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[00:00:00] A lot has happened since I interviewed Zavier Gozo in July of this year. On August 18th, 2026, he signed with Premier League club Crystal Palace, and 10 days later, the 19-year-old became the first Latter-day Saint to ever play in a Premier League game. In September, he was called up to the US Men's National Team for the first time.

Zavier was gracious enough to send me a voice memo with his feelings about this honor. I think it means everything to me to have been called up to the national team and been able to play for my country, and yeah, I feel like this is something I've wanted for so long, and to be able to do that, and especially with, you know, people that I've known and have played with at the youth levels, I think it makes it that much more special.

And to have my family there watching me and, and supporting me is, is that much better. So I think, yeah, it's just a dream come true for me. But the attention [00:01:00] and limelight didn't end there. Earlier this month, Lionel Messi included him in his list of 10 rising stars to watch throughout the world. So if the last few months have been any indication, the sky is the limit for Zavier Gozo.

And with that update, here's the intro that I originally recorded in July. When United States soccer legend Landon Donovan publicly calls for a 19-year-old to be brought into the national team right now, people listen. Zavier Gozo is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting young names in American soccer.

But off the soccer field and pinned right on his bedroom vision board is a completely different goal, getting married in the temple. Zavier Gozo is a forward for Real Salt Lake, the Major League Soccer team based in Utah. Gozo played for the academy of Real Salt Lake before signing his first [00:02:00] professional contract in 2022.

In 2023, at 16 years of age, he was called up to play for Real Salt Lake and went on to sign his first professional contract with Real Salt Lake in February 2024. The son of a father from the Ivory Coast and an American mother, he represented the US on the U20 team in 2024. This year, he became the first ever Utah native to be named an MLS All-Star.

This is All In, an LDS Living Podcast where we ask the question: what does it really mean to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ? I'm Morgan Pearson, and I am honored to have Zavier Gozo on the line with me today. Zavier, welcome. Thank you for having me. It's an honor. Well, I have been so looking forward to this, Zavier.

I told Zavier before we started this interview that I've done way too many sports related [00:03:00] podcasts on this, on this show. But I love sports, and I, I love learning from athletes in particular. And, uh, I learned as I was prepping that you were named after a soccer player. Is that right? Yes, Didier Drogba. My, my dad's from Ivory Coast, and Didier Drogba's probably the, the biggest and best player from the Ivory Coast, so yeah, that's, that's how my name came about.

Okay. So when I hear that, Zavier, I'm like, obviously his dad loves soccer. Your dad ended up being your soccer coach for much of your growing up and, uh, and so I think as, as a kid, it's like, oh man, if I have a name of a famous soccer player, that's some pressure to be good at soccer. So I wondered, how have you maintained a love for soccer instead of feeling pressure to [00:04:00] play?

And what do you feel like your parents did to preserve that love and keep soccer kind of in its proper place in your life? Yeah, I, I never felt like I really had pressure. I feel like the name Didier probably started... I started realizing it, like I was named after him, probably later in my life after soccer was already a, a big part of my life, and I had already loved it, and it really didn't put any external pressure on me or extra pressure.

But yeah, I think my parents just kinda let me do my own thing and just supported me whatever I wanted to do. And obviously, I think it was kinda easy for them 'cause I wanted to play soccer from day one, so I mean, soccer has always been the sport that I loved. And I think it was just them not put- pressuring me to be anything or become, you know, this big thing, this big phe- phenom in soccer or whatever it is.

I think that's what helped me succeed and really love the game and then i- in turn wanting to work hard and, and [00:05:00] be the best I can. Yeah. I, I want to, Zavier, any time throughout this conversation that you have any thoughts on this topic, I'd be interested to get them. But I feel like... So I have two young kids, and I feel like everywhere I go, I hear parents having conversations about youth sports and- Yeah

kind of, you know, pressure to, to put their kids in higher and higher levels earlier and earlier. Do you see that shifting from the time you were younger to now, like the amount of pressure that's being put on kids, and do you think that's good or bad? Yeah, I think it was still kinda there when I was younger as well.

Um, I was actually put in a older age group as well. But yeah, I think the pressure's definitely getting more and more as we go on, and I think it's, for me, necessarily not good, just because I feel like if your kid [00:06:00] wants to work, like, and he- they wanna play, they're gonna play, and they're gonna, you know, succeed wherever they are.

So I think it's just like- Right ... the extra pressure just, just makes them, I feel like, lose love for the sport more than, more often than not, I think. So I, yeah, I, I personally think that it's getting more and more pressure, and I think there's more leagues f- like forming, and there's- For sure ... so many opinions, like outside opinions, talking about what you should do with your kid and how you should train them and how, like, how early they should be here, and at this age they should be doing this.

And it's just like everyone, every- everyone's kid develops at a different rate, so it's not, there's not just, like, a cookie cutter way to, to raise an athlete or to, uh, you know, make your kid be the best they can be. So I think it just depends with the personality of your child and their love for the sport and all of that.

So I think it's just kinda like you kinda just have to know your kid and parent, parent them and coach them or whatever it is the way that they need to [00:07:00] be, and I don't think there's one way to do that. Yeah. I completely agree. And what do you feel like, Zavier, is there anything that you look back and you're like, "My parents did a really good job parenting me specifically because of," fill in the blank?

Yeah, that I, I, I feel like I say it a lot. I think it's just, like, they kinda just let me, like, feel free to express myself and express myself the way I wanted to, whatever, whatever that was. I played junior jazz, and I feel like I just really had my own motivation to play soccer, and that's what they were like, "Okay, if you have this motivation, like, we're gonna put everything into it," you know?

So I think, I think that's what helped me, is I had my own motivation before they, you know, ch- started to push me. Obviously, you know, my dad coached me when it was like, okay, after I had already chose that I wanted to play soccer, I wanted to be- become better and stuff like that, of course. Then, then comes the discipline from your parents.

They, they keep you on [00:08:00] track. They tell you to work hard. They, you know, teach you how to train, whatever that is. But I think they just let me express myself before putting pressure or before I kinda trying to go all in in something. They would let me have the choice of what I wanted to do. That makes a lot of sense.

I like that. I wanna shift a little bit to you've made it really clear that soccer is not the biggest part of your life and that instead your faith is paramount. And you've said that you didn't feel like you took faith as seriously until you went through hard things. Yeah. And it seems like kind of the first of which was your parents getting divorced when you were...

Were you 11? Is that right? I was eight years old. Okay, when they got divorced. Yes. Okay. And can you, can you speak maybe specifically, I feel like there are likely kids and, and maybe even some adults [00:09:00] who have been through this experience of a, a parent's divorce. And, uh, I wondered if you could speak specifically to those who are navigating the separation of their parents and, and what you did to lean into your faith during that season and how your faith was instrumental in helping you through it.

Yeah, I think I definitely had the better end of the stick. I think my parents' divorce wasn't messy in any way or like, of course, I still saw my dad all the time. Like, he's still a big part of my life and my mom as well. I live with my mom, so it's, it was like, I feel like I got the, the better end of whatever that entails.

But I also think, I think just after them getting divorced, I think it just made me realize, like, all the things I was taking for granted a little bit. So I think that was hard for me in a way, but also I feel like after that was the first time, like, I can remember now, like, going [00:10:00] to church and really trying to pay attention and things like that.

I just think it was important for me to learn that First of all, my parents are there to support me, and even if they're together or not together, that they're there to support me and they love me. And, and I think that the principles of the gospel help me learn that and believe that just because of, you know, the family culture and, and I think it was a little bit hard for me, especially in the church, I feel like there's kind of a cookie cutter family portrait sometimes.

So you can feel like, "Okay, my family's not like that, so what do I do?" Or there's a general conference talk talking about family and they're ... And then sometimes you think, "Okay, my family's not like that," or whatever. And I think that just taught me to learn that every- everybody's life is individual, and that's, I think, a mindset that taught me so much in, in my life and in sports, that just everyone has their own in- individual journey.

It's not ... There's no one cookie [00:11:00] cutter way to do that. And that helped me with, in my faith with the gospel as well, just because I felt like I could do it my own way, and I have my own personal relationship with Jesus Christ and, and my heavenly Father. So I feel like that just made me, like, wanna kind of hone in on, on what that relationship looked like and how I can maximize that relationship.

And then once I started to do that, obviously, you know, I felt, you know, the pure joy of Christ. And I think that's what really made me, even when later in my life, after whatever, in my teenage years, I probably didn't take it as seriously either. And then I could ... I feel like you can feel the difference of when Christ's love is in your life and when it's not, and when you can feel the Spirit and you're guided by the Spirit and when you're not.

So I think just me being able to recognize that helped me get through some hard thing- so many hard things in my life, recognizing that the Spirit wasn't with me or, or that I needed to, to do work to, to get that Spirit back. So [00:12:00] yeah, I think that was definitely a big part. Super well said. I wanted to ask you, you've, you've talked a lot in other interviews about your mom.

Yeah. And, uh, maybe it's because I'm I'm currently, like, prepping a talk- ... and the theme is supposed to be mothers who know. Yeah, yeah. But I kept reading different things that you had said about your mom, and I thought, "His mom seems like such a good example of a mother who knows," which is obviously a reference to the Book of Mormon.

But I wondered, why would you say that your mom is such a good example of a mother who knows? First of all, I think just the way she is independent and she was just always, I don't know, just kind of just getting, getting through things on her own, just her, the s- the strength that she showed that I d- necessarily didn't even recognize until I got a little bit older.

And yeah, I just think the way that [00:13:00] she raised m- my brother and I just to the kindness that she always shows, I feel like she's always a... She doesn't, like, say very much what she wants us to do, but she shows us. So I think she's like a, like we always had a visual representation of what we wanted to be like, and I think obviously she wasn't perfect, and I think that's what I love most about her, that she, she kind of taught us about just how making mistakes is okay, and obviously that she's made mistakes in her life and, and stuff like that.

But she still strives to be like Jesus, she still strives to keep her covenants and follow the Gospel, which is, I think, like once I got that perspective, I feel like I grew closer to my mom, of course, and then also to the Savior, because I knew I, I didn't have to be perfect to feel that love or feel my, my family's love, first of all, and especially J- the love of Jesus Christ.

So I think just her being an example of strength for me and, and, and of courage and [00:14:00] just, I feel like patience at, at some points, even when me and my brother were, you know, testing her patience, I feel like she always, you know, was a calm presence in our, in our lives and, and just taught us really how to, how to be kind and live like Jesus does.

So... That's awesome. I feel like the ki- kind of some of those things that you highlighted, like patience and, and strength, those are things that you likely have needed, especially in your soccer career. You have said that another challenge that you went through was when you hurt your tibia and that- Yeah

relying on your faith helped you get through that. I think it's interesting. I feel like so often a physical setback like that, especially when you're somebody that relies so heavily on your body can feel- Yeah ... just, like, so devastating. And as I listened to you on a, on a different [00:15:00] podcast, it was very clear to me that you kinda used that i- injury to propel you forward in life rather than allowing that injury to just be a physical setback.

So I wondered, how do you feel like you were able to do that? Yeah, so I broke my fibula or fractured my fibula in 2023. And yeah, I think especially when things-- I felt like things were going well and just to have a, a setback like that and like my first major injury, and I had to be out for four or five months.

So I think when you have physical injuries like that, I think it just strains you in all ways, especially when your, your life is about soccer and, and I feel like before the injury, I think maybe I was drawing a little bit of my worth with soccer. So like associating myself as only a soccer player, and this is what people like me for, and this is what-- you know, this is my calling in life, and just kind of my whole personality [00:16:00] was that.

And I think I used the injury just to kinda not disassociate my worth with soccer, but yeah, kind of just kinda, kinda like without soccer, I'm still, you know, I can still be an amazing person, and I can still be happy and, you know, all of these things I would tell myself. Like, and I think it just helped me not rely on my performances or how well I was doing on the field or, you know, how much money I was making or whatever that is to feel good about myself and feel like I was doing the right things, and I'm a good person, and everyone loves me.

Like In a way that I was, I feel like I was th- thought before, like, you know, if I, if I get injured or stop playing soccer, like, will my friends still be there? Will my family still love me the same way? And of course, I feel like now looking back, that's a, you know, kind of a dumb way to think. Obviously, they're still gonna love me because they don't know me as just a soccer player, you know?

But I think the injury really helped me just [00:17:00] know my worth as a child of God instead of a soccer player. Yeah. Well, I think that idea of identity, and it's something that I feel like we've talked about so much more in the church in recent years because President Nelson talked about identity and how important it is to have our identity in proper priority.

Yeah. But I think that, that idea of recognizing that we have an eternal identity, and then obviously there are mortal parts of our identity that, that can be- Yeah ... added on to that, but the eternal identity never changes. And that- That's right ... is where we draw our greatest worth. I think that's so important.

I love something that you said, um, in another interview. You said, "If I didn't have my faith, soccer would be everything to me." Yeah. And, um, I think that is ... I have friends... I, I played basketball growing [00:18:00] up, and, and I have friends who it was like once they were done with basketball, it was like, "Well, who am I when you take that away?"

Yeah. And so many of us will never play a professional sport like you, Zavier, and so it's like w- at some point we have to come to grips with the fact that we are more than a sport or more than all these other external identities that we, we place on it ourselves. And so for you, why are you grateful that that's like a lesson that you've learned early in life as opposed to maybe at the end of your soccer career?

Yeah, I think that, like, that perspective, that sentence you just said, I feel like me realizing that just sh- made the whole difference for me. I think first of all, after I realized that, I started playing better because when I, when I... I feel like when I focus on my faith, then I don't, uh, [00:19:00] not don't take soccer as seriously, but don't make it my worth and don't make it my everything, that I start playing with more freedom.

I start playing with more confidence that if I have a bad game, it's not the end of the world. No one's gonna hate me and, you know, like, I can play and if I have a bad touch, you know, it's okay. Or if I have a bad game where it's like... And I think me just trusting that everything happens for a reason and God's plan is perfect for me, and trusting in His guidance and His plan has just made me, I feel like it's just lifted me up a level in life, just kind of to take it every day w- with an approach of happiness.

And I think that's helped me in my performance, which is... That's why I'm glad it happened earlier in my career because I feel like the seasons I've had, the last two seasons, I wouldn't have been able to have if I didn't have the mindset that I did. And I also think it just helps me outside of soccer.

When I have a bad game, you know, I feel like sometimes before, prior to the injury, I think maybe I would take it out [00:20:00] on my family and be upset and, you know, take, take my emotions out on other people. But I think now that I realize my life out of soccer really doesn't relate to soccer at all, it's just kind of I can, you know, take a break mentally from soccer and all of the things that I'm around constantly and just enjoy the time with my family, enjoy the time with my friends and not take good or bad into those relationships.

So I think it's just improved my relationships and improved my happiness, I think. Yeah. Well, I think what you said is kind of profound in that understanding and, and placing things in their pri- proper priority as it relates to our id- identity makes everything in life a little bit easier. E- everything is less complicated rather than when I, I feel like sometimes you, you see people and it just feels like everything's very complicated m- because those aspects of their identity are kind of out of whack.

Mm-hmm. And so I think that that is [00:21:00] a really important principle that you just taught us, so thank you for sharing that. You are a professional athlete who plays a sport in a predominantly Latter-day Saint place, which is I would imagine- That's right ... an interesting position to be in- Right ... because you have these people who come from outside Utah, and they're like, "What is this religion and where am I?"

So I wonder does, does that cause you to feel any additional pressure than you would otherwise to kind of represent not only Utah, but Latter-day Saints well? No, I don't, I don't think it w- it puts any external pressure on me. I think, I feel like I'm a person that doesn't really like to think too, too much about things or stress too much about things.

So it's just kind of like I never really think about, like, who I'm representing. I-- Maybe that sounds bad, but I feel like I just go out there and pl- play, and I hope that the way I speak and, um, the way I [00:22:00] am can represent my family and the church and every- everything in, of my values. I hope I can represent that, but I also feel like I don't put my...

Like, put pressure on myself to be, you know, the main representative of anyone. Yeah. So I think, yeah, I feel like obviously in the locker room, of course, like, you're, you're of course different, and I think, um, I feel like just embracing my faith and being strong in my faith and being able to have a, a strong testimony has really helped me just...

Honestly, sometimes my, I just teach my teammates about it because I feel like most people are generally curious. Some people aren't, and they like to, you know, make fun or whatever that is. But I think when you're strong in your faith, and you have confidence in, in what you believe, that nobody can really take that away from you, no matter what they say.

So I think that's what has helped me just speak outwardly about my faith and not try to hide it or, or, you know, make it small, and I think that's what has helped me on the field as well. I love that. [00:23:00] Uh, do you-- uh, kind of as a follow-up to that, do you feel like most of your teammates have had a pretty positive experience in Utah?

Yeah, I think, I think a lot of them l- love, love the nature and from what I've heard, they, they love the, the, the people. And the team that we have is really great, and I think, uh, we're all really close to each other. So I think they've had a very positive experience, but, you know, maybe they're not telling me everything.

But I... From what I've heard, they've had a very positive experience. That's good. Hopefully, hopefully we can keep that going. Yeah. You have had, from what I understand, opportunities to share your faith, not only, you mentioned in the locker room getting questions, but you even had an opportunity to baptize one of your former teammates.

Can you tell us a little bit about that experience? Yeah, that was awesome for me, I think, especially because I [00:24:00] think before I signed a professional contract, I was obviously thinking... I feel like I was thinking about going on a mission for my whole life before that. But then I knew signing a professional contract so early in my life would honestly make that really complicated for me.

Like, how was I gonna do that? Like, if I decided to d- to go, how would I get out of that, and, and would my coaches be okay with it? So I feel like I prayed for that, like, about that for a, a while. And throughout my life, I think I've just gotten the answer that I need to, you know, spread the gospel wherever I'm at.

And I think I've been trying to take that initiative, and I feel like baptizing one of my close friends, my, one of my best friends, just kinda made me realize how impactful living the gospel can be to other people. 'Cause I feel like kind of baptizing him came out of, of nowhere a little bit. I feel like obviously I was just living my life, and he's one of my best friends, so we hang out a lot and blah, blah, blah.

And one day in the car, he just told me, like... Like, started asking me questions and, [00:25:00] and obviously he has other friends that are members as well, so he's, he's been around it quite a bit. But he started asking me questions about it, and then, like, at the end of the car ride, he's like, "Do you think I could, like, get baptized?"

And I was like, "What?" Like, yeah, bro, you can. So I was just like called the missionaries to his house, and I, like, met with the missionaries every, every week or whatever it was, and it was just kinda like... He was s- kind of telling me how the way I live my life and, like, the way the people that he knows are a member of the Church lives their life, like, made him wanna be a part of something that makes him happy, and he knows that he has a heavenly Father that loves him and stuff like that.

And I just realized how impactful your actions can be without even talking about the Church or, or preaching to anyone. Like, you can affect people and, and make people come closer to Christ. So that's why I always think my- the way I live my life is loving people is the best way to share the gospel. And I think [00:26:00] when, when people feel your love and people feel your kindness to them and also see the values that you represent, it draws them closer to, um, Christ's love.

So yeah, that was awesome for me. That's so cool. Zavier, you made the decision to be endowed in the temple, and you've talked about how you regularly attend the temple on game days, that that's how you prepare for, for games. How has the temple blessed your life and specifically helped put things in perspective as you play soccer and...

Yeah, let's start with that. Yeah. I think, I think the temple was always a place of peace for me, but I think recently after getting endowed, I think it's been an even, even more, I don't know, holy experience. I feel like getting endowed and, and making those covenants and seeing all the, the, the things in the temple, I think [00:27:00] just put me, put my testimony on a whole 'nother level.

So I think being able to visit the temple and, and just calm myself before the games and, and just be in the presence of the Lord, I think has helped me so much. I just think it just puts everything in perspective for me. And, and just like you said, taking an eternal perspective to e- everything has helped me in my life and, and yeah, I think...

I went through the temple the same time as my girlfriend, or not, a day apart, so I feel like we, we kind of been going through that together, and I feel like it's been such a amazing experience spiritually. And just, like, obviously learning about the garments and, and wearing them, and knowing the protection and blessings they give, I feel like, you know, m- it just makes me wanna, um, you know, live, live more righteously and, and just share the love that, share the love and joy that I feel with the other people that, you know, don't have, don't get to feel that yet [00:28:00] You mentioned, uh, your girlfriend, and your girlfriend is Afton Perry that plays soccer for BYU, is that right?

Yes, that's right. Okay. Uh, how would you say she has been a good example to you? Yeah, she's, she's awesome. She's been a great example to me. I feel like if you know Afton, then you know how she's a great example. I feel like she's just so firm in everything that she believes in, and, um, sometimes I just say she's, she's like my rock.

Like, she keeps me in line. She, um, you know, makes sure I'm doing everything right, and, and not even making sure I'm doing everything right, but just she kind of inspires me to be better, and I think that's, you know, all I can ask for. She... Yeah, she works so hard in her sport, and to just love people and be the kind of person that you wanna be around, and I think just her example of the way she lives her life [00:29:00] inspires me to live my life a similar way and to spread the gospel like she does.

And yeah, I think she's just an amazing example. She's just, um, a ball of energy always and, you know, her smile lights up the room. So, I think, yeah, she's been an awesome example to me. And yeah, I think I've become so much better because of her. So cool. Going back, Zavier, to the temple endowment, I think that that is something where a lot of times we connect going through the temple to receive our endowments to either going on a mission or getting married.

And I think it's really important that we recognize that that's a very separate thing, um, and a, and a- Yeah ... deliberate choice to- Yeah ... go and receive your endowment. And it's- Yes ... ha- it carries with it, like, great consequences. I, I don't know if consequences... Carries with it great blessings, but it's not inconsequential.

And I think sometimes- Yeah ... in the, the [00:30:00] excitement of people either going on a mission or getting married, it kinda gets lost in the shuffle. But you chose to do that totally independent of anything else. So if you were to speak to someone considering receiving their temple endowment, what would you say?

Yeah, I would just say obviously I feel like you have to be ready for what that brings. Of course, yeah, ex- just like you said, it brings so many blessings, but it also brings more responsibility upon yourself to, um, live and keep the covenants that you've made because of course they're more serious covenants and they're more s- it's more, it's a more serious thing than, than people make it out to be, and I agree.

I think a lot of times when people get married or go on a mission, it's kinda like, "I'm just doing this to go on a mission," or, "I'm doing this to go o- to get married," and I think I just didn't want it to be like that. I feel like I was just like, "I'm ready to, to be endowed. I'm ready to learn more and to take on m- more [00:31:00] responsibility" and I think, yeah, I think it's, it's not for everyone.

If, if you don't feel like you're ready, I don't think you should do it. I think it's, uh, everyone's on their own timeline- For sure ... for sure. But yeah, I just think it's, yeah, so many m- so many more blessings, but also it takes definitely more responsibility, so. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I would say. I completely agree.

Zavier, you had been in many conversations as being in consideration for the World Cup team this year, which I, along with the rest of the world, have watched a good amount of the World Cup. Right. But I wondered, what have you taken from watching the World Cup from home, and how will that influence the way that you approach playing in the World Cup if given the opportunity next time around?

Yeah, I just think watching the World Cup now, especially being in the US and being able to go to the games and [00:32:00] stuff like that, I think I just realized how big of an impact and how many eyes are really on, um, soccer and, and the sport at that time. So I just think the next World Cup, if I have the opportunity to play, I feel like that's my opportunity to show or just not, not do anything extraordinary or whatever that is, but to kinda wear my heart on my sleeve and the things that I believe in, and be outward about them because, you know, there's so many people that you can inspire and there's so many people that you can affect their lives, whether they realize it or not.

So yeah, I think it's just... Yeah, I feel like wherever I go and whatever stage I'm on, I wanna be myself and inspire people that might be looking for something that they can't quite find. So that's what I would say. Yeah, it's been interesting, I think, to watch. A- and I think this is true any time there's a large sporting even- event, be it the Olympics or the World Cup or many [00:33:00] other major sports championships, but I think people latch on to personalities, you know?

And so you have people where it's like they're able to make an impact- I'm gonna get that ... because of who they are. And I think what you were just saying is, is spot on, that you have this incredible opportunity on a very, very large stage to stand for something. And I, I certainly will be rooting for you, Zavier, regardless of whether, where- wherever your career takes you.

But you deserve all the best. You were named an MLS All-Star this year, and on the caption on Real Salt Lake's Instagram, I thought it was interesting, it said, "Guided by faith, carried by family, developed by the academy, and now crowned an All-Star." Why is it important to you for others to know what it is that guides you?

Because for them to put that in the caption , like it has to be a [00:34:00] big deal to you- Yeah ... to be guided by your faith. So, so why would you say that that's so important for you for other people to know that? For me, I think when I'm asked questions about my success and things like that, I think I often give an answer about faith and how that's helped me.

So I think that's why a lot of people associate that with me and, and, and that, that's something that's guided me. But I also think being, um, a disciple of Christ, it's about giving the glory to him, and I think that's why it's important for me to ... for people to know that it's not by my hard work or by my talents or my anything.

It's by the gift that the Lord gave me and, and the f- his plan for me that I'm in the position that I am, and I think that's the most important for me-- thing for me, for people to realize. 'Cause I think a lot of times, especially for young kids watching me, I think it's a lot of times just like, "I kinda [00:35:00] wanna be like him," or, you know, "I kinda wanna be like this."

Um, and I think it's important to ... First of all, I feel like I say a lot that you need to be individual in your life and have your own journey, and comparison is the thief of joy. And you don't necessarily need to be where all the people your age are at or, you know, whatever, and I think faith is a big thing for that.

I think it's just knowing that you're individual and knowing that God loves you individually because of the person you are, and he's made you a certain way and give you certain gifts to, you know, succeed in your own life and, and that's not for anyone else to have an opinion on and kinda ... I feel like it's between you and the Lord, and I think that's why it's so important for me to, to, um, vocalize that faith has guided me to be where I'm, where I am.

And it's not anything that I've done. Well, Zavier, you are so [00:36:00] impressive, not only on the soccer field, but I, I think we, you know, we talked about your parents, and I think you are a credit to good parents and also to a, a faith that can instill in us a lot at a young age, and, and I admire that in you.

Thank you so much for, for taking the time to talk to me. My last question for you is what does it mean to you to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ? Yeah. I mean, I think ... Yeah, I think it's more of what I've been saying. I think it's just crediting everything to the Lord and, and just kinda living your life as a disciple of Christ and not Zavier Gozo, you know?

I think this mortal experience is just a little part of, um, the, the eternal plan and the, the grand scheme of things. So I think I actually wanna share a scripture that I always remember, and I think this is just what [00:37:00] I use to really, like, surrender myself and, and know that God i- always inviting us to come to Him.

It's, um, Matthew 11:28 and 30. "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." And I think that scripture for me is, I think a lotta times in the scriptures, you're more commanded to do certain things, commanded to love others and whatever.

But I, I also think this, this scripture resonates with me because it feels like an invitation, and it's always like ... It just makes me realize that we are the people that decide to take the invitation or not take it. And so really, the, the, the joy and the love and all the blessings is our choice to take, and it's never anybody else's fault that we don't have anything.

It's always our choice to surrender our burden to the Lord and, and have Him take it, not take it away, but help us [00:38:00] deal with it. So I think just living life as ... in that perspective has helped me tremendously, and I think it just makes everything easier for me. And yeah, I think it's just help- helped me live a simpler life and to be grateful for everything I've been given, so.

That's amazing. Well, Zavier, thank you so much, and, uh, we will be rooting for you wherever the Lord takes you from here. You're awesome. Thank you so much

We are so grateful to Zavier Gozo for taking the time to talk with us. We're also grateful to Derek Campbell of Mix at Six Studios for his help with this episode and to you for listening. We'll look forward to being with you again next week