In most settings, to bring cadets from United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, means fierce competition. The Army-Navy game is one of the most storied rivalries in college football, dating back to 1890.
Yet there were different feelings, including unity, brotherhood and love, when a group of cadets, midshipmen and other young adults — all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — came together for an activity in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, April 19.
The large group of young single adults served in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple, shared a meal, listened to an Easter devotional message from a General Authority Seventy and enjoyed each other’s faith and friendship on Easter weekend.
“There is always friendly rivalry, but during lunch, there was a table half-Navy, half-Army, and all of them were talking about their mission calls,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Ellett, an academy professor of Russian at West Point who serves as president of the Hudson Valley YSA Branch in the Newburgh New York Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
While the cadets and midshipmen may often define themselves through competition against one another, they share common traits and easily connect for a reason that goes beyond the rivalry, said Benjamin Wyatt, a 23-year-old cadet and returned missionary from Boise, Idaho.
“We can recognize the spirit of Christ and the shared covenant belonging between us,” he said. “My faith in Christ was strengthened over this experience because I can recognize the face and attributes of Christ in my friends — the old friends I will soon be graduating with, the friends that have the faith and excitement of receiving mission calls and the new friends I just met from the Naval Academy.”
Temple, lunch, devotional
On Saturday, April 19, 45 Latter-day Saints — 10 midshipmen from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, 16 cadets from West Point, four non-cadets from the Hudson Valley YSA branch and 15 young single adults from the Philadelphia YSA Ward — met at the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple. Part of the group participated in baptisms and confirmations, while the other half participated in an endowment session.
Elder Allen D. Haynie, a General Authority Seventy who serves as president of the Church’s North America Northeast Area, attended the activity with his wife, Sister Deborah Haynie.
After serving in the house of the Lord, the Philadelphia YSA Ward provided lunch.
Following the meal, everyone met in a local meetinghouse to hear Easter devotional messages from Elder and Sister Haynie.
The activity concluded as some of the young single adults visited area historic sites and other parts of the city while others returned home.
Mission conversations
Wyatt, who served in the Virginia Richmond Mission from 2020 to 2022, is in his final year at West Point. He could only remember one previous time at an Army-Navy football game when they briefly met up with some Latter-day Saint midshipmen to take some pictures together, but there wasn’t time to do anything more.
“This was remarkable,” he said of the April 19 activity. “Part of our lifestyle is we can be fairly limited on how much we can get out and what we can do on the weekend. So any opportunity to go to the temple is really special for us.”
Missions were a hot topic among the Army cadets and midshipmen. Wyatt said several on both sides have received mission calls or were awaiting their assignments, which triggered happy memories and emotions for him.
“Sharing those assignments with each other in those conversations was special for all of us, myself included, to remind me of what that was like, that Spirit I felt and then being in the temple as well,” he said.
All children of God
Initially, Marcus Bleazard, a sophomore linebacker on the Navy football team, wasn’t sure about spending time with the Army cadets, even at a Church activity.
“At first it was kind of like, ‘Oh, wow, we’re going to hang out with those guys? I’m not sure how that is going to be.’ Being part of the football team, it’s ‘Go Navy, beat Army’ all the time. I was a bit nervous and curious,” said Bleazard, who served in the Guatemala Guatemala City Mission. “But getting to mingle and mix with them, get to know their perspectives and reasons for serving, it was a really cool experience.”
The native of Kennesaw, Georgia, appreciated attending the temple and being reminded that all are children of God.
“He loves each and every one of us, so it was a really cool experience to be in the temple with [the Army cadets],” Bleazard said. “Even though we’re on different sides of the field during the game, we’re all in the same fight, and that rings even more true with the Church.”
‘Brothers in Christ’
Thaddeus Maughan, 19-year-old from Hopkinton, New Hampshire, and a plebe in West Point’s class of 2028, said he appreciated meeting and attending the temple with new Latter-day Saint friends from another service academy as well as the Philadelphia YSA Ward.
“I realized how similar we really are, and it was great to connect with someone who had similar experiences to me,” he said, citing examples such as how does one go to institute on a week night after performing a military drill or how to find time for prayer and scripture study while maintaining the academic and military rigor of the academy.
“Being able to relate to them really bridged the gap — a large amount — between Army and Navy because we are always pretty competitive, but that competitive nature wasn’t there that day. We really saw eye-to-eye as brothers in Christ.”
Maughan, who received his temple endowment three weeks ago and plans to serve a mission after his sophomore year, learned he was not alone.
“We are in a community of Christ. All of us worshiping and putting Christ as the center of our lives connects us,” he said. “The Church, and specifically the gospel, gives us the chance to connect with one another.”
Forging friendships
For Ellett, the highlight was witnessing the young adults forge friendships, find commonalities and potentially build lasting relationships with each other.
“Young single adults need opportunities to meet, get to know and spend time with each other, which can be harder when you don’t have a large YSA population,” he said. “So we need to make those opportunities to get YSAs together.”
Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Army-Navy football game was played in Philadelphia, Ellett said the Philadelphia YSA Ward used to host a formal Christmas gala event and invite Latter-day Saints from both military schools. That stopped when the location of Army-Navy game was moved away from Philadelphia in recent years.
This activity was a first attempt to bring Latter-day Saints from the two military schools together again, and they hope to plan another temple trip in 2026, Ellett said.
