I would like to share some of my personal feelings concerning my family and my God. They have been the primary factors shaping my life. They have come to define who I am.
My family-- those that are living as well as my ancestors-- has taught me so much about life. From my European ancestors who immigrated to this land in search of a new life-- I have learned hope. From my fourth great-grandfather James Pace, a bodyguard to the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and a captain of a wagon train leading the Mormon pioneers across the American plains-- I have learned courage, honor and faith. From my grandfather George Walter Bryson, who at the age of eighteen left his home in Colorado to become a cowboy drifter, seeking adventure throughout the Rocky Mountains, and then settling down years later with his family to work as a government trapper in the mountains of central Idaho-I have learned independence. From my father Arnold Bryson, who only had the opportunity to have an eighth-grade education yet became the smartest man I know. He is a man of living knowledge, a man of strength, a man of honor, a man of vision, a man of God. From him I have learned all of the above. From my mother, whose faith, love, patience, kindness and feminine nature held our family together through the good times and the bad times-I have learned how to be a man. From my wife Alana, and my children Amanda, Rachel, Joshua and Christopher-I have learned how to have fun and how to live life to the fullest. Because of them I have glimpsed the power of God's love and creation.
However the greatest gift of all comes from God. He has given me through the Holy Ghost-- who testifies of Him-- the knowledge that He lives. He has sent his son Jesus Christ to die for my sins, making it possible to return to live with Him when this life is over. He has restored the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness in these latter days through the Prophet Joseph Smith. He has given me the answers to age-old questions that have been pondered by man from the beginning of time. Who I am? Where did I come from? Where will I go after I die? Because this knowledge has been given to me, I now know who I am. I am a child of God and an heir to His throne.
I am the sum of these parts!
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