Just as Great a Miracle

The Melchizedek Priesthood is defined as the authority God has given to man on Earth to act in his name. I would describe this Priesthood authority as the most awesome power I have ever experienced. I have had many experiences in my life where I have had the power of this authority driven home to me, time and time again.

The Doctrine and Covenants says that one who holds this Priesthood, accompanied by faith, can have great power. The Lord speaks of specific blessings and powers that Priesthood bearers are blessed with.

In the 46th Section, the Lord explains these blessings.

19 And again, to some it is given to have faith to be healed;
20 And to others it is given to have faith to heal.
21 And again, to some is given the working of miracles;
22 And to others it is given to prophesy
23 And to others the discerning of spirits.
24 And again, it is given to some to speak with tongues;
25 And to another is given the interpretation of tongues.
26 And all these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God.

I find it interesting that “to some it is given”. Notice that some are given the gift to heal, while to others it is given the gift to be healed. This is true with all the gifts of God. And notice that the implication is that all these gifts are predicated on faith, or in other words, “faith precedes the miracle”. It is my understanding that only one man on the Earth holds all these gifts at once, and that is the Prophet of God.

I would like to share some of my experiences with you, my children. Many of my experiences with the Priesthood happened because of, or with you. I hold these experiences sacred, yet they would be of little profit to anyone if I didn’t share them. I may not be able tell of all my experiences with each of you here because I am still trying to remember all of them! I am, after all, not a young as I used to be!

Many of my experiences came as a husband and father in Zion, while others occurred as a Home Teacher or while serving in the Bishopric or Branch Presidency. I will try not to embellish any of these stories, but if there is some, blame it on my "Halfhimers".

The first experience I will share actually was when my sister, Evelyn, passed away in June of 1981. Evelyn had been sick for most of her adult life. She battled diabetes since she was twelve years old. Although she was able to successfully carry her first born son, Benjamin, to almost full term, she was not able to have any more children. She carried her second baby, as I remember, about 7 months, then the baby was delivered stillborn. In fact, the baby had not fully developed and its brain was way underdeveloped. After that unsuccessful attempt, I can’t remember, or perhaps never knew, if she ever got pregnant again. I know the doctor was very concerned about her health and at some point she had a hysterectomy. Some time later, she and Scott were able to adopt a baby girl thru LDS Social Services. They named her Rebecca.

I had just returned from a TDY trip to Oklahoma City when I got a call from my Mother telling me that Evelyn was dying and that I should come to Chico to see her. I flew out the next day. I was able to visit with her that day before she slipped into a coma. She had injured her foot in a bathroom accident and her foot had become infected. She was so weak at that point in her life, having had complete kidney failure and taking dialysis treatments (a new treatment for diabetics with kidney diseases) that she spent most of her days unable to even get out of bed.
I am sure that over the period of time while she was in and out of the hospital that Scott had given her Priesthood Blessings. But when I got to the hospital, Scott asked me to give her a blessing. In that blessing, calling upon the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, and thru the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, we blessed her that she should fight for her life and not give up. She was fighting! But, the night before I got there, the infection in her foot turned to gangrene and a portion of her foot, halfway between the toes and the heal, had to be amputated. A few hours later, the infection and gangrene spread and her foot had to be amputated at the ankle. This, however, did not stop the spread of the gangrene, and the doctors then amputated well above the infection, and took part of her leg, about half way up the calf, below the knee. Three surgeries in the matter of only a few hours. A healthy person would have a hard time handling that! Evelyn, being so very weak and in great pain, quietly slipped into a coma. I remember sitting by her bed and just holding her hand and talking to her. We had been so close growing up, but our lives had us living in different parts of the country and our visits were not a frequent as we would have liked. But here I was, in the hospital, watching my only sister slipping away.

Day after day, hour after hour, she held on, but was making no progress. When Scott and I had a few minutes alone, we knelt in prayer and asked Heavenly Father if we should administer a blessing to Evelyn and release Heavenly Father from the bonds of the Priesthood Blessing we had given her only hours before. As we got up, we both were crying and we overwhelmingly had the felling that it was time for Evelyn to go home. We talked with members of the family as this was a very hard decision to make, but for the most part, all accepted that this was the course to take. With Scott and me in tears, Scott anointed Evelyn and I pronounced a blessing on her. I remember the words vividly in my mind even today. We told her of our love for her and that we knew that she loved her family, especially her Eternal Companion and her two little children, still not much more than babes, and of her love for her Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, her Savior. Then, again by the same power and authority we blessed her with just a day or so before; we released Heavenly Father from the bonds of the blessing she received. I left the room, leaving Scott alone with her. Just minutes later, the nurse came and got the family and told us that if we wanted to see Evelyn we needed to hurry as she was not expected to live much longer. We hurried to the room, and just minutes later, she passed from this life and entered Paradise.

I remember the Spirit that was in the room when Scott and I administered to her. There is no doubt in my mind that what Scott and I did was directed by the power of the Priesthood. That the Lord was bound by the Ordinances we administered to Evelyn, and then released from those bonds when we, by the authority of the Priesthood, released Him. In the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 42, Verse 44, we read of the blessing of this great authority and the promise the Lord makes: 44. And the elders of the church, two or more, shall be called, and shall pray for and lay their hands upon them in my name; and if they die they shall die unto me, and if they live they shall live unto me.

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Fairbanks was cold…which it is most of the year. It was also dark, which in the winter, it is most of the time. This time it was late at night and we were about to retire for the night. The children were all in bed and, at least the younger ones were asleep. Holly and Chad shared a bedroom right next to ours and we heard Holly crying. I went in to comfort her, but when I picked her up, she was burning up with a fever. She was crying and was afraid of the monster in her room. I held her tight and she calmed down. I took her into our room and Mom took her temperature, and it was 106 degrees. Mom called the hospital and they told us to bring her right in. She was not quite three years old. As she sat on the bed she was seeing helicopters flying around the room: “Helicoppers, Daddy, helicoppers!”.

Before I took her into the hospital, I gave her a blessing. The nurses were waiting for us when we arrived at the hospital and they took her from me and strapped her to a “papoose board” to keep her still while they tried to figure out what was wrong. I think there can be nothing worse for a father than to see his baby strapped to a papoose board; it was horrifying. The doctors kept her for several hours and could not find anything wrong. She was not in any pain, but sure didn’t like being confined to that papoose board. Then the fever broke and was gone as fast as it came. The doctor never did know what caused it, but I have no doubt that a loving Father in Heaven cared for her that night and the fever just went away.
It would be 13 years later when she would once again be strapped to a papoose board in the emergency room of the hospital. This time at Fort Hood. She was the goalie on the Ellison High School Varsity Girls Soccer team. It was during a game against Killeen High School and she and the offensive player were both going after the ball as it neared the goal. As Holly dove for the ball, the other player kicked the ball, but missed. She did connect with Holly’s head and knocked her out cold. I was running late and was just about to leave the house to watch Holly’s game. The phone rang and I answered it. It was the coach telling me that Holly was being transported by ambulance to Darnell Hospital Emergency Room and for me to meet them there. I got to the hospital before the ambulance and watched as they took my little goalie out of the ambulance, strapped to a papoose board, neck totally immoveable. It was just as horrifying 13 years later as it was in Alaska, to see my baby girl strapped to a papoose board.

As the staff prepared for the doctor’s examination and subsequent x-rays and CATSCAN, I quietly administered to her, giving her a blessing that she would fully recover and have no lasting effects from the injury. The results of all the tests and x-rays were negative; although the doctor diagnosed that she had suffered a minor concussion. When all the tests were negative, the doctor said he wanted to conduct one more test … a spinal tap. Vivid memories swelled up of my son, Todd, in the hospital at Fort Rucker, being given a spinal tap. He had been diagnosed with meningitis at 3 weeks old, and the ER doctor wanted to be sure he wasn't have a reoccurance. I remember how upset the pediatrician was when he found that the ER had given a child a spinal tap for exploritory reasons. As young parents, we didn’t know any better, nor how dangerous a procedure it was. So this time I told the doctor that he could not do the spinal tap on Holly. I later gave permission, after a friend, an on-duty RN, told me that the doctor really thought it was necessary. The doctor assured me that he had done hundreds of taps and that there would be no problem. The doctor gave her the spinal tap, and came up “dry”. He wanted to do another one, but I told him he had only one shot at it and he blew it, and there would be no “do over”. I had been prompted not to let them do the spinal tap, and gave in. It wouldn’t happen twice. I took Holly home and, except for a persistent headache, a side effect of the spinal tap, she had a complete recovery and never experienced any complications from the injury. We got home at 3 AM and she was up at 5:45 AM and in her seat in Seminary at 6. She did stay home from school, however. She knew, as I knew, the Lord had once again comforted my little girl and honored the Authority of the Priesthood as the blessing given was fulfilled, word for word…”fully recover and have no lasting effects from the injury.”



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I learned early in my ministry the meaning of the need for faith and personal commitment on the part of the Priesthood bearer when administering to the sick. The following occurred while I was still a “New Elder” (Greenie) on my Mission. Elder Egan was my second companion; my first companion, Elder Moon, having completed his Mission and returned home, just 30 days after my arrival in the Mission Field. Elder Egan and I received a telephone call from a member who told us of a baby in need of a blessing. The parents were acquaintances of the member, but not Latter-Day Saints, and knew very little of the Church. The baby was very ill and in the Intensive Care unit at a hospital in Hartford. The doctors had done all they could do and the baby was not responding to treatment. The father had the baby remembered on the prayer roll in his church; had prayed to his Heavenly Father for the baby’s recovery, but the baby still was not getting better; and, in fact, was getting worse and hope for recovery was fading.

As the member spoke to the father about a Priesthood blessing, the father was willing to try it. We were called and we spoke with the father and explained to him about the power of the Priesthood and of the need for faith. Blessings of faith are not restricted to members of the Church, and this father wanted his baby to have a blessing. We set the time and got the instructions on how to get to the hospital. The father set the appointment for three days from our conversation, then told us he would be fasting and asked us to do the same. I wish I could say here that we fasted, blessed the baby and a miraculous recovery took place. But, I can’t. What I can tell you is about the faith of a father and the hope and sweet peace he was able to find. I cannot tell you if the baby recovered because when we called back, we could not get a hold of the father; and the member could not give us any information either. Perhaps out of the fear of trying harder to find the father, fearing the worse, or perhaps of our own guilt, we never pursued further trying to contact the father. This has troubled me over the years, and as I think of the incident at times, I wish I could have had the courage to insist that we find the family.

Elder Egan and I fasted, but not until the night before we were supposed to go administer. Our rationalization was that fasting was for only 24 hours. Besides, the old Mission President once held a mission wide 72 hour fast, and several Missionaries got ill. To top this off, after we had fasted our 24 hours, and still a couple of hours from our appointment, we passed a Roy Rogers Hamburger drive-in. We were hungry, and, we reasoned, it has been 24 hours; so we turned around and went into the restaurant and ate. Later, when we arrived at the hospital, the father thanks us for coming and for fasting. He told us he had been fasting since our phone call three days earlier! Our guilt was overwhelming, but we administered to the baby. The father thanked us, and we left. We chastised ourselves all the way home. Here we were, bearers of The Lord’s Priesthood; two Missionaries on the Lord’s errand, and we were “those of little faith”.

Now, as I said earlier, I don’t know the outcome of that visit, but I resolved within myself that whenever I performed the sacred ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood, I would do so in faith. I may not fast for 3 days, but I would prepare myself in every instance to be ready and worthy to administer in the ordinances of the Priesthood. Have I been 100% faithful in this resolve? No. But I have tried to repent each and every time I have come up short.

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Once while a Home Teacher in the Ozark Ward, I was called by one of the families I home taught and was asked to come over as there was a need in the family for a blessing. I went over to the family’s home right away, prepared to administer this ordinance with the father of the home, thinking it was probably his wife or a child in need of the blessing. When I arrived, Brother Greg and his wife met me and asked me to come in and sit down. He wanted to explain why he needed a blessing, and though he wanted one badly, he asked us to first prepare by fasting.

Brother Greg was an Army Officer and flight student in the aviation program at Fort Rucker. He had developed an illness (I don’t remember what) and the result was one that required he be “grounded” permanently. Not only would he be eliminated from the flight program, he would also be released from active duty. Brother Greg was a young husband and father. He was a BYU graduate and was an ROTC graduate as well. He had two dreams in his life besides his family; to be a commissioned officer and soldier in the United States Army, and to be an aviator. Now, his dream was about to come to an end. His request floored me. He asked that I administer to him and bless him that his medical condition would be reversed and that he be able to stay in the Army and finish flight school, and continue in his career as an Army Aviator. My first thought was the story of Elder Mathew Cowley and his being asked to restore the sight of a young Polynesian boy. I felt very inadequate, but we made the appointment to return and, after careful preparation, we would administer to him. I would need every ounce of faith the Elder Cowley spoke of, and Brother Greg would also require a great amount of faith, as well. His asking for this blessing was a start for him, and my accepting the challenge was a start for me, as well.

I asked the Elder’s Quorum President to assist me, as my companion was a young Aaronic Priesthood holder. I explained to him Brother Greg’s request, and when we were supposed to go back. The EQP and I sat together and began our fast and our own personal preparation for the task. On the appointed evening and time, we arrived at Brother Greg’s home. We began with prayer and all of us could feel the Spirit in the room that evening. Then the EQP anointed Brother Greg and I was to seal the anointing and give him a blessing. Although I personally felt totally inadequate and scared, I began. The words were not mine as I blessed Brother Greg with an immediate and complete recovery and that he would be able to stay in the Army, finish flight school, and enjoy his career in the Army as an aviator. A few days later, Brother Greg went back to the Flight Surgeon for his appointment, and the doctor found no traces of the ailment that had nearly grounded him permanently. He was returned to flight status and, although he had to be recycled to a different class, was able to complete flight school and go on with his career in the Army.

I have not shared this experience with anyone until just recently. I had always felt it was so sacred that I should just keep it to myself. But as I have matured, I have realized that it is by these experiences that faith is built, and for some it is how one starts to build their own faith. If Elder Mathew Cowley had kept to himself the story of his experience in Polynesia, I might never had had the faith myself to pronounce such a blessing on Brother Greg. I didn’t restore his sight, or make him walk again, but I expect to Brother Greg this was just as great a miracle in his life. Some might say this was a coincidence, but to those of us in that room that evening, the Spirit testified to our souls that this was of God by the power of His Priesthood authority thru those called to exercise that authority. Not Apostles, but two young husbands and fathers who happened to be Elders serving as Home Teachers in the Ozark Ward.

I Hate Night Shift!

I got on the bus at 5:30 pm and the bus driver asked if we should take the alternate route to Dugway, thru Skull Valley because he thought there must be a marathon being run because there were cops everywhere on the south end of Tooele. We told him that Skull Valley was never a good option for going to work because it takes an additional half hour. He insisted, but we prevailed and we headed south out of the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) parking lot. When we got to the south end of town, the driver turned out to be almost right. Not a marathon, but a bike race. Go figure, a bike race at 5:30 in the afternoon, right during rush hour. Only in Tooele! As it turned out for us, though, we detoured a couple of blocks and back onto the highway to Dugway.

The night shift is really the pits! I have avoided working nights since I have been here, but this week it changed. I am the “specialist” on the Army radios, and since this is Army test, and since this test has to be run after dark, I am on the night shift. I got her last night only to find out that the radios I am the “specialist” in are not even here yet! In fact, they won’t be here this week at all, but next week. Oh well, I am here and I am very tired! And it is only 9:30 pm! Last night I didn’t get really tired until about thirty minutes before the bus got here to take us home. I did go to the “downrange” site last night until midnight to observe. Observe what? I sat in the corner far away from the action, because our radios weren’t being used, and I was taking up valuable space. Tonight I get to go downrange again. This time from midnight to about 4 am to observe what goes on during the second half of the night. So tonight I brought my book…!

Since I am sitting here, I thought I would pass on some words of wisdom, or humor, or whatever I think of. So far, I am coming up empty!

Today was the Democratic Primary election in several states for the 2006 elections coming up in November. Does anyone really care about the Primaries? I know I don’t. Nobody changes office during a Primary. It does mark the beginning of a long political season. Only now days it seems like we are always in a political season. The thing I have noticed about the Democrat Party is that they are still running against W. I don’t think he is running for anything this year!

After spending as much time in Utah as I have spent this year, and will spend before I get to go back to Texas, I am having second thought s about all my Utah Mormon jokes. I am becoming one! I keep thinking that this wouldn’t be such a bad place to live. I listen to Mom tell about the oppressive humidity in Texas and think it would be nice not to have to put up with that. But then I remember that January in Utah is not like July in Utah. And I quickly get over my thoughts of immigrating to Zion!

The coyotes are in tune tonight! When the sun goes down here you can hear them howling! They sound like they could be right around the corner, but they are not very close…at least that is what I keep telling myself when I go out to the outhouse! I wonder what they howl at besides the moon…which may be enough to howl about tonight as it is a huge full moon!

Had a great weekend with Todd, Sunde and the kids. Little Luke is a doll. He is much cuter now than even the recent pictures. Sunde said that when they brought him home, they could fold his skin over … he had no meat on his bones. Now he has filled out and is looking good. The girls love him to death, but Mom won’t let them near him because they have runny noses. The doctor said that if Luke gets sick, he will have to go back into the hospital. So they are not taking any chances. He is being blessed on September 3rd. Mom and I are going up for that. If Holly is still here, she will go with us, too.

This must be a slow news night, as they say. I can’t think of much else to say. I guess I will sign off for tonight.