2nd Letter to Josh

Here’s what I wrote to Josh today on him mission (this was tamed down drastically from what I was going to write 🙂 )

Elder Schmidt,

I wrote you quite a while back but never heard if you got the email or not. Hope you did.

Here’s what’s happening in my life:

• I’m coaching Caleb’s soccer team
• I’m still working at Prosper
• I’m still an avid New York Yankees fan, always have been, always will be
• BYU Football is in the top 25 after a nice win against Washington
• I’m pretty sure the Yankees are going to win the World Series again this year as they did last year

Caleb had another soccer game tonight. It made me think about how coaching kindergarten soccer is similar to a mission:

1. Keep your eye on the ball: I tell the boys this all the time because many times, most of them are waving to their parents, pushing a fellow team mate, or just “out in left field”. To me, this pertains to a mission because there can be lots of distractions. If I let the distractions get in the way of what’s most important, the other team is going to score and I’ll have regrets. My little team has played 5 games now and won 3 of them. Caleb is yet to score but he’s learning and does really good.
2. Know which way your going: this is another common problem with these boys – they get mixed up and often times will go the wrong way after being told numerous times which way we’re going. On a mission, if I didn’t know what I wanted, I wouldn’t get it. Today, Caleb did a great job and had about 4 shots on goal. However, right after kicking at the right goal, 5 seconds later he was headed for his own goal with the ball. It’s fun to be his coach and give him a bit of direction and guidance – it’s not as fun when he doesn’t seem to be listening.
3. Remember who’s on your team: my little guys are constantly taking the ball from one another. I saw this on my mission too, as some of my biggest challenges were with companions or people in my district or zone who didn’t want to follow the direction of the President. If I could go back to the mission now, I feel I would rely even more on Heavenly Father to give me direction on how to best handle these situations.
4. Don’t use your hands: our team is doing pretty well at keeping the rules, although it’s hard for a few of them to not want to put their hands up when the ball is flying right at their head. On my mission I remember the first time I met missionaries who were “working around” the rules. I’m glad there were great missionaries to look up to that helped me remember how important the rules were to keep me safe and help me have the success that was waiting.
5. When you get close to the goal, kick it really hard and you might score: work, work, work! My soccer team has done pretty good at scoring goals. Our first game was 1-0. Our second was 3-0. Then we got wooped 5-0 and then 1-0. Today we won 2-0. In the two losses, the boys just seemed to be going through the motions. School had just started and they seemed lost out on the field. If there was one thing I could teach the boys its this: if you work hard and do your best, good things are bound to happen (like goals will be scored or investigators will be found and be receptive).
6. The game isn’t that long so play as hard as you can: I’m working on helping the boys understand that the time is short so they have to play really hard. I think the biggest fear I had on my mission was that I’d come home and have regrets about things I didn’t do, things I did do, people I didn’t talk to, etc. Hopefully my little soccer dudes will remember the fun times we’ve had so far and won’t regret having gotten involved in soccer.

I love you Josh.

I’m grateful to have a little brother like you.

I’m excited for you and wish you the best.

Write in your journal. Record feelings, thoughts, and experiences. It’s really fun to look back and read those things years later and remember them like they were yesterday.

Take care!

Love,

Nate

I’m not going to work on my September Goals!