Hi, I'm Gary

I am a Family Physician in the Army and I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I grew up in California where I joined the church at the age of 14. I attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York for two years, served as a missionary for two years in Belgium and then finished my last two years at West :Point. I attended the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland and completed a residency in Family Medicine at Fort Benning, Geogria. I have served as an Army physician for the past 23 years and love my job. My first wife and I had five boys with one set of twins. After 25 wonderful years of marriage, she died of breast cancer. I am currently married to a wonderful woman with three girls. We are enjoying our new blended family of 8 children.
I love to hike, backpack and spend time with family.

Why I am a Mormon

My father joined the church when I was at my grandparents in Wyoming. After his 2nd divorce, my father was searching for a church that would provide us with the stability and values that he wanted me to have. When I returned home that summer, he was very anxious for me to discover the joy that he had found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was reluctant at first and eventually agreed to meet with the missionaries. They were very kind and I enjoyed talking to them. I went to church with my father but remember thinking how sad it was that all these people were so misled. As I continued to attend, I discoved that there were doctors, pharmacists, lawyers and corporate executives. Besides being very kind, these people were VERY intelligent. At that point I decided that there must be something that attracted such good people and I began to listen to the message with faith instead of doubt. Suddenly I found that the lessons the missionaries taught and the things that I read in the Book of Mormon came alive with the spirit. I knew that the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ was true and I was baptized. I will never forget how wonderful I felt the day I was baptized. I had never felt such joy and peace in all my life. I had no doubt that I had made the correct choice. Since then my life has been blessed in countless ways and my testimony has been reconfirmed again and again!

How I live my faith

I have served as a leader for the Young Men for many years and have loved the opportunity to interact with them. My faith is strengthened as I see their dedicated service and love one for another. I especially enjoy going backpacking with them and watching them grow in unity as they face the rigors of a 50 mile trip. We often provide service to the local soup kitchen by baking desserts or serving food to the homeless. My son and I have three families in the church hat we visit each month. We try to make sure their needs are bieing met and provide a gospel message. It is a joy to serve with my son in this way.

Why do some call Mormonism a cult?

Terry answered...

Mostly because of misunderstanding and lack of knowledge about the Church. It's easier for people to believe what they hear from other people (who heard it from someone else, who heard it from another person that read it on the Internet...) instead of making an effort to find out from the source.

In addition, there are small, secretive groups that are not part of our Church that use a modified form of the name of the Church for their own group, and have practices that are similar to our worship services and practices. These groups may be involved in illegal activities, especially polygamy, and when the media reports on them, they do not make an effort to distinguish between these groups and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elizabeth answered...

It's funny, I used to call the Mormon Church a cult too. I just didn't understand it.

Mormonism isn't weird or strange. Its members don't perform satanic rituals or brainwash teenage boys into walking around from door to door in suits and name tags (nor is anyone forced to -- everyone who chooses to serve a mission does so out of their own free will and choice).
I used to call Mormonism a cult because it seemed foreign and unfamiliar, which I deemed scary. The same thing happened to Jesus' first followers as well: they were accused of cult worship too! Others who understood little of what Mormons truly believe told me lies about so-called "practices" in the church which, in reality, were just made-up stories and falsehoods intended to give the church a bad name.
When it comes down to it, a lot of people just don't understand this church, and lies about it spread like wildfire. Mormons believe that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Savior and the Redeemer of the world, plain and simple.
Is that so weird or cultish?
Today, there are close to fourteen million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide, and more live outside of the United States than inside. That doesn't seem very cult-like to me!

What is a ward/stake/branch?

Michael answered...

For purposes of organization, a Ward or Branch is the group you meet with for church, based on where you live. They vary in size, branches are slightly smaller than wards, and wards vary in the various 100's of members. Wards and branches are then organized into stakes, containing several wards/branches.