REXBURG— Matthew Maroon grew up as a little bit different from a typical member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Maroon only went to church a couple of times in his young life, but one thing he held onto was daily prayer, which led him to becoming a very active member of the Church.
Maroon grew up in a divided household. His father was not a member of the Church, and his mother wasn’t active.
“When I was born, she knew enough to kind of go to church so I can get a baby blessing. So, I did get a baby blessing,” Maroon said. “She knew enough that when, members of the Church turned eight that they were eligible for baptism. And then was baptized when I was eight, but then we were kind of not really involved in church until one of my younger sisters got baptized.”
When preparing for baptism, Maroon was taught by the missionaries that he should pray every day.
“And I think that really kind of helped me early on, even though I didn't really know why I was doing it at the time, but it did help me kind of build a relationship with God and that was something that has just been invaluable throughout all my life,” Maroon said.
One night, as a 15-year-old sophomore in high school, Maroon felt impressed to ask God to help him make friends with better standards.
“I remember praying one night, kind of cutting a deal with God. I was like, ‘God, will you give me new friends if I go back to church?’ was kind of my deal and I don't know that you're supposed to do that, but in my scenario, I think it worked,” Maroon said. “And clearly, I felt like, ‘Yeah, you need to go back to church.’”
Maroon and his mom then made a new year’s resolution to go back to church. As years passed, his sisters slowly started to join them.
Maroon then served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ in Honduras. After his missionary service, he attended Ricks College. When the school was later renamed BYU-Idaho, Maroon was touched by a quote by Henry B. Eyring, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a prophecy he made during a devotional that BYU-Idaho students would become "legendary."
“After BYU Idaho, I had this incredible opportunity to move to New York City for my first job,” Maroon said. “And I remember just kind of thinking, okay, this is what legendary looks like, right? I'm starting my legendary path, right. And that I was fulfilling. That was pretty powerful.”
Maroon now works at BYU-Idaho as the Marketing Department chair where he teaches students that they can become legendary through their faithful covenant making.
“But at the end of the day, I think we just need to understand that, if we've made covenants with God, let's understand what those covenants are,” Maroon said. “And if we really kind of look into them if we kind of just study and pray. It's not super complicated.”