I Need to Serve My Mission Now

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baseball player missionary

Illustrations by Alex Nabaum

I’ve loved baseball my entire life. Toward the end of high school, I was recruited to play for a college in Texas, USA. I wanted to serve a mission but felt that this opportunity was too good to pass up and that a mission would need to wait a year.

On a weekend visit to the college, I woke up early Sunday morning with a strong prompting that I needed to attend my home ward three hours away. I did so, and one of the sacrament meeting speakers that afternoon talked about personal revelation. I felt these words were meant for me. Then in Sunday School we discussed the importance of serving a mission, and the Spirit testified to me that I should defer my scholarship because if I went to college now, I’d never serve a mission. I went directly to tell my bishop, “I need to serve a mission, and I need to go now.”

At home I emailed the baseball coach, sharing my testimony and my desire to be a missionary. Minutes later, he called me and said, “I’ve never seen a young man put God first like this. You have earned my respect today. You go serve. I’ll have a spot for you on the team when you return.”

Peace filled me, and I knew that Heavenly Father was helping me. I have a testimony of the blessings that come when we put the Lord first and choose Him over the world—and baseball.