Tender Mercies in the TKM: Sister Matheny

by Sister Matheny

I am a volleyball player. I have been training and practicing to play college volleyball since I was in 7th grade. I was on the varsity team, the starting setter, and got player of the year award. My biggest dream after high school was to become a college volleyball player at a D1 level.

But focusing on playing volleyball dismissed the thought of me serving a mission. I always had the idea of serving a mission in my mind, but I didn’t really want to because I loved volleyball so much. 

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An event that changed my life happened during my junior year of highschool. My volleyball career was looking pretty good. I was in contact with good colleges and could see a bright future for myself.

In the spring of 2021, I was in club volleyball, high school basketball, preparing for track season, attending two schools, and work. I was very busy, I did not have a lot of time for the gospel of Jesus Christ including church, prayer, and reading the scriptures. My testimony began to fade. 

On February 1st, during club volleyball practice as we were playing 6-on-6, I dove for a ball and hit the back of my head on the brick wall. I blacked out for a second and was helped by some players and my coach to sit me down for the rest of practice. Later when I saw a doctor, they said I had a concussion. I was devastated because I had to sit out of all my activities.

This was something that I really, really loved and I could not understand why God would take it away from me. But I didnt want to give up, so I kept pushing myself even though I was in pain and could not play the same. I asked God over and over again, “Why me?” Although I spent many days and nights feeling lost, I found myself relying more and more on God’s grace.

I had to come to the conclusion that volleyball was not going to lead me where I wanted to be. This is when I decided to serve the Lord. But… I can be stubborn and wanted to give myself one more shot. So I chose to play volleyball at Southern Virginia University before my mission at a D3 level.

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We had a fantastic season. I was the starting setter as a freshman and led my team to win the region championship game. Even though we were successful, I was physically, mentally, and spiritually drained. I continued to pray to God for a miracle. I asked him countless times to heal me so I can be the best player I can be. Playing at a college level before my mission helped me realize that volleyball is not going to bring me forever happiness. But instead lead me down the wrong path. 

Now that I am on my mission I can look back and see where my prayers were answered. I am not healed from my concussion. I still struggle everyday, which has really pushed me to rely on Jesus Christ’s strength and not just my own.

Elder Bednar once said “I knew that having faith—at least in my circumstance—was not necessarily knowing that he would heal me, but that He could heal me. I had to believe that He could, and then whether it happened was up to Him.”

Because of this experience, I can confidently say that God healed my testimony. I have a stronger relationship with Jesus Christ and a deeper love for the gospel. It’s not something I saw happening for myself because volleyball was my future, but God had a different plan for me and He definitely made it known by literally hitting me on the head. 

I am so grateful that I learned this lesson before serving my mission, because as a missionary we rely on Jesus Christ for everything. I still struggle every day, I am not healed either, but now I know to what source I can look to for strength, comfort, and healing. A good summary of what I will always remember is from the words of Elder Bednar. “Strong faith in the Savior is submissively accepting of His will and timing in our lives—even if the outcome is not what we hoped for or wanted.”

I want to end with my simple testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He lives! He is my brother and friend. His grace is sufficient for each of us! He is the ultimate healer!

#TKMTenderMercies