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?

Dad: My Example and My Friend

      In "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" given in September 1995 by the President of the Church of the time, Gordon B. Hinkley, it states:
"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families."

   This decribes the fundamental duties of a father in the home. God intended for men, husbands, and fathers to fulfill this role. Sadly, in today's world, many men shy away from such responsibility towards children, work or family as a whole. My father, however, does not fall into this category...
   In the Book of Mormon, there was a man named Lehi. He was a prophet. He had 4 sons: Laman, Lemuel, Nephi and Sam. Two of his sons walked with him the ways of the Lord. Nephi and Sam were righteous and obedient to their father. The other two, Laman and Lemuel, were rebellious and constantly fighting against their father Lehi. Lehi was saddened by the wickedness of his two wayward sons. He feared for their lives and their salvation as they drifted farther and farther from the ways of God. In 1 Nephi 8:37, Lehi encourages them, almost begs them with "all the feeling of a tender parent" to listen to him and stop their evil ways. That scripture has always touched me. Lehi was so persistent yet loving with his children. He set the example for that family.
 My father has been the ultimate example to me of how to be a man, a father, a husband and in the Church, a worthy priesthood holder and leader. He, like Lehi, strongly encouraged me "with all the feeling of a tender parent" to stay on the right path. Unfortunately, I didn't always listen to my father. And whenever I didn't, I paid for it. He knows best.
    I love my dad. He has taught me everything I know today. I learned how to work in the church, how to be a man and how to treat women. I have very fond memories of my dad. I cherish all the times we sat down together and just watched a game on TV or when he would take me to baseball games. We just enjoyed each other's company and talked about the game. Perhaps this is why I have such a deep passion for sports, is because it reminds me of my dad and all the great times we have had. Everyone who sees me and my dad says the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. I look at that more in depth than just in appearance. If someone were to tell me I am just like my father in work ethic, in serving the church, in how I raise my children and treat my wife, I would consider that a compliment. If I can be the priesthood holder my dad is, the husband and father he is, the hard worker he is, I would consider my life to be successful.
   I look up to my dad in every way. He is a great example of how men should be. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said this in his latest address in April: "Not always but often it is the men who choose not to answer the call to 'come join the ranks.' Women and children frequently seem more willing. Brethren, step up." (The Laborers in the Vineyard, Jeffrey R. Holland, May 2012). This does not describe my father. He answers the call, he has stepped up, and I hope I can serve a mission as well as he did, be a man, husband and father like he is. I love my example, my friend, my dad.

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.