[Author's Note: Make sure you've read Part I before continuing. Otherwise, you'll be lost.]

We met at the Post Exchange in October 1992. My best friend and she were in the same class. What a lucky guy he was!! I tried setting the two of them up but it didn’t work out. I moved in immediately. After all, I couldn’t let the perfect girl get away.

There’s a line in the movie “As Good As It Gets” where Jack Nicholson’s character is trying to say something nice to Helen Hunt’s character. After making things worse, he finally says, “You make me want to be a better man.” That’s the way Emily made me feel. For once in my life, alcohol wasn’t the most important thing to me. Getting this girl to like me took precedence. I didn’t know anything about her background, but I knew she was smart, didn’t drink, didn’t curse, and seemed like a very wonderful person. I knew that I had to change something if I wanted her to like me. I was her exact opposite.

But, it wasn’t easy. I continued to drink, just not around her or when I thought I’d be seeing her. A few years earlier, about the time I started drinking, I had given up on religion. I went to church with almost every girl I dated to find what I was looking for. I’ve been baptized more times than I can count into almost every religion out there. But, nothing seemed right and it wouldn’t last long. I settled on the Baptist church for awhile, but I got tired of being told I was going to hell for my rebellious rock and roll, surfer lifestyle. So, I gave up completely and lived life my way. I had read the Bible and made up my mind about what it means to me. I just couldn’t find a church that believed the way I did.

One day, Emily invited me to her church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I didn’t know anything about her church except that they had really good commercials on TV. It was late December and her church was having a Christmas program. There wasn’t a lot new to learn and I didn’t really get anything out of it other than seeing a bunch of kids and the church choirs sing. She invited me again in January 1993 and it changed my life.

As I sat there listening to people get up on the stand one by one bearing their testimonies about their knowledge of Christ’s divinity. I felt something I had never felt before. I couldn’t explain it. For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged somewhere. I felt like I was in a place God wanted me to be. The messages made sense. I could have been up there saying the exact same thing. Jesus Christ lives and he is my personal Lord and Savior. I am a child of God – my Father in Heaven. We are all brothers and sisters, saved through the atoning sacrifice of Christ. I asked to speak with the missionaries to learn more and two months later, I was baptized on my 19th birthday.

Even after getting baptized, I had some relapsing into drinking. The largest came when I was sent to Iwo Jima as the security representative for some joint naval exercises. My job was to provide security for the small exchange we had taken with us. It’s a long story best told another day, but I ended up getting into an argument with the swollen head commander of the squadron. I’ve never been one to back down to anyone when I thought I was right. To sum it up, it was his mistake, my fault. I knew how to deal with days like that and bought myself a case of beer and headed for the sauna. Realizing what I had done, I made the mistake of calling Emily wallowing in my self pity. She told me to call her back the next day when I was sober. Then, she gave me the ultimatum – quit drinking or find someone else. Through prayer, friendship, and a lot of soul searching I eventually overcame my addiction. Some say that once you’re an alcoholic you’re always an alcoholic. I don’t think that’s true. It DOES take a long time to rid yourself of the emotional bond that you have with it, but I’m not a “recovering alcoholic” or any other PC term that people like to associate with drinkers. I’ve never been to an AA meeting. And I can walk into a club, a bar, or an American Legion and not be tempted with alcohol. It no longer has a place in my life. The temptation has been replaced with something much more positive. I learned to find other ways to deal with stress, anger, and frustration. I joined the military. What I can’t do without is the presence of my Lord in my life.

For the past week, AM radio – and media at large – has focused a lot of attention on Mitt Romney’s faith. He’s brought some of that onto himself, but for the most part everyone else is making it a bigger issue than it should be. What bugs me are the people in this country who are still ignorant and/or intolerant of my church. I listen to people calling into these talk shows and spitting out the dumbest, most uneducated things about me as a member of this church. “Christian” after “Christian” calls up to ensure that the message gets out that I’m not “one of them”. Mormonism is to be reviled because it doesn’t conform with their narrow minded beliefs. We don’t read the Bible. We have more than one wife. We perform secret works in our Temples. Our children are brainwashed. Our wives are subjugated. We worship a different God. The list goes on.

First of all, we read the King James Version of the Holy Bible. That is our canonized scripture. We also have the Book of Mormon. Anyone literate beyond two syllables will read on the cover “The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ” [emphasis added]. We no longer practice polygamy. It was done away with over 100 years ago. Does that make my religion wrong because our doctrine once included a practice that most people didn’t understand? If that’s the case, then the whole Bible is wrong too because polygamy was accepted in many cases in the Old Testament as well. How many wives did Abraham, Solomon, and Moses have? The fact is that we have been commanded to follow the law of the land and the law of the land changed to exclude polygamy. The Lord insisted we obey the law lest the whole church be destroyed. Polygamy, even when it was sanctioned, wasn’t about having a bunch of concubines and sex slaves. It was intended to care for widows and orphans. Sure, there were people (like there are everywhere) who abused this practice. Just like there are Catholics who molest boys, but that doesn’t make Catholicism wrong does it? It doesn’t mean that Catholics molest boys. Just like there are Baptists who picket the funerals of dead Soldiers and call for the destruction of this country. That doesn’t mean that all Baptists are religious zealots who hate freedom and liberty does it? No to all the above.

We don’t perform secret works in our Temples. EVERYONE in the world is invited to take part in the SACRED ordinances that we undergo in the Temple on behalf of other people. The only kicker is that you be worthy to go inside. “No unclean thing can enter the House of the Lord.” It’s not secret, simply holy and special. Is it so wrong to keep sacred things sacred? There are no alter sacrifices or other weird craziness going on in there. In fact, it is because of a personal Temple experience that I had that changed my mind towards having another child. Without the Temple, Hannah may not be in my life.

Just like every other church, we have youth programs to teach our children the doctrines of our faith. Our wives (singular) are equals (in my case superior) to us. Marriage is a sacred trust and endeavor and not to be taken lightly. Divorce is only to be undertaken in extreme and necessary situations. Children are to be educated, protected and loved. Life is to be revered and honored. We follow the law. We don’t steal. We don’t drink or smoke. We refrain from profanity. We shun sex before marriage. We read our scriptures as often as possible. We pray individually in private and together in the name of Jesus Christ. Again, like any organization or church, we have those who do not live as they should.

Anyone that wants to know what we really believe need to look no further than our own scriptures. We have what is called the Articles of Faith – 13 verses of scripture that spell out exactly what we believe. My favorite is the last one: “We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” I work hard to live my life by this standard. A similar guideline can be found in Philippians 4:8.

The main difference between LDS and other Christian religions is that we believe in living prophets, apostles, and leaders. Those individuals spread the word of God and love of Christ. We have a Prophet, much like the Pope, to go to with doctrinal questions. We don’t have to rely on the thousands of bishops throughout the word to interpret the Word of God as they see fit. No matter where you are, the message within our chapels is the same. Unlike other churches I’ve been to, the message doesn’t change from bishop to bishop, chapel to chapel. So, as the debates heat up and people continue to attack my faith, realize that they are ignorant. I love the hosts that actually ask the callers making these silly accusations if they’ve read the Book of Mormon – none of them have. Oh, they’ve been “trained” in Mormon theology, but they’ve never READ the Book of Mormon. They’d be surprised how much of a positive message the book contains. If you don’t believe me, read it yourself.