September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and one part of this conversation with Luukas Ojala felt worth centering because of it.

Luukas served part of his mission in Colorado, split between a small town he loved and a stretch in Denver that was genuinely hard on him — real depression, tied to circumstances he doesn't go into detail about, that got serious enough he sat down with his mission president and his mission's mental health professional. Together they made the decision to transition him into service missionary work for the remainder of his time, rather than have him push through in a way that wasn't sustainable.

He's honest that the transition itself wasn't easy. He came home to take care of some medical appointments and felt, in that stretch, like he'd failed himself and let down the people he was serving for — even though that wasn't true at all. But what followed became some of the most meaningful work of his life: the Bishop's storehouse, the Portland Temple, a Catholic food bank, the Salvation Army, and coaching a group of twelve-year-olds in a stake soccer league with an aggressive tactical philosophy that produced 33 goals in four games.

The rest of the episode covers a lot of ground beyond that — his family's remarkable multi-generational conversion story in Finland, a formative loss on his high school swim team, his career in professional soccer administration, which he describes as his personal ministry, and Saints and Soccer, the global community he co-founded with Addison Walters connecting Latter-day Saints across professional soccer.

But the through-line worth sitting with this month is simple: asking for real help, from people actually equipped to give it, didn't derail his mission. It's what allowed the rest of it to happen.

If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by call or text.

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