Hey Everyone, Brandi here...
A few weeks ago I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and although I prepared about a 20 minute talk I had to condense it down into 7 minutes. I felt like my dad's blog would be a good place to post my entire talk so here it is....
December 11, 2016
Two weeks ago I was in sacrament meeting when a thought entered my mind, the thought was, "You haven't spoken in sacrament meeting in a while." Now that was a very odd thought! And then after sacrament meeting Brother Smith came over to me and asked if I would speak in sacrament. It was then that I put two and two together. I'm sure my thought was actually the Lord preparing me so that I wouldn't say no when I was asked. Having had the Lord speak to my mind prior to being asked, if I would have said no then I would be saying no to the Lord and he knows that I just can't do that so here I am. It has actually been almost exactly 4 years to the day since I last spoke in sacrament meeting. Zach said I should just reuse the talk from 4 years ago, I'll take a story from it, but I won't reuse it.
Kaisalyn was baptized yesterday and it was a wonderful day. I told Zach that I felt like everything was happening in fast motion and I wanted the day to slow down so we could soak up what was going on and the feelings we were having, but unfortunately it didn't. At Kaisalyn's baptism program during a talk that was given about the Holy Ghost the speaker talked about the different ways we feel the Holy Ghost and how it is different for each of us.
Well, I'm pre-warning you now that when I feel the Holy Ghost I cry and I can pretty much guarantee you that I'll be crying through my entire talk because the topic that I was given is so truly personal to me. When Zach asked me what the topic was I couldn't even tell it to him without crying.
The topic I was given was, "The blessings of the healing power of Christ in your life". I know without a doubt that many times over I have received great blessings in my life because of the healing power of Christ and I'd like to share three of these with you.
The first story is about repentance and the healing that can come through that. Because of Christ's atonement we can repent and become clean again that one day we can live in our Heavenly Father's presence. I've always thought of myself as a rule follower, I hate breaking the rules so to speak, however I do sometimes make mistakes. When I was a young adult I did make some wrong choices and these choices unfortunately would have made it so that I could not get married in the temple. But, through the repentance process and the healing power of Christ I was forgiven for my mistakes and I was able to go to the temple to be sealed to my husband Zach and married for time and all eternity. This is a huge blessing in my life and now that Zach and I have three beautiful little girls it means more to me now that it did 11 years ago.
The second story I'd like to share is about physical healing. Some of you may have already heard this story, but it is such a huge witness of Christ's healing power and the blessings that came from that healing power that I have to share it with you. In 2008 I became pregnant with our first child. It was a hard pregnancy and I was very ill, especially towards the end. I was on bed rest and my water ended up breaking 4 1/2 weeks early. Without going into a lot of detail, I ended up in the operating room as the doctor performed an emergency C-section. I remember laying in the operating room wondering what was happening, everything seemed to be a blur. I kept listening for the sound of a baby crying and I wasn't hearing it. What I did hear wasn't good and it was a nurse telling another nurse to call Life Flight. It was at that moment that I knew something was terribly wrong. I didn't get to see Kaisalyn until the life flight crew had stabilized her for the trip to Primary Children's Hospital. She looked so helpless and sick with all those tubes and wires running in and around her body. We later learned that Kaisalyn wasn't breathing when she was born and that she was resuscitated twice before being sent to Primary Children's Hospital.
At Primary Children's Hospital Kaisalyn was put on many machines to help her organs work. A machine was moving her lungs to get her to breath and she was hooked up to several others because none of her organs were functioning properly. They put her on a contraption they called a "cooling bed". This was going to reduce her body temperature and in a way try to preserve her from getting any worse. At 3-days-old Kaisalyn had an MRI of her brain. Zach and I were told that the MRI showed significant brain damage and that our daughter probably wouldn't able to talk or walk. This was devastating news and at first we didn't know how to handle it. I remember us having a family council that night. Blessings were given and prayers were said as we turned to the Lord for direction and comfort. We were scared of the unknown and were fearful that Kaisalyn might even die and be called back to live with our Father in Heaven. I specifically remember praying that night and telling the Lord that we didn't understand why this was happening, and asking him to help us through it.
A couple of days later I came down with a fever. The fever wouldn't go away and I was taken to the emergency room. It was there that we found out that I had a massive infection inside my C-section wound that was starting to eat ay at my insides. I again went into surgery for the second time in only a few days. The doctor was able to get most of the infection out and was able to repair the damages, but I was left with an open wound and it was going to take me four months to heal from the inside outward. When I first found out about my condition and that I needed surgery I remember thinking, "Why? Why me? Haven't I already suffered enough? Don't I already have enough to go through with all that Kaisalyn is dealing with?". However, even though it was extremely hard to understand why this was happening to us, one thing remained consistent throughout this trial and that was that we continually turned toward the Lord.
Kaisalyn was given numerous blessings almost to the point that every time a relative who was a priesthood holder came to visit she received a blessing. I also received priesthood blessings and we were constantly praying and fasting for strength, guidance and healing. Even those from other faiths held prayer meetings on our behalf. There was one priesthood blessing in particular that I remember very clearly and in that blessing Kaisalyn was blessed that she would be able to live a normal and happy life.
It has been 8 years now since all of this has happened and we were truly blessed with a miracle. At Kaisalyn's 6-month-old follow-up MRI the doctors could not find any damage and currently she is a normal functioning 8-year-old. What miracles we were blessed with to be able to witness the physical healing power of Christ, twice in only a few months.
The third story is about spiritual healing. As some of you know, just over a year ago my dad was in a mountain biking accident. I remember the phone call the day of the accident and my brother Ryan's voice on the other line telling me, "Dad's been in a bike accident and he can't feel his legs". Our lives changed that day in a way that not one of us could ever imagine. My dad is completely paralyzed from his armpit line downward. He can't move his legs or his torso. He also lost 50% of his arm muscles and he is unable to move his hands or fingers. My sister in-law, Julee, and I started a blog and the introduction to the blog reads, "We have a long road a head of us and we hope that this blog can serve not only as a place for updates, but also as a journal of strength and remembrance. We have faith in our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ and we know that through our faith and perseverance our dad will be healed. Though we have been told that the chances are slim that our dad will walk again, we will be by his side to help him beat those odds. Our dad will make it through this challenging trial and we will be there to help him every step of the way!"
I think at first we were all very hopeful that although the doctors said his chances of walking again were 1 in 200,000 that he would beat those odds and walk again in this life. But guess what? My dad hasn't been healed and to be honest I'm not sure if he will ever be healed in this life. It's life events like this that play a number on your spirit. We ask, "Why? Why me? Why us? Why now? Why? Why? Why?" And it's hard not to get angry and we get upset that things aren't improving. We feel like we are being ignored and that our prayers aren't being heard. Our family has joked many a time that we can clearly see why people become bitter and angry and start to blame God for all their problems.
However, it's when we invite Christ into our lives and turn to him for support that we begin to know that although life may be extremely tough, our trials are for our good and then we start to think about life in an eternal perspective. Being able to think about life in an eternal perspective has truly blessed our family. This trial that my dad faces and that our family is facing is very difficult and as a family we have often said, "There must be something that we are destined for in the hear after that is so great it's beyond our comprehension". The spiritual healing that we have been blessed with also allows us to see our blessings more clearly and to be grateful for our blessings, especially the ones that have made this trail easier to endure. So, instead of giving up and being depressed Christ continues to heal our spirits day after day so that we can have hope for a brighter future and this, for our family, the blessing of hope each day, comes from the healing power of Christ.
As I was pondering what to say to you today I read a talk given by Elder Evan A. Schmutz of the seventy in the October 2016 General Conference. That talk was titled, "God shall wipe away ALL tears!" Elder Schmutz said, "If I may speak to you individually - all ye that labor and are heavy laden - may I suggest that your personal struggles - your individual sorrows, pains, tribulations and infirmities of every kind - are all known to our Father in Heaven and to his Son. Take courage! Have faith! And believe in the promise of God!
I'd like to end by reading from Alma 7:12 where it says, "....and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he MAY KNOW according to the flesh HOW TO SUCCOR HIS PEOPLE according to their infirmities.
I want to testify to you that as Jeffery R. Holland said, "Christ is the captain of our soul". If we have faith in Jesus Christ we will be able to bear all things. I know that it is through our faith we can experience the healing power of Christ. This might be manifested in feeling the sweet peace of repentance and being forgiven for our sins, or witnessing a miracle of physical healing, or the healing of our spirits so that we may endure our trials without anger at our circumstances. I know that the healing power of Christ allows us to be grateful for our trials and through our faithfulness allows our spirits to be healed so that we can lean on the knowledge of the life after this. I'm so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and all that he has personally done to heal me and my family. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
