Hi, I'm Leo

I build, teach, and play hand drums. I love reptiles. I am adult ADD. I know some truths are eternal. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I live with my wife, son, and two daughters in Quebec, Canada. We share our home with snakes, turtles, frogs, a lizard, and a newt. We have a very rambunctious 2 year old beagle named Gryphon as well.

I have been a student of percussion since the age of 12. I run a very small company called Treefrog Percussion. I build, repair, teach and play hand drums. I love facilitating Drum circles. I believe in the power of drumming and music to create, enrich and uphold communities.

I recently discovered that I am ADHD, which explains a lot about the difficulties I have repeatedly encountered throughout my life. I have a very hard time sitting still - I am always on the go, doing something. I am creative but chronically disorganized. I am a bright guy who struggles to see projects through to completion. I can totally absorb myself in something, but I suck at time management and scheduling. My new goal is to turn my ADHD from what is probably my greatest liability into my greatest asset.

My guiding principle now is a scripture which comes from the Book of Mormon:

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. (Ether, chapter 12, verse 27)

I am more grateful for my membership in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and everything that has flowed forth from it, than anything else in the world.

Why I am a Mormon

I was raised in the United Church of Canada, and was engaged with my religion into my teen years. Then, almost overnight, at the age of 16 I simply lost my faith. I had some big questions which were simply not answered for me. I still felt that Christianity resonated with me, but there was something almost tangible that was missing with the experiences I had thus far.

In my second year of university, I became friends with an amazing girl. She simply had an aura of happiness and good spirit about her. It didn't take long for me to discover that she was a Mormon. She asked if I would like to learn more about her church, and I went along at first primarily as a way to spend time with her. But I soon discovered that the questions that I had when I was 16 were being answered. A great hole was being filled in my spiritual life.

I eventually was baptized, and made many new friends in my new faith. I loved attending church and extra-curricular religion classes, called institute. The girl who had introduced me to the church and I were engaged to be married, but that never happened. She called off the wedding, which was heartbreaking at the time, but she was really inspired. It was not the time for us.

A few years later I married a wonderful woman, in whom I had a crush since high school. She was raised in the Mormon church. We did not have a temple marriage, and have still not been sealed in the temple, but I sincerely hope that we will someday.

I can be a pretty hard guy to live with, and I am so grateful for my wife for putting up with me. I think we both have an eternal perspective about our life together. I know God loves us and will fulfill any righteous desire that we have for our family in His time.

I know the church is true. Not in a relative sense, but in an absolute sense. Truth that is universal, for anyone, in any time or place, any situation. We are all children of a Heavenly Father, and through faith in Jesus Christ we can live with him again. I strive to follow his commandments for us on earth, and I know Jesus Christ can sustain me where I falter.

I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I love the feeling of belonging in a church family. I love the prophets and leaders of the church, and I am consistently inspired by their messages. I have had some serious struggles to contend with in my adult life, including long bouts of depression, but I can't even imagine how I would have managed without my faith. In short, I am a Mormon because I simply would never deny the joy it has brought to me.

Personal Stories

Could you talk about your baptism?

There is possibly no ordinance or sacred rite more important to me than Baptism. While my own baptism was a profound experience, and a great day of my life, two baptisms that I took part in last year were some of the highest spiritual points in my life.

First was the baptism of my son, which I performed in the waters of the Shuswap lake in July. It was in the presence of family and friends, in the place where four generations of my wife's family have grown and shared summer memories. The presence of the Holy Spirit was nearly palpable. I really don't have words to describe it. It was a glorious day. What a tremendous privilege granted unto me. My profile photo shows us together just after the ceremony.

Second was while doing baptisms by proxy in the Montreal Temple for some of my deceased relatives, namely great-grandparents, grandparents and my Father, who died just a few days after my son was born. We believe that individuals who have passed on have the choice to accept or reject these ordinances on their behalf as steps in their own eternal progression. While I doubt my Father would have ever been open to the message of the Restored Gospel in his mortal life, I felt a deep, calming reassurance that he embraced this gift I offered him, and I felt his spirit close to me.

How I live my faith

On Sundays at church I teach a class for people just learning about, or who have recently joined our church. It is called "Gospel Principles". I love to teach, and I consider teaching one of the talents Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I especially love to teach the material in this class, because it is just the simple but precious fundamentals of our religion. I often think I get to learn more in my classes than my students.

I also love to serve and help members of our congregation, called a ward, whenever I can. There are a lot of students and young families that come into our ward for a short time, and then move along to the next phase in their lives, so it seems like we are always helping someone move. I am a pretty handy guy and I love the chance to get to help someone build something or renovate.

Whenever I can, I try and share my music with people in my community, both inside and outside the church. I play with a group that does Marimba music from Zimbabwe, and we played at our ward Christmas party this year. I hold a monthly free drum circle at one of our meetinghouses, where I share a lot of my knowledge and experience with drumming with anyone who can join us.

I love the feeling I get when I can talk to someone about my faith. I wish I was a better missionary, and was more bold when it comes to sharing the gospel. I know that if I pray for these opportunities, the Lord will bless me with them.

Why was a Restoration of the Gospel needed? Haven’t we always had the Bible?

Leo answered...

The bible is an amazing, sacred book of some of the most important stories and lessons any of us can ever know. But as Mormons we believe that some sacred writings over centuries and even millennium have been lost to us, writings that rightfully should have been included in the Bible. Thus some very fundamental truths are either missing entirely, or have been subject to so much translation and interpretation over the centuries that they are no longer clear. One need only look at the hundreds of Christian denominations in the world to see the results of this lack of clarity.

In my opinion, there are two most important things that an outsider should know about Mormonism. First, that we are Christian, we believe in Jesus Christ and we follow the teachings of the Bible. Second, that we believe that we have the organization of the church, its doctrines and authority, in the same capacity as Jesus established it when he was on Earth during his mortal ministry, and that it was restored to the world through the prophet Joseph Smith. This church organization does not exist because of decisions and structures made by men, but through divine revelation from Jesus Christ himself. This is Christianity the way he intended it to be.
Show more of my answers Show less of my answers One Moment Please
Joshua answered...

The Restoration is needed because of the Apostasy. The apostasy is a time foretold of by the prophet in the Bible Amos. In Amos 8:11-12

" Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."

Amos tells us that there will be a time when the gospel, or "the word of the Lord" will be lost. That time came when Jesus Christ and the Apostles were killed. Even though we still had the bible, there were no prophets or apostles to keep the gospel pure and true. Man was left with their own interpretation of the Bible. As we all know, there are thousands of christian churches all based on the bible, BUT all teach different doctrines. When Christ was on the earth He did not set up thousands of different churches so that there was something different for everyone. He had one church. His church. The prophet Peter tells us that there will be a restitution or a restoration of the gospel, in Acts 3:21

" Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

In short, the gospel was lost during the Apostasy and the Restoration brought it back. So, now we have the same gospel that Christ set up when he was on the earth. :)

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Kevin answered...

I suppose that new and different things have always been a challenge for some. It seems possible that the New Testament Christians might also have been called a cult: they were few in number, taught new, or at least different, doctrines and were lead by strong, charismatic leaders (a study of the early apostles like Peter or Paul bears this out).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called the Mormon church) follows the teachings of Jesus Christ as contained in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We do not worship our founding prophet (Joseph Smith) or our current prophet (Thomas S. Monson). We teach that men are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrice on the cross and that as we strive to follow Him and keep His commandments, that redemption becomes personal.

If others persist in defining the Church as a cult, in spite of our rather obvious Christian beliefs and doctrines, then we will simply have to agree to disagree.