A few days ago I got a call from our Stake President asking me to speak in our Stake conference today. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) have 4 conferences a year. Twice a year we have a world wide conference which is broadcast around the world from Salt Lake City, where we get to hear from our Prophet and general church leaders. Twice a year we have a Stake conference where all the congregations or wards in a given area will join together to listen to our local leaders. You can go to Mormon.org to learn more.
It was an honor for me to be asked to share the story of our accident and bear my testimony of the blessings that we’ve received. Hundreds were there this morning and I was nervous, but I was thankful for the opportunity I had to tell our story. I prayed a lot about what to say and I felt that my Heavenly Father helped me say the things that would be beneficial to those in attendance.
I am going to take a detour from our Panama cruise travel log today and publish the talk that I gave this morning in conference. I have friends who said they wanted a copy of my talk and I feel this is the easiest way to give it to them. I hope that you enjoy our story too.
My Accident Testimony given in Stake Conference on Oct.16, 2011
Last March my husband and I were happily driving to Utah to attend the temple sealing of our newly adopted baby granddaughter. We were going about 70 mph with the flow of traffic on the I15. When we got to Nephi, bout 50 miles from our destination, our trip ended suddenly in a terrible accident. The car in front of us slipped on black ice, skidded around and hit us head on. Then the car behind us hit us with such force that it knocked us across the wide freeway divide into on coming traffic of the southbound freeway where we had a third collision.
My husband was knocked out at the first collision and was totally unconscious for 35 or 40 minutes. He did not come to until he was in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. He was bleeding badly. I was covered in his blood. I thought that he was dead. It was the worst experience of my life.
I didn’t have a scratch on me but the force of the 3 collisions crushed my chest leaving me with 15 shattered ribs, many of which were separated from my sternum which was also broken, a collapsed lung and a bruised heart and other internal organs. No one that saw our car or my x-rays believed we could be alive. We consider it a miracle that we are here today.
I spent 6 weeks in the hospital in Utah before I could return to Ca. for continued medical care. The first 3 weeks I was in the intensive care unit. While I was in ICU, our Stake President came to visit me. He told me he wanted me to tell my story in conference. I told him that I already had enough to worry about. I thought he had forgotten about it until he called me a few days ago. However, I am grateful for the opportunity I have today of sharing our miracle with you and bearing my testimony. In some ways this has been a terrible experience… but in some ways, it has been a blessing.
The blessings started immediately after the accident. My first night in ICU I was alone and in agony. I thought I was dying and I didn’t want to be alone. I felt someone squeezing my hand. I thought it was my nurse but when I opened my eyes no one was there. I soon realized that it was my mother who passed away many years ago. I never saw her, but I felt her holding my hand thoughout the night and I knew that she was there. That was a great comfort to me.
Each breath I took was torture. I was convinced I was going to die that night partially because of an experience I had a few months before. I was in church singing the sacrament song when a scene opened in my mind’s eye and I realized that I was viewing my own funeral. I’ve always supposed that I’d be really happy to be dead and excited to be graduating from earth life and moving on… but as I looked at my family and friends, I could not only see their grief, I could feel it. Their sorrow weighed heavily on me and made me very sad. That night in ICU I thought I’d been given that experience to prepare me for death. All night I kept begging Heavenly Father to hurry and call me home. I told Him that the pain was more than I could bear and I wanted to be released from my crushed body. I was a bit perturbed when I found I was still alive the next morning. A Bro. Smith dropped by my room. He asked me if I wanted a priesthood blessing. I thought to myself, I don’t want a blessing…Can’t you see I am trying to die! Of course I didn’t say that to him. I told him I had already been given a blessing the night before. He said that’s ok… they were free… and he felt the Lord had a blessing for me.
When he laid his hands on my head and started to speak, I was amazed. It was like he was reading my mind and knew my secret thoughts. He said that my Heavenly Father loved me and He knew I was suffering in terrible pain… but… He was not going to call me home because I had not finished the work that I was called on earth to do. He told me that our loved ones from the other side of the veil had surrounded John and me at the time of the accident and protected us from death. He said that many prayers that were being said on both sides of the veil and that they would support me, comfort me, give me the ability to endure the pain and the patience I would need for my long road of recovery. I wasn’t too thrilled about the “long recovery part” but I was thankful for the blessing. It then became clear to me that my funeral “vision” had been given to me to help me live…. Not to help me die… In the following weeks, each time I took a turn for the worse and I wanted to give up, I would remember the sadness I felt watching my loved ones grieve… and I would find the strength to go on.
I bear witness to you that the blessing Bro. Smith gave me 7 months ago has come true. I have felt the power of the prayers that have been offered in our behalf. They have been tangible support. They have indeed comforted me and given me more strength than I ever knew I had. John and I have been overwhelmed by the love, concern and help that has been given to us. It has been wonderful. Many times our prayers have been answered through loving service. Our hearts are touched and full of gratitude for all those who are praying for us and coming to our aid.
We are still recovering. We still have pain. My doctors tell me that my lung and ribs will never be normal again...but we are so thankful with the progress we have made. Last week our dear Temple President and matron let me return to working in the temple again as an ordinance worker with my sweet husband. How I love Pres. and Sister Morgan. They have been such a loving support to us during this whole ordeal. I so missed not being able to go to the temple during the months that I was in bed. I am thankful that I am healed enough now to be able to work in that sacred house of the Lord again each week and partake of the wonderful spirit that is there.
We all will probably face some hard times in our lives. There may be challenges at times that seem to overwhelm us, but I know first hand that our Heavenly Father loves us and He is always there to support us and help us succeed. All we have to do is turn to Him and trust Him. I am thankful for this knowledge. This is my testimony, which I bear in the name of our dear savior Jesus Christ, who willingly suffered all for us and knows exactly how we feel. Amen
Have a great week. Hugs, Lura
