Music Videos

One Saturday we got bored and decided to make a music Video...

Then after getting back from a Trip to Honduras I continued working on my video editing skills ...

Hope you enjoy

Are Mormons Christian?

   I thought I would add my piece to the debate and I would like to start by Quoting Mathew 7:15-17

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

         I know that I am a better person because of my Mormon faith and this is only one of the many reasons why I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints is true.  I have been a member of the Church all my life and have taught many people about our Church I have traveled around the world and have always tried my best to be a representative of Jesus Christ in everything I say and do.  Although I have made many mistakes in my life, I know Jesus Christ suffered and died for each of us and that through that suffering we can be forgiven of our sins and shortcomings.  I also know that God our Eternal Father loves us and he has given us the scriptures in order to show us His nature and the type of God He is.  Because of the scriptures I know that God calls Prophets to testify of truth and to lead his people, this is what was done in times of old and it is the same for our time.  I know that God has called a Prophet for our time.  His name is Thomas S. Monson, I’ve stood in the same room with him and felt of his spirit and love, my daughter had an opportunity to shake his hand and I know without a doubt that he has been called of God. 

We can debate the scriptures until the end of time, and many religions seem to be doing just that.  But I know that God loves us and he has provided a way that each of us can know for ourselves whether or not the Mormons are Christians or any other question about the Mormon faith.  It’s called prayer and if you really want to know anything, all you need to do is ask our Father in Heaven.

James 1:5 – If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

This challenge is also given in the Book of Mormon where it says:

Moroni 10:4 – “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

I have done this and my faith no longer depends on the words and interpretations of men but my faith has come from firsthand answers to my prayers from God himself.  I know that Jesus Christ lives and still governs His Church on this Earth through his living Prophet.

If you ask me if Mormons are Christians and I would ask you, how do you define Christianity? If it is anyone who believes in, teaches about and tries to emulate Jesus Christ than I would argue that Mormons are indeed Christians.  If however you define Christianity as those who belong to religious groups that follow the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed which were creeds formulated by politicians and religious leaders including the Roman Governor Constantine over 300 years after Jesus was Crucified, where they dictated and debated the nature of God and how their Church should be governed.  If this is how you define a Christian then I would say that Mormons do not believe in these Creeds, rather they go back to what Jesus Christ taught.

Here are a few questions about the Mormon Church I would like to clear up:

Is Jesus God?

The first article of Faith of the LDS (Latter-day Saint) religion states “We believe in God the Eternal Father and in His Son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost.”

We believe Jesus when he said in John 17:3 “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

This is only 1 example of the relationship between Father and Son so here are a few other examples:

John 12:27–30; John 14:26; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 1:1–3; John 5:19; John 14:10; John 6:38; John 15:24; Matthew 19:17; John 14:28.

Do Mormons believe in modern day Prophecies?

Yes we believe that God continues to speak to his children through living Prophets.  We do not believe that God has finished with us and no longer cares about us, but that he will continue to speak until Jesus Christ comes again.  God is the same yesterday and today and continues to call prophets.

Amos 3:7 – “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”

Do Mormons Believe they can one day be like God?

We believe that “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” We not only strive to know more about God and his Son Jesus Christ but we also desire to be like them.  We know that we are imperfect beings now but God has called us his sons and daughters.

In 1 John 3:1-2 – “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

So yes Mormons do believe, as did John, that we can one day be like God.

Are Jesus and Lucifer Brothers?

We believe that all men lived with God before we came to this earth as spirits.

Jeremiah 1 : 5 - "Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations." (See also Rom 8:29; Rom 9:23-24; John 9:2; Titus 1:2)

In this pre-existence we believe that Satan rebelled against God and was therefore cast down and became a fallen angel, we believe angels are the spirits of men temporarily separated from their bodies. 

Do Mormons believe we are saved through God’s grace?

We do believe that all men are saved through the grace of God, however we also believe there is more that is required in order to be exalted and live with our Father in Heaven again, baptism being chief among these ordinances that must be performed.

Acts 2:38 – “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Are Families forever?

Yes families are forever, if you look closely at the scripture you quoted it says “For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.”

Marriages will not happen in heaven that’s why we need to be married while we are on this earth.  This is also why we have Temples to perform ordinances for those who cannot perform them for themselves.

In Mathew 16:19 it says “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

We believe this power has been restored and that those with the proper authority can “Bind” families together both on Earth and in Heaven.  I for one could not imagine a heaven without my family, it wouldn’t be heaven for me if they weren’t there.

Please if you have any questions about the Church of Jesus Christ please ask us and we will happily tell you the good news.

Tour de Cure

This is our design for the Cycling Jersey for the Tour de Cure.

Sydney's Baptism

With my good friend the photographer Diana & me at Temple Square, Salt Lake City. May 2009

Us

The whole Family. I love Alejandro in this picture, he was just being himself.

Victoria Julieanne Nielsen

Victoria, Sydney & Alejandro

My husband Tim and my daughter Sydney at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. My friend Diana took these pictures for Sydney's Baptism invitations.

Sydney Celeste Nielsen being herself!

Sydney for her Baptism Invitation Pictures.

Victoria Julieanne Nielsen 1 yr old!

I know it has been....since last year since I've made a post, but Facebook has been keeping me busy ;-) Of course a lot has happened since then. Alejandro turned 4 yrs old in January. Victoria turned 1 yr old February 4th. And Sydney turned 8 and just had a baptism. And I'm off for the summer from Culinary School.

Tim and Victoria

Auntie Julieanne and Victoria Julieanne

Our convict neighbor Rudy

Our friend Diana and baby Ambree

Sydney with her best friend Ariana and her brother Mateo

I know, I know, I know I almost never update my blog and my friends and family probably never even read it anymore because of it. sorry, but with school and all I just don't have time to sit on the computer anymore. So.....Culinary school is going great. We are in baking portion of the semester. Baking breads such as Baguettes, soft rolls, Honey wheat bread, oat bran rolls (my favorite), cookies, pies, creme brulee, puff pastry and that sort of thing. I do have to be in school by 6 am! My alarm goes off at 4:30 am, it's horrible but I got used to it. But I'm learning a lot and having fun so it's o.k.
Halloween was fun, especially since the weather was so nice. We had friends come over and all of our kids went trick-a treating together.
For thanksgiving, we went to my mother in law's house. Tim's aunt Sandy was visiting from out of town and we had a lot of fun. My father in law, Bruce, cooked the most moist turkey I've ever eaten in my life!!!
The kids are doing great. Victoria is 10 months december 4th and her teeth just look so funny!! She looks like a vampire. We can't get over it! We love her so much, we just can't stop kissing her. Sydney and Alejandro go crazy over her. She's crawling everywhere and stands on her own for a few seconds. She's a very smiley baby and sleeps a lot.

Yellowstone!!!

Can you guys believe that I'm writing another post within a month of each other?!!! I'm trying to get good at this blog thing. Well, we went to Island Park in Idaho, it was really close to Yellowstone so of course we went. I loved it!!! I had never been to Yellowstone and now I want to go back soon to see it all. We went to Tiffany and Seth's family cabins. They were so beautiful. Lyndee and Chris George and Diana and Tyler Coe also went with us. Our kids had so much fun. They loved playing in the dirt and riding the 4 wheeler!!! We went swimming in Yellowstone and we all loved it. (sorry if I don't make sense in what I'm writing. I'm trying to do this while I work answering phones at the same time)

The girls were laughing at me because I asked if "Rexburg" was a supermarket. They all could not believe I did not know it is a famous city in Idaho. Sorry...I'm not from around here. I'm a New Yorker!!!! But they forgave me. The entire trip was great!! We had a blast! We even saw a Buffalo while in Yellowstone..just walking around the street. gotta go. peace!

Camping with the Santo's Family at Yuba Lake July 24th weekend

We went camping with the Santo's family to Yuba Lake the weekend of July 24th. We had a blast with them. Alejandro just wanted to "go fishing" the entire time. Sydney, of course, just wanted to be in the water swimming all day long. And we just kept Victoria in her little walker the whole time. I had only been water skiing once before and was not able to get up at all. I finally got to get up this time, thanks to Magno's patience of letting me try over and over and over again. It was so cute, we were all cheering each other. Amanda Santos did it on her first try, she made it seem like it was the easiest thing in the world. We were all so mad!!! Tim of course, did not have a problem either. We all had such a blast. Rosie doesn't enjoy boting as much so she stayed fishing, and boy did she catch us fish. There was a total of ten people and we all had plenty of fish for dinner plus the next day and I still brought one big fish home.