One Shining Moment!

NCAA March Madness Championship game is tonight. As tradition goes at the end of all of March Madness CBS plays a video montage of the tournament to the song One Shining Moment. So here's a gospel related, Davis Daily Bread version of One Shining Moment dedicated to all of the blog posts that have been on the blog this month. Sing along if you'd like (Music provided below) and enjoy the Championship game.

luther vandross one shining moment mp3 | lyrics

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You come from God,
And there you are.
You're starting a new life,
you're a shooting star.
And over all the years
no one knows
just how hard you worked
but someday you'll know...
in ONE SHINING MOMENT, IT'S ALL ON THE LINE
ONE SHINING MOMENT, THERE FROZEN IN TIME
   
But time is short
and the road is long
in the blinking of an eye
ah that moment's gone
And when it's done
win or lose
you hope you did your best
cuz inside you know...
that ONE SHINING MOMENT, YOU REACHED DEEP INSIDE
ONE SHINING MOMENT, YOU HOPE FOR ETERNAL LIFE
   
Feel the beat of your heart
feel the wind in your face
it's neither a contest
it's neither a race...

And when it's done
 It's Heaven or bust
you hope you did your best
cuz inside you'll know...
that ONE SHINING MOMENT, YOU REACHED FOR HEAVEN ON HIGH
ONE SHINING MOMENT, YOU KNEW
ONE SHINING MOMENT, YOU WERE WILLING TO TRY
ONE SHINING MOMENT....

Final 4: Enduring To The End

It's down to the Final 4 in the NCAA March Madness Tournament and this weekend that will be narrowed down even more as we find out who will be playing in the National Championship game. For these four teams they have shed blood, sweat, and tear while battling and playing their hardest to get to this point. If your team makes it this far its a feat in of itself when you look at the fact that they have had to win four games against some of the best teams in college ball. And now they are just one game away from having the chance to play in the Championship game and two games away from potentially winning it all. Its a chance in a life time. This is their time to shine. But for many making it this far isn't enough! They have a desire for more! Its not enough to just be called good, they want to be Great!, they want to be Champions! So as they step onto the hardwood today they will have to give their all to Endure To The End.
    Endure to the end, its something we hear a lot about in our church. Why is this? Maybe its because we have the same desire as those teams who make the final four. We have a desire to be Great, not just good. Just as the teams competing want to be Champions for time and all eternity, we also have a desire to return to our Heavenly Father to live with him for time and all eternity. For us this would make us Champions. But this reward isn't cheap or free. Its comes with a price. A price, just like the basketball teams, of sacrifice.
      We as children of our Father in Heaven, with the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, have to dedicate our lives to taking our Saviors name upon us and following him at all times, and in all things, and in all places. This sacrifice of blood, sweat, and tears of our Savior, and us, push us to do more. There is hopefully a constant drive in us all to do better, to follow God more closely, to pray more earnestly, to study more diligently, and follow our God's command more fully. This is all part of Enduring to the End. It is my prayer that as we do these things, as we put all our time, talents, and efforts into following the Gospel of Jesus Christ that ultimately We Will Be Champions. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Danny Ainge: Finding a Balance in Life

In the 1981 NCAA Basketball Tournament in the sweet 16 BYU was trailing Notre Dame by a score of 47-48. What happened next is what has become one of the greatest finishes in college basketball history(see link below to view). With seven seconds on the clock the ball was passed into Danny Ainge. Ainge, who was named the national collegiate player of the year and won the John R. Wooden Award, drives down the court past all five Notre Dame players and lays the ball in for the game winning shot that advanced his team to the Elite 8. Still to this day that is the furthest the Cougars have ever made it in the NCAA Tournament. This amazing play was only the start to a great career for Ainge. He went on to be drafted by the Boston Celtics where won two NBA Championships and finished his career with 11,964 career points.
   Moving on in his career he was an NBA coach for the Phoenix Suns for three years and more recently became the general manager of the Boston Celtics in 2003 and eventually compiled a team that won the 2008 NBA Championship.

   As if managing an NBA Championship team wasn't enough for Ainge he was called to be the Bishop of the Massachusetts Weston 1st Ward right after the NBA Finals. Ainge, who had been in the bishopric already for five years said he had thought there would be some changes but this wasn't quite what he had thought. “But, honestly, there was no way they were going to call me, with my schedule, to be a bishop,” he says. “I had my doubts when they called me to be bishop, but I think that it will just compel me to find balance even more.” said Ainge. Ainge's daughter commented on her parents and her Dad's new calling by saying “despite the time and effort they are about to start putting into this ward, they are excited and eager to serve. It has been a great reminder of what great people my parents are and how blessed I am to have such great examples.” Michael Dowling a sportscaster in Ainge's ward and one of Ainge's home teaching families said “A lot of people are going to find out exactly how good of a guy he is and how much he cares about people. He’s our home teacher, and he really looks out for my boys . . . as a home teacher and a bishop would.” Ainge says, “The service element helps me to balance my life, and to buoy me up”
   It's great to see how a faithful member of the church is able to balance both his love and career of basketball with the dedication to his faith and serving his ward members as a Bishop. There is no doubt that Danny Ainge is someone we could all look up to and learn from his example of finding balance in our lives.
           
Danny Ainge Coast to Coast Game Winning Drive VS. Notre Dame

Quotes taken from The Mormon Times and BYU Magazine

March Madness Missionaries

There are 14 Mormon basketball players who before making a big impact for their teams on the court this March have made big impacts on peoples lives by serving LDS missions, and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Here's a list of those players and where they served their "best two years".

   Brigham Young University Cougars:

Jackson Emery

Noah Hartsock

Jackson Emery, a senior guard from Lone Peak High School in Alpine, served a mission in Mexico.

Logan Magnusson, a senior forward from Wasatch High School in Heber City, served a mission in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Brock Zylstra, a sophomore forward from Bonita High School in La Verne, Calif., served a mission in New Zealand.

James Anderson, a junior forward from Page High School (Ariz.), served a mission in Guatemala.

Noah Hartsock, a junior forward from Bartlesville High School (Okla.), served a mission in Salt Lake City.

Chris Collinsworth, a sophomore forward from Provo High School in Provo, served a mission in Australia.

Nick Martineau, a sophomore guard from Davis High School in Fruit Heights, Utah, served a mission in Chile.

Stephen Rogers, a sophomore from Mountain View High School in Mesa, Ariz., served a mission in Cleveland, Ohio.

        Utah State Aggies : 

Tyler Newbold, a senior guard from Payson High School, served a mission in San Bernadino, Calif.

Nate Bendall, a senior forward from Skyline High School in Salt Lake City, served a mission in Nauvoo, Ill.

Brady Jardine, a junior forward from Twin Falls High School (Idaho), served a mission in San Antonio, Texas.

Brad Brown, a redshirt freshman from Orono High School in Orono, Minn., served in Porto, Portugal.

Tai Wesley, a senior forward from Provo High School, served a mission in Mexico.

Matt Formisano, a senior forward from Heritage High School in Centennial, Colo., served a mission in Mexico.

Most so called experts would say a college basketball player is crazy for taking two years off of basketball to serve a church mission but I think its great to see that these players have been able to balance a love of basketball with a love of serving the Lord. And I have no doubt that the Lord has blessed them for their service.

Krešimir Ćosić: Basketball Star and Churchman

Before there was Danny Ainge and before we even knew what a Jimmer was there was Krešimir Ćosić. Krešimir Ćosić was born in Yugoslavia in 1948. He started his basketball career playing in 1965 for the KK Zadar. He lead his hometown team to the Yugoslavian national championship and later represented his nation at the Mexico City Olympics where they won a silver medal. In 1970 he ventured over to the U.S. to play college basketball for Brigham Young University. Ćosić, an Atheist, didn't choose the school based off of religion but rather just the desire to play American basketball. In fact he says he knew nothing about the church. " I had never heard about the Church before I came here. In Yugoslavia most of the young people are completely atheistic, and that’s the way I lived. When I came to Provo I didn’t change. I was an atheist for two years while I was in Provo. Nobody was farther from becoming a Mormon than I was. I just lived my way, and people lived their way. I obeyed all the rules of BYU, tried to be as good as I could, and tried to play ball and do my studying and other things.." says Ćosić.
    While changing religions was no where to be found on his radar he quickly became a fan favorite. As a 6'11" center he sure didn't play like one. He was famous for his uncenterlike skills like leading the fast break, putting up long outside shots, two handed layups, and shooting underhand shots along the baseline against taller defenders. This play quickly earned him nicknames like “the wild giraffe”, “the runaway camel”, and “the tallest guard in the league.” Averaging 19.1 points per game he helped lead BYU to two WAC titles and became the first foreign player to earn All-America honors.
    After two years of playing ball and attending school Ćosić wanted to know more. "When I was a junior, I decided to figure out a few things. I had things I wanted to know." In 1971 after meeting with the missionaries he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When talking about his conversion Ćosić says "I didn’t decide to join the Church because of any one thing. There were some things that I wanted to know. I had a few questions that no one could answer. It just happened. We as Mormons believe in personal things everyone can know by himself. It all depends on how bad you want to know something. That’s the whole point. If we have a desire in the Church to know something, we will know it; there’s no question about that. If something is really bothering you, you probably go to somebody for advice. If it’s football you want to know about—what kind of a play you are going to play—you can ask me, and I don’t have any idea. I just can’t help. It’s the same if you’re going to the wrong church. They can’t give you an answer. So you ask, and find out, and you join the true church. So I just decided to join the Church."
    The Church not only effected Ćosić but on many others from his native land. He first served as the LDS presiding priesthood holder in post-communist Croatia. He was responsible with the translation of The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants into Croatian. Later he was able to introduce the gospel to Yugoslavia. Many believe that because of Ćosić's influence Yugoslavia recognized the Church in 1975. In the same year, Church leaders formed Yugoslavia's first Latter-day Saint congregation in Zadar. Between 1993 and 1998, the Church provided thousands of tons of food, clothing, bedding and medical supplies to Croatia. Since 1995 the Church has participated in a project to assist Croatian farmers. Currently there are just over 500 members in six congregations in Croatia.
    In 1995 he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and passed away at the age of 46 years old. We may never know the full impact Krešimir Ćosić had on spreading the gospel to others but this does help us know that our Heavenly Father is always looking for ways to move His work forward, including using a basketball player to open up others to Him.
 

The Spiritual Side of Jimmer

Jimmer Fredette has had an amazing season on the basketball court this year leading the BYU Cougars to a #8 national ranking and a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament, which starts today. Even being a missionary in little Dillon, Montana I've seen the effects of "Jimmer Mania". There has been a lot of buzz surrounding his performance on the court from members and non members alike. This has also sparked a few conversation about the church. This video produced by Mormon Times takes a look at Jimmer and his spiritual side, how the gospel has shaped his life, and how he believes he's been blessed with a God given talent. As a Mormon, a missionary, and a big BYU fan it's nice to see someone put on such a pedestal who is so down to earth and willing to recognize the role the gospel and God has made in his life.

A Hoops Reunion


Here's a great story from the Church News on Jimmer Fredette's father's conversion story to the church and the connection he was able to make with the missionary who converted him and their sons.
       As a cliché, "It's a small world" can ring remarkably true in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thanks to a world-wide proselytizing effort that has sent missionaries to locales across the globe to find, teach and baptize people for more than a century and a half, the Church can sometimes resemble one massive, extended family. Members everywhere seem to know someone who knows someone who knows someone. ...
For a pair of old friends (one a returned missionary — the other, his former investigator) their "small world" could be aptly measured at 94 feet — the length of a college basketball court.
In 1969, Idaho native Kimball Rogers was called as a Mormon missionary to the Cumorah Mission, headquartered out of Rochester, N.Y. During his first winter in the field he was assigned to the Glens Falls area of New York not far from the Vermont border. There he met a recent convert named Bonnie Fredette who had a younger brother, Al, who was investigating the Church. Both Elder Rogers and 18-year-old Al shared a common passion — basketball.
 
Elder Rogers was eager to teach Al the missionary discussions. So he threw down a challenge underneath the Fredette family hoop: "If I could beat Al in a basketball game in his driveway, he would listen to a lesson."
Al Fredette can't recall the outcome of those outdoor contests 41 years ago, but he does remember picking up some snacks for the missionaries and inviting them "to come inside and talk for awhile." Later that summer, Al was baptized by his older brother, Dennis, who had joined the Church in Germany. Elder Rogers was eventually transferred to another area and the two young men lost contact.
Fast forward four decades. Al Fredette had passed on his love of basketball to his son, Jimmer, who had established himself as one of the nation's top college ball players at Brigham Young University.


 Three time zones away from New York and living in Arizona, Kimball Rogers had raised a ball player himself. Youngest son Stephen claimed junior college All-American honors at Mesa Community College last year then transferred to BYU prior to the 2010-2011 season.
Before the start of the season, Jimmer told his dad about a promising new teammate named Stephen Rogers. The name meant nothing to Brother Fredette, who still lives in upstate New York and serves as the ward mission leader in the Glens Falls Ward, Albany New York Stake. "Jimmer just told me Stephen was a good, tough player who shot the ball well."
Kimball Rogers had not forgotten Al Fredette. He can point to passages in his missionary journal and read about winter afternoons spent shooting hoops together in the Fredette driveway followed by missionary discussions in the family living room. "I could still remember him in my mind."
The two men, now the fathers of grown children, were reunited following a BYU game last year at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. Kimball immediately recognized his former investigator. "I knew it was him — the (family) all share the same Fredette look," said Brother Rogers with a laugh.
Brother Rogers introduced himself by his first and last name. "That didn't help because I only knew him as Elder Rogers," said Brother Fredette. He remembered his old driveway "rival" once Brother Rogers clarified that he was "Elder Rogers" from 40 years ago.
"We shook hands and gave each other a hug," said Brother Rogers, a member of the Evergreen Ward, Mesa Arizona Central Stake.
The old friends marvel at the circumstances of their reunion. "It's amazing," said Brother Fredette, "We've both got sons playing at BYU at the same time."
"It makes you realize how small the world is," said Brother Rogers.
    LDS Church News Story

sElection Sunday

The Sunday before March Madness starts is known as Selection Sunday. This is the day that the NCAA selection committee determines which teams, deserve which seeds, in the "Big Dance". Similarly there was a time in heaven before the foundation of the world or our "Big Dance" where all of us were called and elected in some way. All of us received some form of this call to help the Lord with his work while we are on this earth. The Bible dictionary states that the calling and election "has to do with God’s choice of persons or groups to accomplish his purposes, some may be elected by him to one thing and some to another. Although the Lord uses certain individuals to accomplish his purposes, it does not necessarily follow that these persons will automatically receive a fullness of salvation thereby. Each must, for himself, hearken to the gospel and receive its ordinances and covenants from the hands of the servants of the Lord in order to obtain salvation. If one is elected but does not serve, his election could be said to have been in vain, as Paul expressed in 2 Cor. 6:1."
  So how does a calling and election compare to the selection of teams to play in the tournament? Just like we have to be faithful and righteous to obtain and fulfill our election teams in the tournament are not guaranteed anything. There might be a team who has played great all year and is one of the top teams in the country. They have earned and been given the right to the number one seed in the tournament but again this doesn't guarantee them anything. If that team is not faithful and doesn't continue to work hard they may slip and lose causing that "election", of being that top team, to no longer be theirs. On the other hand there may be a team, or someone, who is placed in a tough situation, like a 16 seed, who may rise to the occasion and because of their hard work, faith and righteousness, they are able to obtain more, help the Lord, in ways not imaginable at one point in time, like #14 Weber State knocking off # 3 North Carolina in 1999 or # 14 Cleavland St. beating #3 Indiana in 1986.
    This is truly a great lesson to learn that nothing is guaranteed in life, even when elected to you by God. The Lord will give us opportunities to help him and to receive blessings in this life but it is up to us to live worthy and be faithful to obtain those blessings. Just like it's up to that number one seed to keep playing hard and win to obtain that right to being called the champions.

Mormon March Madness

It's March Madness time! So Davis' Daily Bread is giving you a full serving of March Madness with a Mormon twist, Mormon March Madness! For the next month your spiritual belly and your craving for basketball will combine to help you learn how the game of basketball has shaped the lives of many Mormons. So get your brackets ready, your scriptures out, and check back frequently to hear inspiring stories from on and off the court.