John’s Farewell Talk 10-28-15
So… my name
is John Gilbert and this is my Mission farewell talk. I honestly didn’t know if
I would ever be giving one of these or not. I’m a hockey player. I’ve played
for and with the El Paso Rhinos for 9 years. I thought I would be just starting
my season at this time of year, but Heavenly Father had something else in mind.
I know for a fact that Heavenly Father knows each of us individually. I
absolutely think He funneled my life down to serving a mission. So the deal
was, I had to get a job to pay for this next season of hockey. And I applied
EVERYWHERE. I have a good resume. I was the captain of my high school hockey
team. I’m an Eagle Scout. I had first, second, and third interviews. And I was
offered… absolutely nothing. No one would hire me. I started feeling really
lost and discouraged. Then Ben Kendrick talked me into getting my Patriarchal
Blessing. This is why I say that Heavenly Father know us all. He knows how
stubborn I am and he knew I needed a push. No one would hire me because it was
time to do something else. I would like to share with you one sentence from my
blessing. It says “You have been prepared in spirit, in faith, and in mind to
serve a full time mission for the Lord in your youth.” Powerful sentence. So, how
do you say no to that? There’s no longer any doubt, I’m going on a mission. The
only problem is, I’ve been focusing on hockey for the last 9 years, not really preparing
for a mission. But then the more I got to thinking about it, maybe I have been
preparing all along, I just didn’t realize it. I have come up with 12 ways that
hockey has prepared me to serve a mission.
1. Language Barrier
I’ve always had to deal with a language barrier playing hockey. Last year
my team was basically from Europe. We had like 5 Chechs, 2 Sweeds, 2 Russians,
some guys from Poland, Latvia, and Norway, and our 2 goalies were from Hungary
and Slovakia. So it’s definitely safe to say that there was a little
communication issue throughout the team. Fortunately we had Phillip. Phillip is
our goalie from Slovakia, who speaks Slovakian, Chech, Polish, Ukranian, and
English. He was able to translate the basics for us. The interesting thing we
found however, is that hockey is the same in all these different languages.
Yes, playing styles are a little different, but when it came down to it, we all
knew the game of hockey. I think it’s going to be the same out in the mission
field. I am going to meet a bunch of people from different places, but the
church is still the same. Our accents and teaching styles may be different but
universal truths remain the same. And fortunately, I was born in Arkansas so I
bet my Southern will kick in real quick.
2. The Courage to Talk to Strangers
On a mission you gotta be able to talk to people, you can’t be timid and
even scared, you just gotta go for it. And playing hockey kind of forced me
into that. 2 years ago I was just hangin’ out one night in the middle of the season,
and I got a text from my coach, and it said, “go pick up new Russian goalie at
11:30, take him to this address.” Like ok? I got no name or anything, so I went
to the airport and I found him and everything ‘cuz he was dressed very European,
but he didn’t speak any English! And let me tell you the car ride to his new
house was the awkwardest thing ever! So I just had to jump into it and try and
talk with him and figure out how much English he did and didn’t know. By the
time I got him home we were cool and it wasn’t super awkward anymore. And for
his first practice I pretty much was the only one he felt comfortable trying to
talk to, so I was able to help him throughout the practice (which as a goalie
his roll isn’t that hard STOP THE PUCK but I was still able to explain to him
how the drills worked and everything.) But I learned right away that with
talking to people you just gotta jump right in and do it. I know this
experience will help me as a missionary because it forced me out of my comfort
zone. And I feel that going on a mission
in general is forcing you out of that comfort zone. But it’s not so bad if you
just have confidence and go all in. Which brings me to number 3 Confidence.
3. Confidence
Hockey is all about Confidence. Confidence is everything. If you don’t
believe that you can score a goal then it’s not going to happen, simple as
that. You’ve got to have confidence in yourself, in your team, and in your
coach. On a mission, this works the same. If you don’t believe in a person or
an investigator or don’t believe that you can help them, then it’s not going to
happen. You need to believe in yourself. You need to trust your companions. And
you need to rely on all your coaches – your zone leader, your Mission
President, and especially your Heavenly Father, the ultimate coach.
4. Keep your Head Up
You gotta keep your head up, if not, you’re going to get clocked! You
gotta pay attention and know what’s going on around you and how the play is
developing so you can be in the right place at exactly the right time. I feel
like this is important not only on a mission but in life also. You gotta keep
your head up. On a mission if your head is not in it then you’re going to miss
out. Most of the time, you can only hear the Holy Ghost if you are listening.
So you gotta stay focused and recognize if he tells you to go down this street
or knock on this door or talk to this person – it’s your job to listen and be
prepared for anything.
5. Living with Someone Else
In hockey, we have what’s called billet families. This is when a family
houses a player that is coming from out of town. My mom and I decided to try
this, so a player from my team moved in, and ended up living with us for 2
years. Because of hockey, even as an only child, I still had to learn how to
live with someone. I had to learn how to share a car, share my house, I had to
learn how to share a bathroom, which I had never needed to do before. So it was
weird at first, but I got over it. My mission companions will be grateful I’ve
already learned this lesson.
6. Having Someone’s Back, No Matter What
My coach always told us that the team is like a chain, if one link breaks
the entire chain breaks and doesn’t work anymore. Being on a team is one of the
best feelings ever, because I know that these 25 guys have my back no matter
what and they know I’ve got theirs. It’s a brotherhood that can never be
broken. I know that I can still call some guys from my team like 3 years ago
and I know they would be there for me. On a mission it’s kinda just you and
your companion against the world, and you gotta be a strong little two link
chain. But I am betting that the two link chain will be even stronger and more reliable
than the one with 25 links, because it will have the gospel as its foundation.
I don’t know anyone in Alabama yet but I know I’ll have my companions’ back, no
matter what.
7. Never Quit
Playing hockey at a competitive level you literally fight for your spot
on the team every day. There are 25 guys on the team and only 20 suit out for
every game. So you gotta prove every day that you shouldn’t be one of those
five who don’t play. On a mission you don’t wanna be one of those five guys
either because if you quit you won’t be able to teach those who need to be
taught.
8. Stay focused
Playing hockey you have to stay focused for your entire 30 second shift. Your
brain has to be in it because every second matters. There have been times where
I was in a good position and I took a good shot and it was blocked. But in the
two seconds that I was discouraged that I missed my shot, I missed out on the
opportunity of scoring again on the rebound. Your mindset has to be so focused
on scoring the goal that even if you miss it shouldn’t be a factor, it
shouldn’t stop you in your efforts. The scoreboard doesn’t ask how, it asks how
many. It doesn’t matter if it’s the prettiest goal in the world or if it just
trickled in. If it’s in, it’s in. On my mission I need to stay focused on the
things I need to and not freak out when things don’t go according to plan. At
the end of the day and at the end of every shift I want to be able to look
myself in the mirror and say you gave it your all.
9. Always Get Back Up
Injuries definitely exist in hockey. A couple years ago, I hit this kid
as hard as I could and broke my collar bone into three pieces. Four
months, 7 screws, 1 plate, and hours of physical therapy later, I returned to
the ice and was able to finish out the season like it had never happened. I
learned two important lessons. The first was I am not invincible and it changed
the style of hockey that I play. I’m no longer an enforcer and I realize there
is much more to hockey then just trying to put people through the glass. This
injury led me to the playmaker and goal scorer kind of player I am today. The
second is there are times in life when you want to give up but you have to man
up and get through it. I had to sit there in physical therapy and watch my team
win and lose without me. But I knew that the only way I would be able to get
back there and really help them was to man up, do the physical therapy and wait
until I was 100% before rejoining my team. I know there will be tough times on
my mission. I know I’m gonna get rained on, I know hard things are gonna
happen, but I’ve got to get back up and learn from the experiences. Either
timing your hits better or remembering to pack an umbrella, the important thing
is to keep fighting.
10. Practice
vs. Preparation
Every athlete knows that practice is everything. Hockey is all about
muscle memory. Skating and shooting a puck should become automatic, not
something you even have to think about. Like, I honestly skate better than I
run. But I’ve clocked in a lot more hours skating than I have running. I have
learned that practice is important but preparation makes all the difference.
Tomorrow’s game doesn’t start at 7:30. It starts now. It started when you
stayed up late the night before and didn’t sleep. It started when you chose the
nachos over the spaghetti. It started when you skipped leg day. It all adds up.
I definitely feel like this will be true for my mission also. My mission doesn’t
start October 28th. For me, it really started five months ago when I
received my Patriarchal Blessing. I know I definitely could have prepared a lot
more for my mission. I could have gone to a lot more mission prep classes. And
I know that because I didn’t I will have to work that much harder down the
line. But I also know that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The
second best time is right now. So I am going to work as hard as I can and focus
on looking forward, not backward. I know that the choices I make today will
help the people in Alabama I haven’t even met yet.
11. Opportunities
The winning hockey team is the team that has capitalized the most on
their opportunities. It’s one thing to jump on an opportunity. The higher level
of hockey is to create the opportunity. As a missionary, you gotta do both.
Wayne Gretzky said “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” This has been
my motto in hockey, in life, and will be on my mission.
12. Striving
to always be the best you can be
My coach told me something that always stuck with me. He said “Right now,
somewhere, someone is practicing, and you’re not. So when the time comes that
you play each other, who do you think is gonna win?” I think if you want to be
a good hockey player your head always has to be in hockey. If you wanna be a
good missionary your head always has to be in your mission. My game plan is to
give it my all because that’s all I can do.
I’d like to bear my testimony…
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
