Hi, I'm Syd

I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I'm a husband and father of six children. I am an educator by profession and have a great love and passion for education, sports and fishing. I love rugby and coach basketball. To me, nothing is more rewarding than helping someone to educate their minds and/or hands - whether it be in a classroom, on a rugby field or in a gymnasium - it doesn't matter where as life is one big learning experience.

My other passion in life is my family. I love watching my boys play rugby, I love playing with my grand-children, and I especially love spending time with my wife and daughters.

Why I am a Mormon

I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as Mormons. I love this church because of its focus on families and its teachings that families are forever, meaning that the family unit will continue when we past from this life into the next. That the same sociality we enjoy here on earth will continue in the life hereafter. I do not believe that when we die that is it, all of a sudden we are no more. I also love how the Church teaches, even in the Church itself, that nothing is more important than families and that our first and foremost responsibility is to our family.

I love how the focus of the Church is on Jesus Christ and the encouragement it gives for us as individuals to live a Christ-like life and develop Christ-like attributes in our own lives.

I am grateful for the blessing of Temples in the Church and the reminder to me of my belief in life hereafter. Through the Temple I am able to receive the blessing of sealing my wife to me and our children to us so we can be an eternal family.

The one thing that really stands out to me is the encouragement the Church gives me to live my religion 24/7, not to be just a Sunday saint for one day and then the other six days of the week to go and do or be somebody else other than what I am on a Sunday. The Church really is a way of life.

Personal Stories

Please share your feelings/testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel.

I love being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and have the teachings and gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. The Church gives me standards and values that I live by that help me to have direction and purpose in my life and allows me to make wise choices and decisions that brings peace and happiness into my life.

I have a very firm belief and testimony that the Church is true. That its teachings of Jesus Christ are real. Because of my faith, that has been strengthened from many spiritual experiences I have had in life, I know that Jesus Christ lives, that He is real, and that His Church has been restored on the earth again. Jesus Christ leads His church today through a living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

How grateful I am to have a Church that teaches of Jesus Christ as being a very real and live person today, and of a living, kind and wonderful Heavenly Father who loves all of His children. And, also a Church that teaches of the importance of the family unit and the potential that families can be eternal, forever.

How I live my faith

What I learn on a Sunday at church I try and live very day of my life. Not only do I have the opportunity to serve in the Church on a Sunday but I have the opportunity to teach and work with the youth of our Church during the week. I also have the opportunity to visit members of the Church and provide various kinds of service to those who are in need of help. On Sundays as well as during the week I have the opportunity to teach and train different leaders in our Church, leaders who look after the children, leaders who look after the youth, and leaders who look after the adults.

Living my faith is 24/7 - its a full-time commitment which I love. There is a great deal of personal satisfaction from giving of yourself to help teach, train and serve your fellow men.

What is the First Vision?

Syd answered...

To me, the First Vision is one of the most significant events in the history of the world? Why? Because it reveals a number of key truths.

The First Vision occurred because of the faith of a young boy by the name of Joseph Smith. Young Joseph desired to discover for himself the truth regarding which of all the religions of his day was true, as there were a number of different religions who all professed to believe in Jesus Christ yet could not agree on the nature of Jesus Christ and His teachings. Joseph's faith in God was illustrated as he followed a passage in the Bible which stated, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all man liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5). Joseph accepted that invitation and with his faith in God that he would receive an answer, he ventured into a nearby grove of trees to pray.

In answer to his prayer, Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to him. Joseph wrote: “I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” Joseph was told to join none of the churches that existed at that time as the priesthood authority and Church as Jesus Christ had organized it when He was on the earth had been lost over time.

The First Vision marked the beginning of the Restoration of Jesus Christ’s Church to the earth once again.
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How can I know Mormonism is true?

Evelyn answered...

One of the best things in life is that we can freely communicate with God; our Heavenly Father. Because He loves us so much, He has blessed us with the precious gift of prayer. Through prayer we are able to counsel with Him and whatever we ask sincerely, He will make it known unto us. The scriptures can give you a surety of this. In Matthew 7:7 it says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Another example is in the book of James 1:5-6, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

If you would like to know that what you have heard is true after learning or taking the discussions from the missionaries or any member that has shared a message with you, go to Heavenly Father in prayer and ask Him. I know that He will send His spirit to testify the truth of it unto you. His spirit will give you feelings of peace, hope, comfort and happiness.

Sometimes we do not get answers to our prayers as soon as we may want them to come but never should we lose hope nor get discouraged; as you continue to earnestly study and search for the truth and exercise patience, the truth will gradually be unfolded unto you. I have a testimony of this, for my answer came as I earnestly and patiently continued to investigate the church.