If Today Was Your Last Day

     Due to personal reasons, I decided to step down as a coach for the 14U Corner Canyon Chargers. I will still be involved in baseball activities like umpiring and writing these posts, but it gave me an opportunity to reflect on a very solemn topic that every player will face in their career. As I was making the decision to step down, my pre-game speeches included phrases like, "Give it your all, boys. You never know if this will be your last game." Whether we want to admit it or not, our baseball career will eventually come to an end. The sad thing is, sometimes we can't control when it ends. Sometimes, a season ending injury takes a player out of the lineup. Sometimes, players will be cut from high school or college tryouts even though they've given it their all to be on the team. There is one constant during all these different situations. When it's all said and done, you'll want to be able to say, "I gave it my all". In my baseball career, I was looking to go play in college after high school. After being named to the all-state team twice in high school, I figured I had a good chance of pitching in college. After many thoughts and prayers, I made the decision in the Celestial Room of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple to hang up the cleats and prepare for my eternal family. I was heartbroken that I would never take the field again, but I trusted that God had plans for me. Now, two years (almost to the day) after I made that decision, I have no regrets for the choices that I have made. I have a beautiful wife who I love more than anything, I get to be around baseball through umpiring and coaching, and most importantly I have shown my trust in God and He has blessed our marriage with both temporal and spiritual blessings. I look back on my baseball career and I'm able to say that I gave it my all.

     In the scriptures, Amulek is credited with one of the more famous lines of the Book of Mormon. In Alma 34:32 he says, "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." This is one of the most important teachings in the scriptures. We know that we had a pre-earth life, where we were created and taught in the ways of our Heavenly Father. During this pre-earth life, we know that we would come down to earth and face the trials of mortality. I imagine we were very excited to obtain a body, and I imagine we thought that earth would be easy. After all, we already had a testimony of God's love for each one of us, we were ministered unto daily, and we knew our divine potential as God's children. Now, we live in such an advanced age of earth's history that we are plagued by the distractions of technology. The challenge of all people is to always remember God and Jesus Christ, and a lot of people today turn their technology into idols of worship. Obviously, technology can be used to spread the gospel and study more information at once, but with that great responsibility comes a great temptation. Let us remember Amulek's teachings, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God. It is essential that we dedicate a great amount of time and energy to our personal salvation. Daily prayer and scripture study are two big ways that we prepare to meet God. Don't let them go by without receiving personal revelation and learning new doctrines. Through technology, we have all the study materials right in front of us. Study manuals, conference talks, magazine articles, and many more all written for the intent of teaching the Latter-Day Saints.

     Just as the ending of one's baseball career is unpredictable, as is our earth life. A tragic accident that takes the life of an innocent parent, a sickness that invades the body, and a miscarriage of a baby are unfortunately common events that occur today. If today was your last today, what would you do? Would you more kind? Would you be more thankful? Would you work harder? If so, do it today. Because in reality, you never know. Amulek goes on to teach, "I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed." (Alma 34:33) One part of our daily prayers needs to be repentance for that day. If we procrastinate our repentance, we are taking the risk of arriving to that day when we can no longer do it. God loves all of His children, and this means that He is waiting with open arms for us to reach out to Him.