Nope. I'm a Mormon.

So, I have hired a personal trainer because it is a goal of mine to finish a Half Ironman race next year.  Every fall semester of veterinary school that I attended seemed to finish the day before the big Ironman triathlon in Kona, Hawaii.  Inevitably, I would go out and party the night after my last final exam, stay out really late, and wind up in a semi-hungover stupor. The next day was spent on the couch while drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. The thought of a day-long race fascinated me and captured my imagination but it just seemed like something that happened to other people. Last week during my first visit for personal training, the trainer asked me if I smoked cigarettes.  My response was, "Nope. I'm a Mormon." He had a puzzled look on his face, checked the question off my chart and proceeded down his list. "Do you drink alcohol?", he asked. Again, my response was, "Nope. I'm a Mormon." The trainer had the same confused look but managed to compliment me on my good habits. Question number three was whether I drank coffee and if so, how many cups per day. I just shrugged my shoulders and shook my head no. He smiled and asked, "The Mormon thing again... right? When did you get into that?"  My response was that I had become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about a year ago. When I got home, I reflected on exactly how far I've come since sitting on a couch surrounded by pizza boxes, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes while watching Ironman on TV. Imagining that moment, I can still feel the utter sense of physical exhaustion, the dull headache, the trouble catching my breath, coughing up some nasty phlegm, the stink of my clothes, and the queasy stomach which was brewing an ulcer. After awhile, people who don't obey the Word of Wisdom start to consider this sad physical state to be a normal way of life.  So for those of you who have never violated the Word of Wisdom and wonder what it's like on the other side, you're not really missing out on much of anything. The Word of Wisdom is a privilege to follow. It frees us up to work on spiritual problems instead of physical problems. Currently, I'm enjoying health to my navel and marrow to my bones and the Destroying Angel is nowhere in sight. And I am trusting that God will make good on his promise that I will walk and not grow weary, run and not faint.... at least until I make it to the finish line of my first Half Ironman.

by Rachel Roark