Football and Family

   God loves us so much. He truly wants us to be happy in this life. That is why He gave us families. Families are ordained of God. (Meaning marriage between a man and woman is a divine principle, not just a nice suggestion). My family means so much to me. Being a missionary, you can't see your family for 2 years. And throughout my mission I have realized times when I took my family for granted. It's the old saying "You don't know what you have until you lose it." I had great parents who taught me the ways of our Lord. I am the oldest of 5 children in my family. I have so many great memories with my family.
   The reason why I annoy people with how much I love sports is because I associate my passion for sports with my family. I grew up watching games on TV with my dad, going to Padres games with my family, and just spending quality time together watching a game or going to one. My dad was also my baseball coach in for 6 years. That really meant a lot to me as well. He took the time from work and his church obligations to teach me and my peers the game of baseball.That meant the world to me. He took the time to take road trips and take me to a BYU football game. I have so many great memories that tie in sports with my family. My family is everything.
   God intended for all of us to grow in a loving, united family, an atmosphere conducive to the Spirit and to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is not only the chief cornerstone of this church (Ephesians 2:20), but should also be the foundation of each household. God wants all of us to be in a home where a father and mother live together in harmony and love, raising their children together. There are so many broken homes nowadays. This may result from fornication, adultery, alcoholism, or other things. I do understand that there are some instances beyond the family's control, such as death and accidents, that make it impossible to have a father and mother in the home. But for most cases, it can be avoided and should be. The choices we make today effect our families, whether they be current or future families. What are you learning or doing today to better yourself as a father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter, brother, or sister? Everyone needs to work together to make a family successful. It does not all lie on the parents...
   Though my family is imperfect, I always feel loved and cared about in my home. Everyone (for the most part) gets along and at the end of the day, we all love each other. The home is the best place to learn about our Savior and God's plan for us. Much of the world uses their homes for yelling, fighting, abusing, and neglecting. We all will be accountable for how we treat our families, as a child and parent, at God's judgement. I know my parents love me, and they taught me so much about my Savior and about His church. I am grateful for them and their example to me. If I didn't have a home support, I do not know where I would be. Probably not wearing a shirt and tie in 92 degrees in North Florida....

Kickoff A New Life

   God has given us so many gifts. I have mentioned several in my blogs thus far. One that has become more personal to me during my mission is the gift of repentance. We are so imperfect. Every single day it seems, we do something we regret. How come God loves us so much? Because we are His children. That is why. I may not be a parent yet but I can sure say that I have done a lot of stupid things in my life but my parents still love me. He is the same. Even more so, since He is perfect. Repentance truly is a gift:
    "Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved." (3 Nephi 9:22)
    We can all be saved if we come unto Him asking for forgiveness. We must "confess and forsake" our sins. Confessing means to tell the Lord what we did and ask for forgiveness and also, if necessary, going to a church leader for more serious sins so they can help us repent fully. Forsake simply means to stop doing the sin. If we go back to the same sin, we really have not repented at all. Repenting means to turn back. To start a new life, in line with God's will...
   In light of the football season about to start (No I cannot watch it but the clock installed in me senses it is time for football), we must remember that we must seek to change our lives to be more in line with God's. We must kickoff a new life, a life for God and His will. In football, a kickoff starts everything over again. New opportunities arise for your team. No matter what happened, who scored or how they scored, a kickoff starts it over (everything but the score that is). Repentance gives us that opportunity. We can start over. We can become better and improve on our past mistakes. Let us all kickoff a new life, repenting of our shortcomings and mistakes and seek to be better people. People that follow Christ closely. I know that as we repent, and align our lives with the will of our Father in Heaven's, we will see blessings. And those blessings will increase exponentially as we seek every day to get better, to be a little better than yesterday.

Make It To the Playoffs

     "And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

  Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." (2 Nephi 31:19-20) 

   Quite simply, the "strait and narrow path" this scripture is referring to is entering into the waters of baptism and making that covenant with God. It is saying that just because we are baptized, does not mean we can put our lives on "cruise control" and chill. We must endure to the end...

   Let me put it like this. I always got to throw sports into it so it makes more sense to me. I love baseball. Every year in high school, my baseball team looked really good. We had big strong guys who could hit the ball hard and far. We had pitchers getting looked at by pro and college scouts. Every spring when the San Diego area newspapers would discuss which high school team could win it all, or at least do very well, our team was usually thrown in the discussion. We had so much potential. We would start the year off really well. We usually would win 4 of our first 5 games, and maybe 8 of our first 10. We would ride sky high. Our confidence was high. We thought that we could beat anyone without hardly even trying. The problem was, a high school baseball regular season is about 30 games long, plus a few extras maybe. So we always did well for the first third of the season. And then we got complacent. We started making mistakes, dumb plays and being lazy during practice. And we paid for it. In my years of high school baseball, we never made the playoffs. Not once. We had players in the top 10 in the county in homeruns, batting average and for pitchers, strikeouts. Yet, we could never quite....endure to the end. You see what I am trying to say? My team didn't understand the concept of enduring to the end. We must fight and strive to always improve. Our opponents took advantage of our complacency. This lesson does not just apply to baseball teams. 

   In life, once we are baptized into the Church, and head on the path that "leads to eternal life," we aren't exempt from any more work or progression.We must always work to get better and endure to the end. How do we endure to the end? We keep going to church every Sunday, we read the scriptures everyday and pray daily to our Heavenly Father. We strive to keep all the commandments of the Father.We serve our fellow men and fulfill our callings and duties with all our hearts. Easy enough, right? With God, it can be. And if we are complacent, just like my baseball team was, our "opponent" (Satan) will take advantage of us and we will fall off the path. We must always be on our toes and not be complacent with where we are. Enduring to the end is an essential part of living the gospel of Jesus Christ. The word "endure" implies that we will face challenges. We can rely on the Lord in prayer and scripture study to get us through them. We have to make it to the "playoffs," which is eternal life. We must endure. We must beat Satan. That's the only way we will make it to the playoffs.

What a Wonderful World

    A lot of people these days do not stop and smell the roses. I have always tried to. I have always been one of those people that, if walking outside at night, will look up in awe at the starry sky. I love camping, I love being outside, I love the simple pleasures in life. What do I think about as I marvel at the night sky, or at the tall cliffs on the shore of California's beaches? I think about their Creator. "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:" (Col 1:16).

    God has created all things. From humans, as complex and amazing as our own bodies are, to the simplest plant at the bottom of the rain forest floor in Brazil. This is such a beautiful world. And it is such a gift to live here. We need to have gratitude for the simple things in life that we have, that God has given us. How would you feel if you gave someone a gift and they never thanked you or even expressed joy for the gift? Like dirt, right? I always wonder how our Heavenly Father feels when we are ungrateful towards the wonderful gifts he has given us.
   My ability to walk was almost taken from me 6 years ago this month. I will forever be grateful for the simple ability to still be able to run across a basketball court without much effort, or throw a baseball. The old saying goes "you don't know what you have until you lose it." Too many times I have caught myself in that situation. We should thank God for all the things He has given us. We have so much to thank Him for, we must always show gratitude to the one who has given us everything.

Eternal Life: It's So Simple

   When you think on it, obtaining eternal life, which means to live in the presence of God in a state of never-ending happiness with our families, is pretty simple. There is a difference between simple and easy. I never said it was easy, but simple? Yes. Why do I say it is simple? Because we have the road map to eternal life right in front of us.

   God tells us several times in the scriptures how to obtain eternal life. In the book of 2 Nephi, chapter 31, it says 

"And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son. 

And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do... 

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." (2 Nephi 31:11-12, 20)

   We have that promise right there.  We shall have eternal life. All we have to do is repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, have faith in Christ, and then endure to the end. It's the only way. But how do we endure to the end? It is simple. This process called the "Doctrine of Christ" which you have seen me mention before (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end) is actually a cycle. It doesn't end once we are baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. We start over. We try to increase our faith even more. We do that by reading the scriptures and coming to church. We always need to be repenting. We are not perfect. None of us are.

 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:8-10). 

   Since we can't really be baptized again, we renew the covenants we made at baptism every Sunday when we take the sacrament. That's how we keep living the cycle. We must go to church every Sunday to fully live the doctrine of Christ. As we take the sacrament to renew that baptismal covenant, we are promised the companionship of the Holy Ghost. So you see? It all fits together. 

   This is a cycle that never ends. We must always be striving to make ourselves better. As we do that, the Atonement of Jesus Christ takes over the rest. Christ is our Advocate with the Father. In Spanish, it says that He is our "abogado." Which means "lawyer." He fights for our side, defends us and will convince the Father that we are worthy to merit eternal life and glory. The question is, are we worthy?