“Unity Is Our Goal,” For the Strength of Youth, June 2023.
Unity Is Our Goal
Both Tia and Alice are unique. But their greatest desire is the same—to be one with Christ.
Photographs by Richard M. Romney
With a speed like a low-flying rocket, the soccer ball (football) screams toward the corner of the net. But the goalie is ready. Totally focused, Tia J. dives at the last possible moment. She deflects the rocket (er, the ball) in midflight.
On another field nearby, Alice J. is on the attack. She passes the ball to a teammate, who passes it back. Alice shoots. The ball rifles past the goalie’s outstretched hands. Goal!
Same but Different
Sisters Tia, 16, and Alice, 15, love soccer. But soccer is just one of many things they have in common. They love all kinds of sports. They love music. They were both born in China and adopted by the same family in Idaho, USA. They were born almost a year apart, so for two weeks a year they are the “same” age. Both Tia and Alice deal well with physical challenges. They both love their family. And they both love the gospel.
But they’re also different from each other. Alice is in a school class one year behind Tia. On the soccer pitch, Tia loves defense and Alice loves offense. In music, Tia plays the saxophone and clarinet, and Alice does keyboard and percussion. Tia came into the family at age two and remembers when Alice was adopted at age nine. Tia was born with part of her leg missing. She walks and runs and plays soccer using a prosthetic (an artificial leg). And Alice was born without ear canals. She hears thanks to listening devices that are held in place by magnets surgically implanted in her skull.
Helping Each Other
As they gather with their parents to study Come, Follow Me, Tia and Alice talk about what makes them strong as sisters and what strengthens their family.
“Having a sister close to my age helps me,” Tia says. “I have someone who understands me a little bit more. Alice is a good listener, and sometimes that’s just what you need, somebody on your same level who’ll listen. When your sister is also your friend, it makes home a better place.”
“It’s really good to have a sister who is close,” Alice says. “She makes me laugh. We like to joke around. We talk about sports, school, things like that. And sometimes she makes me breakfast. She’s a good cook.”
A Family Team
“My dad is my coach in soccer,” Tia says. “But that’s kind of funny because he’s my ‘coach’ in life too. And so is Mom. I guess that makes Alice my teammate.”
In fact, comparing the family to a team is accurate in many ways. “We pray together, we study the gospel together, we go to church together,” Alice says. “It’s like training. There are things you do together that make you stronger individually and as a team.
And then there are things that are like actually being in the game. Alice makes a list:
-
Choosing what’s right
-
Serving others
-
Trying to be like Jesus
-
Repenting
“Talking about the gospel is great,” she says. “But you also need to live it.”
“That’s like sports too,” Tia says. “It’s one thing to talk about playing. It’s another thing to be out on the field.”
To Become One
As Tia and Alice know, one of the most important features of a great team is unity. Players individually develop skills and understanding, but then they practice and play together. And each one contributes to the success of the team.
When it comes to the family team in the gospel, however, there is an even loftier goal: “Be one” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:27).
“Each member of our family is different,” Alice says. “But when we focus on following Jesus Christ, we have a common goal.”
And that’s true for sisters, families, classes and quorums, wards and stakes, and everyone in the Church. Just like Tia and Alice, we’re each unique and different from one another in some way. Our backgrounds may be different, as well as our gifts, talents, interests, and tastes. But as we come together and try to be one in Jesus Christ, we receive strength to achieve our most important goals.