Be Ye Warriors of God

I have to say it: I love airsofting!  If there is anything that has taught me more about being a warrior it's that (and the martial arts).  I know this article is a little cheesy sounding but hear me out.

Why would do we love it, you may ask?  Its the experience, the adrenaline rush and that sense of victory.  Its different than other sports: your not trying to score points, your trying to dominate the battlefield.  It is always open to sudden twists, though usually the game will often go in favor of the stronger players you can never expect what may happen next (I like MMA for the same reason).  It also pushes you to the limit, you will exert yourself to do things you never thought you could have.  That will to survive and fight back is what fuels us the most and keeps us playing.

There are many stories my friends and I have from our airsoft adventures, but there is one in particular I would like to share:
Many airsofters and paintballers are familiar with the game Protect the President (a.k.a. VIP, same game).  You have two teams: Secret Service and the Terrorist faction.  The Secret Service need to escort the President (a fellow team member) from point A to point B, and the President is only allowed a small pistol with a few rounds (sometimes people like to play with no weapon).  The other team is supposed to stop the President from ever reaching point B, by any means necessary within the rules set by the players.  The only way either team wins is by (A) The President arrives at point B, escorted or not, or (B) the terrorists effectively take-out the President.  Nothing else will suffice.

One occasion I was assigned to the Secret Service faction and tasked with escorting the President.  Most of us were experienced players, and we decided to mix things up a little.  We had the President and another player swap hats, and I think coats.  It confused the enemy briefly but they quickly got the bead on us.
We tried again once more (I honestly cannot recall who won the first two matches).  But the third match we decided we were really going to shake it up.  After you play with people for a while you get used to picking out who is who, because of their height, weight, movement, and more particularly their clothes.  That is why we decided to have everyone change coats, hats, and goggles with several different teammates (random order), and then split into two groups: one with the true president, and the other with a decoy.
The plan worked, so much so that we had the other team so confused that they could not figure out who was who until the dust was settled.  On top of that we won!

Now, what exactly do we learn from this?  Team work is definitely a part of it; courage?  I think the will to win and the ability to make it happen is the best principle explained here.

When I was a missionary this was a lesson we were taught by both my Mission Presidents: we have to be on our toes and ready and willing to be creative and teach according to our investigators needs.  Yet we were only able to accomplish this by following the Spirit and planning effectively.  Combining our individual and team effort we are able to succeed in whatever the Lord commands us to do, but we need to be willing to take the lead and put our best foot forward.  This is what we did airsofting (without the following the Spirit part).  We analyzed our situation, looked at our past experiences, pointed out what worked, what didn't work, what we had not tried, and we were ready for the worst.


I may also say, isn't it interesting that the Lord in the scriptures often uses war as a metaphor for our lives?  Constantly the Lord does it again and again, and sometimes even teaches us during or through an actual war, but is up to us to decide how we react (Alma 62:41).

 D&C 101
55 And the lord of the vineyard said unto one of his ^aservants: Go and gather together the residue of my servants, and take ^ball the strength of mine house, which are my warriors, my young men, and they that are of middle age also among all my servants, who are the strength of mine house, save those only whom I have appointed to tarry; (Italics added)
(For the whole parable click here, D&C 101:43-64).

May we all better follow the Spirit and prepare ourselves daily to fight life's daily battles.

Final Words at Parting (Good Bye!)

"There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the 'present.' "
-Master Oogway

Friday Night Thoughts, XI Edition

"One of the challenges of the faithful is to realize that sometimes those who are not obedient and worthy seem to receive as many or more temporal blessings of life as do those who sacrifice and serve... The Saints are to be faithful to the end without too many sidelong glances at their neighbors...
"Undoubtedly the unfaithful will also have the sun shine upon them, perhaps at times even more abundantly than on the righteous.  But the faith and devotion of the faithful is recorded in the Lamb's book of life, and the day will come when they will be included among God's jewels.  In that day it will matter very much who was righteous and who was wicked, who served God and who did not.  In the meantime, all must remember that God does not settle his end-of-year accounts in September."
(Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, 296-297).