Can I be an Angel?

I wrote a while ago that I had a doozy of a story for you, and today is the day I am going to share it with you! Are you ready? Get yourself a drink, settle in for a story worthy of the "big screen"!

Sometimes we need Angels in our lives, but this is a story when my husband got to BE an Angel for someone else. Our church has what we call General Conference. This is when all of the leaders of our religion gather together, and speak to the rest of the church. There are 4 General Sessions, one on Saturday morning from 10:00-12:00, Saturday Afternoon from 2:00-4:00, Sunday Morning from 10:00-12:00, and Sunday Afternoon from 2:00-4:00. Then there is the General Women's Meeting, which is the Saturday BEFORE the other General Sessions from 6:00-7:30, and General Priesthood Meeting on Saturday night, after the other sessions from 6:00-8:00. It is a lot! We watch on TV, listen on the Radio, sometimes we go to our church buildings and watch it, and sometimes are able to travel to SLC, UT and listen in the Conference Center, or on Temple Square at one of the small theaters that stream the Conference live. It seems like a HUGE commitment, but in all honesty, it's not! I love to hear from my spiritual leaders, especially from the Living Prophet, Thomas S Monson, his 2 Counselors, and the Quorum of the 12 Apostles (learn more about my religion here). Many people, my family included, like to have a special night during the Priesthood Session, the men attend the meeting, while the women and children have a night out, or spend time together at home. Hubby likes to attend Priesthood meeting with his father, so when that time came around a few years ago, I sent him up to his parents house alone. I spent time with the kids, and enjoyed time by myself.

The drive to Hubby's parent's house was about 2 hours. I sent him out the door, with plenty of time to get here and attend Priesthood Session. He called every half hour or so, until he didn't. I was expecting his call, and it didn't come. I knew that he wasn't at his parent's house yet. He still had at least 45 minutes to go. I tried to call him, and he didn't answer. I started to get worried. I kept calling him, every couple of minutes, until finally he called me back. He was upset, and was talking very quickly. I got him to calm down, and this is the story he told me:

He was driving towards his parent's house, and about 45 minutes away, when he came up to an off ramp. It wasn't a very used off-ramp, because it is in a rural location, and he wasn't planning on taking the exit. As he got closer to the exit, he felt stronger and stronger like he should stop, until he finally HEARD, "PULL OFF THE ROAD! TAKE THE EXIT!" He couldn't ignore the feeling or the voice, so he took the exit. This particular exit makes almost a complete circle to get off the freeway, and onto the connecting road. The connecting road crosses OVER the freeway, so the ramp angles upward. From the direction Hubby was driving, he could not see the entire off-ramp, but as he drove on the ramp, he saw a small black plume of smoke, and a cement barrier was missing. He immediately stopped his car. As he got closer to the edge of the road, he could see a car upside down at the bottom of the hill. He ran down the hill, and found a young girl, about 17, inside the upside down vehicle. She was unconscious and bleeding heavily. The car was smoking from somewhere, and even though he had been told to never move someone who has been in an accident, Hubby knew he had to get her out of the car. Luckily, someone else had been taking the same exit, and watched as Hubby ran down the hill, and pulled over to see what was going on. This man helped Hubby get the girl out of her car, and laying flat on the ground, both being careful to move her head and neck as little as possible. They could see that the girl was hurt very badly, and since Hubby has had CNA training, he started treating her cuts and abrasions the best he could, while the man called 911. Hubby found a large cut underneath the girl's arm, and when he turned to show the man, he was handed a shirt. The man had seen the cut at the same time, and taken off his shirt to help. They had the bleeding mostly stopped by the time the ambulance arrived, and took her to the hospital. Hubby called the girl's parents while they were waiting for the ambulance, and found out that she was LDS, just like we are. Her parent's asked Hubby to give her a Priesthood Blessing, and Hubby told them he would. He gently laid his hands on her head, and gave her a silent blessing, since the paramedics were there, and he didn't want to interrupt them. He ended his blessing, just as the paramedics took her to the ambulance. Hubby had a short time to talk to the girl before the paramedics arrived, and told her about our kids, and tried to keep her mind off of her pain. He was covered in her blood by the time she left, and was too shaken to drive for a short time. After the ambulance left, Hubby and the man that stopped to help him, talked a little. The man asked Hubby what he was doing when he put his hands on the girl's head. Hubby explained Priesthood Blessings, and the man said that he felt so calm, during the blessing, and that even though it was hectic all around them, he could feel peace. Hubby told him that he felt it too. The two parted ways, and Hubby called me. He drove to his parent's house, and attended Priesthood Meeting. The next day, he called the girl's parents again, and asked how their daughter was doing. They told him she was doing well, but had a crushed pelvis, a broken Femur in 2 places, broken ribs, as well as the gash that had been bleeding so heavily. They thanked him for helping her, and promised to have her call him, but she never did.

A few weeks went by, and Hubby took the kids up to visit his parents while I worked. He pulled off of the freeway to get gas, and happened to see the girl's parents. They told him that she had JUST been released from the Hospital, and had been asking how to get in touch with him. He was able to talk to her again, to give her a hug, and introduce her to our kids. Then she thanked him. She thanked him for giving her a blessing. She told him that it was a beautiful blessing, and she knew that she was going to be okay after hearing it. Hubby told her that he didn't say a word out loud, but she told him specific things that he had said in his mind. She had a long road to recovery, was in a cast that covered her leg from her foot, up to her chest, and was still healing. She knew from his blessing that she was going to be okay though. She had been driving to a party that she wasn't supposed to go to, snuck out of her parent's house, taken their car, and gotten into an accident, that could have taken her life. She told him that she was changing her life. She wasn't going to see those people anymore. She was going to start living the Gospel again.

Hubby received a powerful example of why it is important to always live worthy of the sacred Priesthood that he holds. He was able to help someone because of it. Maybe this story isn't worthy of the big screen in your eyes. Maybe it isn't very important to you. But to our family, it is. It is worthy of the big screen. It is a doozy. It was a turning point for that young girl's life, and it was a reminder for ours.

Living the Gospel may seem like a lot. 3 Hours of church every Sunday, callings that take time away from our families, service, General Conference that takes up an entire weekend, 10% of all of the money we earn we donate to the Church, Fast Offerings (money that we pay to the Church to help those in need), fasting, scripture study, prayer, no drinking, no smoking, no coffee, no tea. The list seems long and never ending, BUT the benefits out weigh the cost. The blessings are UNCOUNTABLE! The chances to help others are undeniable.

Sometimes we need angels, and sometimes we get to be someone else's angel. This was Hubby's chance to be an angel, and because he was living according to Gospel Principle's he was blessed with the opportunity!