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....

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.

God Needs a Pinch Hitter, Will You Step Up to the Plate?

   If you have spent at least 5 minutes around me, you know I love sports. Especially baseball. I love them because there are so many parallels to life lessons in every sport. It's so easy to turn them into analogies about life. So here is my attempt to make one...
   The bases are loaded, in the the bottom of the 9th inning, you are down by 1. You have been sitting on the bench all game waiting for a chance to prove yourself and get in the game. The coach decides to put you in as a "pinch-hitter" which means he will substitute you in the game for whoever was supposed to bat at that time. So you will hit in the place of that person. But the person you are hitting for happened to be the best hitter on the team. The coach just wanted you to have a shot at success. So now it's up to you. You are up to bat, the bases are loaded in the 9th inning. The question is...can you deliver?
   God, our Heavenly Father, is our coach. He tells us what we need to do in this life to be successful and return to Him. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is our exemplar. He came to earth and established His church by His authority, the priesthood. This priesthood he also gave to his disciples to act in His name. As He gave them this authority, He told them "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (Matthew 28:19). They were to act in His name as they preached the gospel and establish the church. He chose them to do it. Jesus Christ is the "best hitter on the team." God has restored that priesthood on the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That priesthood is given to every worthy man. This priesthood is the ability to act in the name of Jesus Christ to do such things as perform baptisms, heal the sick, give blessings, and preach the gospel. Since we are acting in the name  of Jesus Christ as holders of the priesthood, we are, in a sense, pinch-hitting for Christ as we minister to the sick, guide the Church, baptize, and preach the gospel.
   "Many are called, few are chosen" as the scriptures say. We could change that into "many are on the team, few are chosen to play." When we receive the priesthood, we are called into the game. We are the pinch-hitter in that tight spot. Acting in the name of Christ. He needs us to deliver. Will we be ready to step up to the plate? When the "coach" motions in our direction to go into the game, will we come through in the clutch? Or will we strike out? Anyone can play, so long as they are worthy. God has restored His priesthood, His Authority to the earth and given it to men once again. We must honor and cherish that privilege. We must do our duty: minister unto the sick and poor, bless our families, guide and lead the church as well as preach the gospel. That is our call. Let us all be ready to be called on when the game is on the line. Let's drive in that winning run instead of strike out. Let us all magnify our callings in the priesthood. God calls to us: "arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;" (2 Nephi 1:21). God needs a pinch-hitter, will you step up to the plate?

New meaning of Spring

      I can't believe it is already April! Throughout my life, as April approached my thoughts would turn towards baseball season. The green grass, the pop of the gloves, the ping of the metal bats, the smell of the spring air. Now that I am a missionary, I have come to understand something far more important about the spring season. It's not only a symbol of a new baseball season, but more importantly a symbol to new life through Jesus Christ's Atonement and Resurrection. Though baseball still runs through my veins, I have come to deeply appreciate the spring as a symbol of Christ's eternal love for all of us. He died for us. He also lives for us. We will celebrate Easter this Sunday. We really should celebrate Christ the whole week, or better yet, our whole lives.
    Where would we be without Christ?....The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi tells us where: "...for behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more." (2 Nephi 9:8-9). Not a fun place, that is for sure. Christ redeemed us from eternal torment. He died and lives again, so that we may live again after we die. (see 2 Nephi 2:8). That is the whole point of Easter. He lives!
    Because He died for us, we all will be resurrected, granting us immortality. But it doesn't stop there. Everyone gets immortality, evil and righteous, male and female. God's work and His glory is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). The immortality AND eternal life of man. Eternal life is different than immortality. Christ gave us all immortality as a gift from Him. Eternal life is something we must earn. We "must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men." We must also "endure to the end," and if we do that, God tells us that we "shall have eternal life" (see 2 Nephi 31:20).
    I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that through Him, I can be saved if I do my part. We all can, if we do our part. Our part is to follow His teachings and keep all of His commandments. He has set the example, we all must follow it. Spring means more to me than just baseball. It means I might live again, through Christ, my Savior.