Cade's Full-length Interview

Me: How was you life like before you considered investigating the Gospel? 

Cade: For me because I grow up in Utah and a lot of my family members are really active 

members in the church. They really had a big influence on me in my upbringing. I was around 

it my entire life. I have been around active members. My life was almost Gospel like before 

actually being baptised. before fully having the Gospel in my life. 

Me: Yeah Michael said he was similarly. When he can back to the church, he did not need to 

change that much. He needed to learn a lot when he was coming back to the church but he did 

not have to change his life too much 

Cade: I did not need to change my life at all pretty much besides studying the scriptures, going 

to church regularly, going to all the church activities  and stuff, schedule change, doing things 

to be more spiritually uplifted, be more involved in the church. For the most part my life before 

having the gospel was almost like I had the Gospel, but not actually having it. Does that make 

sense? 

Me: Yeah that makes sense, if your family is really into it, and most of your family was in it. The 

majority of the people in Utah are Mormon. 

Cade: All my friends you know, and I was never pushed to be baptized. I know when I was eight 

years old. I went into have an interview with my bishop. I had the interview. The missionaries 

would come visit me weekly. My parents got a divorce that what kind of put a hold on it; 

unfortunately, that was the way it was. After my parent got divorced, they went inactive; 

therefore, my baptism was put on hold. After that I was really down. I saw a change in both 

of my parents, not being active in the church, a change in their life. How they acted. Not in 

an extremely bad way not way off course, but the happiness that the Gospel brings. You can 

see that difference. I have seen that difference. Having the Gospel in my life, and not having it 

before I was baptized. 

Me: Can you describe that in anyway? 

Cade: Describe having the Gospel in my life as compared to not having it 

Me: yeah but also about your parents. 

Cade: The happiness level. their mannerisms. It was different. They just went about life 

differently. They did not have anything to look forward to. Its hard to explain to be honest. Its 

just a feeling. People that have the Gospel in their life you can see that. You can see when 

someone looses or when someone becomes less active. You can totally see a difference. Its 

crazy 

Me: Yeah 

Cade: Ten years later after that interview with my bishop. I am baptized. In those ten years, 

I always wanted to be baptized. After moving, we had to move because my mom could not 

afford the house, and my dad moved out.  I was living with my mom. My mom could not afford 

the house because she was a stay at home mom. We had to move, and we stayed at our 

grandparents in Murray. I always wanted to go to church and join the church. I always told my 

mom “hey mom we should go to church on Sunday.” She would be okay lets go. I would try and 

push her but we never went. I was not my mothers fault at all. I could have gone if IL wanted to. 

I don’t want to blame my mom, but that was how life was. 

Me: What sparked that idea? Didn’t you to go to Mormon.org and request the missionaries? 

Cade: Yeah thats what I did. I was in Utah over winter break. Moving out to Santa Cruz, It 

is really different here obviously. I could see a difference in the people that had the Gospel 

with my friends and family. I could see a difference there obviously. Just how they go about 

life compared to people here. Its just difference because I am not able to connect on a great 

level with people here in Santa Cruz that don’t have the Gospel, so I thought about the church 

because that is all that I grew up in. That is what I am use to. That is the path that I wanted 

for myself. I did not want to go down that road of smoking weed, drugs. Thats very common in 

Santa Cruz. 

Me: Yeah I kind of want to hang out with some people at school. I feel weird sometimes 

because in my biology lab class I saw another person casually ask another guy for a roll to 

smoke marijuana. I feel it would be hard to hang out with people at Cabrillo. I don’t know how to 

get into it. 

Cade: Its really hard. I was very fortunate and blessed to be friends with Jason. I can connect 

with him because our personalities are basically the same. It was really hard make friends and 

connect with people. I was thinking that I really need to go to church. On day I said okay, I am 

going to seek out the missionaries. I have been thinking about this for months before I did it. I 

was really thinking about baptism because that was on my mind for all those ten years. I just 

never did anything about it. I felt I was in the gospel, and I was living a good clean life. I was 

hanging out with the right people. Doing the right things. having the right influences in my life, 

having the influence of the Gospel. I talked with my parents about it, and got their impart on it. 

They were ecstatic about me, making my own decision, and actually going through with it. That 

is how a lot of my family are. I am grateful to know how happy they are in my decision to be 

baptized, so I just went on to mormon.org, and Elder Jamaias and Wulfenstein showed up at my 

door. Was in Wulfensteen or Wulfenstine? 

Me: Yeah Wulfensteen. I like Elder Wulfensteen. He is a good teacher. 

Cade: Both of those guys were exceptional. 

Me: How was investigating the Gospel? 

Cade: I always looked forward to them coming over. Teaching me something new 

Me: It was new? 

Cade: Well 

Me: You received it easily. 

Cade: I knew most of the stuff. It was kind of a refresher; also, it cleared up questions that I had 

because I had missionary discussions before from missionaries a couple times. I was familiar 

with it because I went to church with my friends. One of my really good buddies that I played 

basketball with, his dad was a bishop, so they would invite me to church every Sunday. I would 

go. I knew quite a bit. It was a refresher like said before. It answered questions that I had. I 

would write down question that I had from reading scriptures throughout the week and what not, 

and we met on a weekly basis, but the first time we met. I told them I wanted to be baptised. 

There was no question. I was familiar with the church. It did not spark me as a wild decision. 

Me: How did your friends invite you (to help you in missionary work, you) 

Cade: My friend who’s dad was a bishop 

Me: How did he invite you at first? 

Cade: I don’t know. I think that he straight up asked me. Will you come to church on Sunday? 

He straight up asked me. 

Me: That is what I was thinking. I think it is not too uncommon 

Cade: yeah 

Me: You can ask pretty straight forward, and they would not be offended. I don’t like being in a 

round about way. I like being straight forward. 

Cade: yeah 

Me: Like with another friend Ivette. I would straight up ask her. When can the missionaries 

come, and we can meet with her? At first in the friendship I did not talk to her much about the 

church. I had the missionaries at Utah call her, ask her if she would be interested, and willing to 

investigate the Gospel. I think that you can be straight forward with people. 

Cade: I would like to invite Jason to church. It seems like he is always a little stand offish. Its 

common. I hope I can get him to church one of these days. 

Me: How do you feel about having your testimony, growing? Like reading the Book of Mormon 

and stuff. 

Cade: I would say my testimony was a seed when I first took lesson from Jamaias and 

Wulfensteen; then, it spouted like a plant, and he flower bloomed when I was baptised. My 

testimony was there. It just continued to grow. How long has it been? 

Me: 7 months now 

Cade: 6 or 7 months it has continued to grow. Seven months since I have been baptised and 

active. 

Me: How would you describe it? to have your testimony grow. 

Cade: Through see other people come into the Gospel. Like Val for instance. It’s a good 

example of how I can share my testimony with her and help her understand that I know these 

things are true. The Church is true. The Book of Mormon is true. It helps me strength my 

testimony to see her, gaining a testimony because he is in those stages of gaining a testimony. 

Things like that strength my testimony. Hearing, the prophet, Thomas S. Monson, the apostles, 

and the seventy, that helps a lot because I went to General Conference the weekend after I was 

baptised.

Me: I know what you are describing. Its not like pin point anytime. just going to church line upon 

like precept upon precept. 

Cade: Not its like small. When I was baptised, my testimony was very strong and still is. It 

was like. I did not know as much as I know now, so it was kind of small. In a sense it was kind 

of unknowledgeable yet not unknowledgeable, but small amounts of knowledge. Now I have 

more knowledge, so my testimony is therefore stronger than it was before. Its from see, and 

witnessing things, and experiencing things like Val, seeing the prophets speak 

Me: How has baptism changed how you feel? 

Cade: Well I am almost twenty times happier. I am a lot more happy now because I know my 

purpose in life and stuff like that. I just have answers for things. Whereas before I was baptised 

I did not know the answers to those questions really. I knew the beliefs of the church and stuff, 

but I never really thought about it. Having the Gospel in my life has made me a lot more happier. 

Me: Have you been thinking about the interesting question? What have you done for yourself? 

   

Cade: What have I done for myself? 

Me: for your family or 

Cade: What have I done for myself? 

Me: What have you done for yourself in the Gospel? 

Cade: I don’t want to come off as selfish. I am definitely not a selfish person at all. When you 

ask, what have I done for myself? I help others. 

Me: Yeah 

Cade: It benefits me to help others. help others to the Gospel 

Me: I was thinking that you’ve gotten yourself in the Gospel. I wanted you to bare your testimony 

of all these things blessing that you have received for yourself. 

Cade: Okay 

Me: like I have gotten the Gift of the Holy Ghost for myself. It is a wierd question. I didn’t 

understand. I didn’t say it right. 

Cade: yeah I don’t know. Its kind of an interesting question because it is kind of a selfish 

question, so it is hard to think of it and an unselfish way to answer it. So well yeah I guess. 

Me: I did not expect it to be selfishly. You can say. It is also for your family because you are 

setting up your family in the future for receiving the Gospel, and working on yourself. 

Cade: Yeah yeah thats right. Being baptised and having the Gospel in my life has truly a 

blessing because it benefits my family way in the future. My wife and my kids, and also my 

family in the present, my birth dad and mother and sister because I will be able to help them 

come unto the Gospel or 

Me: are they not in the Gospel much 

Cade: No they are not. They are inactive. My parents are not active. My sister has not been 

baptised yet. I have two sisters. One has been baptised and married in the temple, but my 

younger sister she is like me. She is in the exact same situation. My parents got divorced. She 

is in the same boat as me or as I was. I am trying to help her have the blessing of the Gospel in 

her life. Teach her. Its a great blessing that I can help share with others. I am grateful to have 

the Holy Ghost. I know the truths of the Book of Mormon. I know that Joseph Smith was a true 

prophet. He restored the Book of Mormon and restored the Gospel. I know that Thomas S. 

Monson is a true prophet. I know that this church is true. I say these things in the name of Jesus 

Christ. Amen. 

Me: Another big thing that you have done for yourself. I think it is really big. You are temple 

worthy. That is a big thing that you have done for yourself. 

Yeah Huge. In my eyes it is a really big thing to be going into the temple because I have never 

done it. I will be my first time. I was really excited because I thought I was going to go to the 

temple in Utah, but then I looked thought my wallet. I was like frantically looking through my bag 

and stuff and I did not have my recommend, so I was unable to go with my friends wanted to go. 

I was really bummed out. Now with the temple trip coming up I am really looking forward to it. I 

will be my first temple trip at the Oakland temple. 

Me: Only like one more week 

Cade: Yeah are you going? 

Me: Yeah 

Cade: Yeah alright 

Me: I think Josh will be driving. We will have to figure that out. 

Cade: Cool Carpool with him. The twenty first right on a Friday. Okay Awesome. I will definitely 

be able to make that. 

Me: Now we kind of understand the question haha 

Cade: yeah yeah 

Me: It was a bad question haha 

Cade: It was a tough question for me to answer because I am so unselfish. Different people 

will taking it differently, but I turned it into an answer where it benefits others. More than myself. 

That question will be on my mind for a while, so I will think about it for a while. 

Me: You have done a lot of stuff for yourself and your family like Michael he has. 

What have you done for yourself?

In the interview that I had with Cade, I was prompted to have the interview based on this question. "What have you done for yourself?" When I asked the question, I quickly realized that it was a very odd. Upon seriously asking the question, I listened to Cade say. "I don’t want to come off as selfish. I am definitely not a selfish person at all. When you ask, what have I done for myself? I help others." After some conversation, I realized the question was so bad that the things that Cade said were purely followed by my cultivation. It was my words not his words. In interviewing, you need to be careful to not influence the interviewee's answers. Gratefully the question was asked at the end, and I asked good questions before this one.

This question is completely spiritual; although, it can be looked at in many different ways. I will explain my spiritual perspective of the question. Your salvation is dependent strictly upon your efforts and desires. Self reliance takes a lot of will power of an individual. Even though we depend on the atonement of Christ for your salvation, the promise of the covenant unto salvation is not fulfill; until, we endure to the end. Our salvation depends on us. Another part of self reliance and what we can do for ourselves is as Cade said.

During Stake Conference I learned that when we live providently, we are able to serve God comfortably with our surplus. This blessing is given to us upon our faithfulness. Not living providently limits our service. This is what Cade saw. Since he was able to afford receiving the gospel, he has the blessing with his abundant light to spread the light of Christ. He is seeking for the restoration of his entire family to rejoin the faithful saints.

This is the greatest gift of all. The exaltation of your family is the most important thing to work for. The salvation and exaltation of our families are depending on our faith. Cade explains:

"Being baptised and having the Gospel in my life has truly a blessing because it benefits my family way in the future. My wife and my kids, and also my family in the present, my birth dad and mother and sister because I will be able to help them come unto the Gospel...They are inactive. My parents are not active. My sister has not been baptised yet. I have two sisters. One has been baptised and married in the temple, but my younger sister she is like me. She is in the exact same situation. My parents got divorced. She is in the same boat as me or as I was. I am trying to help her have the blessing of the Gospel in her life. Teach her. Its a great blessing that I can help share with others."

The greatest thing that one can do for oneself is to be temple worthy. In these latter-days God has given us a most glorious blessing that no other generation before this dispensation had before. It is a humbling responsibility. We are the generation of savours on mount Zion. Only those that have the faith to be temple worthy can to this work. No one else can do perform the proxy work in the temple.

It is also an evidence of great faith, and testimony. Attending the temple, I see that the purity of those people therein gives them an exceptional personalities, for they are humble and they continually exercise faith to improve. Their personalities are growing in "faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence" (D&C 4:6) Developing the character to be temple worthy and a servant God is a great thing to do for yourself.

Another worthiness that is a personal work is the following of the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift is most precious gift in mortality. We cannot serve god without this faith. Elder Seigfried told a story in his talk today in the Capitola Ward. This prompting may felt small, but he followed it, and he was instrumental in the work of God. He was going on an errand, and he was prompted to drive the truck in the way. He had to fill up the gas tank. At the gas station he ran into a guy that had everything stolen from him, and he was able to stand as a witness of the love of God in his aid, giving him some money.

There are many of spiritual works. The few mention in this article is working out our own salvation by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and self reliance unto service. This service is most important in the family, the work of God, and the temple. The last spiritual work that I expounded is that worthiness and character in developed upon our own will. These attributes are crucial in the service of God. Without it God cannot perform any miracles. This is my view of the question. "What have you done for yourself?"

Moses leds the house of Israel

In the last class we finished Genesis, learning that the House of Israel was happily received by the pharaoh before the next book of Exodus. Sister Burgon taught the first lesson of Exodus. She taught well. Of course she taught differently than Lisa Muirhead, so she did not have glue-ins.
Since the House of Israel was in Egypt for more that four hundred years, sister Burgon felt that the second coming will not come for a really long time as the restoration of the Gospel has been on Earth for nearly two hundred years; however, they grew to be a mighty people, causing the new Egyptian pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, to fear "lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there ^bfalleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us." (Exodus 1:10) 
The Pharaoh ordered the Mid wives to kill all the sons of the House of Israel, but in humanities mercy they did not fulfill his command. Moses was born in these times. Since his mother feared that he will be killed, she prepared a sealed ark to be carried by the river. Moses' sister followed the ark, seeing that is was taken to the daughter of the Pharaoh.
Moses' sister has the courage to ask the daughter, if she could get a Hebrew women to raise the child. The Pharaoh's daughter granted according to her desires, and she retrieved her mother to raise Moses.
Moses hated seeing his people, being enslaved. He even broke out in rage to kill a man in 'secret;' however, when he realized that he was caught, he ran away from Egypt.
He was lead to Midian, where he was found to be serviceable a man named Reuel also known as Jethro. Moses, finding favor in his sight, helped lead his sleep, for he had three daughters with them. Reuel gave Zipporah, a daughter of his, to marry.
As he was out with tending his flock, he "came to the ^cmountain of God, even to ^dHoreb." (Exodus 3:1) He was prompted by to follow the flame of God that did not destroy. He was lead to speak to an angel, a representative of Christ. 


"On the top of a distant mountain, far removed from the splendor and magnificence of mighty Egypt, Moses stood in the presence of God and spoke to Him face to face as a man speaks with his friend.¹During the course of that visitation, God showed Moses the workmanship of His hands, granting him a glimpse of His work and glory. When the vision ended, Moses fell to the earth for the space of many hours. When his strength finally returned, he realized something that, in all his years in Pharaoh’s court, had never occurred to him before.

“I know,” he said, “that man is nothing.”^2 (You Matter to Him)

Just Had a Great Missionary Experience on the Bus :)

Joanna wrote me this today. It is her words.

Well I met him last year on the bus. I had meet him because he was friends with my mommy. He is super nice. I saw him a few times after that; then, we hadn't seen each other for a long time till today.
He asked me if I was still going to church. He knows Brother Fontes; then, I said "Hey he and his wife organized the pioneer trek!"
Then we started talking about church and he said you are welcome to come to my church; then, I did like wise. He said he was going to a LDS church in Utah, but he did agree and did not understand the doctrine.
He said that we don't accept Christ as the Son of God.
I explained to him that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; therefore, we need a prophet who is the mouthpiece of God, for he tells us and guides us on what we need to do to live back with God, such as Moses, Elijah, etc... So thats why we have a prophet now.
Then he asked me "Can anyone talk to God, if we are not of your faith?"
I said "Yes. Of course. That is why we have prayer. It might not be him directly speaking to you, having a marvelous dream or even an angel minister to you, but he can answer your prayer by just a small impression in your heart or a feeling or a thought in your mind. Anyone can receive answers from God, if they have faith."
I also explained that God and Christ were two separate personages, and the spirit testifies to us truths. I also told him that we were spirit children in the pre-mortal existence. There he did not agree. I proved my point by saying that God knew Christ before he was in the womb, for he created him to be the infinite and eternal sacrifice to bring the rest of his imperfect children back to live with him. "Gender is an essential characteristic of our spirits," I explained.
After he said well thats reincarnation and I said rebuked him with that fact.
Just as God knew Christ before he was created in the womb to fulfill his mission. He also knew us before we came here, already having a gender and who we are going to be when we come to earth. Not reincarnating.
I also expounded about Christ, being part mortal part God, for he was able to feel pain and affliction yet still resurrect. He fasted for forty days, so he can feel the affliction of the hungry, for he needed to feel everything we have felt or will feel. By the grace and atonement and resurrection of Christ, we are able to do the same :). Thanks to him our life does not end at the grave. Our bodies die then we go to the spiritual world, wait to be judged, be placed, resurrect, and all this because of Jesus.
I hope I planted a seed.

A Man that Always Wanted to be Baptized

In the Ocean Branch, our most recent and beloved convert is Cade Bullough. He is one of the most radiating students at Cabrillo College. His light is great, for he is a witness of Christ. I will have him tell the story of how he chose to be a Mormon, or a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; then, I will write of key principles that I found relevant for this article in a next entry.

"I grow up in Utah and a lot of my family members are really active members in the church. They really had a big influence on me in my upbringing. I was around it my entire life. I have been around active members. My life was almost Gospel like before actually being baptised before fully having the Gospel in my life..."
"I was never pushed to be baptized. I know when I was eight years old. I went into have an interview with my bishop. I had the interview. The missionaries would come visit me weekly. My parents got a divorce that was what kind of put a hold on it; unfortunately, that was the way it was. After my parent got divorced, they went inactive; therefore, my baptism was put on hold. After that I was really down..."
"Ten years later after that interview with my bishop, I am baptized. In those ten years, I always wanted to be baptized. After moving, we had to move because my mom could not afford the house, and my dad moved out.  I was living with my mom. My mom could not afford the house because she was a stay at home mom. We had to move, and we stayed at our grandparents in Murray. I always wanted to go to church and join the church. I always told my mom 'hey mom we should go to church on Sunday.' She would be 'okay lets go.' I would try and push her, but we never went. I was not my mothers fault at all. I could have gone if I wanted to. I don’t want to blame my mom, but that was how life was..." 
"I was in Utah over winter break, moving out to Santa Cruz. It is really different here obviously. I could see a difference in the people that had the Gospel with my friends and family. I could see a difference there obviously. Just how they go about life compared to people here. Its just different because I am not able to connect on a great level with people here in Santa Cruz that don’t have the Gospel, so I thought about the church because that is all that I grew up in. That is what I am use to. That is the path that I wanted for myself. I did not want to go down that road of smoking weed, drugs. Thats very common in Santa Cruz..."
"One day I said okay, I am going to seek out the missionaries. I have been thinking about this for months before I did it. I was really thinking about baptism because that was on my mind for all those ten years. I just never did anything about it. I felt I was in the gospel, and I was living a good clean life. I was hanging out with the right people, doing the right things, having the right influences in my life, and having the influence of the Gospel. I talked with my parents about it, and got their impart on it. They were ecstatic about me, making my own decision, and actually going through with it. That is how a lot of my family are. I am grateful to know how happy they are in my decision to be baptized, so I just went on to Mormon.org, and Elder Jamaias and Wulfenstein showed up at my door..."
"I always looked forward to them coming over. Teaching me something new...It answered questions that I had. I would write down question that I had from reading scriptures throughout the week and what not, and we met on a weekly basis, but the first time we met. I told them I wanted to be baptized. There was no question. I was familiar with the church. It did not spark me as a wild decision..."
"When I was baptized, my testimony was very strong and still is. It was like. I did not know as much as I know now, so it was kind of small. In a sense it was kind of unknowledgeable yet not unknowledgeable, but small amounts of knowledge. Now I have more knowledge, so my testimony is therefore stronger than it was before..."
"I am a lot more happy now because I know my purpose in life and stuff like that. I just have answers for things; where-as-before, I was baptized I did not know the answers to those questions really. I knew the beliefs of the church and stuff, but I never really thought about it. Having the Gospel in my life has made me a lot more happier...I am grateful to have the Holy Ghost. I know the truths of the Book of Mormon. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. He restored the Book of Mormon and restored the Gospel. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet. I know that this church is true. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."