Missionary Service: The Story of Sid Going

Missionary Service: The Story of Sid Going-The following is a great story from a talk given by Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles titled Preparing The World For The Second Coming. His talk focuses on missionary service and the required sacrifices that come with it but how the blessings far outweigh them.

    "Missionary service requires sacrifice. There will always be something you leave behind when you respond to the prophet’s call to serve. Those who follow the game of rugby know that the New Zealand All Blacks, a name given because of the color of their uniform, is the most celebrated rugby team ever.  To be selected for the All Blacks in New Zealand would be comparable to playing for a football Super Bowl team or a World Cup soccer team.

In 1961, at age 18 and holding the Aaronic Priesthood, Sidney Going was becoming a star in New Zealand rugby. Because of his remarkable abilities, many thought he would be chosen the very next year for the national All Blacks rugby team.

At age 19, in this critical moment of his ascending rugby career, Sid declared that he would forgo rugby to serve a mission. Some called him crazy. Others called him foolish. They protested that his opportunity in rugby might never come again.

     For Sid it was not what he was leaving behind—it was the opportunity and responsibility ahead. He had a priesthood duty to offer two years of his life to declare the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. Nothing—not even a chance to play on the national team, with all the acclaim it would bring—would deter him from that duty.      

He was called by a prophet of God to serve in the Western Canadian Mission. Forty-eight years ago this month, 19-year-old Elder Sidney Going left New Zealand to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

   Sid told me of an experience he had on his mission. It was evening, and he and his companion were just about to return to their apartment. They decided to visit one more family. The father let them in. Elder Going and his companion testified of the Savior. The family accepted a Book of Mormon. The father read all night. In the next week and a half he read the entire Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. A few weeks later the family was baptized. 

A mission instead of a place on the New Zealand All Blacks team? Sid responded, “The blessing of [bringing others] into the gospel far outweighs anything [you] will ever sacrifice.” 

You’re probably wondering what happened to Sid Going following his mission. Most important: an eternal marriage to his sweetheart, Colleen; five noble children; and a generation of grandchildren. He has lived his life trusting in his Father in Heaven, keeping the commandments, and serving others.

And rugby? After his mission Sid Going became one of the greatest halfbacks in All Blacks history, playing for 11 seasons and serving for many years as captain of the team. How good was Sid Going? He was so good that training and game schedules were changed because he would not play on Sunday.  Sid was so good the Queen of England acknowledged his contribution to rugby.  He was so good a book was written about him titled Super Sid.

What if those honors had not come to Sid after his mission? One of the great miracles of missionary service in this Church is that Sid Going and thousands just like him have not asked, “What will I get from my mission?” but rather, “What can I give?”"

        I know that I have sacrificed and given my time to the Lord to represent Him at this time in my life. I also know that the blessings He has given me and my family have far outweighed the sacrifice. A mission is a calling from God, but like all things with God, He gives us blessings for following Him which in turn makes a mission no longer a sacrifice but a Joy! I love my mission and the things that I am learning while being here. I love the people I've met and the things I've been able to accomplish. What a great blessing it is to represent my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Montana Mormon Rugby Team Brings Home the Championship

Montana Mormon Rugby Team Brings Home the Championship

Mormon Times: MISSOULA, Mont. — Standing at the sacrament table Sunday morning, cousins Jackson and Collin Kanenwisher still appeared battered with scrapes, black eyes and sunburns. Jackson’s brother, Spencer, winced a bit while ushering at the chapel doors. Collin’s brother Beau was limping slightly as he passed the sacrament with the other deacons.
The day before, the Kanenwisher boys and their high school teammates clenched the Montana state title for club rugby in a fierce battle that ended 41 to 15. The Bitterroot Warriors, a majority of whom are LDS Church members, had a Cinderella season and are leaving the field with more than a trophy.
Organized two seasons ago, the Warriors' first players included the Kanenwisher cousins and their best friends, brothers Zander and Adam Smith. They recruited from each county high school but had the most success signing up church friends.
Boys from four LDS wards in four high schools joined the team and set the standard for leadership, language and commraderie.
Nick Recht, who will attend BYU-Idaho this fall, had an outstanding performance in the semi-finals of the round-robin tournament, held on the University of Montana rugby fields in Missoula. He scored one try off a kick from fly-half Collin Kanenwisher and then scored in the final minutes with a kick that toppled into a hard-fought victory over Kalispell 8 to 7.
“The championship was great, but I was really proud to beat Kalispell,” Recht said. “We were the only team to beat them earlier in the season, and they are a mean, dirty team. They really are bigger and better than us with a few players that were really hard to play against, so our goal as a team was to beat them in the second round. We weren’t really thinking beyond that.”
Recht was recruited to play with the boys he attends seminary and church with and discovered a love for the game that had a lot to do with his teammates.
“I just love the diversity of rugby,” he said. “You can kick, pass and tackle and then run in every position, but it’s the team itself that made it pretty fun.
“Our team captains Spencer and Zander always told us to ‘keep our heads’ and represent Bitterroot in a good way,” he said. “When things got intense, some of the players start playing pretty dirty in the rucks, but our captains didn’t want us to let it get to us or give in and play dirty back.”
Before every game, the Warriors grouped in a circle on the field for a prayer, “and that really made a difference,” said Recht.
Charlie West, a member of the team and not a member of the Mormon church, said praying before each game “brought us together as a team and helped us play better.”
He said playing with so many sets of brothers “made practices a lot more interesting.”
The five Fadely brothers from a Stevensville ward 25 miles north added strength and character to both the high school and junior high Warrior teams. Twins Mitchell and Marshall and their younger brothers Preston, Ethan and Jason also played rugby.
“We were all really exhausted playing three full games in one day,” said Mitchell Fadely. “But we were at church and excited to tell everyone. My dad even had it announced in priesthood meeting. I think our last match against Simms was the best we’ve ever played. We’ve really improved over the season, thanks to our coaches, and we were all in really good shape to still have enough energy to play three games and win.”
Freshman Beau Kanenwisher who played scrum-half scored a try during the first minutes of the championship game after a pass from his cousin Jackson.
“We’re naturally better because we’ve been playing (sports) together for so long,” he said. The rivalry between the younger brothers and the older brothers motivated them to make their captain brothers proud.
“They don’t act like it, but I know they’re proud of us and how we play,” said freshman Adam Smith, and then added a story when he was glad to have his brother back him up. “These massive guys on the other team were picking a fight with me, but then Zander and Jackson came flying in. It was pretty cool.”
Stephen Curdy, a Hamilton High School junior and Blodgett Canyon Ward priest, talked about his experiences in sacrament meeting the day after the championship. The assigned topic was integrity, and he had no problem finding symbolism from rugby experiences.
“In the finals we played Simms who play with a lot of sportsmanship and integrity,” he said. “They made the game a lot more enjoyable, and our team had the goal to play the same way.”
While fledgling teams across Montana competed during regular season, they were learning the game at the same time. The resulting matches were sometimes brutal with multiple fouls, both intentional and unintentional.
“At times it can be pretty hard to keep your standards when the other team is playing dirty and swearing,” said Mitchell Fadely. “But it’s important to keep your head and not play dirty or else your team is pretty much hated throughout the whole state.”
Twelve-year-old Preston Fadely joined the rugby club this year and loved playing with other Mormons from the valley. “They were great examples,” he said. “I’m definitely going to keep playing rugby because I love everything about it. I love the sportsmanship, I love the whole game and how it’s played.”
As for next season, when his brother Spencer steps down as captain, Jackson Kanenwisher said, “We’re excited but there’s no pressure.”
Added his cousin Collin, “We figured out how to play right and we’ll do it again.”
    For more stories from the Mormon Times including another Mormon rugby story Click Here