BYU-Pathway Worldwide Devotional
"A True Champion"
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English | French | Portuguese | SpanishFriends, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today. I am delighted to share this message from the historic Welfare Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is an honor to be a part of the amazing experiences you are having as students with BYU-Pathway Worldwide. This opportunity transports me back to my own college days and all the excitement that went along with that. Brothers and sisters, I had big dreams, and at that time of my life, most of them had to do with football. Now I know what “football” means to many of you, so just to clarify, I’m talking about American football — you know, the kind of football you play with your hands!
I started out playing football at Ricks College — which is now known as BYU-Idaho — and then went on to play for Stanford University. Football was what I ate, slept, and breathed. I gave it everything I had because I dreamed of becoming a champion. Being a champion in football entails working longer and harder than the other players on the opposing teams. It means conditioning your body so that you can take the other guy down, no matter how big he is. It means hearing your number screamed by thousands of jubilant fans and your name praised by the announcers. And, if you’re not careful, you can start to drink it in and being a “champion” can quickly become all about you. Then one day, even for the greatest players, the athletic career ends, and you learn that being a sports hero can be fleeting and that the trophies — well, they all start to gather dust. And you may even ask yourself, “So what now?”
Well, brothers and sisters, I’d like to share with you today how one remarkable woman — an athletic champion in her own right — answered that question. In my current role as managing director of Welfare and Self-Reliance Services for the Church, I have the amazing opportunity to view a few of the thousands of humanitarian projects the Church helps to sponsor all over the world. Last November, I visited a project in Santiago, Chile, that touched me as deeply as any project I have ever seen. Beyond that, it forever changed what my definition of a “champion” will be.
Sandra Corrales Román has been a national-level athlete in multiple sports, including archery, rowing, and track and field. In the process, she has racked up medal after medal. When you meet Sandra, she exudes energy and it’s contagious. But these days her energy is concentrated on a different target besides the bullseye or the finish line.
You see, it all started back in 2008, when she began having a recurring dream in which she saw a young boy lying in a hospital bed with multiple tubes going into his body and a patch that extended from his throat down to his navel. She wondered what the dream meant but eventually decided that she needed to do something about it. So she called one of the main hospitals in Santiago and asked if she and a few other notable athletes could visit some of the child patients who were in chronic condition, and the hospital agreed. The thought occurred to her that she and her friends should take some of their medals with them.
When they arrived, several of the children and their parents had gathered to meet the athletes, but there were a few children who were too ill to participate. A doctor explained that one of these children, Albán, would pass away within 24 hours and asked if Sandra would like to speak to him. When she entered Albán’s room, Sandra immediately recognized him as the little boy from her dream. The doctor introduced her, and, through her tears, Sandra left one of her medals at Albán’s side, not really knowing what the effect would be. But as she was leaving the room, Albán took the medal and he lifted his arms and said, “Miss Sandra, I’m a champion!”That experience was the catalyst that has since led Sandra to create the “Athletes for a Dream Foundation,” which provides specialized care and activities for hundreds of chronically and terminally ill children and their parents in Chile. Some of these children have the most severe conditions I have ever witnessed or even imagined. Sandra and her athlete friends love and advocate for every one of these children as if they were their own, ensuring that they receive not only a medal for their courage but also social events, critical services, including dental care and physical therapy in a chair and pool the Church has donated. Sandra and her team have taken children who might otherwise be hidden from society’s view and instead celebrated them for the champions they are.
After my visit to the foundation’s center in Santiago, it took me a few moments before I could even form words. I felt as though I had been transported back two thousand years and had personally watched the Savior heal and embrace the lepers that had been cast off or personally heard him rebuke the disciples who tried to prevent the children from coming to Him. In that moment it was reinforced to me so clearly who the Ultimate Champion is and why He holds that title — because the entire focus of His ministry, then and now, is to love and lift those who cannot fully lift themselves.
Sisters and brothers, the Lord has given us a great gift in BYU-Pathway. Thanks to this program, many who might otherwise not be able to afford an education of this great caliber will have a chance to pursue their dreams. I hope that you do aspire to be a champion in whatever your chosen field is, and I hope that when you are, you will seek a way to pay forward this beautiful gift you have received by using a portion of the knowledge, skills, and perhaps even income you will gain to bless the lives of those around you.
Commenting on the last 16 verses of Matthew 25 at the last general conference, Elder Dale G. Renlund said, “The lesson of the Savior’s parable of the sheep and goats is that we are to use the gifts we have been given — time, talents, and blessings — to serve Heavenly Father’s children, especially the most vulnerable and needy.”