Hi, I'm Andy

It took me 53 years to find my way.

About Me

I have been married for 22 years. I am a college graduate. I was fortunate to have been able to take an early retirement offer from my employer when our plant was shut down. I love the outdoors and nature and I enjoy hunting and exploring in the woods. I love to read. The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged are two of my favorite books. I love watching my local sports teams play. I listen to 60's and 70's rock-n-roll, blues and classical music.

Why I am a Mormon

After not going to any church for over 40 years I took lessons from 3 Sister missionaries. They brought the peace, love and joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit into our lives. I had been seeking a way to connect with a mysterious force that seemed to guide my life when I listened. But that force was not there all the time and it usually made itself known after the fact. I had learned to connect more strongly through meditation but the connection was still fleeting. As the missionaries taught us I came to understand that I had been seeking the Holy Ghost. Because I had been aware of the Spirit for many years it was easy for me to recognize its presence, and when I combined prayer with meditation I received a very powerful answer that baptism was what I should do. The Gospel of Jesus Christ also answers all the BIG questions. Did we exist somewhere before we were born? Where did we come from? What is our purpose on this earth? What happens after we die? Will we ever see our loved ones again after we die? Knowing these things brings a previously unimaginable sense of peace and joy into our lives. It frees us from the bondage of fear and allows us to grow into our true potential as God's children!

Personal Stories

How has the Holy Ghost helped you?

The Holy Ghost is our teacher and guide in life. The Holy Ghost is a subtle but immensely powerful force that helps to distill our souls and bring Christ alive within us. The Holy Ghost is what most people think of as premonition, deja vu, ESP, instinct, gut feeling, and coincidence. The Holy Ghost also manifests to us in dreams. The Holy Ghost can alert us to danger or to avoid bad people. The Holy Ghost teaches us to become more Christ-like. The Holy Ghost can lead us when we are lost, it can help us to find solutions to problems that we didn't think we could solve, it can alert us to seek out other people who are in need of help or comfort, it can give us the words to say to help us to deal with other people in challenging situations. In short, the Holy Ghost is slowly but surely making me a better man, a better husband, a better priesthood holder, and a better human being. This great blessing is available to everyone.

How I live my faith

I approach my faith like the tortoise in the Tortoise and Hare fable. One step at a time. I focus on doing the small and simple things that allow me to grow in the gospel and advance along God's path. I pray often, I give thanks when I recognize the hand of God in my life, I read my scriptures often, I keep a spiritual journal that has become my personal scripture, I accept the church callings that are offered to me and I have the faith to trust that God will show me the way no matter what I am asked to do, through home teaching I have established loving relationships with the families that I may not have known otherwise, I help our missionaries teach people who are seeking what I was seeking, and I work at our temple. Each one of these things is like the steps the tortoise took as he won his race with the hare. The race is won one step at a time, one action at a time, one prayer at a time...

What do Mormons believe about the Bible? Do they regard it as Holy Scripture and the word of God?

Andy answered...

The Bible is a true book of scripture in as much as it has been translated correctly. The Book of Mormon brings a much deeper understanding of the Bible because it restores some plain and precious things that were lost or mistranslated. With each reading of the Book of Mormon you will become more enlightened in the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and this will allow you to better understand the Bible and especially the Old Testament because both the Bible and the Book of Mormon testify of Jesus Christ
Jonathan Richardson answered...

We believe that the Bible is the word of God, given through his Apostles and Prophets in the days of old. Through generations the bible has been translated time and time again, and now it stands with some of the simple truths of Christs teachings being either removed or complicated. That is why there are so many different views on what the scriptures teach, and so many churchs created for those views. We believe that God has restored those simple truths and clarified the complicated view through the Book of Mormon which is a record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas.

What is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' attitude regarding homosexuality and same sex marriage?

Gregg answered...

We believe the Bible and other records passed down through centuries, that God has spoken to man starting with Adam and Eve and continues to speak to us in modern days. God loves us and knows what will bring us true joy in this life and in the life to come. He has declared and continues to command that sexual relations are only to be practiced between husband and wife, legally and lawfully married. He has ordained marriage for the purpose of binding husbands and wives together in a special relationship that can last not just in this life, but for all eternity, and to bring children into the world and nurture them.

Others will fail to understand these truths or try to change them, but the family is central to God's plan and he continues to make his will quite clear on this matter. As members of his church, we will defend these truths.