Hi, I'm Tanner!

I love to play around, have fun, and just relax. I'm a missionary, an adrenaline junkie, I'm a Mormon.

About Me

Hey! My name is Tanner. I am currently a missionary for the church in the Fort Worth, Texas mission. Being a missionary is awesome! I LOVE to snowboard, wakeboard, and do anything else with a board in it.I grew up in Utah with my 3 brothers and 3 sisters. We all have our differences but we are way tight. After my mission I am going to continue going to school in hopes of becoming a doctor. I have grown up in the church all my life but have just recently in the past few years began to notice all the blessings the gospel of Jesus Christ brings to my life. I love the church, I Love my family, I love life, but most of all I love the Lord!

Why I am a Mormon

I am a "Mormon" because I have seen the blessings come into my life from living the standards. I believe God gives us commandments as guidelines to a truly happy and successful life. As I said earlier I grew up in the church but just like everyone else I had to get a testimony of my own. So I prayerfully read the Book Of Mormon to see if God wanted me to stay with the church. By doing so I found just as the introduction said, that Jesus is the Christ, that the man who translated the book Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that the church Jesus Christ set up is once again on the earth in its fullness! I love that message soo much that I decided to come on a mission for 2 years in the crazy Texas heat working my face off to share it with everyone I can.

How I live my faith

I live my faith by constantly trying to say and do what Christ would say and do if he were in my shoes. As a missionary I get the opportunity to stand as a witness of Jesus Christ and his church at all times, in all things, and in all places and teach those who would also like to know things such as the purpose of life, how they can be together forever with their families, and how to find true happiness in this life and the next through Jesus Christ. I love my savior and I do everything I can to bring myself and others closer to Him through his teachings and that of His messengers.

Are all Mormons required to serve a mission?

Tanner! answered...

Nope. But it is deffinately encouraged. On a mission you learn soooo much about life skills and most of all about God. You also get some funny experiences that I wouldnt trade for the world ex being chased by dogs, biking insanely far distances in 100+ degrees, and running into lots of crazy people But what I love most about the mision is being able to see the light in someone's eyes after they have grown soo much more close to our Savior.
Show more of my answers Show less of my answers One Moment Please
Nick answered...

"Required" is an interesting word when it comes to faith and religion. In the Mormon Church no one is "required" to serve a mission. Church membership is not revoked for not serving a mission. In this sense, they are not required, yet serving a mission is encouraged at many stages in life and in many different capacities throughout the world.

Missionary service is a tremendous blessing, a challenge, and one of the main focuses of the faith. The life of Jesus Christ was the life of a missionary in many respects. Performing service for one another, preaching the glad message of the gospel, and increasing the faith and dedication of God's children are exemplified in Christ's life and mirrored by those in missionary service.

To dedicate a portion of one's life in service propels those who serve and those who are served into a better life. During my two year mission to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and during my two year service mission with LDS Family Services, I was greatly blessed and strengthened. (I hope those whom I served found some value in my service as well.) That strength has taught me to better navigate this life, has kept my family relations intact, and has been the method of helping others overcome their trials as well.

Spiritually speaking, I don't find value in reflecting on what my life would be like without serving a mission. Instead, I rejoice in knowing that without that time in missionary service my life would be significantly less happy and productive. In my life, serving a mission has taken on many of the characteristics of a "required" act since I can't picture myself progressing very far without having served as a missionary. While not required to be a member of the Mormon church, missionary service has been a critical and welcome part of my life and growth spirituality. I will be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to serve missions, and look forward to serving in many more.

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

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. :)