Hi, I'm Brad

I am a husband. I am a full-time college student and an avid sports fan. I enjoy making people laugh and I am a Mormon.

About Me

I am a husband to my beautiful wife Jennifer and we have been married for two years. We are both working and going to college. My major in college is Geography with an emphasis in planning. I am looking to become a city planner after graduation and continue my schooling by working towards a Master's Degree. My wife is attending school to become an elementary school teacher. We love spending time with our families and with each other. I love biking, hiking, camping and fishing. I am a person that loves to make others laugh and feel good about themselves. I enjoy following politics and learning about the world around me. I have one nephew and two nieces on my side and two nephews and one niece on Jenn's side. I am an avid sports fan and I love to follow college sports. My wife, family and my faith in Christ are the driving points in my life.

Why I am a Mormon

I was born into a home where the gospel of Jesus Christ was taught and lived. I was fortunate to have parents that provided me with oppertunities to find out for myself if this church was true. As I grew up, I was able to gain for myself a testimony of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith. I have prayed and I know of myself that Joseph Smith did indeed seek guidance from God to know which church was true. I know that God the father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and that through Joseph Smith the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth today. Through many experiences that I have had, my testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ has grown and I have chosen to follow him throughout my life. By choosing to do so my life has been blessed with his endless love and the blessing of repentance, a blessing that is made possible because of Christ's eternal sacrifice. I know by reading from the Bible and the Book of Mormon that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. Because Christ suffered for our sins and died for us, we can all repent and start on our path to eternal happiness and salvation. I started on my path at age 8 when I chose to be baptized and I am eternally greatful that I made that decision. I know that God is my Father in Heaven and that he knows and loves me. Through Jesus Christ we can repent and change our lives for the better and ultimately return to live with our Father in Heaven and families forever. That is God the father's greatest gift that he has for us, is that through Christ we can be perfected and return to him again. The gospel of Jesus Christ is my guiding force in my life for me and my family. I have been blessed forever because of the gospel!

How I live my faith

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I am given many oppertunities to serve and help those around me. In the church there are various auxillaries and Preisthood Quorums that function to lift each individual member of each church unit. Through the restoration of the gospel the Priesthood power that was given the the Apostles of Jesus Christ was once again restored to the earth. As a holder of that priesthood belong to a group of bretheren called the Elder's Quorum. In that quorum there is a presidency that has been called of God to serve and minister to every member of the quorum. I am the second counselor in our Elder's quorum and I assist the President of the Elder's Quorum fullfill his duties and responsibilities.
As a holder of the Priesthood I also except a call to visit a certian number of families within the ward that have been assigned to me. This is called Home Teaching. As a Priesthood holder and Home Teacher, it is my responsibility to look after the families that have been assigned to me. To see that their spiritual and temperal needs are being met and that I am there for any additional assistance as needed. Each Home Teacher is asked to visit his families as least once a month. I love the families that I home teach and I feel it a privelage to do so.

What is the priesthood?

Brad answered...

The most common and direct answer is that the priesthood is the power of God to bless people on earth through worthy priesthood holders. If you are familiar with the Bible, prophets in the Old Testament and up to Jesus Christ and his Apostles in the New Testament held the priesthood of God. Prophets like Abraham, Moses and others held the presthood. Prophets were not the only men to hold the priesthood, but they are good examples of men who did. All of the prophets had to hold the priesthood in order to be called as a prohet of God.
When Christ was on the earth he too held the priesthood as he was the son of God as well. He called twelve apostles twelve special witnesses of Jesust Christ, and gave them the priesthood of God. John the Baptist, the man that baptized Jesus Christ, also held the priesthood. After the death of Jesus Christ, his apostles continued to excersize the priesthood until they all had been killed or died. With their deaths, the priesthood power was taken from the earth and lost.
As part of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith, the priesthood too was once restored again to the earth. Without the restoration of the priesthood power to the earth all men and women would still lack the ability to be blessed by the saving ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Priesthood is essential for the salvation of all men and women. With the priesthood power worthy priesthood holders can baptize people for the remission of their sins. The first covenant promise/commitment we make in living a Christlike in our effort to return to our Heavenly Father. Priesthood holder also can give the gift of the Holy Ghost the third member of the Godhead, give blessings of comfort and healing, and bless and pass the sacrament every sunday. The sacrament is patterned after the sacrament that Christ gave to his Apostles before he was crucified, and it allows members of his church to repent and renew their baptismal covenant. By partaking of the sacrament, we are blessed to have the Holy Ghost and love of Christ with us throughout the coming week. There are many other blessings available through the priesthood of God and I am grateful for all of these blessings.
I have been blessed to be baptized and partake of the sacrament each week and I know that the priesthood of God was restored through Joseph Smith. I know that the priestood is the power of God to bless all people on this earth and I know that by the priestood we can recieve the saving blessings of Jesus Christ's gospel. The priesthood of God is once agian on earth and it is here to bless all that come unto Christ and believe in him.
Ethan answered...

I like to approach questions by looking at the words of things

"priest" has reference to either the concept of one who leads, one who is elder, or one who is holy I like to remember that the words 'holy' and 'whole' are linked by a common ancestry. When something is 'holy' it's essentially saying that it's complete, that it's healthy..

And "-hood" makes reference to the state of being, and not just any state of being but a state of being that's worthy or correct for it's placement. That is, that it's done properly.

So one could say the priesthood is leadership or a point of reference that's completely suited to the position in which it's been placed.

Another way to look at it is to say it's God's perfect order. That is, it's God's perfect arrangement.

In our Church we often give a definition of priesthood as being "the authority to act in God's name" and that's exactly what it means to be a part of God's perfect order. If God commands something to be done by you, and you do it, then you are acting under, and with that portion of God's authority that he's permitted you to exercise within his perfect order.

Just as with any instance where someone tries to act in the name of someone else there are bound to be those who try and do so falsely. That's why God has things ordered in such a way that one can know for certain if someone has His God's authority, or not.

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

Mike. answered...

First, I wholeheartedly believe in the "Official Church Answer" to this question. Homosexual behavior is, as the scriptures clearly state, against God's law, just as fornication and adultery are against God's law. There are no exceptions, but there is always repentance.

God loves all of his children. Christ died to redeem all of God's children. To these statements there are also no exceptions. I am firmly conviced that whether a person experiences same gender attraction or not, he or she is still a child of God. God's love for us is constant, but that does not mean that He will always approve of our choices or our behavior.

Through the atonement of Christ, all of our hurts and pains, all of our sorrows and anguish, will be taken away. All of our sins will be forgiven on condition of repentance. All these are His. He paid the price for them, and we have no right to hold on to them.