Hi, I'm Pat

I'm a Friend, I'm an Oklahoman, I'm a servant of God, I'm a recovering Addict, I'm a Computer Geek, and I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I'm a father of 3 girls. I'm currently a recovering addict (77 days free of my Addiction). My biggest hobby is playing games on the computer (or Play Station 2). I am unemployed and hoping I get employed soon. I love watching movies. I have learned recently how selfish I really was (even though I truly believed I was always helping others). Being humbled isn't always fun., but is sometimes necessary. I enjoy time with my kids when they come over. I am currently blessed with Epilepsy and High Blood Pressure. I am grateful for my weaknesses and blessings as they have helped me grow and have helped me to help others. I respect the ideas brought up in the movie "Pay it Forward". I do hope that we can all stop the hate and realize how much others have helped us, and "Pay it Forward". Small sacrifices of others to help us truly are a blessing, and we, too, need to be able to help others. It was quite humbling to learn that when I was refusing help earlier in my life, I was robbing others of their blessing by refusing to let them help me. With a whole new perspective on things... I am not starting to learn how imperfect we are and how much we need our Heavenly Father. I have also learned recently to trust our Heavenly Father completely.. When he takes me through the valley of the shadow of Death, am I clinging to his leg ? or Am I trusting him completely ? He has returned my faith and trust in the form of miracles. And thus I now have a greater responsibility.

Why I am a Mormon

My parents divorced at an early age. I do remember feeling the Holy Ghost's presence and basking in it as I ran through the halls. After Dad took us, he started to go to other churches, and church did not seem right anymore. No church knew the song "I am a child of God" which really meant a lot to me. Eventually we all voted on "not attending church ". I only agreed because I knew the churches we were attending were not the true church. I had no idea where to find it. Eventually, in my teen years, I moved in with mom. Because of the problems I had (or some would even say caused), I was eventually put into a christian school. I was thinking,"christian? yeah right!" They had a bible class. The teacher asked us how many of us attend church. about 10% of us raised our hand. I had to agree, that's pathetic (especially for a christian school). My teacher challenged us to go find a church that's right for us, and thus a whole new journey began. I truly felt motivated and excited. I was going to find the True Church. As mom picked me up and I informed her of my new challenge, she told me that I might not remember, but that I used to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (shes right). she still knew one of the members and arranged for me to meet with them and set up a meeting with the missionaries. This brain damaged child (me) still wasn't getting answers yet. Then I attended a baptism. The room was familiar, but how ? I had never been here before ? It shrunk ? I asked the guy next to me what it was used for when I was a kid. "Primary". I was asked to do a talk on Moses and the splitting of the waters and they asked if I wanted to have dad or mom help me. How could I remember that ? God blessed me with a child memory. They sang "teach me all that I must do to live with Him some day" I was taught "know" instead of Do. But it is obvious that knowing is not enough. This was the church. They knew my song. I was returned to the fold.

Personal Stories

Please explain the part prayer plays in your life?

I enjoy praying. I love the idea that I can talk with Heavenly Father. I am very thankful for my many blessings. I constantly pray for direction. I constantly pray for guidance and help. I constantly pray for God to help my family. One of my friends stated that she never says "Amen" because she wants to keep the lines of communication open. Ironically, I say Amen twice. To me, the first amen is more to close the prayer, but the second is to let my Heavenly Father know that I am being respectful and making it a personal matter rather than "just another prayer". Here are two completely different ways of praying. Which one is right ? Well, the truth is... it's different for everyone. One of the goals is to be respectful to God. With these two ideas, we are each making it personal. Praying once a day is not enough to me. It sounds strange to others that I am constantly praying several different prayers all day long. To me, it's like letting Heavenly Father know that I have not forgotten him or took him for granted. Sometimes the prayer is as simple as "Thank you Heavenly Father for everything"... but most times I mention specific things I am thankful for, and for specific things I would like him to bless me with. Praying invites the Spirit of the Holy Ghost. Praying is like a telephone call to God. Some would say that it is possible to pray too much, but others would say that you can never pray enough. The truth depends on the conversations in my opinion. Am I more like the loving child who wants to sit on Dad's lap, or am I more like the annoying telemarketers who seemingly never stop calling? I really want my Heavenly Father to know that I do notice His work in my life. I do want Heavenly Father to know that while I don't always understand what's going on, I do appreciate him working in my life. I also want Him to know that I am sorry for my actions, as I truly am not trying to work against Him. He knows I love Him.

How does making right choices help us make more right choices?

As a parable, imagine a clothing store owner finds a lady naked and partly beaten in the field. He offers to take her to his store and let her pick out 1 free outfit to go to the police in. If she picked a mini skirt, she is now stuck with that as her only clothing. If she picks out a modest dress, then it will be easier to continue to be modest as it is her only choice. If I had never chosen to drink alcohol, my life would have been much easier. When people choose to participate in addictions, they lose their agency and become a slave to their addiction. They can not simply stop their addiction. By making right choices, we keep our agency, we continue to grow spiritually. We learn to recognize right choices with the help of the Holy Ghost. With my addictions, I chose to get help. I chose to stop. And with continual growth which was mostly from the Addiction Recovery Program, I was eventually able to stop participating in my addiction. The continuation of bad choices takes away our agency. The continuation of good choices, lets use keep our agency, and learn to grow more spiritually. The more we grow spiritually, the less we want to participate in bad choices. It's almost like every good choice is a boost of strength. There will always be temptations. But if we continually make good choices, we will be strengthened against bad choices. In overcoming an addiction, if you are continually making good choices, then the desire for the addiction will become less, and eventually you will not want to participate in it, and eventually it can even become an offensive idea. I have overcome my addiction and have to admit that it was by making good choices. those choices included admitting that I had a problem, going to get help, etc. But eventually I became strengthened and no longer wanted to partake in my addiction. A good choice might also be to change your friends, so that you hang out with friends who don't participate in that addiction.

How I live my faith

I attend church and my Addiction Recovery Meetings. These are such spiritual moments for me. It is wonderful to be around brothers and sisters that have weaknesses but want to change. Each one of us has the ability to change (through God's Power). but the very first step is to admit our weakness, and be willing to change. Whether we have an addiction or not, the principles are basically the same... We need to humble ourselves before God, admit our weaknesses, ask him for forgiveness (and strength), and turn our will over to his... (Granted, this is a lot easier said than done), but this is basically what we are here for. We are here to see if we will do all those things the Lord would have us do.

Why do Mormons baptize their new members?

Pat answered...

We believe that Baptism has to be done by someone with the priesthood authority. We also accept that even Jesus Christ was baptized. If we are to be his followers, we too should be baptized. The contract covenant we make with God at that time says that we will become Christians accept Christ, obey his commandments, and remember him. The going underwater symbolizes the dying of the sinful body. The rising of the body, symbolizes the re-birth of the clean body. This covenant allows us to be forgiven of our sins, but requires effort on our part. Through baptism, we become members of the church. The renewing of these vows takes place each Sunday during "Sacrament" when we partake of the bread and water.
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Gary T. answered...

We follow the example of Jesus Christ, who was baptized by immersion by John the Baptist. Being baptized is a symbol of faith, as it represents the burying of old sins, old ways and old habits, and taking on the name of Jesus Christ. We are "buried" in the water, which represents the environment of the past, and therefore we must be lifted up in order to survive. That lifting up represents our being lifted up by Christ, out of the past, and into the great promises and blessings of being one with Christ. When we come out of the water, we are symbolically a new person in Christ.

Why are Mormons asked to donate 10% of their income to their Church?

Kristen answered...

This is nothing new, nor is it exclusive to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Many faiths practice alms or a tithe, including Islam and Sikhism.

A voluntary religious contribution of 10% is a tithe or tithing. This type of offering is mentioned many times in the both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In the book of Genesis, chapter 28 verse 22, the ancient patriarch Jacob covenanted with the Lord, "and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."

Everything we have, our lives, the earth and everything in it, have been given freely to us by a loving Father in Heaven. He asks only a small portion in return to help build his kingdom on the earth.

When my husband and I were first married, we decided to make paying a 10% tithe a top financial priority, and it has been a great blessing to us through the years. In Malachi, chapter 3 verse 10 it states, "Bring yea ll the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you thei windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." This has certainly been the case with us.

I realize that 10% of one's income can seem like a large sacrifice. However, when the law of the tithe is kept, it serves as a portal through which great blessings (both tangible and intangible) can flow. The Lord always finds a way to bless those who do what He asks them to do.