Skip to main content

Why This Blog?

I first became interested in blogging when I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints in Nagoya, Japan.  During my two years of proselyting as a young adult, I wrote a weekly email to friends and family back home sharing my feelings, thoughts, and experiences. I enjoyed staying in contact with people who were inspired by my attempts to serve and share my beliefs with others and shared my religious background. Shortly following my release and return to the United States in the summer of 2016, I wanted to continue sharing my thoughts and experiences with others and created this blog.

At first, I saw The Everyday Latter-day Saint blog as a missionary tool to spread Latter-day Saint beliefs I held or simply to paint Latter-day Saints as everyday people. Because of this, many of my early posts back in 2016 and 2017 were geared towards explaining basic Latter-day Saint doctrines in a rather straightforward manner to non-members. I gradually started using the blog to share my experiences abroad, such as my travelogue posts about my visits to Jordan, or to write about the unique challenges of being a Latter-day Saint, such as the hardships of being a single recently returned missionary. As my personal beliefs and understanding of doctrine and culture grew over the past couple of years, most recent posts have focused on examining longstanding Latter-day Saint problematic cultural ideas and advocating for inclusive and diversity in my Latter-day Saint communities. Currently, I hope that my blog can be a safe place for anyone to have important discussions related to the Latter-day Saint community. I welcome temple recommend holding Latter-day Saints, marginalized or estranged members of the community who may not feel welcome because of their sexual orientation, gender expression, lifestyle, or personal choices, and non-members alike.

My opinions and beliefs have gradually evolved over time just as the purpose of my blog has. Some older posts may not accurately express my current opinions on topics. I have left up every post on this site in their original, unedited form, adding necessary disclaimers at the beginning of each post when opinions expressed are no longer held by me. The main audience for many of my posts are fellow Latter-day Saints, although anyone is welcome to join the conversation. When I write, I attempt to express my opinions in ways that are accessible to those in and out of the Latter-day Saint community. I hope that my blog can play even just a small part in the ever-important need for Latter-day Saints to make bridges with other communities and peoples and work towards making our church and community a welcome, safe place for all of God's children, regardless of their backgrounds, identities, or lifestyles.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Confronting and Dismantling Racism in the Latter-day Saint Community

Recent demonstrations, protests, and petitions in the past month calling for solutions to systemic racism after George Floyd’s and thousands of others’ violent deaths by law enforcement has brought about some serious discussions on race in America. Never in my lifetime has any cause or call to action been so widely spoken about and seriously discussed by politicians and Americans alike. For perhaps the first time in the country’s history, a large portion of white Americans are acknowledging, confronting, and pushing to change systems of oppression that cater to and benefit the white community while discriminating people of color. This discussion and awareness has even reached my own predominantly white Latter-day Saint community in the United States. I’ve been encouraged by the reaction of many of my Latter-day Saint peers, sharing their own experiences and thoughts to stand up for our marginalized African American siblings. For example, my local congregation in Los Angeles hosted an...
5 comments
Read more

Loving and Understanding LGBTQ+ Latter-day Saints

I originally gave this talk on June 9, 2019 in sacrament meeting of the Provo 42nd Young Single Adult Ward. After promising to unfold the mystery of the parable of the olive tree to us modern readers, Jacob admits that he fears that he might “get shaken from [his] firmness in the Spirit, and stumble because of [his] over anxiety for [his brethren]” [ Jacob 4:18 ].  I can relate to him as I stand in front of you all today.  When I give a talk, I usually prepare a few notes, a couple of quotes, and follow a loose outline; however, because of the importance and sensitivity of my topic today, I have written my talk out so that I will be able to share my complete thoughts and personal knowledge I have gained over the past several months through prayer and fasting on my chosen topic. In last year’s November General Conference, Elder Ulisses Soares taught us about how as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we can find greater strength in a dive...
1 comment
Read more

Finding: The Dregs of Dating

This is the first article in a three-part series on dating with the second and third post to follow. Dating.  There isn’t a more confusing word in the English language, or at least here up at BYU, especially around Valentine's Day.  For some the definition may be a bit fuzzy.  What is a date?  How serious does a girl think one date is? Or how about two dates?  Three?  For others the way to carry it out may be the cause of concern.  Is taking the effort to actually call someone appreciated or seen as too old fashioned by girls?  If it went great should I end it with a kiss, a hug, or settle for an awkward handshake?  For others, all they need is to hear the word spoken by their friends, grandmother, or bishop and it’ll send them into cardiac arrest. As a 22-year-old, single male BYU student, I myself have had many different reactions and experiences with this thing we call dating.  I’ve been through my ups and downs like everyone e...
Post a Comment
Read more