Young Men Share Worship Service with School Footy Team

Seven young Latter-day-Saints from the “Brave and Bold Rugby Program” at St. James College in Spring Hill, Queensland, brought their entire footy team to sacrament meeting recently while in Townsville for the Confraternity tournament.

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Jotoa Lealilee, who spoke for his Rugby League teammates, said, “Attending sacrament meeting is important to us because we know that the Lord blesses those who make the effort to come to church.”

He added that attending a worship service before their tournament would help those from the team who chose to come along to “feel spiritually connected to God throughout the week.”

The new Coach Blake Mara and Rugby Coordinator Andrew Ebrington—who has encouraged a positive team camaraderie over the years—knew how important sacrament meeting was to these young men.

These young footy players have always spoken of the importance of sacrament meetings to their coaches, so church attendance was included in the itinerary for the week.

On Sunday, 23 June, the footy team of 20 and their coaches all attended the Townsville congregation in northern Queensland.

Noticing local missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who came to a game to support the team, the coach said, “They must be the boys’ good luck charm.”

Senior missionary, Elder Nebuker, said, “We had to come and support these wonderful young men after seeing them faithfully attend church on Sunday and put the Lord first.”

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A dad of one of the team members was the first to greet the missionaries.

He shared his love for missionaries and the Church because of the example of his best friend who is currently a bishop in Washington DC, USA. He noted that these young men are good examples to their school friends..

Jotoa said, “By attending church that day and partaking of the sacrament, I know that the Lord has blessed myself along with my team greatly.”

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He continued, “As a collective, we made the semifinals—something which I know could not have been possible without the Lord. I know that because of our actions from Sunday and by attending church despite being away from home, we were blessed for our choices.”