make a mark), and hope (that it actually will make a mark). It is my desire that you would exercise works to find out about Christ and study Him, that you would believe on His words and His life and His sacrifice, and that you would hope that He would have an effect in your life. If you exercise this faith, you will truly come unto Him.

Why do you have 12 Apostles? They were just meant to be around for the time of Jesus Christ, not to be replaced with new apostles.

Mark answered...

The principle of a perpetuating body of twelve special witnesses of Christ comes in ancient times from the fact that the eleven survivors of the death of the Savior chose a twelfth to replace Judas Iscariot (see Acts of the Apostles 1:15-26) Two were considered worthy to take his place, but only one was chosen. When the apostles cast their lots, the inspired choice fell upon Matthias.

In modern times, the Church's organization has been one of gradual building. As the needs of the Church have continued to grow, the prophet of the Lord has been directed to add not only the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, but other supporting quorums of the Seventy as well. The structure of the local organization of wards and stakes has been given by revelation to complete it. But as the needs of the Church continue to evolve so will the structure which supports it. Christ remains the chief cornerstone and the Apostles as the foundation with Him. (see Ephesians 2:19-20 also Ephesians 4:11-14)