Hi I'm Chris Lancaster

I was a converted to the church when I was twelve. As a child, my mom was a baptist and my dad was LDS, so when I was young we would go to my mom's church one week, and dad's the next. When I was about eight my parent's divorced, and my younger brother and I stayed in the custody of our mom. We would see our dad every other weekend, but because our mom would not give our father permission to take us to church with him, not only did my brother and I become detached from the church, but because of the strain of only attending church half the time, so did my father, and he eventually became totally inactive. Later, my mom got evicted from our apartment and became homeless, so my brother and I had to move in with our dad. This was the most life changing and significant occurrence thus far in my life. Not only did this give me a better home environment in which I could focus on my schooling, it also opened to me the doors of the Gospel. My dad took the courage to clean up his life and call the missionaries, and after hearing the lessons, and with my mother's signature, my brother and I were finally baptized. I do admit, when I was baptized I was not entirely convinced that the church was true, and felt I was partly only doing it because my dad wanted me to, but as time went on, I was blessed for my leap of faith. I began to more fervently study the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, and prayed, asking to know if what I read was true. One night, I receive my answer. The Holy Ghost descended down upon me with such beautiful and magnificent power that it felt as if my own spirit had to make room for Him within my own body; it felt as if my whole frame began to quake. Ever since then I have known that the Book of Mormon is true, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored again to the Earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the World.

I enjoy being active in the church and community. In the past, I have ran cross country, played water polo, and competed on the swim team. As I stated earlier I sing in school and church choirs, I was even choir president my senior year, and I have acted in many school and church plays. I have also been active in Boy Scouts, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Other achievements of mine include earning my Duty to God award, and graduating high school with the rank of Scholar with Distinction and Magnum Cum Laude. Why are these things ways I live my faith? It is because whether I am taking out my elderly neighbor's trash, or simply asking a friend if something is wrong when they seem down, I am doing it with the love of Christ in my heart, with integrity, with benevolence, with faith, with hope, with charity, with gratitude, and with humility, and with the Holy Ghost. It seems where ever I go, what ever I do, people notice, and if they ever ask why, I'm happy to tell them, "I'm a Mormon".