Hi, I'm David

I'm an engineer, I write songs for fun, and I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I have the world's most interesting job - I work on programming computers so you can talk to them. It's called automatic speech recognition and it's a mix of math, statistics, software, linguistics, and physics. For fun I like to write music and help other people record their songs.

Why I am a Mormon

I grew up in a family of engineers and I spend my days working with scientists, so I've been trained to critically examine evidence. When I apply these principles to faith, the existence of God is unmistakable. I see His hand in the world around me, I feel His Spirit in my heart when I pray, and I recognize power in His words when I read the scriptures

How I live my faith

Being a Mormon keeps me busy. I have meetings on Sunday, I join the missionaries to teach lessons Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and I try to read the scriptures and pray regularly. It's not easy, but these things make me happy and help me be a better person.

Are all Mormons required to serve a mission?

David answered...

I planned to go on a mission since I was a little boy, but I had to wait till I was 19. No, it's not required, but it was the greatest experience of my life.
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.

Do Mormons only help Mormons?

Jeff answered...

As a local Bishop in the Church, I can assure you that we do not limit our help to members. We perform numerous acts of service to our friends in the local community, and we do it gladly because we know service brings us and them great blessings of happiness and satisfaction. Our world wide disaster relief program brings food, clothing, water, sanitations kits and medications to our nonmember brothers and sisters around the world, quickly and effeciently. As Mormons, we know we are fellow citizens of the world and that all peoples are part of our Heavenly Father's family, and we try hard to act accordingy.