Pickleball & the Restoration
I recently taught a few friends to play pickleball.
It was easier to introduce rules one or two at a time rather than all at once…
We started out just hitting the ball back and forth, independent of any other rules. We progressed to staying within the lines, then to only letting the ball bounce once, then to serving order and serving diagonally :) We next added in scoring and rules of the “kitchen”, and together we grew into playing with all the rules!
It would have been overwhelming if I had told them everything at once and expected them to play correctly.
Learning pickleball is like the restoration.
There have been a lot of changes in church organization and administration since it was formally re-organized in 1830. And they’re continuing to happen even up to this last week! Sometimes I’ve wondered why so many things were not revealed at the beginning…
For example, the Lord didn’t reveal a clear plan for prophetic succession while Joseph Smith was alive, which led to controversy and division after he passed away. It was finally when the fourth prophet, Wilford Woodruff, was ordained that the precedent of the senior Apostle leading the church was firmly established.
Wouldn’t it have been easier to just have clarity on everything from the beginning?
In light of lessons from teaching pickleball… maybe not. It makes more sense why revelations from our Heavenly Parents come “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little” (2 Nephi 28:30). It’s easier for us that way, so we’re not overwhelmed with so many new expectations all at once.
I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts
It’s like learning the rules of pickleball one or two at a time.
We’re blessed to be part of the restoration :)
President Nelson taught us that “We’re witnesses to a process of restoration. If you think the Church has been fully restored, you’re just seeing the beginning. There is much more to come.”
What an exciting time to be a part of :)
p.s. It’s been a couple months since my last post! In the meantime, I completed a couple more web applications (Pair Yo’ Pet and eDOT) and graduated from App Academy! It was a long 6 months and I graduated a week and a half ago :) Eight out of the ~90 people in the zoom graduation were my family members (and my local siblings took me to dinner to celebrate)! I’m excited to be in the job search now. Wish me luck!
I also took a trip to St. George with some friends and continued down to California to visit parents :)
