Nobody is gonna hit as hard as life

This song goes out to all the Darek Heims.

 "You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that! I'm always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens." -Rocky Balboa

 Rocky Balboa faced the odds his whole life, he fought when he thought he couldn't, and he won. He never backed down, he never lost heart, even when he fought the most challenging fight of his life. In the Cold War, the Soviet Union had a champion named Ivan Drago, the strongest fighter in the world. He was a giant, a Goliath, and he fought and killed Rocky's best friend Apollo Creed. Rocky was afraid, he was sad, and he fought anyways.

 Rocky said to his wife Adrian "No maybe I can't win. Maybe the only thing I can do is just take everything he's got. But to beat me he's gonna have to kill me, and to kill me he's gotta have the guts to stand in front of me, and to do that he's gotta be willin' to die himself. I don't know if he's ready to do that. I don't know. I don't know."

 "Well might we look carefully into our own lives and judge our courage, our faith. Is there a Goliath in your life? Is there one in mine? Does he stand squarely between you and your desired happiness? Your Goliath may not carry a sword or hurl a verbal challenge of insult that all may hear and force you to decision. He may not be ten feet tall, but he likely will appear equally as formidable, and his silent challenge may shame and embarrass."-President Thomas S. Monson

 Everyone has a Goliath, everyone has an Ivan Drago, someone who's bigger or stronger. Your Ivan Drago doesn't have to be a person, maybe it's smoking, drinking, or depression, maybe it's an uncontrolled temper; But there's not a single person on this planet who isn't afraid of something. Being afraid doesn't make you a coward. Being afraid just means that you have something to overcome. It means that there is something in the way of your happiness.

 We don't have to face our Goliaths alone, "Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good." (2 Chron. 19:11). Our Lord will always fight for us, if we rely on him. "Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s." ( 2 Chron. 20:15)

The scriptures give us many examples of courage: "And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine." (1 Sam. 17:32) "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Tim. 1:7) "Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it." (Ezra 10:4)

"Like David of old, 'our cause is just.' We have been placed upon earth not to fail or fall victim to temptation’s snare, but rather to succeed. Our giant, our Goliath, must be conquered."-President Thomas S. Monson

And we can, like Rocky Balboa when he overcame, say "Yea, I love yous too. I just also wanna thank God. Except for my kid bein' born, this is the greatest night in the history of my life. I just wanna say one thing to my wife who's home: YO, ADRIAN! I DID IT!"



This Blog is dedicated to Darek "Plum Tea" Heim

The Hope of the Universe

"I am the hope of the Universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the Light to the Darkness. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!" - Son Goku

  That is one of my favorite quotes, its powerful and positive and gets me pumped to go and do some good! It makes me want to help someone, save someone in distress, make a difference. It comes from a character in a show called Dragon Ball Z named Goku who has a pure heart and fights for people who can't defend themselves. Goku is always doing the right thing even when its hard, he stands up to villains who are much stronger than he is and never gives up.

  When I felt like giving up that quote from Goku has always motivated me, but I realized the other day that my favorite quote had a deeper meaning too. I noticed that the beginning of every sentence began with "I am", and that was the name that Jesus Christ told Moses when Israel asked what the name of God was.

Exodus 3:14
And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

  If Christ is the Great I Am then the quote has a whole new meaning. If we replace I am with Jesus Christ it becomes:

  Jesus Christ is the hope of the Universe. Jesus Christ is the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. Jesus Christ is protector of the innocent. Jesus Christ is the Light to the Darkness. Christ is truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) Jesus Christ is our everything. He fought for us when we could not defend ourselves, He suffered all the pains and sorrow of the world so that we can be saved. He is the hope of the universe, the ally of good and the nightmare of evil. There is nothing we cannot overcome with the help of Christ. I know this is true, I know that through our Savior and Redeemer we can do anything, and I testify of these things in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

IMMORTAL KOMBAT!

  I love fighting games, and one of my favorites is Mortal Kombat. In Mortal Kombat a group of talented fighters battle to defend the earth from an evil tyrant named Shao Kahn who wants to be the king of everything. The only way Shao Kahn can conquer the earth is by beating earths champions 10 times in a row in a tournament to the death. This tournament is called Mortal Kombat, because the fighters lives are on the line. This game is closer to reality than you think. We all fight evil every day in a tournament of the spirit, where your very soul is on the line. I'll tell you how and why we fight our very own Immortal Kombat.

  Every day we are tempted, whether it be to break the law or just do something we know isn't right, it's something we deal with all the time. But what most people don't think about is why we are tempted, and what happens when we give in. We are tempted by a tyrant who wants to conquer us, and we can't let him win.

   We fought a war before we were born, against someone who wanted to be our king. We all fought on the side of God who is that same all powerful being that made us and our enemy was our brother. We were spirits created by our Heavenly Father, he had a plan so that we could have bodies, make choices, and grow closer to him. But one of the spirits thought he had a better plan, to force everyone to make good choices so that everyone could be perfect and then this spirit could have all the glory. The spirits name was Lucifer or Satan, and God saw the flaw in Satan's plan. If we were all forced to good then we would never learn, and we would not appreciate what we had. So Satan's plan was rejected and Satan rebelled. He took one third of the spirits in heaven with him. We fought for our Father, and Satan was cast to earth. Satan was put on earth as part of our test, to see if we would really choose God's way and be happy or choose the devils way and be miserable.

  So now we fight, every day. We battle an evil army led by the spirit that wants to rule over us. But we don't fight alone, we were given a champion to defend us. When God made his plan he knew we would make mistakes, so he provided a way for us to be forgiven. He gave us his son Jesus Christ to take upon himself the sins of the whole world so that we might have a fair chance. When Satan wraps his chains around us and says "Get over here" and "Your soul is mine", Christ can come in with a combo breaker and deliver a Fatality. But we have to let Him. We have to follow the commandments, we have to repent of our sins, and we have to make promises with God so that we can be saved if we will follow him. And then when we have done our best then we can say like Paul, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith". And we can live with God, and be happy for all of eternity.