Light and Truth

When I was a junior at Woods Cross High School, almost eight years ago at the age of 17, I attended an LDS Seminary class that was studying The Book of Mormon. Among the many great learning experiences I had during this class, there is one that I remember most distinctly above all. The teacher, who I unfortunately don't recall the name of, based the day's lesson on the 7th and 8th chapters of 3rd Nephi. These chapters describe the circumstances of the Nephites right before a huge storm causes major destruction among the wicked people, followed soon after by a visit from the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ. After pointing out how this part of The Book of Mormon parallels the days that we live in, preceding another prophesied destruction of the wicked to be followed by the second coming of the Savior, the teacher focused specifically on the following passage of scripture: "And there began to be great doubtings and disputations among the people, notwithstanding so many sig...

When I was about the age of 23 years old, married to my wonderful wife Bethany and attending the University of Utah as an undergraduate student, there came a window of time that I remember quite well. Having bought my first car a year or so earlier, the day came when an oncoming driver ran a stop sign and my car was totaled. Thankfully nobody was hurt. But now I no longer had a car, which was certainly something that took time to get used to. Then only a couple weeks later, my phone began having problems and began losing many of its capabilities. And during all of this, my laptop had many problems, specifically related to the built-in wifi card. It seemed as if many of the valuable items I possessed were fading away into the past. At the same time I had a couple friends who chose to disassociate themselves from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the church that we together had been a part of for many previous years. It was heart-breaking for me to see individuals, who I...

In December of 2013 I returned home after two years of being a full-time missionary, most of that time spent in New York. And after the wonderful time I had for those two years of sharing the Lord's restored gospel with as many people as possible, I had full intentions to continue doing so. Little did I realize that in my very first week of attending the young single adult ward, I would be called to be a ward missionary. I was very excited for this, as it was right in line with my determination to continue spreading the gospel. But I came to learn very quickly that this would be much harder than when I was a full-time missionary. At the same time, I needed to start going to school again. I had chosen to go to The University of Utah and pursue a double-major in mathematics and physics, which was at least as much work as it probably sounds like it would be. I also had almost no money, and therefore needed to work. Fortunately, my brother Tayson found me a job at the same place he t...

After I was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the year 2001, I looked forward with great anticipation for the next big spiritual step ahead in my life. This, I soon learned, was receiving the  Aaronic Priesthood when I turned 12. And after four years the day came when I was interviewed for, and received, this priesthood. Due to the fact that I grew up with epilepsy, there are many things that I do not remember from my young years, including this day of receiving the Aaronic Priesthood. As much as I wish it would be completely within my recollection, it unfortunately isn't. Perhaps this was because I initially did not realize the significance of becoming a holder of the Lord's restored priesthood. But that lack of realization did not last any longer than a couple of months, put at least partially to rest by a scripture that I consider to be the first to influence me enough towards a change in my life. Within the first couple months aft...

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...

At the time I completed my two years of full-time missionary service in New York I returned home with full determination to continue serving as if I'd only been transferred. I soon learned that this was exactly what the Lord wanted me to do. I was called to serve as a ward missionary, had many missionary experiences on the bus and at the University of Utah, and was later called to serve as a ward mission leader. Overall this resulted in at least four-and-a-half years of unceasing involvement in missionary work, all of which I tried my best to make as effective as possible. And it produced quite an intriguing concoction of exhaustion and joy. In addition, I also served as an ordinance worker in the Bountiful Temple for about six hours each Saturday. Assisting in temple and family history work was another large priority of mine, which brought invaluable blessings into my life as well. With this, combined with my missionary efforts, one could easily say that the work of salvation was...

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."           1 Ne. 3:7 Many times in my life I've realized, as probably many people do, that the commandments given by God aren't exactly what we would call easy. In fact, it seems sometimes as if it may be nearly impossible from our perspective. One distinct memory of when I faced this dilemma was when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Utah. Due to pursuing a double-major in mathematics and physics combined with church responsibilities, dating, and all the normal necessities of life this was a very busy time for me. Most of the time I barely had enough time to finish everything. But three different times I came to the point where I had a long and time-consumi...