Light and Truth

 Throughout my life I have found that often times the most memorable revelation from God comes during the most trying times. The three months marking the turn of the year 2020 to 2021 were certainly such a time for me, and likely everyone in the world. The United States of America particularly was in the midst of multiple memorable difficulties. The COVID-19 pandemic, and all of its associated social and political chaos, was at a rising height throughout November, December, and January. The presidential election had resulted in so much contention and misinformation from both sides that it was nearly impossible to discern the truth of the matter. Despite the prophetic call for greater unity and cooperation in October 2020, divisions only deepened in almost every possible way throughout society. And mobs had ransacked entire cities earlier in the summer, and the U.S. capitol building at the beginning of January. It did not take much thinking to know that all of these were paths towar...

In the early spring of 2019 I was in the midst of my second year at Yale University pursuing a Ph.D. in Statistics & Data Science. With my wonderful wife, Bethany, and our newborn son, Aaron, things were going very well for us in many aspects. But fatherhood and graduate school can certainly require a large amount of energy and time. Consequently, I attended the local Institute of Religion class on Tuesday evenings for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which I found to help me relax and focus on things that matter most. At one such class the teacher, Randy LaRose, shared a quote from one of his friends who served as secretary to the  First Presidency  of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Paraphrasing the quote, I remember it indicating that the mindset of the members of the First Presidency is much like the advice given by the professional American entrepreneur Jim Rohn: "Focus on the solution, not on the problem." The moment Brother LaRose s...

Ever since I was a young boy, well over a decade ago, I have enjoyed riding a bicycle. As a teenager I would pedal through the hills of Bountiful, Utah to my grandparents' house to mow their lawn, to Bangerter Farms to help in their summer harvest, to my part-time job at Nielsen's Frozen Custard, and many other places. My father and many siblings also greatly enjoy biking, enough so that it almost seems like a family tradition. And the tradition continued on my mission as I rode a bike around the towns just outside of Westpoint, New York, and once even through Manhattan for an activity. Upon returning home from being a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the end of 2013, it was time to start school again. But with minimal amount of money, and no straight-forward way to obtain a scholarship, my educational pursuits at The University of Utah needed to be accompanied by some form of part-time employment. Miraculously enough, my older brot...

From the earliest of years in my life, I've been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This membership has brought so many blessings into my life, particularly a knowledge of the fatherhood of God, that my life has a purpose, that there is life after death, and that decisions truly do determine our destiny. So many priceless treasures! But, like many church members, I came to learn rather quickly that there were some aspects of being actively involved in The Church that were not what I classified as obviously positive. In my young youthful years, I was involved in the young men's organization. And, seemingly unlike everyone else, I did not have any close friends in that organization besides my older brother Tayson. As a matter of fact, the large majority of the other young men with whom I was compelled to associate were, in my eyes, justifiably classified as enemies! They treated me with anything but respect. Why was this? Looking back with now-adult ey...

Sooner than later, most of us find out that life has overwhelming challenges that are seemingly beyond our capacity to endure. As a young teenager with epilepsy, this was the situation I faced for many years. There were many reasons of why this challenge felt unbearable at times. Among the smallest of these challenges was the mere presence of seizures in my life. While it certainly was not fun to have unpredictable seizures, I was at least unconscious during them and therefore didn't remember them as well as my family members. Challenges of greater magnitude included not being allowed to drive, get a job, or participate in various other activities that could trigger a seizure. Perhaps the greatest challenges I faced, though, were the side-effects of my medication. These side-effects did not involve obvious reactions such as a rash, sneezing, or any feeling that might be considered "medical". Rather, the effect was deep inside my brain; my personality shifted towards pes...

While at the Provo MTC (Missionary Training Center), preparing to go and serve in New York as a full-time missionary, I was informed that due to my past epileptic condition I would not be allowed to serve as called and would be sent home. This of course challenged my faith and, from my perspective, diminished it (on a scale of 0 to 20) from 19 to 1 in every aspect of the gospel. But thankfully, due to inspired missionaries guiding me to the scriptures, I was able to put a halt on the evaporation of my faith. (See  previous blog post  for a more detailed story.) At the time of being informed of the cancellation of my mission call, I was able to summon enough courage to be persistent with them of having any possible exception made for me. Their response to this was that they would look into it, but that the probability of obtaining such an exception was extremely minimal. In the mean time they would have me wait at the MTC with another district of missionaries. The day of gett...

Back in my later teenage years, about 2009 to 2011, while I was in the process of completing high school, I began greatly anticipating, and preparing for, serving as a full-time missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Looking forward so much to it, I prepared in as many ways as I could think of, including studying the scriptures, attending a weekly mission-prep. course, and striving to live according to God's commandments. I also did everything within my power to eliminate epilepsy from my life by being willing to have brain surgery and attempting to get fully off of medication, as this would surely disqualify me from missionary service. And eventually the day came in October 2011 when, after finishing the application process, the letter came in the mail with my mission call from Church Headquarters. After opening it up, finding out I was called of God to serve for two years in New York speaking english, my excitement grew even more and I began further prep...

When I was around the age of about six or seven a great challenge was added into my life. I began to have seizures periodically but unpredictably, and therefore had epilepsy. Little did I know at first that there would not be a single aspect of my life that would avoid being influenced by this challenge. The limited reading ability, personality side-effects of medication, feelings of being a burden to parents and siblings, reduced public privileges (such as driving), and feeling like the black sheep in school were only a few of the many challenges brought about directly by my epilepsy. While I never came to doubt the existence of God, I did ask the questions that nearly everyone asks in times like this: Why me? What did I do to deserve such a trial? Initially, all I could do was press forward through this tribulation of life, trying to not let my faith falter. And after nearly a decade of keeping my faith, wondering if I would ever find out why God allowed me to have epilepsy, the an...