Hi, I'm Casey

I watch movies. I love lacrosse. I dream of being a helicopter pilot. I'm a missionary, and I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I'm being a missionary, working hard, loving life, and I'm a Mormon. :D

#1 important thing for me is the family. After seeing my Mom pass through broken mairages and having my family affected by it, I have really come to understand and appreciate how important my family is. I love them and while serving a mission here in the Philippines they are always near to my heart.

I went to a year of college and studied. I wanted to be a pilot but like most people studying, I think I'm going to change it. I was thinking about getting a degree in making money while playing but I'm still not sure how that will happen.

Paintballing is awesome, I want to go skydiving enough times to be able to go on my own, and I want to have enough money some time to go off roading and not worry about hurting my car. :)

One of my joys is helping people. Some of my most memorable moments is seeing some one sad or lonely and just talking to them, walking with them, or eating with them. I remember going as a kid to nursing homes and seeing how lonely some seemed and just saying hello and being kind to one lonely soul. And all the time you see people who need a friend or a little food for that day or anything. I mean we are all just people and need a little lift from others some times so why not lift them and make the world just a tiny bit better that day?

Why I am a Mormon

The reason that I'm a Mormon is because of the testimony that I received after many prayers to God.

I grew up in this church but just never believed it. I felt that there was no God, that this life and earth are just happenings in a vast universe of nearly unlimited chance, therefore making it perfectly reasonable that we are just here and there is no God, no heaven, and no life after this.

I however just had a tiny feeling that there could be a God and this church could be led by Him.

That feeling came one day as I listened to a former living prophet and president of this church, Gordon B. Hinckley, speak to the church. I don't even remember what he said, I just remember that I was 15, I was unsure, and I felt some thing different in my heart.

My doubts culminated to a time during my last year in high school that I needed to know if God existed or not. However, I knew that people not following God's will don't seem to feel His presence so I began to follow the commandments and I decided I should serve Him and go on a full time 2 year mission.

On my mission, I realized it is really hard to serve God if you are not 100% sure so I prayed and searched like I never had in my entire life to know if He was there, if he really talked to a boy named Joseph Smith in 1820, and if Joseph Smith was a legitimate prophet. I read and I prayed and I poured over a book called the Book of Mormon. In the book is found the teachings of Jesus Christ but also, the book is evidence of whether Joseph Smith is true or not. I read and prayed and studied for 4 months.

But, one day as I was writing the things I learned from the book that I did and didn't like, I felt I should just close the book, kneel, and ask God if it was true. I did so, felt okay, and went on. Later that day, as I was thinking about that prayer, I felt the strongest feeling that this is true. Now I follow because it is true.

Personal Stories

Please share your feelings/testimony of Joseph Smith.

For me, I really used to not believe in Joseph Smith. I could not believe his story that he saw God and all the stuff that came with it.

But the one thing that I could not get out my mind was that it didn't seem impossible. And, how dumb would I feel if I died and found out he was legitimate?

So I just went for it and decided to give it a whirl to find out if he was true. I read the evidence that he is true, The Book of Mormon, and I prayed about it. In fact, I read it every day. Yet, I could not swallow it. I would read it for a few minutes, see some thing that just did not go down well or didn't fit with what I knew, and I hated it. However, there was always some thing calling me back to read and try again.

After months of reading and writing down all the problems I found, I was ready to quit. But one day, as I read a few verses from the Book of Mormon and from the Bible, I felt I should just close my note book filled with my doubts, and just ask God in a good long prayer if it was true. I bowed my head and prayed hard asking if it was true. I then stopped, said amen, then sat there thinking and waiting for the answer that people would tell me about. All I felt was quietness for a few seconds. I felt a little peaceful and my thoughts were clear and focused, but I didn't feel anything definite.

Later that day, as I was talking about the Book of Mormon with some people, this warm amazing feeling came over me as I thought back to my prayer earlier. I then felt the peace and amazing joy that others had always talked about when they would tell me how they got an answer. It was so different and amazing. A feeling of peace and calm hit me hard.

I have felt that over and over again ever since. When I doubt, I kneel and pray, and there is always peace when I ask. My prayers have been answered many times and I always feel the same thing, he is true and I don't need to keep doubting.

I know he is true and I love that I know the truth. :)

Can you think of a specific challenge in your family that Gospel Principles helped overcome?

My parents divorced when I was a kid, then we went through another rough divorce, then we had other scary times just like every one else.Through all the hard times, I was always confident that I was a child of a loving Father in Heaven who cared about me and knew me.

The hardest times were during my Mom's second mairage. Things started out okay but deteriorated over time. Over time, my step dad started getting physically abusive sought divorce. However, they had both begun to make a good amount of money building and selling houses together, and he wasn't ready to split that in half. Since an agreement to split things 50/50 couldn't be reached, he became physically and emotionally abusive in order to force a divorce in which he just kept the money and we were out of his life.

During he worst times, I would be the last one to leave for school and could hear my Mom sobbing in the other room. She should have been getting ready for work, but I would hear here sobbing in the other room. I remember just praying to know what to do and feeling I should just go in and listen to her. I was nervous but knew it was what needed to be done. I did and just listened to her unload her stress on to me. Since I was eleven, I didn't know what to do or how to react. I just remember praying. As I prayed, the kind example of Jesus Christ I learned in church came to my mind, and I just tried to compliment my Mom for her bravery.

On my own, I was also very scared. One song I learned in church helped me every night to not feel scared.

Heavenly Father, are you really there?
And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?
Some say that heaven, is far away
But I feel it close around me as I pray.

That song that I learned in church as a kid was the song that I sang every time I felt those same feelings my Mom would feel. Every time I sang or prayed, the feelings of fear and doubt would leave. I knew that God was my Father and He was there for me, any time and any where. He loved me.

How has the Book of Mormon brought you closer to God?

The Book of Mormon has helped me know that I'm just worth something to God and that God actually exists.

To know how it helped me will be much clearer when you understand that I did not believe there was a God. I loved history growing up, I loved the adventures of learning about the world through National Geographic and everything else there is to read. I loved it but the topics never seemed to match up with Adam and Eve and the other things you learn about in the Bible/Book of Mormon. I just never could believe that this God Jews wrote about a few thousand years ago was real.

That affected how I felt and what I did but there was something always just nagging at me, all these other lawyers, doctors, physicists, biologists, anthropologists, and a millions -ists were Mormons that seemed to believe this. And they all said they read the Book of Mormon and knew it was true.

So I read it, I prayed about it for months and finally felt, beyond a doubt, the Holy Ghost and I knew it was true.

After that I read it and still do read it every day. I love it because it points me to the light. It helps me know things will work out in the end and it shows me ways prophets have over come their problems. It shows me God cares.

One main thing is that when I pray to know an answer, I can find it in the Book of Mormon. I have so many times opened it with a really hard problem or predicament that I needed to solve and the answer was there in front of me. The prophets inside delt with real issues and solved them through their faith in God and His divine guidance.

I can't really tell you about it as well as the Book it self would tell you about it. I promise that if you'll open it up, praying and just open to the fact that God will help you, you'll gain answers to problems in straight forward and simple ways. It happens for me every day.

Why do Mormons go on missions?

I went on a mission because it felt like the right thing to do and because God commanded me to do so. In the Church, we have living prophets. Just like back in the day they had Moses or Abraham or Enoch, we have living prophets that testify of Christ and tell us the truth as revealed to them by God.

So when I was 14, I went to listen to a prophet speak in Salt Lake City Utah, U.S.A.. His name was President Hinckley. I remember listening to him and just feeling something different inside. He was just an old guy talking but something was different. From that day forward, I believed that he really was a prophet of God. He had advice that all young men should go and serve a 2 year full time mission of worthy (morally) and physically able to do so.

But when I was in high school, I lost my belief/faith that there even was a God. I couldn't believe that the stories of a bunch of Jews in the Bible were anything more than some stories. I couldn't bring my self to read the scriptures or even care about church because I figured there was no God, Jesus was just a good philosopher, and that's all there was to it.

Then as I approached the age to go on a mission, the feeling was there again, I should go. I didn't believe in God so I didn't know why this was always on my mind. But because this was always there, I figured I should go. I would do it because, if God was there and the feelings He supposedly gave other people were true, I would find out by following His commandments. I figured if He was real, I would find out and if not, I would know for sure and never have to worry about following God again.

As I found out and felt, I really do know that God exists and this is His true church. I found out by reading the Book of Mormon, the blue book that Mormon missionaries hand out all day. (me!) I prayed about it and felt it was true by the power of the Holy Ghost.

I went on a mission to know the truth, and now I know it and share it every day.

How has The Book of Mormon helped you understand the purpose of life?

In my life, I have been helped by knowing that my life is no accident and it ill not end when I die, nor did it even begin when I was born.

It shows the Plan God made for us so simply that a child gets it.

I learned that we were once with God before this world was. He loved us and He wanted us to be happy for eternity. So He made us a place to come that we could get a body, something we didn't have when we lived with Him. He created the Earth for us. Why?

"Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 17:36)

Then it shows us what happened from Adam and Eve, and why we are here.

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.

24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy

(2 Nephi 2:22-25)
From this I learned that I'm here for what it says in 25, I'm here that I might have joy. :)

I also learned this in another verse :

"For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." (Alma 34:32)

This life is a time, God gave to us, on purpose, so we could do our labors, repent, and get back to Him. He loves us so much and wants us back!

The most important part is that Jesus Christ gave us the way. I know that because of Him, I can be happy and at peace, knowing my life has a purpose. :)

How I live my faith

I serve as a full time missionary, meaning that I go around to those who would be interested in hearing about this church and its teachings and share with them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is hard work and its fun work and I love it! The people where I serve are so kind hearted and friendly. I never go a day with out many many new friends here in the Philippines. I love seeing people's lives change for the better and that is how live my faith. I work hard to share this truth that I found with as many others that want to hear it.

I read and I study every day from the Book I once doubted and even hated some times. I love it and I am happy to be a part of this church. :)

What is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' attitude regarding homosexuality and same sex marriage?

Casey answered...

For me, God's plan for us is about families, a husband and wife and kids. But all people are children of God who deserve love and respect, including those who have different views about same sex marriage. However, when I really don't know, I turn to what prophets of God have said.

“People inquire about our position on those who consider themselves so-called gays and lesbians. My response is that we love them as sons and daughters of God. They may have certain inclinations which are powerful and which may be difficult to control. Most people have inclinations of one kind or another at various times. If they do not act upon these inclinations, then they can go forward as do all other members of the Church. If they violate the law of chastity and the moral standards of the Church, then they are subject to the discipline of the Church, just as others are.

“We want to help these people, to strengthen them, to assist them with their problems and to help them with their difficulties. But we cannot stand idle if they indulge in immoral activity, if they try to uphold and defend and live in a so-called same-sex marriage situation. To permit such would be to make light of the very serious and sacred foundation of God-sanctioned marriage and its very purpose, the rearing of families” (Ensign, Nov. 1998, 71).

When I think of how hard this must be for many, I think of our faith in Jesus Christ. He loves us and has given us guidance through prophets, we just need to follow.
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Christina answered...

Mormons believe that we are commanded to love all people as sons and daughters of God, regardless of age, sex, race, or sexual orientation. However, we believe that homosexual behavior is a serious sin and in direct violation with the commandments of God. We believe that marriage, between a man and a woman, is ordained of God.

How can we stop the spread and influence of pornography?

Matthew answered...

Be honost and realize how damaging pornography is to yourself. Because of its damaging influence on self-esteem pornography also damges your relationship with others. So I would say, just get away from it and get an army of people to help you do so if necessary! When you get away then you'll see the joy and happiness the influence of pornography takes you away from. With this awakening, youll want to warn others to get away from the deception of pornography.