why did it take me 18 years to figure out how blessed i was to grow up with what i had? that question has gone through my head a lot of times this week. im going to be short in describing my week and then i want to relay a story that has changed my life and hopefully changes somebody else´s too. i really just cant believe that i grew up in the home that i did, not only with the family that i was blessed with, cause you guys are great, but with a book that contains more truth than any other book in the history of mankind. i mean i though i knew stuff about the book of mormon before i left, and i didnt. ive have taken that book for granted for eighteen years and im just beginning to scratch the surface on the power that it contains!
this week was awesome. it went by faster than any other week because i felt the spirit more than any other week. just when i thought the devotionals couldnt get any better they keep getting better!! elder scott (who i usually struggle to stay awake listening to) gave a talk on prayer at the provo mtc last week that was unbelievable. getting home and having the chance to communicate with my father in heaven every night really is something ive treasured these four weeks. its amazing the blessing he is waiting to grant us.
my spanish is improving, my testimony is growing exponentially, and today when we got to go to the visitors center of the mexico city temple i wanted to scream because of the knowledge our church has of eternal families.
so my story is about this elder. his name is elder osborn and last saturday night elder frampton set up a private devotional for a few of our favorite districts to attend to hear this kids story. for the first few weeks here and had been asking him about some gnarly scars he has on his neck above his collar and he just kept telling me hed tell me soon enough. so here it is i probably missed a ton of details but here it goes. during easter break a couple years back when he was a soph. him and two of his buddies decided to go camping in cedar city where they lived. friday and saturday they hunted and had campfires and just enjoyed their time. saturday night his friends mom arrived at their little ranch. the next morning they had an easter egg hunt and then after his buddies wanted to go look for some more elk sheds. he was too tired so he took a nap while his friends headed out on dirtbikes. after a couple hours he couldnt sleep anymore and tried to call his friends to see where they were. no answer. so instead of waiting he hopped on a dirtbike and went up one of the two roads from the ranch house up into the mtns. he looked for 30 min couldnt find them so he went back and sat for a little, called them some more, still nothin. so he got bored again and this time hopped on a ranger (razr) and went down the other path which is more flat and full of sage. he took his gun and knife just in case he wanted to shoot some stuff.
after about 10 miles he decides he wants to see how fast the ranger can go. so he starts hauling and drifting around corners and then on one turn he drifts, looks back to see the cloud of dust, and when he turns back around hes not on the trail he had gone a little to far. so he tries to overcorrect his mistake... however there is a ditch and the ranger hits the ditch, he flies out of the ranger, and in turn the ranger starts following his course and ends up rolling until it lands on top of his pelvis completely covering the lower half of his body including his cell phone in his pocket. 1900 pounds of force pretty much crushed every bone he had in his legs. for about 3 minutes all he did was scream until he realized that he was so far out and nobody was going to hear him. he tried everything he could think of to get the ranger off of him, lifting it, putting rocks underneath, sliding out but nothing would work. then he started praying.. he begged and cried and suddenly realizes all the bad things he has done in his life and that he was not hanging out with the right crowds, or doing what he was supposed to be doing. he tells heavenly father that he will turn his life around and serve a mission if he would save him. he says hes never felt so disappointed and devastated in his life! his phone is vibrating but he cant reach it. he looks into the ranger and all hes got is a knife, gun, gatorade, and fluid to fix a flat tire. he cant reach the gun, but the pain is so great that suddenly his prayers turn to asking heavenly father to take him home.
so out of desperation and no other options, not suicidal reasons, he takes the knife and tells his father in heaven hes coming home. after carving notes to his family in the side of the ranger he slits his hand to see how sharp the knife is and then proceeds to stab the left side of his chest 15 times. then he reaches up and slits his throat. as he is bleeding he puts his hood on and lays down and tries to go unconscious, but he cant. then he hears a dirtbike pulling up and looks up to see his friends having a panic attack over his condition. after unsuccessfully trying to lift the beast off of him his friend, who is a non member, kneels down and begins to cry out to god. then he stands up, and proceeds to lift the ranger off of elder osborn and onto all four wheels. hops back on the dirtbike and rushes back to get his other friends and a truck. they load him into the back because they were in place that an ambulance would not be able to get to and start back on the road. they call his mom who calls the ambulance and they meet the ambulance halfway to the cedar city. once he is in the ambulance they call life flight. they insert a bag into his neck so that blood does not drain into his lungs. then the life flight takes him and they arrive at utah valley hospital. before he went in to surgery his friends two uncles gave him a priesthood blessing. after that they put him on morphine and the rest of the story is from his family. his family arrived and could not watch the procedure that lasted two and a half hours. doctors were breathing for him and he had a cpk blood count of 310 k. the highest cpk count the hospital had ever worked on AND saved the person was under 200. over 700 stitches and numerous procedures later the doctor came out and told his dad that the wounds had been self inflicted. as his dad began to yell at the doctor and tell him that he was a liar the doctor had to calm him down and tell him that if he had not cut his neck open the way that he had he wouldve have suffocated. however the cut should have also killed him. the incision nonetheless was guided and there is no way his son could have done it on his own. the cut missed his voice box by 3 cm and was undoubtedly guided. he shouldve died 12 different times that night, but he didnt.
overnight his legs swelled up so much that he gained over 100 pounds and the doctors told him he would be paralyzed. 1 month later he left the hospital in a wheelchair. 2 months after that he started walking. 2 months after that he played for his high schools football team, and the next spring he was an allstate goalie for cedar high (i had to squeeze that information from him). ive never felt the spirit so strong in my entire life than when he testified that during the toughest moments of our lives we arent walking ourselves through, christ is there every step of the way to help us along. this elder is a walking miracle.
i hope i did this story justice because it is something that ill never forget in my entire life. sometimes we dont see miracles because we dont go where miracles happen!! i realized this week that i have got a lot of work to do before my faith is where it needs to be. ive never loved this gospel so much or appreciated it so much in my entire life than at this moment. i cant believe i have taken it for granted the way that i have. it ashames me that im just now figuring that out and probably wont even understand the power of it over the next 23 months. i love you guys i hope youre doing well, i try my best to pray for each of you individually. have a good week.
-chilean coast cruiser (what hyrum has one why cant i?)
here´s some pics at the temple, a pic with elder osborn, and a modeling shot of me and my comp in the forbidden forest. ill have to do two emails with all the pics.
