Latest / STRONG / FSY Nov. Week 1: Truth Will Make You Free (feat. Mike Littlewood)

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FSY Nov. Week 1: Truth Will Make You Free (feat. Mike Littlewood) · STRONG

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to Strong, where we follow the For the Strength of Youth curriculum to help you get a little closer to Jesus Christ and a little more ready for what's ahead.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_03: The temple, a mission, and the life that you're building.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Kirby Hayborn.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_03: This month, the For the Strength of Youth Curriculum is Truth Will Make You Free.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_03: This week, the first week of the month, the topic is God wants you to keep learning.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_03: How cool is that?
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_03: With his help, what you learn can bless somebody else.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: Let me tell you a story.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: When I was first learning the guitar as a teenager, I loved everything about it.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_03: There's the music, the coordination between your hand and your brain, and I especially love the attention from girls.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_03: But there was one thing that I hated bar chords.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_03: Bar chords are where you take your hand and you take your little teenage finger like that and put it across the whole neck.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_03: And when you're learning the guitar, it hurts and you can't get it in it, the strings don't sing, and you can do all the other chords, but I couldn't get this bar chord and I hated it.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_03: So I spent months trying to get my fingers to cooperate.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_03: Like, why won't you move in that shape?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: If a bar chord showed up in a song, I'd skip that chord in the song.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_03: Like as an artistic choice, I would say.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes I would get so frustrated, I would just stop learning the song.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_03: It wasn't worth it for me.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: One day I was complaining to an accomplished guitarist about how frustrating this was, thinking that he would say, Yeah, bar chords are the worst.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: He didn't say that, but what he did was he showed me something that blew my mind.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: He said, You can wrap your thumb around the neck and use your thumb to cover the lowest string so you don't have to stretch your whole finger across.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: And it gave me another way to play the chord.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: So instead of this, it turned into this, which was easier for me to do.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_03: And suddenly I could play songs that I've been avoiding.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_03: Listen to that.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: All the strings are singing out.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: I discovered different ways to play chords that open up new melodies.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: Like listen to this.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: And that's because my thumb is coming around.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: Beautiful chords.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: So I still use that technique all the time, all the time when I'm playing.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_03: And I even showed it to my son, and since I've shown it to other people because it's so amazing.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: Here's the thing with learning the guitar, getting stuck was part of that learning.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_03: So was letting someone help me.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_03: Heavenly Father wants us to keep learning, and we can turn to him when we get stuck too.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_03: He might even show us how to wrap our thumb around the problem.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: Now, here's what For the Strength of Youth says Heavenly Father wants his daughters and sons to always be learning.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_03: Always.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_03: That includes when you're when you're putting in the work and you still need help.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_03: That includes learning to cook or fix something, and especially when you're following the Savior.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: Doctrine and Covenants, section 88, verse 118, gives us this invitation.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: Seek learning even by study and also by faith.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: I love that it adds learning by faith.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_03: Preach my gospel teaches acting on what you learn will bring added and enduring understanding.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: So when you're studying a teaching of Jesus, try living it.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: If you're learning about forgiveness, guess what?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: There's going to be someone that pops up in your life that you need to forgive.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: That's just how it works.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_03: What you learn starts to affect what you do.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: Now Jesus Christ is your strength.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: You can turn to him while you're learning, while you're asking questions and figuring out your next step.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: Joining me today is Mike Littlewood.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: He's a basketball referee and a former BYU baseball coach.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: He raised four kids, and now he's playing with 13 grandkids.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_03: Mike, welcome to Strong.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: So good to be here with you.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_03: Not a better place to be.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, you're such an amazing game.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: And Mike is such a good friend and such a great example of what a disciple looks like.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you for being here.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I want to ask you right off the bat, what is something that you remember about your first time reffing a game?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_03: What were you still trying to figure out?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, probably everything, but I I do remember my first game.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: It was at San Jose State.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: I was refereeing with my mentor and another guy who had worked a Final Four, and I was ready to go.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: My first whistle of the game was a made basket.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I go to report the basket and I say the basket's good, report the foul, and my mentor, my partner, comes up to me and says the ball didn't go in.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: And so anyway, I had to go, nope, basket's not good.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: Felt felt very, very small, my very first call ever.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: And so that really humbled me.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: And um, it's been nothing but downhill from there.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, well, I'm sure you're gonna humble me now.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_03: We have a challenge that we're gonna do together, so let's go do it.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_03: Let's do it.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_04: Mike, so you're gonna teach me six signals, and uh then I'm going to we're gonna test my skill plan.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: Six.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: Because you realize how many signals there are in basketball for a referee?
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: Probably six today.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: Probably over 20 in a game.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: So let's go easy.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: So we got travel, and then you point the direction.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, you got there.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: You go, that's perfect.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: Blocking.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: Blocking.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Blocking.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Technical foul.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: Let's step it up a little bit.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go flagrant foul.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: Flagrant foul.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: Fragrant.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: So it's if it's stingy.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Fragrant foul, yeah.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: If it's stinky, then you do this.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Stinky and it's excessive.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: Simple pushing.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: Pushing.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: Pushing.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: Cylinder fouls like this.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: Cylinder fouls like that.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, so I have three seconds per call.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_04: Show the call, and I will name it.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_04: And if I mess up, then a thing gets put in.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_04: Two.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_05: Incorrect.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_05: Incorrect.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_05: What was that one?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_05: Wait, okay.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_05: Put that in the button.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_05: All right, okay.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Trickling.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: In the link, in the name.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Similar fine.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Similar fine.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_05: This isn't going as well.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, we got another one in.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_05: Pushing.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_05: Pushing.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't even get the thing.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: Alright.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna throw you a curveball.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I'm gonna cover it.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: Three points.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: Three, two, one.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: Incurmit.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's marking a three like he's shooting.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so this is a three-point that's good.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_04: Oh with the touchdown.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_04: So I've got um three penalties against me.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_04: Now it's my turn to test you out.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_04: So there are some real um signals that I may or may not have looked up on YouTube.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_04: And you need to differentiate if it's a real signal or if it's a made-up signal.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Three, two, one.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Sprinkler.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Offensive fellow.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's an offensive fellow.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: When you're dancing, it's a sprinkler.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: Three, two, one.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_04: No.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, no penalties against Mike.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_04: You're just gonna make it in one.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_04: Here we go.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, all right.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_04: My turn.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_05: My turn.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_05: Low floated.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_05: Low it closed.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_05: Good job.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_05: Good job.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_05: We rocked it.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_04: I learned two things today.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_04: One, I'm really bad at basketball.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_04: Two, you're really good at distracting me.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go back in the studio and talk about it.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: Mike, thank you so much.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: That was fun.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_03: You spent years learning how to figure out all those signals, and then you took the time to teach me.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what I want to focus on today is that that's one of the reasons that God wants us to keep learning so that we can then help others.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_03: When you're learning something difficult, you can involve Heavenly Father.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_03: The FSY guide gives us this beautiful invitation.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_03: Involve the Lord in your efforts, and he will guide you.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_03: Tell him where you're stuck.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: You keep studying and keep practicing and listening to people who can help.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: Mike, you've told me that you pray before everything that you do.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: What do you pray for before a game?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_03: And what are you hoping to accomplish with that prayer?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I I I thought about I probably refereed over 1,500 games, Division I basketball games, and coached 1,500.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I've You've been around.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: And and other things in my life too.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: There's probably not anything I don't do without saying a silent prayer.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I look at it in in regards that Heavenly Father has given me these talents and gifts and abilities.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I pray that I'll be able to use those talents and gifts and abilities to do the best I possibly can.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: Not to win a game, but for health, to see plays slowly, to make good decisions, that my mind might be clear, that my players will be safe.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: Those type of things.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: I just try to just say that silent prayer all the time.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it's right on the court, right during the national anthem.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: But it just gives me comfort to know that that my heavenly father knows that I'm speaking to him and I can feel a little bit of that enabling power of the atonement.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness, I love that.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I love the the thought.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_03: I think, especially in sports, we pray, please bless that our team will win.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: But but you're doing it for comfort, for that connection to feel the atonement, protection for for everybody there.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, what does that do for you when you're on the court or when you're coaching?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: What does that connection to Heavenly Father help?
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: I think it just gives me comfort.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: There's been times where I it's two minutes before the game, and I think, oh, I haven't I haven't said a prayer, which is not yeah, that probably a reflection on me.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: A guy who's made many, many mistakes in my life, and if there's any type of mistake, I've made it.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it just gives you comfort that that you've actually connected with him and he knows that he needs me and he's talking to me.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's so important, just just on that conscious level of feeling that comfort.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: In 2013, when I was still coaching at BYU, we were fortunate enough to have Elder Bednar and Sister Bednar come in just with our team and do a question and answer period.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the things that I really remember um talking about was he related a story when he was the president of Rick's College and his track, track and field team was getting ready to go to the national tournament, and he said a prayer.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: And part of his prayer was asking for the enabling portion of the atonement to be with his team.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: That and and the way in my mortal mind, I just think of all the blood, sweat, and tears that they they put in the practice time, the the weight room, the running around the track, and all those things where where you know they're just physically kind of diminishing and dying, that the enabling power of the atonement allows us to do more than we can do physically, potentially.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: And he thought it was that important that he he prayed for that for his team.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: And so I feel like when I am praying before games or or whenever I'm doing it, whether it's for an academic assignment or music or whatever field you're in, that enabling power of the atonement can be with us.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't think we can discount that.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um we've got my bishop, Bishop Begbert, always says, do not do not deny the power of God and and um the enabling power of Jesus Christ.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: And and I truly believe that.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: Gosh, thank you.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_03: That's beautiful.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_03: And you've taken that into your daily life.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: Here's what's beautiful: you can involve Heavenly Father in the things that you're learning about and the work that you do every single day.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_03: The FSY guide asks us to live with integrity.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_03: It says, be the same faithful follower of Jesus Christ in public and in private.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_03: There's a temple recommend question that that touches on that, right?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_03: That are you living the gospel in your private and public life?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, that's integrity.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: It it is.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: And and and it's it's tough.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think endure to the end is probably one of the hardest commandments to live.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: And and again, I stand, I sit here before you um being the first guy to say that this is something that throughout my life, I mean, I made bad decisions and from the worst to the to the easiest.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: But I think the way that I feel about it is I know that my heavenly father wants me to return home.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: I know he's on my side.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, and I know that the atonement covers me if I take accountability and I simply go to them and not try to do everything on my own.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's a big part of integrity and that piece, that piece of the the redemption part of it.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um, integrity includes doing your own work, um, studying on your own, but it also means living what you believe when people around you make that difficult.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_03: Now, Mike, when you first joined a professional baseball team, the team bus after a game stopped at a liquor store.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: Tell me what happened.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we in minor leagues, if your trip is less than two hours, you bus there and you bus home.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: So the tradition was they after the game, Winter Louise, they stop at a liquor store and there's no only liquor there.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was the only guy in the team that didn't drink.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: So everybody gets their everybody gets their alcohol, and about 30 minutes into it, everybody's pretty inebriated.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: And then they noticed that I'm the only one that that wasn't, didn't have anything to drink.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: And they started, I mean, they started B rating me.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: And the number, the, the, the main guy was the pitching coach.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I just kind of sat at the, I was almost at the very back of the bus, and I just kind of listened to it and didn't think much of it and just thought, ah, they're drunk.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: They're, you know, they don't know what they're saying.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: But what was interesting about that is the next day the pitching coach came up and brought me a six-pack of Dr.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_02: Pepper.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: And he apologized to me.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, wow.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: And some other players, it opened the door for them to say, why, why don't you drink?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: And what so it allowed me, even with my limited knowledge of the gospel in my early 20s, because I didn't grow up really in the church active, it allowed me to talk to them a little bit about the word of wisdom and and different things and open up that a little bit of a missionary experience in professional baseball in the middle of Wisconsin.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: So it was it it was a great experience for me just to look back on and remember.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_03: What helped you stay true to your beliefs when you were being made fun of?
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: And you're the only guy on the entire bus.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: What helped you stay true?
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I to be honest with you, I don't know.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: It was just something inside of me that's like, I'm not gonna do this.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: And they've decided what they're gonna do, and I have no control really over what they're gonna say.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: So in in athletics, we talk about control the controllables.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: What I could control is how I how I reacted.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I just was silent and let them do it.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I actually, there was actually one other guy who didn't uh drink, um, shoot tobacco and was from North Carolina.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome guy.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: His name is Alan Cartwright.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: I remember him to this day.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: Pats me on the back and goes, Hey, it's all good.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, I I do have one person here that's that's with me.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_03: How great you had that one person because I know I would probably feel embarrassed and like they don't want to be a team.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, which I was, yeah.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: But it was nice to have somebody there, which kind of speaks to to today's kids.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you're you're not alone.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: There's there's gonna be somebody who has gonna be somebody else.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: Whether they whether they're brave enough or I don't know if brave is the right word, to to step out and say, I'm with you, is a different thing.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: But you're always gonna have somebody that's with you.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: But just stand up for what you think is right.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_03: And when you do that, there will be somebody there that will support you.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_03: And the main person that will be with you is Jesus Christ.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_03: Because when you live what you believe and treat other people with kindness, he will be there with you, even when you feel outnumbered.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: So ask Jesus Christ to help you have that courage.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_03: There's a blessing in this chapter that gives learning a beautiful purpose.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_03: The more you learn, the more you can help build God's kingdom and influence the world for good.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_03: So that guitarist that I talked about earlier, he showed me something that I couldn't figure out on my own.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_03: Now I've been able to show my son and other people.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_03: This is the cool thing.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: Something I learned became something I could give.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: This is great too.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: Learning can also help us understand people.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_03: Mike, how has being a coach influenced the way you treat other coaches when you're the ref?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, great question.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: I love that question.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think, in a word, it's it's allowed me to have grace towards them.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: Oh not that I don't get upset inside.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and usually a college coach can yell at you and you have to just kind of take it.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: But it it's kind of given me the perspective of how God sees us, how God sees us through through his eyes.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: And for when when a coach is yelling at me or you know, he he's upset, I can kind of see like he's he's under so much pressure.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, this is not just a game, this is his livelihood.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, he's got a family that he needs to take care of, he's got players that he needs to take care of.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: There's so much more involved than just, and he's probably just taking it out on me for this one call.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so it allows easy refs to get the brunt of it.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's an easy, we're an easy target.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: You're an easy you have the stripes, you know?
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: No, no doubt.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: But it it has given me, I think the biggest thing is allows me to allow me to see them, maybe how God sees all of us.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: And it just gives me uh a little bit more grace towards them.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_03: Looking at them in a way that God sees them, how does that change the way that you approach them when you know you're right and you've made the right call, how how does that change how you approach them?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_03: These are good questions.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: Gosh, I listen, I really do.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, because you want to be my personality.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up in a dugout.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you have to I played college and professional baseball, and then I coached.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I grew up in a dugout for 40 years.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_02: A dugout's pretty sarcastic, and so my personality wants to come back, but I listen and I go, I hear you.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: Let me take a look at that play at halftime and I'll get back to you.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, so I just try to, I I I don't, I guess I don't acquiesce to whatever their their demands are, but I just try to be a listener more than combative because my world's always it's been combative.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: Just that's the that's the nature of what I've done.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so I try to I try to just lessen that and and be more of a listener than I do always want to try to be right.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_03: Alma chapter seven teaches us that Jesus Christ took upon himself our pains and infirmities so he would know how to help us.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_03: As you learn what someone else is going through, you can become more patient with them too, just like Mike.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_03: I'd love to hear your experiences now.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_03: Tell me about a time that you used something that you learned to help someone else.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: In seminary, I learned about the atonement.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so one day in school, my friend was talking about a drug addiction that she was struggling with, and she shared with me just how bad inside that it made her feel, and how like she doesn't understand how I could be a member of the church and she could never go to church because of all the bad things she does.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: But because of what I learned about the atonement, I was able to tell her that even though she's made some choices and done some things that God still loves her and that she can repent for those mistakes, and it made me feel really good inside that I was able to use what I had learned about the atonement to help her feel better and just know that Christ still loves her.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_03: Here's a question that you may be feeling, but you're afraid to ask.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_03: If I'm praying for help, why do I still feel like I'm failing, especially in learning?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: So Mike and I have talked about involving Heavenly Father and what we're learning, but but maybe you're already doing that.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_03: You're praying, you're putting in the work and you're still struggling.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_03: That's valid and that's real.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_03: You might even wonder, is he listening?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_03: Or am I doing something wrong?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_03: The for the strength of youth guide says you'll still face struggles and temptations, but Heavenly Father and the Savior will help you through them all.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_03: Now you can have faith and still have a hard time.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_03: You need to know that God loves you right now, even when you're struggling.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: That doesn't mean that you failed at having faith.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_03: So give yourself some time.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: Ask someone to help you.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_03: You don't have to figure all of this out by yourself.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_03: Mike, you've told me about a freshman who is so homesick he wanted to go home.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_03: What happened?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean I remember this experience like it was yesterday.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: I he's one of our best players.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: He was gonna be a starter for us at BYU.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: And after practice, he said, I need to talk to you.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I just felt like this isn't an office talk, this is a walk around the outfield and talk.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you knew.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: So when everybody when everybody's gone, we walked around, he said, I want to, I want to go home.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm homesick.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: And we had been to school maybe three weeks.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: And basically we walked around the outfield for 20, 30 minutes, and he was adamant that he was gonna leave that night.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I had I remember the conversation going something like this have you have you talked to your heavenly father about it?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: And he said, Yeah, uh, but I still feel like I want to go home.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, Do me a favor, just give me two weeks of commitment that you're gonna that you're gonna stay here.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: That you're going to put an effort in to talk to your Heavenly Father every single day and talk to your parents and get their perspective on these things.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: And after that, two weeks, if you feel like you want to go home, then then we'll all feel good about it.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: Because you don't want to, you don't want to make rash decisions and then have these regrets when you're my age and go, man, I wish I would just would have stayed.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: And long story short, he stayed, he flourished, he became a better player every single year.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: And he was actually drafted into the major leagues.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: He went to play minor league baseball after his time at BYU.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so really nice success story of just again speaking to your Heavenly Father and getting that support.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_03: Is that what you were hoping he would gain by asking him to involve his parents in Heavenly Father?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_03: That that feeling of support?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_03: Or what were you hoping?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_02: I was I was trying to get him to just gain an overall perspective, a bigger, a bigger picture perspective of I'm homesick, I want to go home.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: That that's that was the problem.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: But why?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: His his mom was having some health issues, and and I know that was pulling him home.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: But I also knew that his parents, as much as they loved him, they didn't want him to come home at that time.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: They wanted him to stay.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I I knew what kind of talent he had, and I and I knew that he, if he magnified that talent, that he his upside was just incredible.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's I think my biggest thing is make sure you're make sure you're speaking to your Heavenly Father.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: And and do it sincerely and then listen to him.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: And that's that was another part of our conversation.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: Just make sure you listen.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: Listen for the answer.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it might be go home, but it might be you need to stay here.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: And to be honest with you, I don't remember having another conversation with him about I'm staying.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: It was just smooth sailing.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: He stayed.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: He just stayed.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_03: He just stayed.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_03: How blessed was he to have you as a mentor and as a coach to point him in that direction?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and I think on the other side too, um, he had the courage to come to me.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think that was big because if he would have just packed his bags and left, then he's gone.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: So it'd be hard, really hard.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: I would have had to go down there and try to talk him back into coming back to school.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I think for him to acknowledge, like, I need some help, and then have the courage to go.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: And this could be your bishop or it could be anybody, like just go and have the courage to help.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I think in the long run, it it changed the course of his life.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna say change his life, but changed the course of his life.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Because he would have gone home and done something totally different, but he he got to live out his dream of playing professional baseball.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_03: That's so amazing.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're feeling discouraged, find the courage to approach Heavenly Father and also approach a trusted mentor.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: What would you say to someone who who's watching, who feels like everyone else is moving ahead, but they're falling behind?
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what the quote comes to mind comparison is the thief of joy.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: That that instantly comes to mind.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's it's so hard to compare yourself, and that's it's so easy to do as as mortals, as human beings, to come.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, Kirby's got this great podcast.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_02: I want a podcast too.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_02: Why is he so far ahead of me, or financially, or educationally?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it goes back to those that simple phrase that control the things that you control can control, yeah, and you can control what you do.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so um, I I love the the scripture in Philippians as well.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_02: It says, I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_02: And Ammon even speaks to that in the Book of Mormon.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, through his strength, I can do all things.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: Paraphrasing.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so I don't think we can discount, I know we can't discount the power of the atonement and the love Heavenly Father has for us.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: Just do your thing.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, wake up every every day, do your thing, and try not to compare yourself to one to one another, because it it is, it's truly the thief of joy.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: We're we're not gonna be happy if we if we try to compare ourselves to we're never gonna measure up.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: We're always gonna be ahead of some people in our own minds, but we're always gonna be behind other people in our own minds.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just a mental battle that we probably don't want to get into.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_03: Mike, you have such a gift.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_03: You can see you have coached thousands of players.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: You you've helped so many, and how how lucky have they been to have you as a mentor to help point them in that direction, to help them realize you're different.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_03: You don't compare yourself to someone else.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think that's so powerful and so amazing.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you may not know it, but I'm I'm sure you have changed thousands of lives just by doing those things you talked about, being a trusted mentor, listening when they needed to be listened to, and then encouraging them to turn back to Heavenly Father.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: That's beautiful.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're praying and it's still hard, keep talking to Heavenly Father.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_03: Tell him how you feel.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_03: He loves you, and Jesus Christ can give you the strength to take your next step.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_03: Mike, thank you so much for being here and sharing your experiences.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_03: I know I'm better for having listened to you, and I'm gonna go out and include Heavenly Father in my daily activities all the time.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_03: It was an honor.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_03: Here's your move this week.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_03: Pick one thing you're learning that feels hard.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_03: Tell Heavenly Father where you're stuck and ask for his help.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_03: Then find someone who can show you the next step and give it a try.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_03: And as always, write that down.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_03: That's strong for this week.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: Remember, you're a beloved son or daughter of God, and he has a work for you to do.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_03: Go do it! I'd like to thank our sponsors, Jared and Holly Swain, for making Strong possible.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_03: Visit strongyoutfoundation.com for episodes and more.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_03: See you next week.