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....

Broken Necks and Strengthened Testimonies

     A true blessing that we have from the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of the priesthood. It is what runs the Church. The prophet himself all the way down to the most humble of 12 year-old young men can hold this sacred power from God. Of course, there are a few prerequisites for such a privilege. God has given the priesthood power to men all throughout time. Moses, Adam, Abraham, and Noah all had it. This is the sacred power by which baptisms are performed. The sole purpose of the priesthood is to bless the lives of others.
My life was blessed by this very power...
   In  August of 2006, I was about to start my first ever season of high school football. My dad had played high school and college football and I grew up watching it all my life, I really wanted to play. I had no idea what to expect. A few days before I started "two-a day" practices for the first time, the dad of one of my good friends, who also was a highly respected leader of the Church in the area of Escondido, CA, suggested that I ask my dad for a priesthood blessing before I started practicing. I heeded his suggestion. My dad blessed me with safety and protection. I had a warm feeling in my heart and I knew everything would be OK.
   The next day, practice started bright and early. We did 2 days of practice without hitting or tackling each other. That all changed that Thursday. We put on our gold helmets and shoulder pads for the first time and started to play "real" football. I was assigned to play the position of middle linebacker. So my main job was to hit anyone who was carrying the football as hard as I could. During a drill in which I was to try and tackle our quarterback, who was about 2 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier than me. For this drill, we had to start off by laying on our backs until the whistle blew. I lay down on the prickly, sun-scorched grass staring up at the clear blue sky through my facemask. The quarterback was 10 yards away from me, also laying down. The whistle blows. I scramble to my feet as fast as I can and I stumble. I struggled to stand up in time, and right as I start to raise my head I see a gold blur right in front of me and I immediately feel as if a train had hit me head-on. A bright white light flashes as our helmets collide, his helmet making contact with the top of mine. I instantly feel a sharp, lightning quick pain shoot down my spine. I fall to the ground stunned, unable to talk or move. I close my eyes in sheer pain and open them again to see all my coaches and 2 members of the medical staff surrounding me with very concerned looks on their faces. My arms and legs feel tingly and unresponsive. The ambulance comes and immediately takes me to the emergency room. I am strapped to a metal neck brace and stretcher, with all my gear still on. I manage to ask the medic in the ambulance if I was going to be paralyzed. He gave me a disheartening shrug. I get examined and X-rays as I am still strapped to my stretcher. They move me to a room by myself as they wait for the results. My parents show up and  I will never forget my mom's face as she walked into the room, seeing me still with full football gear on unable to move. A few hours pass and the results finally come in...
    The doctor comes in and looks at me and says "I have good news and bad news. The bad news is you broke your neck. The good news is that you broke your neck in the best way possible." He then tells us how he doesn't know how I am not paralyzed. He is astonished at how forceful the impact was and how precise and perfect the fracture in my 7th cervical bone in my neck was. It was broken in place. If the bone would have moved a few millimeters out of place, I would have been a paraplegic and I would not be typing this right now. That is a miracle. I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that, because I received a priesthood blessing, I was protected. The doctor told us I was so close to making headline news with a story about a high school football player breaking his neck and never walking again. But that was not the case. I was protected because of the priesthood and my faith in it. I recovered in 11 weeks and I was able to play the final 3 games of our season and I played football all 4 years of high school. I was blessed because of the faithfulness and worthiness of my dad giving me that blessing.
    The priesthood is real. It has been restored with Christ's church. I am a witness that it works. The priesthood works. Faith works. God blessed me and protected me. I have seen many miracles come to pass because of the priesthood. But they all weren't of that great magnitude. The priesthood is involved in many of the little things we do in the church, not just for the miraculous healings. Every worthy man can hold the priesthood, and they all should work to get it and remain worthy to hold this sacred privilege.