Hi I'm Joe

I first read the Book of Mormon when I was 14. At the time I started reading, I was a struggling D student. I was miserable. The first thing I noticed as I started reading the book was that life became better, school came easier, (I went from a D student to an A- student). I found it easier to make friends. As I read daily, I often found myself thinking about Jesus Christ, and examining my relationship, or lack there of, with Him. Through the influence of the Holy Spirit, I saw things in my life that I needed to change, areas where I needed to turn to God and repent. The truthfulness of the Book of Mormon distilled upon me day by day, so that by the time I finished reading it, I knew the book to be from God. I remember praying earnestly to know if Heavenly Father and Jesus really had appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, my prayers were heard and answered. The more I studied and applied the teachings of the restored gospel, the more I felt the love of God in my life. The world, and the sophistry of the adversary can not replicate or reproduce the love of God that we can feel when we are on the correct path to Him.

There are many things that help me live my faith; prayer, daily scripture study, both alone and with my family, serving in the church, helping and serving others. All those things are important, but I believe the primary way I live my faith is by repenting. We all sin, but as we improve our relationship with God, we will see how we need to repent, we begin to see our sins through the looking glass of the Spirit. I live my faith best, when I lay my burdens, my sins and my shortcomings at the Savior's feet, and abandon them. A man or woman can be truly changed by their own repentance, and by God's forgiveness.