Hi, I'm Ken

I’m a wonderfully happy husband & father, an unashamed optimist, a tennis enthusiast, a Texan, and I’m a Mormon.

About Me

I’ve been married to my best friend and the love of my life for 33 years now. We have 4 terrific kids and 4 young grandchildren. I have a degree in electrical engineering but I’m really a computer guy at heart. I’m self employed as a computer data storage consultant. We moved to Texas immediately after college and have been in love with the place ever since. In my spare time I like building furniture and construction projects, and my wife Charleen and I love to travel, play tennis, and spend time with our family. We’re a very lively family group and relish all kinds of activities when we can be together – playing sports & games, vacationing, enjoying great food, skiing, & cooling off in the beautiful lakes near us. In short, life is great and I am tremendously blessed.

Why I am a Mormon

My religious beliefs play an important role in everything I do and are the basis for my positive outlook on life. My faith in Christ along with an understanding of the purpose of life, which Jesus’ teachings make clear, give me confidence and hope as I deal with the inevitable difficulties of life, as well as tremendous happiness when things are going well. Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has brought me a deeper, clearer understanding of the teachings of Christ, through additional scripture which meshes perfectly with the Bible. Those clear, unambiguous teachings make my church membership invaluable. The things I have learned as a church member form a great body of “practical religion” -- Christian virtues, which have helped me become a better person, a better husband & father, and despite life’s troubles, happier than I could ever have been without them.

How I live my faith

I hope that people who know me can see the happiness in my life, which comes from trying to live according to the gospel. I try my best to follow Jesus’ teachings in whatever I do, whether it be treating my family with patience & love, integrity in making line calls in a tennis match, or fighting off the “what’s in it for me” attitude and doing good unto my fellow man. I greatly enjoy serving in the church, where we have no paid, full-time ministry. I teach scripture classes to high school youth in my area, visit other church members, and volunteer in one of our temples, where families are sealed together for eternity. These opportunities for service bring me great personal satisfaction and add balance to the family, work, and recreational aspects of my life.

What do Mormons believe is the purpose of life?

Ken answered...

An easy way to understand one of the major purposes of our lives here on earth is with an analogy to our earthly parents. When an infant is born into a family on earth, that child’s parents want all that is good and joyful and important for their newborn. They want the best for their offspring; to have them grow from a helpless, fully dependent infant into a successful, happy, independent adult; to have all the goodness of life the parents have enjoyed, and often even more. Just as our mortal parents want the best for us as their children, so our Heavenly Father wants us to eventually become like and share in all that He is and has. Our mortal existence, with its abundant joys and occasional sorrows & disappointments is a central part of our “growing up” and learning to become more like our Father in Heaven. Our learning is facilitated by God allowing us the freedom to make choices here on earth, both good ones and poor ones. As we make life’s decisions and experience their consequences, both good and bad, we learn and grow to become more like our Father. An understanding of this purpose of life and the Lord’s great atonement and plan of salvation, give essential perspective to our varied earthly experiences. They give us a view of the bigger picture, which includes, in addition to mortality, our life as spirits before being born on earth and our life after mortal death, as resurrected beings with our families and God.
Aileen. answered...

This question started my whole spiritual quest, so it is only most appropriate for me to now answer it.

Mormons believe that we were chosen by the Heavenly Father in the spirit world pre-existence to receive a physical body and to come to Earth to our specific mother and father. We agreed, and we essentially are fighting on Heavenly Father's "side" in the war with Lucifer. It is our spiritual "job" in this world to live a certain way, to use our agency to choose between good and evil, in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father's only son, whom He sacrificed to allow for our atonement to allow for our spiritual progression.

Mormons believe that while here on Earth, we should learn and live more like our Heavenly Father. This is our spiritual quest which is accomplished through our choices. We marry and build our own family, and by following the Scriptures and living accordingly, we receive access to the Temples where eternal ordinances are performed individually and together as a family.

We can be with our family forever, after death, joined together in Heaven, with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. We have greater peace in this life and eternal joy in the life to come. This is the purpose of our life here.

Before I understood this and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my life was reasonably happy but devoid of purpose. Something was missing. I felt incomplete.

Now, I have peace. My soul is soothed.

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Scott answered...

Perhaps because they see how close-knit we are as a community, and it can be somewhat hard to understand this support network if you have never been part of something quite like it.

Sometimes we hear that some others may perceive or presume that members are 'brainwashed' with information and forced to conform to some standard. To those I would say that is exactly the opposite of what actually occurs under the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, Satan's way is to force people to conform. Study the life of Christ and you'll understand that He never forces, but instead always invites.

Freedom to choose is something that we believe is one of God's greatest gifts to mankind, and is fundamental to our faith. All people (Church member or not) are always free to choose what to believe and how to act (we call this agency) and are encouraged to seek understanding of the reasons for any invitation that Christ or the living Prophet extends to them.