A jump, a seed, and something much-needed.

You know, sometimes the inner missionary in me just gets really excited and wants to stand on a podium and just shout for joy to the whole world like in this picture above.  However, the only audience that I actually as this picture was taken was my own companion, Elder Hochkirch, who was holding simply the camera, and as dramatic as I tried to make my pose look, we rarely ever did something like this.  Man, I look cool, though!!  Yesterday, I heard a truly inspiring devotional like we usually do every Tuesday at 11:00 am at BYU.  It got me so excited, that I was considering busting out the comb to sport the missionary part again.  Oh, yeah, I know you'd love that, Mom!  I didn't though.  However, I always love making connections with people of all other faiths, and since the Elder Hutchinson within me is feeling a giddy as and excited as a dog is over a piece of bacon, I've decided to touch a little bit on something that all people of all beliefs (including Atheists) know something about.

Faith

Let’s talk about what many people know as the first principle of the Gospel:  faith.  Faith, that’s easy!  That’s just believing in something that we can’t see!  Hold on, partner, that’s only part of it.  I hope that we all have faith in God in that aspect.  We can’t see him, but we have faith that he exists and that he loves us.  If you can believe, or even just have a desire to believe, it's a good start.

BUT faith isn’t just believing.  In fact, that’s not even HALF of it.  It’s also DOING.  James 2:17 “Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”  What does that mean?  I’ll give you an example.  If I have faith that I can get a job, I will LOOK for a job.  If I have faith that my children can be respectable human beings, then I will teach them to be respectable human beings.  If I have faith in God, I will do what He commands me.  If I have faith that I can get an A on a test, then I will STUDY ENOUGH for the test to get an A.  (Note to all college students:  have you opened that textbook yet?)  In the Book of Mormon, there is a chapter, Alma 32, where the prophet Alma compares faith to a seed:  we need to plant the seed, nourish the seed, over a long period of time so that it may grow.  Now what happens if it’s a good or “true seed”?  Well, it grows and we find joy in it.  And if it’s a bad seed or and "untrue seed", it simply doesn’t grow no matter how well we’ve taken care of it.  But what if we don’t nurture the seed over time, or what happens if we don’t even plant it?  Well, we can believe that that seed is going to healthily and happily grow all by itself, but without our nourishment, care, or action (in other words actually DOING something), it never will.

So, let’s act people!!  “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” (Mark 9:23)  Yes, you read the scripture right that said that “all things are possible”; it was Jesus who said it, not Barney, so I believe we should take his word for it.  You can literally do anything with the Lord’s help if you have enough faith.  What kind of things?  Let’s think of some really simple things that one can accomplish this:  becoming a doctor, raising 5 children in one house all at the same time, going from poverty to becoming a multi-millionaire, going from being completely filthy of the most heinous of sins to becoming a clean angel in the Lord’s eyes, mending a relationship or marriage that has gone southward, and overcoming a learning disorder to become a straight A student.  Ok, Christian, why don’t you add parting the Red Sea, and feeding 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish to that “simple” list of yours?  Ok, I will!  These are clearly extremely difficult tasks, but what else do they all have in common?  They have all been accomplished by people that I either personally know or that I know of (AKA Moses and Jesus).  And they all were accomplished not by magic, but by faith.

How can I have faith in something that I don’t know?  I might want to be a doctor, but I don’t know if it’s right.  That’s the thing; you can’t have that knowledge until you have exercised your faith. (Alma 32:26-34).  Can you know if a cake tastes good without trying it?  Have some faith!  Take a good-sized bite out of the cake (not a tiny nibble) and see if it’s good.  If you like it, have some more.  You’ll never know until you actually put it to the test.  For example, as many can already see, I’ve been making references to two different testaments of Christ: the Bible and The Book of Mormon.  Yes, I believe that they are both true, but the only reason that I can say that is because I read them and put them both to the test.  Had I not read the Book of Mormon or the Bible, and prayed about them sincerely and diligently to know if they were true, could I even say that I knew that they were true?  Coming to a conclusion on something that I haven’t tested myself is about as intelligent as flipping a coin to decide who I should vote for to be the President of my country (no offense to any of you that have possibly done that).  So, if you don’t know if something if right but it’s at least worth a shot, GIVE IT a shot.  Don’t be a bird that never learns to fly because he’s too timid to take a leap.

"If you are persistent, you will succeed." -Thomas S. Monson  

Speaking from what I observed since being a missionary, I believe that true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is one the rarest Christlike attributes to find these days.  Don't get me wrong; I think that most people actually have a rather solid belief in something divine, and I know several people from many other religions who have extraordinary level faith in God that I would love to have myself.  But most of us tend to do more believing than actually acting upon the beliefs that we claim.  The days of Isaiah’s profecies have unfortunately come: “Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me…” (Isaiah 29:13).  In other words, in the world, there’s a whole lot of talking but very little walking.  This is a pretty scary thing because faith one of the most crucial requirements to enter His kingdom.  We can’t just “be good” and we’ll automatically be saved.  “Being good” is important for God AND Santa Clause, but the difference is that Santa doesn’t expect as much as God does.  He asks us to have faith in Him and in all that is good and true.  “For by grace are ye saved through faith…” (Ephesians 2:8).

But why is it so rare these days?  What keeps so many of us, including myself, from having the faith that we should?  To every good thing there is it’s opposite.  To God, His opposite is the devil.  And to faith, its opposites are doubt and fear.  But can doubt and fear really impede one from experiencing greater happiness or are they just natural feelings that we all feel?  Yes...  They are just natural feelings, and yes they CAN impede us from experiencing greater happiness.  Let me share a personal experience from my mission with you as an example.

As missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we teach God’s commandments and the commitments that one must make before joining the church through baptism.  One of the requirements is to commit to regularly pay a full tithe to the Lord (10% of income) as explained in Malachi 3 in the Old Testament.  My companion and I were teaching a “golden family”.  They were all amazing people, they new that everything we taught them was true, and they had such an eager desire to join the church and be baptized.  However, when we taught the law of the tithe, fear and doubt crept in to hedge up this family’s spiritual progression.  From then on, instead of thinking of the blessings that would come from paying tithing or from joining the church, they focused on their fears of losing 10% of their income.  Instead of becoming happier and happier every time we taught them, they became sadder and sadder because they could not keep their focus off of their doubts.  It’s quite understandable that they had some fears and doubts.  They were a beautiful family, but they lived in very humble circumstances.  Not everyone can seamlessly give up 10% of their income just like that.  However, we explained to them that the Lord will ALWAYS provide for those that follow this law, even if it seems impossible to keep it.  He says “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the window of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10)  My companion and I told them of countless true stories in which we saw the Lord fulfill this VERY promise.  We gave our personal testimonies of the truth of God’s promises.  We even promised them as representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ that the Lord would never leave them without what they needed if they simply chose to obey this law and come unto him.  God has never broken a promise, and He never will.  However, fear and doubt can win over even the best of people.  This beautiful family chose not to exercise the faith necessary to receive the abundant blessings that could have been.  We stopped seeing them, so much, and I don't know what has happened since.  They didn’t even give paying tithing a legitimate chance.

I’m not a crying man for the most part (although Remember the Titans gets to me), but I tell you that I can only remember one thing that has consistently broken my heart: when I know with a surety how happy someone can be doing one thing, and he or she chooses not to do that thing because of a fear and doubt...  I mean, I’m a pretty outgoing, energetic, excited guy, so it’s not easy to get me down.  But it's easy for this to break my heart.  It is something that I saw too many times during my mission, and I have unfortunately continued to see it happen after my mission.  These are good, righteous people.  Most of them are quite virtuous, loving, and humble… but they lack ONE essential thing:  faith.  These people could be SO HAPPY doing something more, but they are too scared to because the father of lies and misery fools them into not even planting that seed of faith or to stop taking care of it.  If he continues to succeed with these people, then their seed will eventually die just like all faith and hope.  You cannot have faith or exercise it without planting that seed and taking a “leap of faith.”  A wise prophet named Moroni once said, “Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”  That “trial of your faith,” ladies and gentlemen is the uncertain leap that you have to take in order to succeed.  One of the people closest to God that I’ve ever met is my mission president’s wife.  She told me once about how she was faced with a matter where she was just completely uncertain how to react.  She said looking back on the matter, “I took my leap and have been happy ever since.  Yes, there were some bumps and have been since, but He has always taken care of me… I know we have to leap and leap often. There have been so many leaps in my life, and they are all the building blocks in my beautiful life.  You will never learn how to trust God, yourself, or anyone until you do this.”

With faith, the fear goes away.

So faith.  Easy, right?  It may be simple:  believing and doing.  But it is NOT easy to have.  I don’t know what your personal circumstance may be...  Maybe you just need a little more faith so that you can get an A in your classes.  Maybe you don’t know if God exists and you just need the faith to ask Him if He’s there.  Maybe you were about to make a commitment to something good and true but became frightened or simply unsure at the sight of something, just like that wonderful family and tithing.  If you need to learn more about faith, I recommend you go to the Book of Mormon in Alma chapter 32 to read about it.  And I leave you with a simple plea.  Please, have that faith.  Please, I beg of you.  The Lord says, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.”  (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36).  I can promise that if you just have faith, it’s going to be all right.  Take whatever leap necessary in your life to accomplish what God would have you do.  You may be uncertain of what he actually does want you to do, but you’ll never know until you act.  After you take that first leap, if you pray everyday for his help and guidance, there is no way that you can fail without him catching you.  Just because you haven’t had faith before doesn’t mean that you can’t have it now.  You must act quickly.  You may not know what day it will be too late for you to try to develop your faith, but you DO know that you can act TODAY so that you have it BEFORE that dreadful day comes.  I join with Dieter F. Uchtdorf in saying, “Please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.”  Have faith, and the fear will go away.

Hope you have a great week!

Christian.

Gratitude Week at the Telefund

So, I recently got a new job at the BYU Telefund, a branch of the organization BYU Philanthropies.  For those of you who are like me and have to look up the meaning of the word “philanthropies” in the dictionary, dictionary.com tells us that it means “altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement, usually manifested by donations of money, property, or work to needy persons, by endowment of institutions of learning and hospitals, and by generosity to other socially useful purposes.”  (Just to be brief in its definition).  BYU Philanthropies is a really neat organization under the direction of the Presiding Bishopric of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it has an amazingly uplifting atmosphere!  So what do I do exactly?  I’m a caller.  That’s right, I am THAT GUY who calls you asking for money donations to the school and for funding need-based scholarships.  Yes, if you are a BYU alumni, I may be THAT GUY giving you a call for the millionth time from the university’s phone number because you haven’t answered yet because you don’t like answering numbers that you don’t recognize.  I know, don’t you love me more now?!...  Thank you so much if you have donated; you’re awesome!  If you can’t donate because of tight financial situations, it’s ok; I understand, and I hope that things start getting better.  And if we straight up do nothing but bug you sorry about that, but it’s all for a good cause, and if you can’t donate, there are no hard feelings J.

Anyway, as I said, the Telefund has an amazingly uplifting atmosphere.  At the beginning of every shift for the callers, we all get together and have quick spiritual devotional.  This week apparently is “Gratitude Week” at the Telefund, so all of the devotionals have mostly been based on gratitude.  Today I gave the devotional for first shift and read a short quote by Gordon B. Hinckley:

When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives.

I then shared what I was grateful for in my life.  I found this exercise very refreshing, and the leaders at the Telefund encouraged us to share what we were grateful for in our lives on social media.  So, here’s my list!

1.    My parents.  My Mom and Dad are alike in many ways, but polar opposites in other ways.  People that I look exactly like my Dad but act exactly like my Mom, (which, if you’ve met the two before, you know is nothing to complain about).  They are the most influential people in my life and my greatest heroes and idols.  They raised me and continue to teach me so well, and I love them for it.  I’m so grateful for them.

2.     The rest of my family.  Zander, Rebecca, Kamille, Evan, Winston, Samantha, and even that guy out in Argentina who I used to always get into fights with, brotherly love style (Tanner).  I’m grateful that I’ll be with these guys forever.  I’m especially grateful that I can see Kamille, Evan, Grandpa, Grandma Hutch, and my cousins every week for a wonderful home-cooked meal!

3.     My friends.  I have the best friends.  Some are near; some are far; I have school friends, mission friends, old friends, new friends, friends in other countries, and even “special” friends if you know what I mean… ladies.  Whether or not these people that I love most (outside of the family) remain in my life forever may be out of my hands, but for me, they are truly what makes life worth living.  I love them all and I’m so grateful for them.

4.     My dog.  Meet Bevo.  No, he's not dead; he's just playing dead, and yes, he is named after the Texas Longhorn’s mascot.  Besides the fact that this dog is so ADHD (like myself) and quirky that he can be an entertainment just by watching him chase around shiny things, it’s also good to have a dog just because sometimes he’s the only one that understands you.  He’s in Pennsylvania, so I don’t have him now, but I miss him and am grateful for him.

5.     My roommates.  I actually haven’t needed a dog these two semesters even on the toughest of days, because of Ryan, Taylor, and Jordan.  Thanks so much for being there for me, guys.  I couldn’t ask for more support than what I’ve already received from y’all.  Also, I’m a fan of our late-night-roomy dance parties, mandates, Risk wars, and woman talks.

6.     My mission.  Elder Holland, an apostle, once stated “my mission meant everything to me.”  Amen to that, brother!  President Villarreal and his wife Myrna not only helped me for two years, but they continue to be an inspiration and personal help to me.  Also, I met so many young, inspiring men that have helped mold me into a more complete person.  And I can’t forget the people that were moved by Christ’s message when I brought it to them in Mexico and who joined the church.  Many of these wonderful people will claim that I converted them, but really it was God.  And if you ask me, it was the experience of watching their conversions that really converted ME.  I’m so grateful for my mission.

7.     Music.  Dear anyone who has ever lived with me:  you already know this.  Dear future wife: I love music, and I sing in the shower, at the steering wheel, and pretty much everywhere else at all hours of the day.  Please, learn to love it, or invest in some really thick earmuffs to block out the sound if you can’t.  Music makes me happy, and if I can sing something well, then it makes me happier.

8.     My new job.  This is the first time that I have ever had a job while going to school and my first one that doesn’t involve some kind of yard work.  Although there are up days and down days even at the Telefund, I just feel so much more responsible and fulfilling with this in my life.  I thank Heavenly Father for helping me get this job, and I’m grateful that I don’t have a job that involves being outside in the heat of Texas or the cold of Utah all the time.

9.     Basketball.  Anytime I don’t feel like doing homework, college and pro basketball has been there.  Not mention that March Madness is coming up!!!  OK, it’s still not for two months, but we have to have something to look forward to here at BYU since there’s no spring break!

10. The Holy Ghost.  John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”  Yesterday morning I was driving home from the temple with my music off just reflecting on life.  Those moments of silence where you can and just sit and converse with God are so important.  I was thinking about where I would be and in what direction I would be going without His constant help.  I might still be here at BYU, but there are many decisions that I’ve had to make in my life (including more recent ones) that have been pretty tough.  Without this Comforter who can literally teach me “all things” guiding me, I know that I would have made some pretty rational and bonehead decisions.  Even when I don’t understand why he tells me to do something, I have gained a testimony and a certainty that whenever I feel in my heart and my mind that something is right I must continue with full confidence in the path that He has shown me.  Ever since receiving the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands after my baptism, I have had this to keep me in the correct path, and I’m especially grateful for it today.

Your turn

What are YOU grateful for?  I want you leave as many comments as you want telling me about the things that you are grateful in your life, whether you’re a close friend or a complete stranger!  Write down what you are grateful for, and you’ll know why it feels so refreshing!

¡Hasta luego!

The Best Time to Plant a Tree

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.  The second best time is now.

My Grandpa Hutchinson who has planted an arboretum next to his house in Alpine, Utah would probably agree with that chinese proverb more than anyone else.  We're already 16 days into the new 2014 year.  How's everyone doing with their resolutions?!  I resolved to gain 10 pounds of muscle, to be more patient, and to manage my time better.  I'm doing well with all three so far... I think!  The "tree" that is being planted in the proverb represents an improvement.  This could be our very New Year's resolutions.  It could also represent a number of other things:  a goal, a task, a leap of faith, repentance, a chore, homework... whatever it is in our own lives that we need or that we need to do.  We probably should have done it long before, but if we haven't, what better time to go through with it than now?

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gives a great brief message on this that is definitely worth the 5 minutes that it takes to read it.  Here's the link below.  Hope you enjoy!

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2014/01/the-best-time-to-plant-a-tree?cid=HPWE010114311&im=true&lang=eng

Knee deep... in change

As I mentioned, I like country music.  One of my favorite songs is the song “Knee Deep” by the Zac Brown Band which talks about escaping all the stress and the world by being in the “Knee deep in the water somewhere” in his “own kind of paradise.”  Sounds to me more like his home if you ask me.  But, speaking of being knee deep in stuff, I recently have found myself nearly knee deep in something else…

So, THIS has been happening to me since Thanksgiving.  As you can tell, all of the pretty colors of fall have been replaced with the new early winter color of white everywhere.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s very pretty still, but it comes with a price.

Yes, as a native Texan, living with this much frozen water all around definitely is a different experience that causes mixed emotions within.  Don’t be fooled by our ego; big, tough Texan men, including myself are actually complete woosies when it comes to the freezing cold and the snow.  The worst part is probably when we try to haul a huge load in our rear-wheel drive trucks in the beginning of a snow storm like I did (as you can see from the picture below).  I didn’t run into anything, but let’s just say I’m not a fan or a pro at controlling a vehicle’s direction while it’s sliding everywhere on ice.  That’s why in Dallas, Texas, instead of trying to drive on the ONE day of the year that there is ice on the road, we just cancel everything and call it a day.

Change is real and constant

Seeing all of this made me remember all of the changes that we experience in our lives.  I remember looking out the window into a sea of green hills and trees and very limited civilization for the first time near the end of a bus ride to Tenancingo, Mexico with no one but a scary 21-year-old guy who said we might kill me (my mission trainer) that I had literally met 4 hours before.  Soon I would be spending 12 non-ending weeks 24/7 with this guy and I would be speaking a language that I couldn’t understand.  This was not going to be the average experience that your typical 19-year-old has in college in the U.S.  TALK ABOUT CHANGE!  There was a lot that I would have to adapt to.  Eventually, though, this kid become one of my best friends and now Tenancingo, Mexico is like a home away from home to me.

Change is one of the few things that you can guarantee will be constant in life.  We experience change every day of our lives.  Sometimes we see good changes like when someone decides to change their lifestyle to be able to live a more Godly life.  Other changes aren’t so good like the increasing lenience toward sin, profanity, sexual immorality, and violence that the public media and press seem to inculcate in our society.  We can cause change and sometimes the change is completely out of our power.  But speaking of all this change, I happen to know a family that is experiencing a pretty dramatic one in their lives:  my own family.  I think it would be more meaningful to you and them if I touched more on the kind of change that requires a tough decision on our part and leaving something beloved behind.

The new Hutchinson home

This Christmas break, I spent my vacation with the family, but we weren’t back in my dear Texas this time!  This time we were up in West Chester, Pennsylvania, a place that my parents and darling little sister will call home for the upcoming years.  All of the siblings and the spouses and the grandbaby gathered in this new home and we celebrated an unforgettable Christmas holiday together.  Not only was this vacation full of sight-seeing, movies, football, board games, nerf gun wars (oh yeah, this family knows how to party) and an improv life-size nativity (where I was lucky enough to get picked to be the sheep). That stuff was definitely fun, but more importantly, this Christmas Break reminded us all that although weather, surroundings, circumstances, and sometimes friends change, it is all part of Heavenly Father’s plan so that our families can be eternal with him.  The only one absent was our missionary, little Tanner (aka "Pretty Boy") who was able to skype us from Argentina.  It was such a great experience talk to him!  I don't remember any other time that I've felt the Spirit of God so strongly with my entire family than during that 40 minute call on Christmas Day.  God and family really are the most unchanging things that we will see in our lives, and because of that, if we have to make a decision or a major change in our lives, we should first consider what He wants us to do and what is best for our current and future family.  And although my family was perfectly comfortable for the 21 years that we lived in Arlington, Texas, God and family are the very reasons why they had to make this move.

My Dad has a new job in Pennsylvania, but he actually had been searching for a new one for quite some time.  I remember in 2009 right before my senior year of high school when we almost moved to Palo Alto, California because of a great offer that he received.  As a junior in high school, this obviously meant the end of the world to me, but my parents were very enthusiastic and open to explore new frontiers.  With a great offer, a nice house picked out, and even a great high school to go with it, all seemed perfect and ready for the change, but the Big Man upstairs had another plan in mind.  Thanks to my parents’ constant inquiring to God in prayer, they began to feel for some unexplainable reason that it was not right.  God still had a purpose for us in Arlington.  And so, we discovered that this was God’s will and it was certainly what was best for our family.  It was a tough decision at the time for my parents, but looking back on it, I know without a doubt that although it was only one more year for me in Texas, God had many reasons for each of us to remain.  I have discovered what these reasons were, and I’m so grateful that God has revealed them to me.  I’m grateful that my parents trusted in the Lord’s judgment rather than their own.  That's the ONLY way we can handle change well!  Just trust Him.  Although they could not explain why they were supposed to stay back at the time, they discovered with time.  On this occasion, the Lord told them to move out, but the reasons will probably come to them the same way.  Time will tell us.

Samantha, my outgoing, beautiful energy ball of a little sister, of course, is now attending a brand new school with completely foreign surroundings and finds herself a little bit more nervous than usual.  Seeing that I as a big, tough, almost-senior guy was extremely nervous about moving away from Arlington, I can only imagine what a sweet 8th grader might think.  I think we all can share some sympathy towards a kid going through something like this.  Sometimes we understand why God puts us through certain changes.  Sometimes we don’t.  Nevertheless, regardless of whether we do or not, just like the southern folk here at BYU have to adapt to the snow, there are some unpleasant changes that we all simply must experience in our lives.  If you can't do anything about it, you might as well make the best of it!  I believe that more important than the change itself is how we react to the change.

You can’t have it all, but you can make the most of it!

I didn’t have to deal with a change as big as a move until college, but I did have to deal with a major one in high school.  You see, I love football.  I started playing when I was 9 in the fourth grade, and I’ve loved it ever since (thank you, Texas).  My roots of diligence and determination probably sprouted from that very sport, because I always gave my all in football.  In 7th grade when I rocked my part as Rooster in the play Annie Jr. with my 12-year-old mustache and received a standing ovation in front of more than a hundred people, that was the moment that I decide that I also really loved theatre!  Since then, I got more involved with it, loving the social setting and the glory in my accomplishments.  There on stage, I also gave it my all.  So in my first two years of high school, I participated in football during the season, and I participated in the open-audition musical during the off-season..  I loved this because it gave me the chance to spend a substantial amount of time in both theatre AND football, which gave me a good feel and deeper understanding of these two clubs.  I always could participate in both hobbies without sacrificing one, but going into my junior year, there was a change that made theatre and football conflicting in schedules.  The open-audition musical would only be available during football season, and I wouldn’t be able to participate because football practice would be during rehearsals.  This change was out of my hands.  I had come to a time where I had to choose one or the other.  I could no longer take part in both.  So, what did I do, cry and complain?  Of course not!!!  Well, maybe a little... but this did nothing for me.  What I needed to do was to act, not be acted upon.  I immediately began to do everything to prepare myself for this tough decision.  After a lot more experimenting on both sides and after lots prayerful consideration, I made a dramatic change (pun intended), dropping football for good and switching to theatre fulltime.  I think this was a great early lesson for me.  I couldn’t have everything I wanted (football AND theatre); I was forced to choose between one or the other.  I feared to leave something beloved behind, and I feared of what other people would think of me, but I felt that God had something more for me, my family, and my friends in theatre.  Once I chose, I went hard, and I gave it my all.  And because I gave my all (despite some of the uncomfortable changes that it caused) that junior and senior year without playing football became two of the best years of my life.

I don't really wonder what would have happened if the circumstances were different.  Had I handled the situation with less care, I'd probably be asking myself, "What if I chose football over theatre?  What if there never occurred any unexpected change and I was allowed to keep participating in both?" or  "What if I had dropped football sooner?"  All of these "what if" questions would only bother to me if I could have done more but failed to do so.  But I did everything I could... so it DOESN'T bother me!  I’m satisfied because I know that I spent enough time in both clubs, I experimented enough, and I prayed enough to know what decision to make.  I did EVERYTHING that I could in MY power to make the best of it, and in the end, I was proud of my decision.  I was giving my all on stage AND on the field, but once I dropped one of them, it only strengthened my efforts rather than weakening them.

Now, let’s face it, my change in high school is probably only light compared to some of the changes and challenges that you face today.  Sometimes we are put in very uncomfortable situations, and things are going as we planned.  But how will we react to change in our lives?  Will we flee at the sight of it?  Will we waver in making a decision?  If the change is out of our control, will we complain against God’s judgment to allow discomfort in our lives and refuse to adapt due to some kind of inner rebellion towards our situation?  Or will we go forward in faith and hope exploring the new frontiers that our Lord has placed before us?  Let us trust in God and consider our beloved families through all of the changes.  If we keep those two things constant in our lives, confronting all changes with them in confidence and trust, then we will have constant satisfaction in our lives.

Until next time!

And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God?  Have ye received his image in your countenances?  Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?  (Alma 5:14, The Book of Mormon)