"Religion is tied to the deepest feelings people have. The love that arises from that stewing pot is the sweetest and strongest, but the hate is the hottest, and the anger is the most violent."

from Children of the Mind
Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card and I share more things in common than just a love of writing science fiction and fantasy. We are both faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, otherwise known as "Mormons" or "LDS." Why do I quote OSC and mention this right off the bat? Because Mormons are well known for being a peculiar people, and I was hoping to appeal to something that you and I might have in common, if not religion. ;-)

The purpose of this page is to hopefully clear up a few misconceptions that I know exist about the church. When I was 11 years old, my family and I left Utah to go on an 8 week road trip across the United States. We were a few weeks into our trip, somewhere on the East Coast, when I was approached by a girl about my same age who had noticed our Utah license plate. She asked, "Are you Mormon?" When I replied in the affirmative, she looked at me, baffled, and said, "But then where are your horns?"

I was so surprised, and yet amused at the same time, I replied "We keep them filed down whenever we leave Utah." Probably not the best answer in retrospect, but hey. :-)

I'm hoping that, even if there are feelings of misunderstanding or even animosity towards this particular church, or even religion in general, those feelings might be set aside for just a brief moment. Because I love this church and its teachings will all my heart and soul. It is the core of my existance, and the hope of my life. It has given me clear, concise answers to the mysteries of Life, the Universe, and Everything. (And no, the answer wasn't "42".) ;-)

I've been an avid student of world religions for about as long as I've known how to ask questions, and I have a deep respect for the beliefs of others. In my studies, there is one thing I've learned about finding out about what people believe: If you want to know the truth, go to the source. Ask a true believer, not someone who's heard of it in passing, or even a former dissatisfied member, for then the information you get will be either incomplete, misinformed, or biased in the negative.

If you are in the least bit curious to know why I'm a member of this church, and want to know a little bit about what Mormons believe (from the source), click on any of the links below.

My Conversion

The Official Site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The LDS FAQ By far, the most extensive Frequently Asked Questions site on the web, relating to the LDS faith.

Profile of a Prophet is an essay by Elder Hugh B. Brown, explaining the reasons why he believes Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.

FAIR-LDS (Foundation of Apologetic Information & Research) has some absolutely mind-blowing articles.

The Book of Mormon: Artifact or Artifice? is a fascinating essay by Orson Scott Card, who, as a writer of science fiction and a student of inventing cultures, explains how Joseph Smith, or anyone else living in early 1800's America, could not possibly have invented the culture presented in The Book of Mormon.

Latter-Day Saints and Science. From the three-part article:

The Olympics showed Utah and Latter-day Saints to the world at their best, revealing that we are much more than many journalists and some of the public may have supposed.

Here's another myth-busting fact. For 80 years every study has shown that in relation to population Utah was number one in spawning scientists; that the scientists produced from Utah are much more LDS than the LDS proportion of the Utah population; and that two recent studies show that over 90 percent of the LDS scientists believe that "Joseph Smith, Jr. was inspired by God in the formation of the Mormon Church."

People only become scientists by proving their intellect, their rational pursuit of truth based upon demonstrable evidence, and their skepticism of that which is not readily credible. So the remarkable record of an overabundance of objective scientists who believe in and are faithful to and active in the Church must be astounding to people with frozen preconceptions. It appears that no other Church can demonstrate its overwhelming believability to scientists.