In the Book of Mormon, chapter 9 it reads:
10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.
11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of amiracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same bGod who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.
17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his aword the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was bcreated of the cdust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?
18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty amiracles? And there were many bmighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.
19 And if there were amiracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he bchangeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. I had an experience while I was in Redondo Beach, CA with a friend of mine, (Van) that was reminder of the Lord's mercies applied to his children. Van tells the story in his words in a letter he wrote to a lady he baptized on his mission years ago.
"The next day (Wednesday) the conference was scheduled for 8am to 9pm with a two-hour break at 3pm. A friend (Bryan) and I left at 3:30pm on the beach cruisers to go get wet. We were pretty anxious and excited and our time was limited. We hustled down and jumped in. Beautiful swells coming in and we had a great time making attempts at body surfing and not getting pummeled. I love the water, but at 4:20 I got slammed into the sand hard, square on the head, exactly what I was trying to avoid, but it happened anyway. I felt the shooting pain in my neck and knew it wasn’t good. Fortunately, all my faculties still worked and I hurried out of the water knowing that it could be bad and I needed to assess the situation quickly. My throat hurt and realizing that the week before I had been terribly sick I thought it was just my glands again. A quick assessment and I realized I was okay, but should be careful. We biked back to the hotel in time to clean up and return to the conference at 5pm. At 7:45pm I stepped out in pain and was having a hard time breathing. A small calm thought, “reduce swelling” settled in. I made my way to the nearest convenience store and located the Ibuprofen (anti-inflammatory) and returned at 8:15pm till close of the workshop at 9:40pm. I settled in at the hotel room saying a prayer and determined that the Lord was watching over me.
The next morning I returned to the conference after breakfast with Bryan. At 11:30 I had very strong impressions to call Emily and have her begin her research on the necessary steps for what it would take to properly treat something like this immediately on my return. My statement on the phone to her was, “my neck is very likely broken and I need to see a doctor tonight.” As concerning a statement this is, she was as calm as could be and so was I. We both felt things would be well, but I was strongly impressed to see a doctor tonight and to not wait. At 3pm the conference ended. At 6pm I was in the air back to Salt Lake City. I walked into my house at 9:20pm in time to hugs the kids, tuck them in, and make my way to the ER with Emily. My neighbor, a doctor, had indicated that he would set things up for in the morning if I wanted to wait, but didn’t recommend it. My impressions to go immediately were very strong, so we did.
The first doctor into the room was from Southern California. Miracle #1 in the ER.
The CT-Scan tech was from Southern California. Miracle #2 in the ER.
The Nurse was from LA – “Good thing you didn’t go to the ER in LA – you would have waited 15 hours and probably had to take a number.” Miracle #3 in the ER.
The Neuro-Spine Surgeon just happened to be in that night (1 of 2 in the entire area) and walked by when the first set of X-rays were being viewed in the hallway. Miracle #4 in the ER.
The fracture was on the front of the vertebra instead of the rear where the spinal column resides. Miracle #5 in the ER.
Fracture is in such a way that surgery is not probable and it will heal. Miracle #6 in the ER.
The MRI technician had decided to work and extra shift this week and was staying late. Miracle #7 in the ER.
Swelling, bleeding etc. was all very minimal. Miracle #8 in the ER.
All of the resources and all of the correct individuals were all present at 1am on a Friday morning to make a diagnosis with the ‘best’ possible outcome. I was overcome again. The Lord truly blesses us all in different ways.
Whether the accident was my fault or the ‘smite’ of the devil himself slamming me down I have been preserved and blessed beyond measure in everything I do. I contribute so much of it to my faithful ‘mission’ days and I can’t help but think about when those blessings will “run out.” I know for a fact the devil himself did not want me in LA this week. He did not want me to experience Joy. He did not want me to experience Happiness. And yet these are the two things that he will never be able to take away from me."
God is a God of miracles. I know this to be true. I've posted the video of Van getting smashed by the wave.
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