Clint "Deuce" Dempsey

So, I'm a big soccer fan (for proof, click here). I've been a fan my whole life, have been a Colorado Rapids fan for their whole life (since 1996), and been a Chelsea fan for several years... Though now I'm leaning more towards Fulham. And that brings me to my point: Clint Dempsey. If that doesn't make sense, I'll explain: Clint Dempsey plays for Fulham. There, all explained. He also plays for the US National Team and is a total stud. He was the first American to score 10 goals in a season in the English Premier League. So, now it's established that he's awesome. But how do you think he got so awesome? Do you think he just woke up one day, and said, "I think I'm gonna play soccer!", walked over to Bob Bradley and told him to put him on as starter on the National team, then walk over to Mark Hughes and say "Hey, put me on as starter on Fulham"? Well, he very well might have, but they probably would've told him to beat it. No, he worked hard, probably since a very young age. He probably had a ball at his feet for hours a day. He went through struggles and trials, let downs and disappointments, and probably just a whole bunch of rough times. He grew up in very rough environments in a financially depraved home, but he worked hard all his youth. He did well in school, and at an early age he joined the Dallas Texans, a youth team, and excelled. Due to limited finances, he was forced to let it go for a while, but thanks to the help of teammates, he was able to rejoin. Later, he joined the Arsenal youth team (hey, no one's perfect), but had to, again, move on because of a severely ill cousin. He did very well on his college team, and in 2004 he was drafted 8th overall in the MLS Draft to the New England Revolution. After 3 years with them, he moved over to England to play with Fulham FC and excel. Now he's one of the best American players (if not the best) in the world.
But, none of that could have happened without hard work and dedication. Everything worth doing is worth doing well, and Dempsey is a great example of that. As we work hard towards our goal, we will see success. This applies to all aspects of our life, including in the Gospel. As we learn more about it, and work hard in staying faithful, we become better at it, and we grow in skill. Everything we do will prepare us for trials we may face. We need to constantly be willing to work hard, even through hard times and difficulties, and never give up. No matter what happens, it's important that we work hard. Let's all be Clint Dempseys of the faith!

When Life Hands you Lemons...

You make lemonade, right? Well, what if life hands you a grapefruit? If you're anything like me, you don't want a grapefruit, grapefruits are gross. The fun little saying is meant to just mean "make the best of your situation". Sometimes, it's really easy to get so caught up in all our lemons that we just focus more on how hard everything is rather than trying to find the solution. There are tons of sayings we can use: Every cloud has a silver lining, the sun will come out tomorrow, life's tough, get a helmet. But does saying something really help? Can you help someone out just by your words?
Absolutely you can. Think how much comfort we can get from the scriptures. Sure, those are inspired men of God, but why can't you be too? Even if you can't come up with something super profound and meaningful to say, someone else has already, so you can easily share that with them. Knowing your scriptures, especially the ones that have helped you, will allow you the ability to share with others when they're going through a hard time. The Words of God will always help someone, if they open their hearts to it. Anything in the Bible or Book of Mormon could easily lift and encourage someone. So, look over the scriptures that have meant the most to you, memorize them, and be ready to share them with people having a rough time.
Back to my grapefruit analogy: I don't like grapefruits, I don't like grapefruit juice. Making grapefruits into grapefruit juice wouldn't be a solution to my problem, it would just give me a bunch of gross grapefruit juice I don't want to drink. So, basically what I'm trying to allude to is what to do with a really big problem. If there doesn't seem to be an easy solution, what do you do? Sometimes, there is no easy "lemonade" solution. In that situation, still look for the best, and look to the one who made lemons and grapefruits. The Lord is your ultimate source of comfort. He'll send the Comforter, or the Holy Ghost. And always remember how Jesus suffered for our pains, and he knows all the we will go through. If you pray and read your scriptures, the Lord can and will talk to you, and show you how to make even those giant, gross grapefruits into delicious, sweet lemonade. All things are possible through Christ!