Autistic Basketball Player With One Opportunity Shines

There are times when you only get one opportunity to shine, do or die. Like when you take a test, or in a championship game, or for me to be a full time missionary, a representative of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I played football in high school and I loved when the game was on the line and all the pressure was on me and my team to win the game and we had one shot to win the game. I loved those situations because I was prepared, I practiced all week, I watched film, I worked in the gym, ran sprints so I wouldn't be tired in the fourth quarter and overtime. In those situations I had the confidence that we would do rather than die.

In this video Jason McElwain had one time to shine. Jason has autism but he will deny it, he is basketball player. Jason is a team manager and helps out the coach with with anything the team needs. His coach let him suit up for the last home game of the season, Senior Night. The coach told him he could not guarantee that he could get in the game. But in the fourth quarter with a substantial lead Jason got to go in the game with about 4 minutes left. It was Jason's only time to shine! Jason took advantage of this opportunity and scored 20 points in 4 minutes! He was on fire he couldn't miss a shot. He had waited his whole life for this opportunity and he took full advantage of it.

My question to you is what do you do with the opportunities that you have? Are you ready for them? Are you ready to excel and supersede all expectations and astonish everyone with 20 points in 4 minutes? You only get one chance what are you going to do with it?

The Atonement

Recently I have been recalling upon an experience I had at the Hill Cumorah. I was given a 50 lb bag of salt and when it was given to me it was labeled as a burden. I was then instructed to carry that bag all the way to the top of the Hill Cumorah, up a small muddy path, in the cold. It wasn't bad at first carrying the bag up the hill but as I went along the path it seemed like it wasn't going to end. It became difficult to carry the burden up as I could rarely get a good footing on the trail. The cold froze my fingers and made it hard to hold the bag, I found the best way was to put it on my shoulder and endure to the top.

When I finally made it to the monument at the top of the hill there was a picture of Christ and there I gave my burden to Christ. It was a great relief to drop the bag and it caused me to think about the pains that Christ went through for us physically and spiritually. Just thinking about the physical pains alone that Christ went through alone seems unbearable. We know from the scriptures that Christ fell on his face and bled from every poor from the agony and pain for fulfilling the atonement. Then to add on the spiritual sufferings all the emotions and heartache we feel caused from this evil world made it that much harder to bear. (Watch the bible video here)

It always strikes me when I think about the atonement and how loving our savior was to do this impossible task for me and you. He did it out of love so he would know exactly what we go through so he could comfort us and help us through our trials. I am eternally in debt to my Savior and am so grateful for what he has done for me and what he will do for me.

Wise Men Still Seek Him

This is a busy time of year with shopping and giving and holiday cheer. Have you stopped to think for just a moment on what you are going to give our Savior? He has done so much for us and all he asks is to give him our hearts. I invite you to slow down for just a minute and think about our Savior and to give him your heart. Please watch this video, I promise you it is going to be well worth your time and you will want to help others out.

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

I’ve been an awful good guy all year, Santa buddy so hurry down the chimney tonight:

1 Rolex

1 '65 convertible, steel blue

1 yacht
Mercedes decorations
Cha-ching and I don't mean as a loan

I’ve been a sweetie all year Santa buddy, next year I could be just as good if you check off my Christmas list. I really do believe in you so let’s see if you believe in me.

Sincerely,
Michael Buble

This is Michael Buble’s Christmas list he must have been a really good boy if he is asking for all of this. Christmas lists are ways to let Santa know what you want for Christmas. Then if Santa decides that we have been a good boy or girl during the year he gives us what we asked for.

This is extremely similar to a prayer. We always ask God for things and he gives them to us. The only difference is that we usually have to seek out our answer. Don't forget this year as you are writing Santa letters to get on your knees and talk to your heavenly father.

I know that as we do so we will remember the real meaning of Christmas and have The Spirit of CHRISTmas with us during this season.

This short Mormon message is a great little clip that really helped me to remember that Christmas isn’t all about what is on our Christmas list.

The Death Crawl

There is so much potential in the world and so often it’s not known. People rarely know how much they can actually accomplish, they limit themselves mentally and sometimes they do it subconsciously. I think it happens sometimes because we set goals for ourselves and when we reach that goal we think it is enough, we reached our expectations so we don’t push ourselves as hard. I catch myself doing this all the time. When we give it all we've got and don't limit ourselves to goals we can exceed and excel to levels higher than we ever imagined.

I was recently shown this inspirational video clip The Death Crawl from a movie called “Facing the Giants.” This clip is about a football coach talking to his team about having heart. the coach says "Your attitude is like the aroma of your heart if your attitude stinks your heart's not right." it's cool because it goes on to show how a team captain's heart is not right for their upcoming game and the coach proves to him that they are stronger than they give themselves credit.

This video can be taken in so many ways. I picture myself there, doing the death crawl pushing myself to the 50 yard line, but I put myself in the world trying to find success. I'm blindfolded and I hear the coach telling me to keep pushing myself and to just go another step. But I picture him as Jesus Christ telling me to press forward, to keep giving it my all. I picture myself finally collapsing because I am exhausted; I look up and see that I have superseded all my expectations.

This video gave me a lot of motivation to give everything I do 100% and really do my best. I know we really can do more than we think we can and that we have to just push ourselves to our limits until we collapse, we can't set limits. When we do we will impress ourselves and reach greater levels.

Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them

Life is extremely tough; there is a lot of heartache, sorrow and tragedy. A lot of times terrible things happen and we never know why. But with faith in Jesus Christ we can be calm when problems arise. That is one of the biggest purposes of the gospel of Jesus Christ; it is to bring comfort to us when we are in desperate need. Like in this video when Elder Nelson was faced with death he was calm, ready to return home. While the lady on the other side was hysterical and freaking out. Elder Nelson was able to stay calm because of his faith in our savior Jesus Christ and he understands God's plan for us. We can all strengthen our faith and come to the same understanding as Elder Nelson by reading from the Holy Scriptures and praying. It will take time but we all can strengthen our faith.

My favorite part of this clip is when Elder Nelson says “Don't demand things that are unreasonable but, demand of yourself improvement...?” often times we expect of ourselves to much. We compare ourselves to others who have more, which is a terrible thing to do. You have to remember that everybody comes from different backgrounds and has had different trials and experiences in their lives, so everybody is at different levels. Don't demand one day to be perfect, that is unreasonable. Demand of yourself improvement everyday.

I invite all of you to start today. Demand of yourself improvement, whether it be strengthening your faith in Jesus Christ, becoming a better athlete, or becoming a better student, start today! Don't start with leaps and bounds start with small and simple steps. When tomorrow comes be able to look back and say I improved in one way. When you do so before you know it you will notice that you have improved by leaps and bounds, and you will impress yourself.