Just got back from the Byu football fireside in DC which featured Ken Niumatalolo. Here are a few notes for anyone interested.

Va'a niumatalolo-- talked about how there is always forgiveness. Related it to lion king by saying that when simba disobeyed his father, mufasa, he was given forgiveness.

Taysom- said his only goal was to play on ESPN in college football. But none of the experiences he had, like playing Texas or notre dame come even close to being sealed in the temple.
He also said that 3 season ending injuries was not that difficult because he is grounded in the gospel. Told story about the end of the rainy Virginia game. Where he felt like he had lost the game for the team, but Craig bills ran up to him, picked him up off the ground and told him it was going to be alright. Taysom related that to the savior always being there to pick us up.

Ty detmer- told his conversion story. His wife asked him to take the missionary discussions and he said that t would be fine but she had to take the Methodist discussions. He later admitted there weren't any. The first time the missionaries challenged him to baptism, he said yes and added that he found out the ought meeting with the elders that he didn't actually believe anything the Methodists taught. Ty then emphasized going to all your meetings because when he was in the nfl nfl he did not get to attend meetings during the season and he always felt farther away from the spirit.

Ken niumatalolo- all he wanted growing up was a div 1 scholarship to play football. He got there and he still was not happy. He figured out that what he needed to do was go on a mission. Once that happened everything else changed. He then shared some stories about getting promptings from the Holy Ghost during games. One was challenging a fumble when navy was playing notre dame. His assistant coaches told him not to challenge the call, but the spirit told him to, so he did. Another was calling a time out at a critical moment, he said that they had the right personnel on the field and the right play called but he just felt like he needed to take a time out. The next play was a fumble and they won the game because of the time out. He later got to testify of his experience on national television. He said he had thousands of letters and emails from non members thanking him for sharing that experience in the interview after the game.

Kalani Sitake- media asked him when he would start yelling. He said that coaching is about motivating. He's a teacher and there's a reason why professors don't yell in classes. One of my favorite quotes of the night was "If God really cared about who won football games, we'd be undefeated every year. I guess God only really cared about football in 1984?"
He then talked about his parents divorce and how hard that was for him. A bunch of Byu players came and talked to his elementary school. Some Byu player came up to him and asked his name, then gave him a hug. He said of that experience "I was broken and that hug fixed me."

Overall a really cool experience. They filled the DC stake center and part of the visitors center. Took me like an hour and a half to get there on the crappy DC metro but it was well worth it.