My name is Aaron Powner. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a husband, a father, and the chief author of all writings found at wordsofplainness.org
I call myself Brother Aaron because that is what I am—a brother in Christ to anyone willing to sit down and talk honestly about Him.
I carry the title Ministering Elder not as a credential but as a description of what I try to do. I minister. I serve. I bear witness. Not from a pulpit above anyone, but from a chair beside them. The word Elder in our tradition does not mean aged—it means one who has been given stewardship to teach and testify. That is the stewardship I have accepted, and Words of Plainness is how I carry it out.
Why This Ministry Exists
I did not set out to build a website. I set out to answer a question that would not leave me alone: If I truly believe what I say about Jesus Christ, what am I doing about it?
For years, my brother James and I had been writing together—working through the scriptures, wrestling with the theology we were raised with, trying to put into plain language what we had come to know. The project began as letters to our children, but the manuscript grew into numerous chapters. It sat on a shelf. The files were stored on a hard drive.
What changed was that I stopped asking whether I was ready and started asking whether the people who needed this work could afford to wait until I felt ready. The answer was no. So I built the site, recorded the chapters in my own voice, composed the music, and opened the door.
What I Believe
I believe Jesus Christ is the living Son of God. I believe He suffered, died, and rose again—not as metaphor, but as history. I believe we are saved by His grace. I also believe that His grace requires everything of us, and that this is not a burden but a rescue. I believe He stands at the door of every human heart and knocks, and that He has never once stopped knocking.
I believe the gospel was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints carries the authority and ordinances of Christ's original Church. But I do not exclude anyone from faith in the Savior, and I think of all who seek Him as brothers and sisters in faith. I have no interest in arguing about who is right about Christ. I witness that Christ is right, and that is what matters to all who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
I write from that conviction without apology. I did not build this ministry for people who agree with me. I built it for anyone willing to encounter Christ with an honest heart and let the encounter do its work in their lives.
What Ministering Elder Means in Practice
It means I answer messages. It means I sit with people as equals (both in reality and in virtual reality) and talk about God for hours. It means I write chapters that take weeks because I will not publish a sentence I have not prayed over. It means I compose music at night in our camper and weep with joy over lyrics because the Spirit is in the room and I cannot pretend otherwise.
It means I do not argue. I witness. There is a difference. An argument tries to win. A witness simply tells the truth about what happened to me and trusts God with the result. That is the posture of this entire ministry—service before teaching, trust before doctrine, encounter before explanation.
An Invitation
If you have never visited Words of Plainness, I invite you to begin: www.wordsofplainness.org
Start with whatever chapter title catches your eye. Listen to the audio narration if you prefer hearing to reading. Sit with the reflection prompts. You will not be tracked, sold to, or pressured. You will simply be welcomed—as a seeker, a saint, or something in between.
My brother James and I wrote these things for you. Not for an audience. For you—the one reading this right now.
Come and see.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Brother Aaron Powner Ministering Elder and Chief Author Words of Plainness