Hi, I'm Chal

I grew up in the Western United States. My wife and I with our 3 kids, adopted a little boy from Brooklyn NY. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I was raise in an LDS home with 4 brothers and a sister. I feel like we had a pretty good, close knit family. I served a mission for the LDS in Idaho and Oregon. I have a bachelors degree in History with a minor in Philosopy. My masters degree is in Psycology, Counseling and Human Relations. I teach high school, grades 9-12.
I have been able to do so some traveling, including 3 trips to the Holy Land (Israel, Egypt and Jordan). One of those was a 6 month stint where I lived in Jerusalem. I love going to new places, learning the history and culture of those places.
I enjoy reading, and like all kinds of genres, from Louis Lamour westerns to John Grisham legal suspense.
I am excited to certify to scuba dive, and likely by the time this is being read I will be PADI certified.
I have always liked magic tricks, and love to show my children new tricks.
Spending quality time with my family outdoors is always a favorite thing to do. I just showed them the Cedar Breaks in Southern UT, what beautiful grand place.

Why I am a Mormon

Over time and through faith based experiences I have come to know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. Through the same process of faith I have learned that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church here on earth. I was born to a mother and father who faithfully worshipped Heavenly Father as members of this church. But there came a time in life that I came to that knowledge for myself. I am a Latter-day Saint because I feel my Savior's love and his peace as I worship him and Heavenly Father. I am a Latter-day Saint because the Savior has given us once more a living Prophet on the earth, just as he did in ancient times. Joseph Smith Jr. first, and through time Thomas S. Monson has been called to lead the church, as Jesus' mouthpiece here on the earth.
I try to live my life in a way that my Heavenly Father would have me. I want to be a true disciple of Christ, and in so doing he has asked us in John 14:15, 'if ye love me keep my commandments.' I love my Savior, and so I strive to keep his words. Through his Grace I am saved.

How I live my faith

As a member of a church where no one gets paid, we are give assignments, called callings. My calling is with the 14 to 15 year old boys, both the Sunday/Spiritual side of Church, as well as the activity arm of our young men’s program, the Boy Scouts of America. I along with 3 other men, I am an advisor to this age of boys. We prepare and pray for and teach the young men. We help them plan, and over see their plans for youth activities and high adventure Scout outings. Currently we are planning to PADI Certify Scuba Dive, with a trip next summer to scuba dive off the coast of Catalina Island CA. Also our boys are preparing for the Territorial Days, Mountain Man Rendezvous that is held in the White Mountains in AZ. Ultimately any activity, physical, mental, spiritual are to teach these boys and help convert them to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
I also am what we call a Home Teacher, to 3 families in our ward (a small geographical area/ congregation). As a home teacher I visit with and minister to these families so they may continue on the path towards our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Truly the blessings are not those families that I meet with and teach, but are mine as I really am able to spend some incredible time with some incredible people.

What is the priesthood?

Chal answered...

The priesthood is the authority to act in the name of God. With righteousness then through the priesthood comes God's power to bless the lives of the people it is being used for. Heavenly Father uses those with the priesthood as instruments to accomplish is work and will. Those who hold the priesthood are duty bound to serve faithfully all of God's children.
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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 are some things that tell you there is a God?

Mark answered...

Everything around us testifies of a God who created all things. The complexity of life points toward an Intelligent Being who designed it, organized it and brought it to existence. The probability that everything around us may have arisen by mere chance is infinitely small, and the idea of a Supreme Creator is the only one that can make sense of all the beauty and complexity of nature including ourselves. And yet, these still do not prove the existence of God in the same sense that scientific concepts are proven. It is really impossible to prove the existence of God in the same, logical way used in science (the scientific method). That is why we say that we believe that there is a God, even if we have not seen him - this is called faith. I have not personally seen God, but my inner self tells me that he exists. Ultimately, it comes down to individual choice. We decide based on what we see and feel, on what the surroundings tell us, whether God exists or not. I choose to believe that there is a God, and this choice is one of my most important freedoms.