Football: The Gospel Does Apply Here

    

     I have always been a really big fan of college football and it is life down here in the South! Where I am serving right now, everyone is getting all of their Tennessee Orange out and ready for the first game of the season. It is so funny that there may not be a lot of commonalities that I have with other people down here, but everyone can relate to football! Nothing beats the sweet smell of short grass and guys getting the chocolate knocked out of them by a 300 pound man! I truly believe that football and the Gospel of Jesus Christ relate together and it really helps me know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and it includes Jesus Christ suffering for our sins!

     
WE HAVE ALL SORTS OF COACHES TO HELP US

     First off, there is a coach for every team who makes the call on what is best for the team on and off the field. He spends countless hours planning strategies on passing routes, blocking assignments, audibles, and where players line up on the field. He leads the team by showing them the way. He has other coaches there to help him help the team in the best way possible. It is up to the players though to carry through with what he taught them to do. They have their agency to listen to the coach or not. They will suffer the consequence for what they choose to do. The Gospel teaches us that our coach is Heavenly Father and he has set out a game plan; Eternal Life,  to follow while we are here on Earth but it is our choice to follow it! He has given us other coaches to help us such as his son Jesus Christ and Prophets that show us the way to follow through with Heavenly Fathers game plan.


WE ALL GO THROUGH TRIALS AND TOUGH TIMES

      Secondly, It is very difficult to see a young men get hurt while he is playing the game. Football Injuries can range from pulled ligaments to broken bones. Some injuries can make a player not play for the rest of the season. It is always sad to have dreams of a great season or career shattered when the player had no intention to get hurt. While we are on the Earth, we will go through trials that make it so sometimes we can't handle the outcome. Heavenly Father gives us these trials because he knows it can help us become better.



WE CAN DO IT

     Finally, the greatest thrill from college football comes when your team wins a game, rivalry, bowl game, or best of all a National Championship. It gives you a good feeling in your heart to know that your team overcame the unpredictable. There are always so many people cheering at you and congratulating you for your heroic feat! Heavenly Father wants us to work hard and make wise decisions in this life so we can return to him again! If we do what is right and follow the Saviors example set for us, we will achieve Eternal Life, which means that we can live with Heavenly Father and our families for us! there are so many people cheering us on and when we make it, just imagine the feeling of VICTORY!!!!!!!!!

     Heavenly Father loves us and he wants us to be the great players that he made us to be. We all are apart of His team and we can do it!

Are Mormons; Latter-Day Saints, Christians?

     As Elder Waltman and myself have been out proselyting and trying to share with people the Book of Mormon, It seems that there are folks who believe that we don't believe in Jesus Christ the way that Christians do. That really shocked my brain because I thought that I was a Christian. A Christian is defined as one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ. This blog entry is to answer the thought provoking question of if Mormons are Christians? I am going to share what The Church of Jesus Christ beliefs are and if they do or do not support if others think we are Christian or not.

• The name of our church has as well as supports Jesus Christ's name. As a missionary, we were black name tags with these words on them because we believe we are representatives of the Savior Jesus Christ.

• On the front of the Book of Mormon, it says is smaller print, another testament of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon testifies that Jesus Christ is the Savior and that his incredible example touched the people living in the American Continents during the same time period that the Bible took place.

• The Mormon belief is that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins by being chosen to be our Redeemer and Advocate. He was sent to Earth to be a sacrifice for sin because all of us sin and make mistakes and no unclean thing can stand to be in the presence of God. The only way we can return to Heavenly Father is through the Savior Jesus Christ.

     I know that Jesus Christ is real because he has been there in my life when I needed him! Without his compassion and love, I would not be on a mission and I don't want to even think where I would be in life. I have been taught about Jesus Christ ever since I was a young lad and I always remember the respect and love that was talked about him whenever someone in church talked about him. It does not matter if someone does not think that I'm a Christian because of my religion. The fact of the matter is is that I know Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World and he has given me opportunities to learn of him. I believe in Christ!

The Reality is... God Loves Us

     I was a little skeptic before watching this video, I just thought it was going to be a video that would just tell us to quit doing bad things and shapen up or bad things are going to happen to you! This video which is entitled Addiction: You Will Be Freed, has been posted for at least a few months and I never even watched it. A few weeks ago, I was dealing with some hardship in my life and for some reason I decided to watch this video for an unknown reason. As Elder M. Russel Ballard; one of Jesus Christ's Apostles on the Earth today, explained that we can be healed from our shortcomings and weaknesses, I felt such a soothing hug of peace that just entangled me. This video reassured me that God loves us so much and he just wants us to turn our life to him.

     His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ died for us and because of that, our dumb mistakes can be forgiven because we have a loving Heavenly Father who loved the World so much that he sent his son, Jesus Christ into the world to die for us.(John 3:16)  I know that God is watching out for us and if we do things such as pray to him for help in a humble manner, Heavenly Father will be there to help and guide us!