My Witness

I am so grateful how my mission has helped me gain a stronger testimony of my Heavenly Father and also of Jesus Christ.  For countless days they have been there to help, lift and inspire me. I know I wouldn't be the person I am today without the great love they have for me.



My Father in Heaven has been a source of great peace in my life over the past two years, and even many years before that. I am so grateful for the personal relationship I have with him. That relationship has grown only through personal prayer and study. Every day I look forward to knelling and offering the desires of my heart to him. I love this scripture in 2 Nephi 32:9,"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul." He has strengthened me through hard times and has help me realize how grateful I am for all of the blessings in my life.


Jesus Christ has also been a constant help for me in my life and my mission. I have grown to love him for all that he has done for me, especially for the Atonement he has performed in behalf of me, and the whole world. My favorite scripture about Christ is found in Helaman 5:12,"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

He truly has been my Rock, and has been a foundation that has always kept me safe. I know that as we build our lives around Jesus Christ, he will become our Rock and help us in our lives.

I am so grateful for my Heavenly father and Savior Jesus Christ. They have truly been my safe harbor in my life. I testify that they live and they know each one of us individually. I know everyone can come to know this is true through scripture study, prayer, and the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Hold Up The FOUR!

The clock ticks to 0:00 and it is the end of the third quarter of an intense rivalry battle between two college football power houses. Players and fans start holding up four fingers. Why are they doing this you ask?  It is the fourth quarter and time to lay everything out on the table. Time for the players to find the last drops of energy to come off victorious.

But how does this relate to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Our lives can be compared to a football game.  It can be a hard battle and just when we think we can not take it any longer life puts us right in the middle of the fourth quarter.  We have to decide whether to put our all on line or give up. We have to always be prepared! We have to know where to turn when our lives get hectic and we are in our, "fourth quarter". But where do we turn for help? Where are the coaches in our life? Is there a playbook we can follow? That is exactly why the gospel of Jesus Christ is here. There is a playbook and we do have coaches to help us to overcome our own challenges.

First lets talk about the playbook. Why is it so important to have a playbook in football? Without a playbook the team would not be unified in its plays. The lineman wouldn't know who to block, the receivers wouldn't know there routes and the running backs would have no clue which hole they needed to run through. And that's just for offense! There would just be pure chaos on the field. In our lives we have the scriptures as a playbook. The Holy Bible and Book of Mormon are the best playbooks we can turn to when we are going through difficult times. The scriptures testify of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the Book of Mormon Nephi tells us,"feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do" (2 Nephi 32:3). The scriptures are the words of Christ and our guide to show us how we can partake of his Salvation. When we read and study the scriptures we will be able to receive revelation in our lives to know what we should do in our times of trial.

We also need coaches to help us, but who are they and where can we find them? Our coaches are Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ.  But, how do we access there counsel? From Prophets and apostles, who are there waiting on the sidelines to help us. We can look at it this way. Our head coaches Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are up in the coaches box watching over the whole game. Being way up in the bleachers they have a perfect angle to watch all that is going on. In Football the coaches in the box relay what is happening on the field to the coaches down on the sidelines. Prophets and apostles do not have headphones that they can receive direction from heavenly father and Jesus Christ, BUT they do receive revelation. In Amos we learn,"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). Our coaches on the sidelines (prophets and apostles), will tell us what we need to do in our lives so we can find peace and strength through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  As we follow the counsel of these wise men our lives we will grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and be able to conquer any obstacle in our way.

SO when the fourth quarter comes in our lives and the game is on line.  Remember to hold up the four! The playbook is easy to access we just have to open the scriptures. And as we listen and follow Heavenly Father's Prophets and Apostles we will over come any challenge life will throw at us. I know when things get hard in our lives we can turn to these strongholds and come off conquer.

Lessons I Learned As A Boy

As a boy growing up in the town of Bakersfield, CA I learned many life long lessons. The lessons I learned in my younger days have stayed with me. I am grateful for the examples many people were to me mainly my mother and father. Both of my parents helped in many different aspects of my life, but they always focused on the Savior and His teachings.

My father and I spent a lot of quality time together through sports and recreation. The time and love we spent together gave me a glimpse of how much my Father in Heaven loves me. I will never forget the times we spent fishing. We would always try to see who could catch the most fish, but even when we didn't catch anything I was still happy to be with my dad.

My mother was also very influential in my up bringing. She was one to always teach me to be a kind and generous person. I will never be able to to forget the great example of Christlike love she showed. My mother spent many afternoons and evenings helping me with school work and always showed me the importance of gaining and education.

The values I learned in my home continue to echo in my ears today. The love and affection my parents showed towards me instilled Christlike attributes. I know that THE HOME is an excellent place for all to learn and grow closer to out Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ.

Watch this video and see what lesson Gordon B. Hinckley learned as a boy.

The Lighthouse

As we go along this journey called life we all face struggles and hard ships. We have all been lost at one point in our lives. At these moments of pain an sorrow we may feel as a captain lost at sea in a terrible storm. The only thing that keeps us from crashing into jagged shore is the LIGHT HOUSE. Like the captain, in our lives we have a light house that will save us from utter destruction. He is Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world. He will rescue us from the dangers of the world.  

The Lord sends to us beams of hope and comfort that help us through the storm. These beams consist of family, friends, scriptures, prophets, uplifting music and many others. The beams the Lord has sent us will help us break through the storms of life and lead us back to his arms. The prophet Thomas S. Monson has counseled us to look to the lighthouse of the Lord. He states:

" There is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what its beacon light can rescue. It beckons through the storms of life. The lighthouse of the Lord sends forth signals readily recognized and never failing."

I know no matter what the storms of life may bring us, The Savior and his teachings will bless our lives.  We must be willing to put our faith in him and hope for a better tomorrow!