About a month ago I saw the trailer for Spirit of the Game advertised on Facebook. I watched, fascinated. A Mormon missionary story and sports movie in one, based on a true story about the Mormon Yankees in Australia.
The Mormon Yankees was a basketball team of Mormon missionaries who helped train the Australian Olympic basketball team during the 1950's. The team was so strong the Olympic committee approached the Mormon Yankees to play exposition games against other basketball Olympic teams from many nations.
A really cool missionary story I had never heard about!
The comments section under the Facebook trailer was filled with many stories other users posted about their fathers or grandfathers who played on the team. Or how their family joined the church in Australia thanks to the Mormon Yankees. The team was such a positive influence in Australia that the LDS church tripled in size between 1955-1960.
When October 7th approached I was excited to see the movie, and I went on the Cinemark website to get the times, only to notice that Mormon Yankees wasn't playing anywhere. After a couple of days I realized Mormon Yankees wasn't the name of the movie, Spirit of the Game was. This is the first mistake the movie makes, choosing a wrong movie title. Search Mormon Yankees and many articles about a movie being made about this basketball team pop up, "Spirit of the Game" not mentioned. Searching Spirit of the Game yields Mormon Yankee results. This movie should have been titled Mormon Yankees.
That aside, I did enjoy Spirit of the Game. It's an uplifting movie. Unfortunately the story telling is very clunky. There's an unnecessary opening scene where someone gets a call that someone else has died, only I don't remember who died, and there was no follow up to this first scene. Overall the scene transitions are rough. Acting in parts are rough as well.
I left the movie theater uplifted. Spirit of the Game is not a Mormon Movie classic--Best Two Years is still my favorite--I'm still glad I saw it. The story behind the Mormon Yankees is worth telling, though I wish it was better done.
I was so excited! I have wanted to serve a mission since High School, hoping and praying I would have the opportunity. But regardless of how strong my desire was, and how much I wanted to go, one thing or another prevented me from serving a mission. I was 21 when I transferred to BYU to earn a music degree, the earliest age women used to be able to serve a mission, now they can leave at 19, but I knew my place was at BYU. The heavens literally opened for me to get into the classical voice program, and that's where I was supposed to be at that moment. But as time went on after graduation, no matter how many times I wanted to serve, it was never right.
And then a few weeks ago the miraculous happened. It seemed the heavens opened once again and everything fell into place. I would finally have the opportunity to go into the World and share my testimony, trusting my life entirely to Him, our Redeemer and Savior, giving up everything for full devotion. (see Footnote #1)
But as the days went on, preparing by having an interview with my Bishop (see Footnote #2), going to the dentist and doctor, something wasn't feeling right. Something in my spirit just didn't feel right.
I expressed concern with my family, and my brother Steven sent me a link to a talk by Elder Holland entitled, "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence."
It's an incredible talk about the adversary and staying true to what we originally feel in terms of promptings and feeling the spirit. I listened to this talk with my Mom as we drove around doing errands, and I felt comforted and renewed, ready to continue my mission prep and everything that goes into having my papers submitted. (see Footnote #3).
But there was an event that was truly startled me. Something that pulled me back and pause. My doctor, who's known me for over a decade and is LDS, said, "So this is the one thing you'll be asked over and over again: Why now?" Why am I'm serving a mission at 32? (see Footnote #4)
Why after all this time am I leaving to serve a mission?
I told him how I've always wanted to serve, how I'm still single, how life is hard to predict, etc, but it wasn't until a couple days later it clicked. Where was the burning fire? Where was the light? Why didn't I feel that burning in my bosom, as we Mormons call it, an overwhelming feeling of the spirit? Why didn't I feel it?
Why haven't I felt it?
I wanted to serve a mission so badly I jumped right in, but something deep within was telling me "No." I was just too excited to listen.
For years I had held onto the hope of serving a mission, but honestly there are so many ways to serve. So many ways I can serve, without leaving for 18 months to proselyte.
Friday, September 5th, I talked with my Mom and brother Steven, talking until midnight about everything. Some of the talking was intense, some confused, but by the end I felt peace. Peace about the future. Peace about finding faith in my music and talents. You know, I've never doubted the existence of God. Ever since I can remember I've always believed. But believing in God, and believing Gods timetable for me, are two different things. I've struggled with having faith in myself.
I have a strong testimony. I know this church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is true. I know God loves us and is real. I know he's my Father and watches over me, even when I struggle and stumble. I know the Book of Mormon is a testament, a witness of Gods love and attention over those who lived on the American continents. It's a true book of Ancient American Prophets. A second witness of Christ on this side of the World. God loves all his people. He loves all of us, still. He hasn't left. He's still here with us, performing miracles, speaking through Prophets and Apostles. Covenants, Ordinances, the Priesthood, and Temple are just as important now as with those who lived during ancient times. I feel so blessed to have these things in my life.
For whatever reason unbeknown to me, I'm not supposed to serve a full-time mission, but I will always carry with me the missionary spirit. And I will never stop loving God.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Footnote #1: When you serve an LDS mission you live really strict guidelines, beyond the standards we already live. You can't go to the movies or watch TV. You can't listen to the radio, and what you can listen to is really restricted (Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Especially for Youth, etc.) You work 6 days a week from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm, with little breaks. And the 7th day, P day (preparation), still has standards. There might be some sightseeing, but there's service, too. And P day is the only day you can email home. That's another thing, you can't call home or talk to your loved ones, except on Mothers Day and Christmas. All your correspondence is through letters and emails (and hopefully you're allotted enough time on P day to go through your emails and write home.) A missionaries life is not easy, by no means. It's not a vacation. It's very hard work.
Footnote #2: In the LDS church a congregation is called a Ward, and
the presiding member of the ward is called a Bishop. It's an unpaid
calling that lasts a few years until someone else is called to serve as
Bishop. All church callings are unpaid. I've served twice as choir director, several teaching callings, Relief Society President, etc, all volunteer.
Footnote #3: "Submitting ones papers" is something that happens after being
interviewed by the bishop and stake president, getting cleared by the
doctor and dentist, and filling out a few forms. After these forms are
submitted and sent to Church headquarters, a "Mission Call" is sent, a
letter mailed to the preparing missionary that tells him/her where they
are to serve, what language they'll speak , and when to report to the
Missionary Training Center (MTC). You don't get to choose. If you don't know the language you are going to speak, you learn it from scratch at the MTC. My brother Robbie was called to Argentina not knowing any Spanish, and he lived in the MTC for 2 months to learn Spanish and train as a missionary. And yes, after only two months, he was sent to Argentina having to converse and give lessons in Spanish. It used to be 1 month in the MTC for native English, 2 months for Romantic/Germanic languages, and 3 months for non-romantic languages (Asian languages, Russian, Etc.) (I may be wrong on the time frames with some of these languages. I do know Japanese was a 3 month language). But they've changed it. 2 weeks in the MTC for English, 6 weeks for Romantic/Germanic languages, and 8-10 weeks for Asian, etc. (I don't know if it's 8 or 10 weeks now, I just know they no longer spend 3 months in the MTC to learn Japanese, Chinese, etc).
Footnote #4: Boys can serve missions from age 18-25. Girls can serve from 19-39. Then there are couple missionaries. My Grandparents served a mission together to the Philippines several years back. And Mission Presidents are married couples as well. My best friend's Father in Elementary was called to be the mission president over Costa Rica, and they sold their house and moved there. Mission Presidents serve for 3 years. Boys serve for 2 years. Girls and Couple missions are 18 months.
What would you do if someone held a gun to your head and told you to question your faith in Christ?
The Saratov Approach is based on a true story. In March 1998, two LDS missionaries, Elder Tuttle (Corbin Allred) and Elder Propst (Maclain Nelson), are following up a missionary contact in Saratov Russia. They're there to meet a young man who seemed to believe in Christ and wanted to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but what the two missionaries faced while entering the apartment wasn't at all what either expected. Immediately the two are pushed to the ground and beaten, eyes and mouth taped, pushed into a car, and posed in a terrifying position holding their name tags for a polarized photo. They are being held captive for a $300,000 ransom.
The movie then becomes a day-to-day successful suspense film, where we see the parents get involved, government workers, federal authorities, and even President Clinton being made aware. All faiths come together to pray for their safety.
Instead of the happy go lucky Tony award winning The Book of Mormon Musical, which chops and mocks everything I hold dear, you see a true reality of the dangers of missionary service. It's what all of us fear when sending out loved ones with nothing more then emails, letters, and two shared phones calls a year (on Christmas and Mothers Day). I know someone personally who, just last year, was beaten by gang members, breaking his jaw. He had to come home early for surgery and be wired shut.
What Elder Tuttle and Elder Propst faced is every parents nightmare. This story is one of faith, of not giving in, and I was very impressed with the quality of the film and the acting. The acting was very good! The two playing the missionaries weren't the only great actors, but the two who played the Russian captors (Nikita Bogolyubov and Alex Veadov) did a superb job as well.
