I'm a mormon

   My name is Kerry Keith Olsen. And I'm a  mormon. I have heard this phrase every single day of my mission so far. Today as I studied and as I look at the account of others that say "i'm a mormon" today I thought to myself what did this really mean to me. I sat pondering this question over and over again in my mind the thought came to me, I'm a mormon cause I choose to be one. It's something that I am very proud to say. I love to read, well I didn't when I was younger but for one reason or another I have found so much joy in reading right before coming out on my mission. I credit a lot of this to my mother because she absolutely loves to read and I think genetically speaking I'm picking up on a lot of that; anywho, because of this love of reading now part of me I have grown to love the Book of Mormon more than I have ever thought I would. The story and the principles that I can apply tomy daily life has made me more structered as a person and as a servant of the Lord. I can honestly say that I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and that He gave me gifts not only to share them and build His kingdom but He gave them to me so that I can learn about Him and His divine plan for me. I find so much joy in the work of the Savior and in sharing my talents and gifts from God to all those around me.

He Will Give You Help

This story toughed my heart. I have been blessed to not have to go through this pain thus far in my life, but what comfort it brings me to know that we can see our friends and family again. The Atonement is a powerful gift given to us by Jesus Christ, He wants us to use it, He wants us to ask for repentance so that we can have joy in this life and the life to come.

My own conversion

  When people who think of a mormon missionary they think of two young men who go door to door trying to tell people about God or something of that manner. As someone who was raised in the LDS faith my concept of missionaires wasn't much different other than I knew what they were sharing at the door step, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Growing up I always thought I would serve a mission but when the choice of going to college and getting a scholarship came up I decided to go to college instead. I don't ever regret my choice of  going to college first, it was a lot of fun. I met new people who are now some of my closest friends and was able to get some school work under my belt; however, it did make the decision of going on a mission harder. It wasn't until the end of the school year that I had to make a choice whether or not to stay or to go and serve a mission. For me this was no easy task. I went to college for two reasons: 1) to start my studies and 2) to be a cheerleader, which I actually got a scholarship for. I started to love those I worked closely with each and every day, I also was developing my skills, as a cheerleader, fairly quickly which made it that much more enticing to stay. I was afraid if I left my skill would decrease and I wouldn't be able to get back to the level where I wanted to be. This all changed one Sunday morning. I had always gone to church but when college started up I was not to motivated to go to church anymore. Doing other things just appealed to me a lot more than church and eventually came to a point where I didn't go at all. This particular Sunday on the other hand was somewhat different, my mother would always try to wake me to see if I would like to go with them and I always said no, but this early January morning I was compelled to go. It was a testimony meeting, where members would go up to the pulpit and bear their testimony of what they know to be true. I arrive at church expecting everyone to come up to me and ask me where I have been and what I was doing with my life, fortunately we arrived just as the meeting started so I had a whole hour to worry about it and maybe after the meeting was done I could sneak out before I ran into anybody. After the opening hymnal, prayer and partaking of the sacrament, the pulpit was open to the congregation. The first person was a lady and she is a sweetheart but for some reason so was going off about some story about her cat, but then it hit me. I have felt the spirit before through out my life but never like this before, I was overwhelmed by what I was feeling, I couldn't understand what was going on, the speaker was talking about her cat, but I knew it the the Holy Spirit witnessing to me that I was where I needed to be and that the Lord needed me to serve a mission. I was astonished by what I was hearing emotion came over me and I wept during the rest of the meeting. I felt the Savior's love, I know that He wanted me to follow His commandments because He wants me to come back and live with Him again some day and wants me to share that same knowledge with everyone. He wants us all to live with Him again. That is why I am out here on a mission, not only duty but the Lord has asked me to do it Himself and like the prophet Nephi of the Book of Mormon " I will go and do the things the Lord hath commanded" (1 Nephi ch. 3 vs. 7). I know why I'm out here, God and His Son, Jesus Christ, have restored Their gospel and Their authority back on the earth today and what I have to share with the world is from God, and He inviteth all to come unto Him.