Prophecy: You Heard It Here First

[Gunk]

Be a Steve Young, Jabari! You will have a greater influence on youth by actually "being a visible role model" unlike the dirtbag (albeit a funny circus show now) Sir Charles.

Yeah, Jabari---be like Steve Young and do the thing Steve Young says he most regrets.

I give Jabari serving a mission a 1% chance. That kid is fixated on the NBA.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Cougarbib]

Be a Steve Young, Jabari! You will have a greater influence on youth by actually "being a visible role model" unlike the dirtbag (albeit a funny circus show now) Sir Charles.

Yeah, Jabari---be like Steve Young and do the thing Steve Young says he most regrets.

I met Steve Young at a LaVell Edwards roast in Los Angeles in 1985. The USFL had just gone up in smoke, his $40M+ contract in doubt, and his future uncertain. He uttered those exact words, My biggest regret is not having served a mission".

Luckily, he eventually got around to getting married and now has 4 kids including 2 sons. Otherwise, he would have a new biggest regret. He has been an incredible ambassador for BYU and the LDS Church.

Then, you have the Shawn Bradley model. My mother met him when she was a Head Resident at Deseret Towers and got his autograph for me. He went on a mission after playing one year and never came back. IIRC, he met his wife on his mission. She was an EM working as a Nanny. 5'3" They got married young and shortly after they met. Lots of kids.

Worked out well for both as near as I can tell.

Judge not unless you have given up 2 years from the part of your life that could earn millions when the window of your earnings power is expected to be 5 - 10 years. Most missionaries give up the low paying front 2 years of a very long career of 40-45 years.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[snoscythe]

Most missionaries give up the low paying front 2 years of a very long career of 40-45 years.

Actually, they postpone the low-paying front 2 years, and they give up 2 of their highest-paid years at the end of their career.

[Gunk]

Most missionaries give up the low paying front 2 years of a very long career of 40-45 years.

Actually, they postpone the low-paying front 2 years, and they give up 2 of their highest-paid years at the end of their career.

Umm...ya. I'm still about two years behind in my career progression than my peers.

[Cougarbib]

Most missionaries give up the low paying front 2 years of a very long career of 40-45 years.

Actually, they postpone the low-paying front 2 years, and they give up 2 of their highest-paid years at the end of their career.

Perhaps. But that makes 2 out of 40 or 50 years. Maybe 5%. And you could just work an extra 2 years before retiring. The body wears out with age quickly. It takes the mind a few years longer to bite the dust.

Consider the time value of money. Athletes have careers front loaded with earnings. Earn it. Bank it. Let it compound over a lifetime.

The rest of us have back loaded earnings. So even losing 2 years off the back end does not create the double whammy because back end earnings invested do not have as long to compound anyway.

A professional basketball player probably gives up 25% of his lifetime earnings by serving a mission.

They still may want to serve. Money is not everything. Easy to judge.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Screamineagle]

Serving a mission is a personal decision.I don't know one person that did not sacrifice something to go.In fact often its a big sacrifice. I just hope Jabari ends up happy with whatever decision he makes. I wonder if with all the publicity about him if he is not already being a Missionary? The statement every worthy and able young man should serve a mission has not been rescinded so that makes it even harder and then the pressure in our LDS culture to go can be intense. I wonder if Steve Young who by the way I totally admire would really make the decision to go. I would say he has spent his whole life being a pretty good missionary or missionary tool. What is the difference? and does it matter? Just some of my random thoughts.

[Gunk]

I would say he has spent his whole life being a pretty good missionary or missionary tool. What is the difference? and does it matter? Just some of my random thoughts.

Agree it's a personal decision and no one should feel shamed for a decision they make.

Regarding your questions.

There is a difference between being a missionary and a missionary tool. Missionaries are set apart to be special witnesses of Christ. Only members of the Seventy, Quorum of the Twelve, and missionaries are set apart as such. They are given authority to teach the missionary discussions. And for male missionaries in particular, the power to utilize priesthood keys your average member can't. For the most part, that's a once-in-a-life opportunity.

Outside of the ordination aspects of being a missionary there is also the key difference in setting one's personal needs and desires off to the side and serving the Lord wholeheartedly.

Mission "results" are secondary. The Lord could do a much better job of missionary work by himself. So, why ask us to serve?

1) For our own benefit. As much as we like to say we're "sacrificing" something we're really not. As a missionary I learned so much about the gospel, myself, and life. Experience you can't buy that's proved invaluable time and time again.

2) As an expression of humility and submission to the Lord. There's great power in humility and meekness, which the Lord is trying to teach us through becoming missionaries. I can go about my daily life and achieve all my worldly goals and still be a missionary tool. But that's not the point of serving a mission.

[Cougarbib]

Most missionaries give up the low paying front 2 years of a very long career of 40-45 years.

Actually, they postpone the low-paying front 2 years, and they give up 2 of their highest-paid years at the end of their career.

Umm...ya. I'm still about two years behind in my career progression than my peers.

Sorry to hear that. Many returned missionaries have actually benefitted early in their careers due to the maturity, leadership, organizational skills, and work habits they gained on their mission. Those things just do not work out as well for athletes.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[snoscythe]

Most missionaries give up the low paying front 2 years of a very long career of 40-45 years.

Actually, they postpone the low-paying front 2 years, and they give up 2 of their highest-paid years at the end of their career.

Umm...ya. I'm still about two years behind in my career progression than my peers.

Exactly. That means when you finally stop working, the years your mission takes away from your overall compensation are the final two years, not the first two. If you work 33 years, you get paid for years 1 through 33, but miss years 34 and 35. You don't come back from a mission and get paid for years 3 through 35.

[Cougs_Rule]

Serving a mission is a personal decision.I don't know one person that did not sacrifice something to go.In fact often its a big sacrifice. I just hope Jabari ends up happy with whatever decision he makes. I wonder if with all the publicity about him if he is not already being a Missionary? The statement every worthy and able young man should serve a mission has not been rescinded so that makes it even harder and then the pressure in our LDS culture to go can be intense. I wonder if Steve Young who by the way I totally admire would really make the decision to go. I would say he has spent his whole life being a pretty good missionary or missionary tool. What is the difference? and does it matter? Just some of my random thoughts.

Finally, a reasonable response.
If Jabari commits, like Steve, to be a positive, LDS-visible, force, excelling to the top of the NBA game, he will serve every bit a mission as Steve. Several apostles didnt serve missions. Are some of you bagging on them? This whole giving up two years mantra, while true for most, isn't like dodging the draft. Besides, who knows if he rises to the level in the pros that he did having taken off two years. There are so many factors that aren't in a players control, like timing, that make him a force in the Pros which in turn increase visibility and ambassadorial prominence.
Jabari, Take your gifts, hone your craft, glorify God, serve his children, inspire a generation of black and mixed race investigators/converts and youth, and God will NOT damn you as some mortals might.