Christ Keeps our Hearts Full

Gracie Johnson a Basketball player talks about the importance of remembering Christ even when busy and on road trips or travel tournaments. Take any free time you can get to pray, read and learn about him and how he can fill your soul with what is truly important. Christ is the source of Joy turn to me at every opportunity. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right. Welcome back everyone to another episode of On the Path. Uh thank you for tuning in last week and listening to Parker Van Dyke and his story with how he was able to handle the trials that were thrown at him and the different struggles that he had as he was playing overseas and trying to continue to push through and um get to where he is today playing for the Salt Lake Stars. So thank you for tuning in. And if you haven't, go back, listen to it, and make sure you share it with a friend or family. It's a great episode and great uh great listen. Uh this week I have another special guest with me. I'll take a quick minute to introduce her. This week we have Gracie Johnson. Gracie uh grew up playing basketball with three older brothers. She was raised knowing that the gospel and Jesus Christ always come first. She moved around to all different places growing up. She lived in Oregon, Germany, Utah, and then graduated from a small NISA high school in Oregon. She got lots of looks to play basketball in college from schools all over the country and ultimately decided on Utah State for the first two years of college. She received a mission call to Toronto, Canada, but she decided to go for that. And she was married and sealed in the temple and now just committed to go play basketball again at Utah Valley University in Oram, Utah. So that's a little bit about Gracie. And Gracie, we're happy to have you here today. Thank you for um thank you for doing this.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

So we'll just hop right in and uh start with the questions. So the first question I have for you today is have you ever felt tension between your faith and the competitive nature of basketball? And how are you able to handle that?

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Yeah, um, I for sure have. It's the competitive nature, especially um in college, they kind of expect you to show up for practices and show up for games, no matter the time or day or however it is. Um there was a lot of times where we would practice on Sundays or have games on Sundays. And um it was always kind of hard to try and find time, especially if you're on the road or um if you got early practice, trying to figure out a time when you can either go to church or um just continue to keep God in your life during that. Um, but one big thing that really helped me was if we had, say, like a 10:30 practice or 11 o'clock practice, like we would try and at least show up for a 9 a.m. ward sometime and just take the sacrament if that's all the time that we had. Um and I just felt like that was a good way to be able to start off um right and be able to keep the Lord in my life during that. Um, because practices aren't always super Christ-centered. Um, you get yelled at, you get whatever else coming at you for sure. Um and so I feel like that was just a good way to be able to keep him in my life. And even if we couldn't show up to church if we were on the road, um, then just being able to like listen to talks or read my scriptures when I could, or even just calling my parents and having us talk about what they learned in church or anything like that. I feel like that just really helped me to be able um to continue to keep him in my life, even when basketball might have been somewhat getting in the way of that.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Yeah, for sure. We see that it's it's definitely hard to handle. I've learned that a lot in my short two semesters of college sports, but I've learned that a lot listening to other athletes, hearing them, and understanding how difficult it is to really try to prioritize that because we're busy, right? We have classes, we have um, we have practices, we have lifts, we have games, everything. It's just so much time that there's so much that takes up so much time, and it's just so hard to find that priority. But as we look for those little moments, those little things that we can do, it's it's definitely gonna be a light to us because practices, like you said, they're not always very Christ-like. There's yelling, there's there's contention, there's competition. It's hard to to always remember. It's always hard to keep Christ at the center of every practice, right? Even if we try our best. But definitely finding those little moments throughout the day are are a huge blessing. And um it's definitely hard, but it's a blessing to remember Christ and keep him at the center. Um so in the little introduction that you sent me, you said that you were raised knowing gossip the gospel and Jesus Christ always come first. And how would you say growing up throughout your entire life, how were you able to remember that and always keep that in the in the front of your mind? How were you always able to remember that?

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Yeah, um, I'll give a lot of credit to my parents on this, honestly. Um, they just always raised us like that. And my two of my older brothers, they also played D1 basketball. And so I think my parents kind of knew, um, starting early, that they kind of had to ingrain that like in our brains of the gospel always comes first. Like there will be times you have to play on a Sunday or have to practice on a Sunday, but just being able to keep him in our lives. And my parents did a really good job of that. If we were at tournaments during high school, they would always have us go to church, whether I was in my basketball jersey, I was still going to church regardless. And of course, in high school I wanted to fight it and be like, Well, mom, I don't want to go. But she was like, No, like you're going. And so I feel like that was I'm gonna give them all the credit on that. Like, they did a really good job of kind of ingraining that in my brain because then that made me when I got to college and living on my own and stuff, that made me be like, Well, I still want to go, even though I have an excuse of not going. Like, I'm still gonna make the effort to go.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Yeah, for sure. I think it's definitely important for parents these days to do that, right? Because at least growing up for me, when I was in seminary, our seminary teacher would be like, you know what? A lot of you in high school, you don't have a foundation. Like you've been taught it, you do it because your parents tell you to do it. But once you get to college, once you get out on your own, you're not gonna go anymore. You're not gonna go to church, you're not gonna read your scriptures every day. There's all these things that play a factor in our everyday lives that in in our happiness. But he knew because he'd seen it from experience, obviously, that that not everyone's gonna stay. I mean, that's just that's just what happens, and it's it's hard to see. But when parents build that strong foundation and we're willing to put our efforts into, then it's gonna be easier for us when we're out on our own doing those things.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Yep, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Yeah, so something for me at least was, I mean, helpful for me was a mission. I was really happy I went on my mission right out of high school because I'm not gonna lie, I could have been one of those kids that got to college and didn't go to church every Sunday. But because I went on my mission, I was able to learn that. And it was a great experience for me and able to teach and help other people understand that the Sabbath day is uh the Lord's day, like it's it's a day set aside for him, and we need to remember that and and respect that. So being able to do that even through our busy schedules is super important and it's a huge blessing for us in our sports. And I mean, obviously, you have the talent, you have the skill, but how would you say that uh your the spiritual side of your life and keeping this Christ-centered life, how has that benefited you and gotten you to where you are today?

SPEAKER_00 7:45

Um, I feel like for sure being able to have Christ in my life to be able to get me where I was today was able to like I was able to just involve him in my everyday decisions and in my life. Um I feel like there was never a time where I made a decision that didn't involve Christ in it. Um I prayed for every decision and obviously I had my mission call. I didn't go on my mission. Um, and that was probably one of the hardest decisions that I've had to make. But because both of those are great decisions, is sorry, to get married. Oh my gosh. Sorry, to get married in the temple or to go on a mission. Like those are both really great decisions, and both were really hard decisions to make but being able to involve the Lord in my life and then still be able to go and play basketball after and be able to pray about that and go to the temple and use that in my life. Oh my gosh, I can't lose my voice. But yeah, just be able to involve the Lord in my life always, to be able to um yeah, pray about it and go to the temple and just think with the decisions and always involve him with the decisions.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

For sure. I think that's definitely a huge blessing for us is being able to to keep that. And I can say that benefited me too, 100%. I know I wouldn't be I mean, I'm from Utah. There's no way I would have ended up in Virginia if the Lord was not involved and out here in this little town. I don't know. I don't always know how I got here, but I know the Lord was involved, and he's he's a big reason as to why I'm here today. So I know that uh it was a huge blessing for you, and it's a huge blessing for everyone that keeps Christ at the center for and he will always play a role, he'll help us get to where we want to be, or maybe we don't know where we want to be or where we're supposed to be, but he will help us get to where uh the best location is for us, right? And we always just need to remember to keep him involved in those decisions. Um next question How do you try to be a light to your teammates without forcing your beliefs on them? We kind of see that sometimes we sometimes it's hard to not force it, right? Like there's a way that you want to present your faith, but maybe to them it seems like you're overbearing, right? How are you how are you able to do that and be a light and just kind of help others understand who you are and what you stand for?

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Yeah, so I actually had a great experience with this my last year. Um obviously most of my teammates knew that I was LDS because I mean I'd post about it all the time. They just kind of knew from the start. Yeah. Um and they would always ask questions or like just kind of make jokes or whatever about like how like how we do things, like because they didn't understand because they're not from Utah, they're not always around LDS members, and so they just go off the assumptions of what they've heard and stuff. So we would have like conversations and stuff about it all the time. Um, because they would just maybe say something that was not right, and I'd be like, Oh, well, actually. And then I would kind of correct them. Um, and not in a way that I was forcing it on them, just telling them the truth about like what it actually was.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

And it got to a point where they were kind of getting a little more curious about it, where we would talk about they would ask questions and be like, Oh, well, how does your church work? Like when we go to church, we go to this big room and the pastor just talks the whole time. And they're like, We've heard that you guys sometimes get to talk. And we're like, Yeah, like we'd tell them. And one of my teammates actually, she had a class where it was a religious class, and so she had to go um to another church and learn about their religion, and then she had to write a paper on it. And she actually came to me and was like, Hey, like I have to do this for class. She was like, Would you mind if I came with you? And I was like, Yeah, that's totally great. So then I went and asked some of my other teammates, and I was like, Oh, well, my this teammate's coming with me. So if any of you want to come too, like, just come and you can just come and sit with us through sacrament meeting, and you don't have to do anything, just sit there and listen. And I was like, I'll even come with you to your church after. And they were like, Okay, cool. So we got like five of them to come and they just sat there with us. I think they borrowed like some of our dresses that we had and just came and sat with us. And I think after that they had kind of a different perspective and a new um kind of respect for like what we did because I guess they just didn't really understand, like they'd never been in it or seen it. Um, just being able to invite them and um not forcing it in them in a way that was like me going out to like you should come with us. It was kind of nice to just talk about it open and freely to get to a point where she like wanted to come.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

So yeah, for sure. No, that's that's something that's that's super awesome. I love hearing those experiences like that where it's just a simple misunderstanding. It could be a misunderstanding, and you're just like, wait, no, it's not exactly like that. And what I love about it is the willingness to learn, right? Other people sometimes they're not willing to learn, sometimes they don't want to hear about it, sometimes they just want to keep making fun of it, jokes and whatnot. But it's always awesome when you have those people that are willing to come to see, to learn, and kind of see the different perspective and further understand beliefs. And I think as a whole, as Christians, it's important for us to remember that, right? To remember that maybe we're we're not perfect, right? And so it's important to always keep that broader perspective to learn, to grow because we don't know everything, not everyone's gonna know everything. And it's always important to keep that open mind no matter what. So that's a that's a great experience. Thank you for sharing that experience, and I hope that you can be continue to be that light, especially as you're moving to a new team, and maybe you'll have different um teammates with same similar questions, and you can have more experiences like that. So thank you for that. Um I I love this next question. Um I like to talk a lot about struggles and being in a slump and having those difficult times because to me those difficult times are the most important times. Um so what do you do spiritually when you're in a slump or struggling mentally?

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Yeah, I would say um if I'm struggling mentally or in a slump, I would say just being consistent with my study or just with Christ. Like um, that's one thing that I learned a lot in my freshman year. Because honestly, I think freshman year is probably the hardest for everyone in college sports. Like it's just it's a jump going from high school to college, and then if you serve a mission on top of that, you have a break in between that and going from super spiritual on your mission to then college sports, where again, not always super spiritual. So um I think it's easy to get in those kind of slumps, especially when you have things that are beaten on you. But um, I think just being consistent, like I know that talks really help me a lot. Um, whenever I see them on Instagram, like it immediately stops doing any tracks when I see like up someone post something, or if I just see like a prophet like talking, like I immediately just stop and start listening. Like, and um so sometimes I'll just turn on a talk when I'm struggling, and that really puts me at peace uh to be able to just kind of focus and reset myself. Um, and I know just saying prayers helps a lot too, just just saying a prayer whenever I can. Um, if I'm get out of a super hard practice and I'm driving home, then I'll just like honestly say it out loud in the car and just be like, this was a rough day, like this was not a good day. And just kind of being able to reset that way. Um, I think a spiritual reset is probably the best kind of reset you can have.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

So for sure, I think I agree. I 100% agree with you, and I want you to talk to us a little bit more about prayer. Okay. I love, I think I've talked about prayer in every single episode with every athlete. So now 21 different athletes. I want to hear your perspective on prayer and kind of how that has helped you in. I mean, obviously you said it helped you, it's a good situation for you. But talk to me about how prayer has truly influenced your life and how you have felt the power of prayer affect you in your everyday life in it. Sports and gospel, everything like that.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Yeah. Um, I was kind of having this conversation with my fiance last night. We were talking about like kind of how we feel the spirit, and um, he said that he kind of like feels the spirit just constantly, and then it kind of dwindles if he's in a situation that's maybe not the greatest or whatever. Um, and for me, like I would agree, kind of along the same lines, but I really feel the spirit super strong when when I pray. Um and when I pray, I either like get the chills or I just get a super strong feeling in my heart when I know something is good. Um and I just love the feeling that comes with it, and that kind of pushes me to pray more because I'm like, oh, I love that feeling, like I want to get that feeling again. And so it pushes me to go back and pray more. So I do have a really strong testimony about the power of prayer because a lot of answers and a lot of good things have come from that, and that's something that will never change. Like in the church, that's something that will just never change, and even outside of the church, everybody from all faiths, they all pray. Um, and I think that's a really strong testament to me that it works, it's not just something that we do, or it's not just something that someone else does, it's something that every single religion does. And it's it works. So I think that that's one of the coolest things.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Yeah, for sure. I think to me, I've I've been able to experience a lot of different things thanks to prayer, right? I've had long talks with when I was on my mission with my mission president about prayer and how I can um I guess be more involved in prayer, you know, kind of try and understand it more deeply because that's something that I mean, sometimes you can't understand it, like it it can be confusing, but when I would teach prayer, I would try to teach it in the simplest way you could, which is basically it's just a conversation between you and your father in heaven. Like it doesn't have to be this big, huge thing, it's just a quiet little thing that you're just talking to. And my favorite thing to say is like a prayer doesn't like you can always be praying, like you always you're always told to have that prayer in your heart. So for me, when I was walking on the streets of my mission, I would just be having a conversation with God. If I wasn't talking to my companion, I was talking to God, right? It's just it was a great situation for me to be in because I knew that he was with me in that moment. If I was nervous, I was scared, I didn't know who to go talk to, he'd be there with me and kind of guiding me through that. So that's kind of how I was able to grow testimony of prayer and understand how important it is. But to me, I was also able to understand how important morning and night prayers are and how that changes the aspect of the day. Because for me, I was I was praying in the morning, and my day would turn out really well. And I did have this experience. There was one morning I woke up from I woke up and forgot to pray. I don't know why I did, it just happened. But that day seemed to be a little bit more difficult than the other days where I did remember to pray. So it was a really cool testament to me that I need to pray in the morning and I will have that guidance and protection. It's not like it's not like that day I didn't pray, I didn't have it, but it was just maybe harder to identify. So it's super awesome. The power of prayer is is real, it's true, and it's important for us to always remember that and always talk to our Father in heaven because he always likes to listen and hear from us. Um now talk to us a little bit about the day-to-day, right? What does a Christ-centered life actually look like for you day to day as a collegiate athlete?

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Yeah. Um, I would say for sure, just trying to keep those Christ-like attributes in your life. Um, for me specifically, um, trying to develop those Christ-like attributes and then take them into my daily life. Because those are things you can use in any interaction you have ever. Um and I think that's that's one thing that has honestly carried me through, especially again with those hard days. Um, just being able to stay positive, stay happy, even when I don't really want to, and always have a smile on my face. Because my first year, freshman year, super hard. And then sophomore year, it became a little more easy when I tried to put God into my life a little bit more and remember to just keep a smile on my face because when you think about what Jesus went through and all of the the things he had coming at him, people always saying he was wrong, and just people coming at him all the time. Like he always was happy, had a smile on his face, and he was gonna go out and preach the gospel regardless. Um, and I think that's one thing that we can really do as athletes and me specifically is just always um keep a pause. Positive, happy attitude, even when I don't really want to. And if I need to break down and cry and pray, then I can go do that at home later and just pour my heart out to God about the struggle that I had that day. But for the most part, just trying to keep that happy, positive attitude. Um and remember all that God has done to be able to get me to that point too.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Yeah, I love that. I think for me, attitude you plays a huge role in keeping a Christ-centered life. Because if we have a bad attitude, it's just it's just not gonna be good, right? We're not gonna be able to keep that that Christ-centered motivated life because he is the center of all joy. He is where joy originates from, right? And so if we don't uh uh if we're not happy, like it's gonna be hard to remember that and keep that with us at all times. So keeping that positive attitude even through hardships is something that will help uh athletes succeed, it'll help us succeed in everyday life. So it's always important. I love that. I love that example of keeping that everyday attitude and being able to overcome those hardships no matter what, and remembering that Christ is uh the center of joy. Um now, what would you say to athletes who are chasing success but still feel empty? That's kind of for me, this is a question that kind of um motivated me to start this podcast, I guess we could say, because we see athletes that are at the top of the game that are really good, but there's something missing in their lives, right? So what would you say to them that are chasing this success, but they still feel empty?

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Yeah. Um, I know a lot of people for sure, um, they are striving for that next level of becoming pro athletes and getting to that next level. Um for me, I think, and I don't want to say this like in the wrong way at all. I love basketball, but I don't make that my whole life. Um, and that's one thing that my parents have always said to me is you are someone who plays basketball, you are not a basketball player. And I think that that's one thing that's really stuck out to me too, um, is not to make it your whole life. It's not, it doesn't define who you are, it's just something you do. And I think that's that really helped me to not get lost in finding success in it and not being like, oh, well, I'm a basketball player and making that my whole personality. Because I think honestly, your whole personality should be I'm a follower of Christ. And that that should be where you put your priorities first instead of I'm a I'm a basketball player, I'm a soccer player, whatever sport you're playing. And following on that trend of bringing it back to Christ and not losing yourself in the game. Because losing yourself in Christ and losing yourself in the game are two completely different things, you know.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

And um yeah, I would say just keeping keeping your priorities in things that are going to make you feel whole and feel full instead of things that are going to make you feel empty.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

No, I love that. I think that's a great example. That's a great I love that saying is what what was it was um you're someone who plays basketball, but you're not a basketball player. I love that because I think a lot of time athletes do define themselves as a basketball player, as a golfer, as a uh baseball player, as all these different sports. But really that's not who we are. And I've talked about this a couple different times, but we need to remember our true identity, right? We need to remember who we are, where we came from, and how we got to where we are. Because we didn't do it by ourselves as being this basketball player, as being this this athlete, but we did it because we're a child of God and He gave us these skills and He gave us the the way, He provided the way for us to get to where we are. So we need to remember that and keep Him at the center of our lives no matter what, because He's the reason we're here. So remembering that true identity is is going to help us continue to succeed and not feel that emptiness, right? We're gonna feel more full, we're gonna feel complete because we remember Him and we keep that Christ centered life. So thank you for that. Uh we're gonna I think we're gonna kind of move to wrapping things up here. We're gonna go over these last two things that I ask everyone. Um, so I'm gonna have you first share your favorite Bible verse, kind of why you like it and if it helped you throughout your career, or if it's just something that you enjoy on the daily, and then I'll have you share your best piece of advice for an athlete who is striving to stay on the path and keep Christ at the center.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

Mm-hmm. Okay. Um for a Bible verse, I'd say one that I really like, and it's kind of a basic one, but that's because it's good. So um I like Matthew 17, 20. Um, it says Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief, for verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Um, I just like that one especially because one of my mom's best friends, she's super Christian, a super Christian lady, and this is one of her favorite verses. Um, and she is she has so much faith. And we got her a necklace from Desert Book the other day that had this verse on it. Um, if you have faith is a grain of mustard seed. I think that one will help um anyone as an athlete because just having that faith in Jesus Christ, that it'll all work out. Because it's hard to get lost in thinking, uh, this is just never gonna work out. Like I just don't see this um working out for me. Um, I think that having that faith, even if it's that small, I think that will help carry you through a lot of tough times.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

Yeah, for sure. That's super important. Um, but yeah, it's important for us to keep that faith, right? The little faith is what helps us grow and continue to be stronger. Um, and then if you just have one last piece of advice for an athlete who's striving to stay on the path, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_00 28:26

Yeah, I would say kind of going back to the conversation we had, I would say just being consistent in your worship and your scripture study. And even if it's just going and listening to a talk for a little while, I would say that consistency and keeping Christ at the center of your life in in everything you do and keeping that good attitude. Um, I think that's going to carry anyone through a lot of tough times. I know that has carried me through a lot of tough times and a lot of uncertainty. And when I may struggle or fall, I think that um trying to keep up that consistency of setting a schedule and um giving time to God every day. I think that that has helped me a lot.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

Yeah, for sure. Thank you so much for that advice. I hope I mean I'll take it, but I hope someone else takes it as well and understands that the importance of consistency in remembering those things. So um thank you so much for being here, Gracie, today. I was happy to have you and happy to hear your story and kind of how you remember Christ in your everyday life. Um, and thank you everyone for tuning in to another episode of On the Path. Um, I'll be back next week with another athlete who's who's striving to remember Christ. So make sure you tune in, make sure you share this episode with a friend or family and find those athletes that do feel that emptiness and help them understand that Christ is what will will will fill that gap, will fill that space. So share that and make sure you um tune in every week for another episode of On the Path. And always remember everyone to stay on the path.