"Citius! Altius! Fortius!"

Chills ran through me from head to toe as I listened to the three-hundred-sixty voice choir accompanied by the Utah Symphony Orchestra perform Call of the Champions - "Faster! Higher! Stronger!"  What an incredible experience it was to have the world gather in my own back yard for the Winter Olympics!  It's hard to believe that was 13-and-a-half years ago. The fanfare composed for the 2002 opening ceremony still inspires me every time I hear it.

"Faster! Higher! Stronger!" has been the official Olympic motto since 1924.  It reminds me of a motto one of my good friends, Scott Woodward, came up with when we were in college, "Up Only!"  Scott was such a great example to me of what it meant to always seek to spiritually better ourselves.  That was the direction he sought for in his life then and he continues to keep his eyes fixed heavenward today.

Many years ago, I remember someone saying, "If you reach for the stars, you may not get one but you won't get a handful of mud either."  I've never forgotten that.

This is a church with extremely high standards and some may find reason to criticise us for it.  But look at the standards one must follow to become a great athlete or even an Olympian. It is rigorous, tedious, "try and fail and try again" training!! Just because we may feel inadequate, unqualified, or that the workload exceeds our strength, doesn't mean we should throw in the towel.  Miraculous things always happen when we continue to put forth our best efforts and trust in the grace of the Lord.

Bonnie L. Oscarson, the Young Women's General President encouraged us this last General Conference when she said, "Heavenly Father has a mission and plan for each of us, but He also has His own timetable. One of the hardest challenges in this life is to have faith in the Lord’s timing. It’s a good idea to have an alternative plan in mind, which helps us to be covenant-keeping, charitable, and righteous women who build the kingdom of God no matter which way our lives go. We need to teach our daughters to aim for the ideal but plan for contingencies." 

 I love that, "Aim for the ideal but plan for contingencies." It sounds like the quote about reaching for the stars.  Spiritually, I am so far from the ideal- from being the kind of mother, wife, friend, and sister God intends me to become.  I take comfort knowing that my Father in Heaven doesn't expect me to be perfect but he does expect the "perfect effort."

"It's not about perfect.  It's about effort.  And when you implement that effort into your life... every single day, that's where transformation happens.  That's how change occurs.  Keep going.  Remember why you started." – Coach Ladouceur (De La Salle - Spartans)

Elder Richard G. Scott also gave a wonderful talk in Oct. 2003 where he said, "With all my capacity I encourage you to discover who you really are. I invite you to look beyond the daily routine of life. I urge you to discern through the Spirit your divinely given capacities. I exhort you to prayerfully make worthy choices that will lead you to realize your full potential....To share truth in difficult circumstances is to treasure it more. When you push against the boundaries of experience into the twilight of the unknown, the Lord will strengthen you. The beauty of your eternal soul will begin to unfold." 

And so...  to strive for and realize our full potential, we never settle. Just as the text of the beautiful hymn pleads, "More Holiness Give Me," we must always maintain this prayer in our hearts, a constant striving to be more than who we are right now.  This is what it means to be champions on our Savior's team.  No matter how hard things get, no matter the beatings we might take, we know how the story ends, we've read "the book," we can go forward with confidence (we may be bloodied, scarred, and bruised) but we can press forward with our heads held high because we're on the Lord's winning side.

"Never has the Church climbed higher, moved swifter, or been stronger to accomplish its mission. Now is the time for all of us to reach upward and move onward. In God’s work we too must be swifter, working with greater urgency; higher, striving for lofty spiritual goals; and stronger, relying on God’s strength. It can happen to you."- President James E. Faust - April 2002

We are destined for far greater things than we could have ever imagined when we set foot in this arena called life.  We are born to be champions!  And by the grace of our Savior and the faith to call down heaven, we can accomplish anything!

-Alicia