Hi, I'm Dave

I'm a language lover, a music maker, a multicultural food devourer, a teacher of my kids and grandkids. And I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I love pulling people closer into my circle and expanding my circle to include them. I love the languages and cultures and the people of Central Asia, and I enjoy being a language administrator.
Most of my co-workers are Muslim, and I love working with them as we create textbooks, multimedia materials and mobile apps for Turkic and Iranian languages.
We also teach language and culture to students from academic, business, military and other governmental organizations, many of whom later travel or work in Afghanistan, Western China or various Eurasian countries.

I enjoy creating music, vocal and instrumental. I also love roller coasters and stormy weather.

I’ve been laid off twice. Despite trials and defeat, I have always felt a success as a parent, and as a result, I’ve felt successful in general.
I love my wife. She is an organizer extraordinaire; her influence as a teacher of youth cannot be measured.
We are empty nesters with six amazing adult kids, a daughter and five sons.
We have a bunch of wonderful grandkids.
My favorite age is the teenage years. I love having teenagers; it's when their hearts and minds kick in in full gear. Teenagerhood -- well prepared for -- is a joy.

Real travel for me starts where English is not spoken and dollars are not used.
I love eating international foods of all sorts and discussing them with my family.
I enjoy talking to folks of all sorts; I love learning from people who aren't like me.

Why I am a Mormon

I've had people say to me with sincere interest, "Wow, I've never met a Mormon. What does being a Mormon mean to you?" Muslim friends I know well have asked me, "So, Dave, why aren't you a Muslim?" I answer these various queries the same way. I'm a Mormon because I know that Jesus is the Savior of all humankind. He isn't just a good man, a teacher or a prophet; this isn't just a good church that teaches really neat things. It is the Church of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the same church that he himself set up, reestablished in these latter days before his Second Coming.

The fullness of gospel truths was lost in the centuries after the death of Jesus. He restored his gospel to all of us through the boy prophet Joseph Smith, who asked important questions with confidence that God would reveal to him the answers. Christ continues to lead his church today through a living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. That's why we call it the Church of Jesus Christ. I know this is true through the same powers of personal revelation available to Joseph Smith and Thomas Monson. Everyone on earth may know these truths for themselves, directly from God. And that's why I'm a Mormon.

The entire name is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. No one is born knowing that it's true. Each of us must gain his/her own testimony that it is truly the Church of Jesus Christ. And by celestial design, that takes work. That's true for those whose parents happen to be members of the church as well as for those whose parents are not. In the economy of the Lord, there's no free lunch. But the feast at the table is certainly well worth the effort and is available to all.

Personal Stories

What blessings have come through your faith in Jesus Christ?

To know the nature of God is an important quest for each of us. The First Article of Faith of the church is, "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are two separate personages, Father and Son, and each has a physical body of flesh and bones, as tangible as man's, but glorified and perfected.

Just as I love each of my children, God loves each of us individually and wants the best for us. Just as we communicate with him through prayer, he hopes to communicate with us through answers to our prayers if we learn to listen and through guidance to us directly as we go throughout the day. The blessings that my family and I receive regularly through our faith in Jesus Christ all come through this guidance.

How has the Holy Ghost helped you?

To recognize how the Holy Ghost gives us guidance from God is also vital. Unlike the Father and the Son, who have physical, tangible bodies, the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit; he does not have a physical body so that he may testify to our mind and to our heart that God is real and communicates with us. The Holy Ghost reveals truth to us, comforts us, sanctifies us and teaches and guides us.

As we raised our kids, we considered that we must teach them both justice and mercy and that the two were mutually incompatible. If we always taught justice and ignored mercy, our kids would have been hardened bullies, merciless enforcers of the law. If we always taught mercy and ignored justice, our kids would have been spoiled with no concept of right or wrong and no accountability. The only reasonable approach was to teach both, at times choosing to mete out mercy and at other times justice. The trick is to teach the right one at the right time for the right impact. For each kid in each situation, the only way to mete out the right stuff consistently is to rely on the Holy Ghost. As parents, when we were confused, the Holy Spirit would guide us and speak peace to our souls, and we would know how to proceed with confidence.

"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Book of Mormon, Moroni 10:5.)

Please share your feelings/testimony of Joseph Smith.

God has called prophets to lead his Church today, just as he did in ancient times. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." (Old Testament, Amos 3:7.)

God cares about all of his children here on earth. When he wants to guide us collectively, he does it by telling his prophet. When he wants to guide us individually, he does it by telling us directly. These days, as we look for answers to today's complexities, it is more important than ever that God clearly define faith, righteousness and ways to be more like Him. He continues to tell us what we need to know by revealing new knowledge to his prophet.

In this way, Joseph Smith and President Thomas S. Monson are the same as Abraham, Moses or prophets of old. Just as Abraham and Moses had the authority from God to speak to the people on the earth at their time, Joseph received that authority to speak to the people in his day, and President Monson has the authority from God to speak to people on the earth today.

This authority was restored to the earth when the Apostles Peter, James and John appeared to Joseph Smith in order to confer on him the priesthood authority from God, just as Christ had conferred it upon the three of them. Because of this event, similarly, as the father of my family, I have the authority from God to lead and teach and persuade my family in the way that they should go, as do my sons for their own families. I know that every father has this authority available to him.

Why do Mormons do family history or genealogy work?

Many people ask me what Mormon temples are used for. I tell them that because of my faith tradition, I believe that families can be together forever. To live together as a family unit after this life, we must go to a temple to be sealed as a family by one who has the authority from God to do so. That's why, across the globe, there are so many temples in the Church of Jesus Christ.

As spouses, the two of us want to live as husband and wife not only until death; we want to live together for eternity. We want our children to continue in our family relationship forever. This is the doctrine of the family -- This is the promise of the temple.

Just as Isaac and Rebekah of the Old Testament put a lot of work into ensuring that their son Jacob and his future wife enjoyed the blessings of an eternal marriage, my wife and I have put a lot of work into our marriage and into raising our kids. As Isaac and Rebekah did, we want to be the man who has the keys and the woman who has the influence, working together to see that we are prepared and to bring about the work that God wants us to do, equally yoked in our responsibilities as spouses and parents.

I know that the temples of God provide the way for this to happen. In the temple, we learn eternal truths and receive sacred ordinances, all with the purpose of bringing about the immortality and eternal life of all of us (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39.) by binding our families together link to link, parent to child, across all generations and through all time.

Indiana will soon have a temple in Indianapolis. As it nears completion, there will be an open house for the general public. Anyone who wishes to tour a temple may do so during this open house. We invite all to come see what a Mormon temple is like inside!

What is hope and what do you hope for?

I love the liveliness, volatility and unpredictability of the world in which we live. Maybe that's why I loved having a house full of teenagers and their friends. In 1977, I lived in San Juan, Argentina, when our province experienced a major earthquake (magnitude 7.3, 120 seconds) and, while the destruction and casualties are not to be minimized, remarkably I loved the awesome display of the power of the earth that most people never get to see. When we lived in Oklahoma, after a devastating tornado destroyed a woman's home but allowed her to escape with her family unscathed, she said on national news, "It was incredible. The twister came out of nowhere and, in seconds, reordered all our priorities in the proper order." While change can indeed be difficult, without change, the world would be dull and flat. With change, we grow. Twists and turns help make a novel interesting. The classic book "Tuck Everlasting" teaches about the ebb and flow of change and how trials can change us. Night helps us to know the nature of noon.

In the face of severe trials, people tend either to despair or to spread hope. One of the things I admire about many of the people of Central Asia, the people with whom I love to work, is a common ability to retain and spread hope. It is one of the greatest weapons we can have against the severe trials that we may see in our day and age. I hope for the day when hope drives everything we do, when our trials are lessened, our various xenophobias set aside, our worship not divided but united, when we see people both near and far as family, and when our collective lifestyles merit such trust. I can see it coming.

How I live my faith

As my kids grew up, I knew that the unquestioning faith they had as children would be replaced by all the important questions of youth. As parents, we encouraged lots of intellectual exploring by reading widely, continually discussing and debating with our children. It helped that my wife and I are usually at opposite ends of any spectrum of opinion, so the kids grew up knowing the importance of disagreeing agreeably and of digging out answers that satisfied their individual concerns. But we united as parents as far as eternal truths are concerned, and it was important that our kids have confidence that they could get solid answers. They could get solid opinions from Mom and me, and they could get solid answers directly from God. It was especially important that they do so when it came to matters of faith, whether to live righteously, to keep commandments, to stay morally clean, or to follow the weightier matters of the law. When they were teenagers, we'd spend hours studying to master scriptures and to wrestle for gospel answers, making a game of it whenever possible. Bribing with Skittles candy made it fun -- It was a game only when the kids felt it was fun. Tackle scripture chase, anyone?

In the process, our children learned not only to stand on their own but to fight for what they know is right. Generally speaking, they've made decisions worthy of any adult, even when they were teenagers. They continue to choose to keep their feet firmly planted on the strait and narrow path, teaching their families to do so as well.

As a family, we each do what we can to stand with other people for that which is good, for that which we know to be right. I am delighted to find that so many of our friends share our high standards and strong faith, regardless of their communities, religious traditions or backgrounds. The feast at the table is made more rich by diverse tastes, languages, cultures, histories, national interests and beliefs.

What do Mormons believe about family?

Dave answered...

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and...each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose. (The Family: A Proclamation to the World.) No other success can compensate for failure in the home. Most earnestly and urgently, we call upon parents to assume their full responsibility for teaching and living the gospel in the home. (President David O. McKay.) The most important work that you will ever do will be the work you do within the walls of your own home. (President Harold B. Lee.)

When talking to people who happen not to believe as we do, don’t let belief be a conversation stopper. Independent of the thoughts and feelings of a current dialogue partner, continue to be friendly and Christ-like. In the Church of Jesus Christ, we believe that we should keep an open conversation going. On the important topics of family, marriage and sexuality, there are such diverse opinions, and our public “town square” should be open to all. These are big topics. Let’s talk… and listen… and understand.
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Bradley. answered...

The family is a key component to support us in God's plan for gaining immortality and eternal life. All of God's children (all the inhabitants that lived, are living, and will live on Earth) are inseperably connected to each other, both (physically) by our Earthly families and (spiritually) by our Heavenly Father.

Families help us to understand our divine heritage. In this, life takes on purpose and meaning. Our immortal spirits were created by our Heavenly Father before Earthly existance, and we are directly connected to Him in this way. As a spiritual family, our collective purpose on Earth is to follow the commandments of God that lead us to live in heaven with Him again.

Our spirits need to progress, learn, and grow. In order to achieve that, Earthly existance was created as our test. Our Heavenly Father knew that being exposed to opposing forces on Earth was the only way for us to gain knowledge and wisdom.

However, we will not always choose righteousness, and so our Savior, Jesus Christ, is that great mediator to pay the debt of our mistakes. He is the only way by which we can be saved from our sins and transgressions. He is the ultimate example by which direction we need to live our lives. With the support of our earthly kin, we can learn from each other, serve each other, and strengthen our mortal weaknesses by being disciples of Christ. Our families are a gift from God, and we can be together forever.

Are Mormons Christians?

Taylor answered...

I love this question. Having lived in Georgia and having spent time creating friendships with people of all different Christian denominations. I can say with great confidence and vigor that, Yes, Mormons are Christians. All who believe in Christ as our Savior and strive to follow in his footsteps, living as he would have us to, are in definitions Christian or followers of Christ.