This article was originally published by Church News. It is republished here with permission.
In 1975, two heavyweight boxers — Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier — stepped into the ring in Manila, Philippines, for their long-awaited, third and final match. The fight was famously dubbed as the “Thrilla in Manila.”
There was another fight taking place in the same country that year, related Elder James O. Fantone, a General Authority Seventy, during BYU–Idaho devotional on Tuesday, Sept. 22. It didn’t make international headlines, “but it was definitely more historic and meaningful for me and my family.”
In 1975, Joe Fantone, Elder Fantone’s father, met the full-time missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In one ring, Muhammad Ali was having the fight of his life, while in another ring, Joe Fantone was also having the fight of his life — but not against an earthly opponent, said Elder Fantone. “It was a spiritual heavyweight bout against the heavy anchors of addiction and worldly influences.”
Elder Fantone said his father started smoking cigarettes at age 12 and was introduced to alcohol by the time he was 18.
Fortunately, Joe Fantone won his battle against addiction and was baptized the following year. Elder Fantone told listeners, “That victory did not just change his life — it completely rewrote mine. I know for a certainty that I am standing in front of you today because my father had the courage and the faith in God to fight his spiritual ‘Goliath.’”
Some battles, said Elder Fantone, are worth every ounce of strength. “Your personal struggles — whatever they may be — are worth the fight. Because winning them doesn’t just change your story; through the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, it changes the trajectory of every single generation that follows you.”
Like his father and like young David on the plains of Elah, everyone is standing on a battlefield today. “We all face our own giants,” said Elder Fantone.
In speaking to thousands of BYU–Idaho students and faculty gathered in the I–Center in Rexburg, Idaho, Elder Fantone reminded listeners that “the battle is the Lord’s.”
“Let’s overcome our Goliaths by allowing the Lord to fight with us on each and every battle we have,” he declared.
‘Meeting Your Goliaths’
President Thomas S. Monson taught that one person’s Goliath might be an unquenchable thirst for alcohol while another’s Goliath might be envy, greed, fear, laziness, doubt, pride, lust or selfishness (“Meeting Your Goliath,” Ensign, January 1987).
Said Elder Fantone, “Brothers and sisters, if we were to update that list for your generation today, we could easily add the modern ‘Goliaths’ of pornography, the numbing addiction of social media and the paralyzing grip of depression and anxiety.
“And you, my young friends, are not just accidental bystanders exposed to these Goliaths. You are the primary target,” he told listeners.
Some might wonder, “Why do I face these Goliaths when I’m striving to keep the commandments of the Lord?”
To which Elder Fantone responded, “Welcome to the club. … When you are doing the right thing, it will always be challenging.”
As individuals enter the ring to fight their personal Goliaths, they may think overcoming them all depends on their own efforts, strengths, abilities, talents and intelligence, but “we need to include the Lord,” Elder Fantone said.
Young David understood this as he prepared to fight Goliath and declared, “This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; … And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands” (1 Samual 17:46-47).
Said Elder Fantone, “We have the best ally of all, our Savior Himself.”
Conquering Spiritual Goliaths
After Elder Fantone completed his full-time mission, he married Sister Cynthia Caseres Uy in the Manila Philippines Temple on Aug. 23, 1994.
“Poverty became real in our life,” Elder Fantone recalled. After finishing college, Elder Fantone was hired into corporate sales jobs but twice, due to down-sizing, he lost his job. In the midst of this instability, their second child was diagnosed with a rare heart condition at 2 weeks old. Elder Fantone said he and his wife saved and saved, and when their son was 18 months old, he went in for surgery. He died a few hours later.
“To say that we were utterly devastated was an understatement,” said Elder Fantone.
Looking back at all their seemingly insurmountable Goliaths, Elder Fantone said, “We can testify that our Savior has been with us every step of the way. The enabling power of Christ’s Atonement is real.”
Elder Fantone testified, “What a blessing it is to know that we have the Savior on our side in every battle we face. And because of Him, victory is already secured.”
