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The dictionary folks at Merriam-Webster would be wise to include Mary Lake’s mug next to the word “globetrotter.”

The BYU volleyball star continues to rack up sky miles. She recently traveled with the U.S. women’s national volleyball team to Bulgaria before flying west to Italy, boomeranging back across the Atlantic to Nebraska and then sojourning to China.

She returned home from competing in the 2019 Federation Internationale de Volleyball Nations League tournament with a growing collection of passport stamps, a shiny gold medal and plenty of remarkable memories.

Lake won’t forget competing with some of the world’s top players, representing the Red-White-and-Blue, experiencing new cultures, playing on a tournament-winning team — and also sharing her personal gospel beliefs.

As the only Latter-day Saint on the American squad that won the prestigious international tournament, she sometimes found herself chatting with teammates about her gospel beliefs.

“There were questions about why I wasn’t, say, drinking pregame coffee or why I didn’t drink at the after-parties,” she told the Church News. “But I never felt uncomfortable. I think having to explain my faith when I was younger (with youth club teammates) and taking my religion classes at BYU prepared me to answer in ways that people understood.”

Her testimony also gave her confidence in her convictions. Some of her teammates posed tough questions.

To read the full article on the Church News, CLICK HERE.