Hello!
The time is going EXTREMELY fast now! This week went by in a blur! I've just got a couple of things I'd like to share.
On the 19th of this week, we had an "earthquake". Mexico has a system where when an earthquake is 1 minute from reaching your location, the alarms go off. We were sitting in class and they went off and we ran outside, only to experience not even the slightest shake. It was very disappointing.
This week however, was not entirely disappointing. I received a couple dozen doughnuts sent from my family, and they were SO good! Love you guys!
The thing I really want to focus on this week is the story of an Elder that left yesterday. Now I know that most people reading this will want to just skip this part, but DON'T. This story is the most incredible story I have ever heard and is worth spending 5 or so minutes reading.
The Elder's name is Elder Osborne, and this is the story of why he's serving a mission. I don't have much time so I'm going to make it pretty fast.
It was Easter Break of his Sophomore year, and he had the option of going to California with a couple of member friends or to go hunting with a couple of friends to the property of a friend down in Cedar City. He decided to go to the property in Cedar City.
The first day they hunted and looked for elk sheds. Not much happened. It was on the second day that it happened.
His friends took off in the morning and he decided to stay home. After napping for a bit he went to look for them on a dirt bike. Couldn't find them so went back to camp, got on the Ranger they had, and took off. He went about 10 miles and decided to go back. On the way back he was flooring it, seeing how fast he could go, and this is where it gets crazy.
He was going around a turn, drifting, and looking backwards to see the dust cloud he had created (like any normal guy would) when he turned back forward, he was heading off the road (it was flat, sagebrush area) and so in hoping he would correct and get back on the road, he jerked the wheel to the left. The Ranger turned and hit a 4 foot deep ditch with its front left tire and launched him out. He flew about 15 feet back into the road on which he was traveling, and the Ranger he was in followed him, and LANDED ON TOP OF HIM, crushing his pelvis and pinning him to the ground.
He says that for a good 15 minutes he was screaming and crying. This was the most pain he had ever felt in his ENTIRE life. The Ranger on top of him weighed 1900 pounds. After a while, he realized he was out in the middle of nowhere. No one was going to hear him. He knew at that point that he was probably going to die. His life began to flash before his eyes, and all he could feel was disapointment. Disappointment in himself and that with all the things that God had given him that he hadn't done more.
He began to pray to Heavenly Father. Fervently. He begged Heavenly Father for forgiveness and promised that if he survived this, he would serve a mission. He began to try to get himself out from underneath the Ranger. He put rocks underneath that would raise it up half an inch then break and it would fall back on him. Nothing was working.
The pain was so great, he began to pray that God would just take him. He had tried and tried and nothing was working, and all he wanted was for God to take him.
He looked around to see what he had. He had some flat tire filler, a knife, his gun, a coke, and a powerade. He immediately guzzled the coke and left the gatorade in case he would be there awhile. He took the flat tire filler and the knife and began to carve messages into the side of the Ranger to his family. He made personal messages for every single one of them, telling them he loved them.
After this, he took the knife, and prayed to God, and told him he was coming home. Now this next part I hope you know was not an attempt to take his own life, but relieve him of the pain and suffering he was going through and to return to God.
He stabbed himself in the left side of the chest 15 times, and then reached up and slit his throat.
Unable to do more, he set the knife aside and pulled his hood up. His chest was so soaked with blood he got really cold every time a breeze blew by. He began to fade and he knew that he was about to pass to the other side. He could feel no pain. He awoke to the sound of a dirt bike in the distance, followed by his friend (who was a nonmember) pulling around the corner. All Elder Osborne could do, being unable to speak, was reach out his hand. He says he feels like he was reaching out to Christ.
His friend came up to him and just started freaking out. Finding his friend near death, crushed underneath a 1900 pound Ranger, and no one to help him. Elder Osborne, unable to speak, motioned for him to calm down. The friend then proceeded to try to lift the Ranger up. He was able to lift it about an inch but Elder Osborne did not have the strength to pull himself out, so he set it back down.
The friend(and remember, he's a nonmember) began to pray to God. He prayed and prayed, and after, walked over to the Ranger, and flipped it over off of Elder Osborne.
There is no way that his friend could have done that without Divine help and I testify that it was because of Divine Help that he was able to do it.
Elder Osborne looked down at this point, surprised to see his legs were still attached to his body. His friend told him that he would be right back and jumped on the dirt bike and left.
His friend returned with his other friend in a truck and they got out and looked at him. They knew they couldn't move someone who had been injured like this. Elder Osborne motioned to them to just throw him into the bed of the truck. He couldn't stay there, whereas the paramedics would have to come in with a stretcher. They picked him up and placed him in the back of the truck.
They met the ambulance halfway. They placed him into it, talking to him and trying to get a response to keep him alive. Miraculously, the 2 paramedics in the ambulance were some type of doctor who knew they had to pump oxygen into his lungs. They got clearance to put a tube through his throat to pump air into his lungs. He then was able to speak and he told them he wanted a Priesthood Blessing right then or he would not get on the lifeflight. The twin uncles of his friend gave him a blessing.
After the blessing, he says he doesn't remember anything past getting put on the helicopter. The doctor on the helicopter said, "Okay, we're starting the morphine drip." and that was it.
The rest of the story is how this was a miracle, wrought by God. He got to the hospital and the first surgery was on his neck. It was supposed to be a 30 minute surgery but was instead 2 and a half hours. The surgeon lost count of stitches after they reached 700, and there were 7 layers of skin that were being put back together.
When his father was told that the injuries were self-inflicted, the father was furious, denying that something like that would ever happen. The doctor then told him that without slicing his throat, he would have hyperventilated, gone into shock, and died. He also told him that the major artery that runs through that area clotted up directly after it was cut and that his cut had missed his voicebox by 3 centimeters. "He didn't do this by himself." Is what the doctor said to the Father.
Many other problems were dealt with at this time, not all of which I can recall, but from what the doctors said, this young man should have died 12 times.
His legs had swollen up to the size of 11 inches in diameter.
His Kidneys should have failed him but didn't. His Kidney count or whatever the medical term is topped at 310,000. The last person to have died from this in the hospital was an old man whose kidneys failed him at 150,000, and the record for highest kidney count was a person whose kidneys hit 210,000 from which they immediately died.
The amount of blood lost should have easily killed him. He was down to 135 pounds in fluids when he arrived from the hospital and after 1 day in the hospital he was up to 210 pounds.
In the end, he was under that Ranger for 2 and a half to 3 hours.
The doctors told him he wouldn't be able to walk for a year, and that he would have a limp. He was paralyzed for only 3 months and at 5 months played football.
The scar on his neck is unreal, probably about 5 inches long, and he was unable to show the scars on his chest.
I know that this Gospel is true. I know it with all of my heart. I know that through the grace of God, this Elder was saved and is now serving a mission for a special purpose, that of which is only known to God. I know that Christ suffered for us, and that through him, and only through him, can we return to live with our Heavenly Father and live with our families forever. I'm so eternally grateful to my parents for the opportunity to serve a mission, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Con Amor,
Elder Spencer Layne Robertson
P.S. If any of you have any questions or would like me to clarify on parts of the story. Please let me know! :)
The time is going EXTREMELY fast now! This week went by in a blur! I've just got a couple of things I'd like to share.
On the 19th of this week, we had an "earthquake". Mexico has a system where when an earthquake is 1 minute from reaching your location, the alarms go off. We were sitting in class and they went off and we ran outside, only to experience not even the slightest shake. It was very disappointing.
This week however, was not entirely disappointing. I received a couple dozen doughnuts sent from my family, and they were SO good! Love you guys!
The thing I really want to focus on this week is the story of an Elder that left yesterday. Now I know that most people reading this will want to just skip this part, but DON'T. This story is the most incredible story I have ever heard and is worth spending 5 or so minutes reading.
The Elder's name is Elder Osborne, and this is the story of why he's serving a mission. I don't have much time so I'm going to make it pretty fast.
It was Easter Break of his Sophomore year, and he had the option of going to California with a couple of member friends or to go hunting with a couple of friends to the property of a friend down in Cedar City. He decided to go to the property in Cedar City.
The first day they hunted and looked for elk sheds. Not much happened. It was on the second day that it happened.
His friends took off in the morning and he decided to stay home. After napping for a bit he went to look for them on a dirt bike. Couldn't find them so went back to camp, got on the Ranger they had, and took off. He went about 10 miles and decided to go back. On the way back he was flooring it, seeing how fast he could go, and this is where it gets crazy.
He was going around a turn, drifting, and looking backwards to see the dust cloud he had created (like any normal guy would) when he turned back forward, he was heading off the road (it was flat, sagebrush area) and so in hoping he would correct and get back on the road, he jerked the wheel to the left. The Ranger turned and hit a 4 foot deep ditch with its front left tire and launched him out. He flew about 15 feet back into the road on which he was traveling, and the Ranger he was in followed him, and LANDED ON TOP OF HIM, crushing his pelvis and pinning him to the ground.
He says that for a good 15 minutes he was screaming and crying. This was the most pain he had ever felt in his ENTIRE life. The Ranger on top of him weighed 1900 pounds. After a while, he realized he was out in the middle of nowhere. No one was going to hear him. He knew at that point that he was probably going to die. His life began to flash before his eyes, and all he could feel was disapointment. Disappointment in himself and that with all the things that God had given him that he hadn't done more.
He began to pray to Heavenly Father. Fervently. He begged Heavenly Father for forgiveness and promised that if he survived this, he would serve a mission. He began to try to get himself out from underneath the Ranger. He put rocks underneath that would raise it up half an inch then break and it would fall back on him. Nothing was working.
The pain was so great, he began to pray that God would just take him. He had tried and tried and nothing was working, and all he wanted was for God to take him.
He looked around to see what he had. He had some flat tire filler, a knife, his gun, a coke, and a powerade. He immediately guzzled the coke and left the gatorade in case he would be there awhile. He took the flat tire filler and the knife and began to carve messages into the side of the Ranger to his family. He made personal messages for every single one of them, telling them he loved them.
After this, he took the knife, and prayed to God, and told him he was coming home. Now this next part I hope you know was not an attempt to take his own life, but relieve him of the pain and suffering he was going through and to return to God.
He stabbed himself in the left side of the chest 15 times, and then reached up and slit his throat.
Unable to do more, he set the knife aside and pulled his hood up. His chest was so soaked with blood he got really cold every time a breeze blew by. He began to fade and he knew that he was about to pass to the other side. He could feel no pain. He awoke to the sound of a dirt bike in the distance, followed by his friend (who was a nonmember) pulling around the corner. All Elder Osborne could do, being unable to speak, was reach out his hand. He says he feels like he was reaching out to Christ.
His friend came up to him and just started freaking out. Finding his friend near death, crushed underneath a 1900 pound Ranger, and no one to help him. Elder Osborne, unable to speak, motioned for him to calm down. The friend then proceeded to try to lift the Ranger up. He was able to lift it about an inch but Elder Osborne did not have the strength to pull himself out, so he set it back down.
The friend(and remember, he's a nonmember) began to pray to God. He prayed and prayed, and after, walked over to the Ranger, and flipped it over off of Elder Osborne.
There is no way that his friend could have done that without Divine help and I testify that it was because of Divine Help that he was able to do it.
Elder Osborne looked down at this point, surprised to see his legs were still attached to his body. His friend told him that he would be right back and jumped on the dirt bike and left.
His friend returned with his other friend in a truck and they got out and looked at him. They knew they couldn't move someone who had been injured like this. Elder Osborne motioned to them to just throw him into the bed of the truck. He couldn't stay there, whereas the paramedics would have to come in with a stretcher. They picked him up and placed him in the back of the truck.
They met the ambulance halfway. They placed him into it, talking to him and trying to get a response to keep him alive. Miraculously, the 2 paramedics in the ambulance were some type of doctor who knew they had to pump oxygen into his lungs. They got clearance to put a tube through his throat to pump air into his lungs. He then was able to speak and he told them he wanted a Priesthood Blessing right then or he would not get on the lifeflight. The twin uncles of his friend gave him a blessing.
After the blessing, he says he doesn't remember anything past getting put on the helicopter. The doctor on the helicopter said, "Okay, we're starting the morphine drip." and that was it.
The rest of the story is how this was a miracle, wrought by God. He got to the hospital and the first surgery was on his neck. It was supposed to be a 30 minute surgery but was instead 2 and a half hours. The surgeon lost count of stitches after they reached 700, and there were 7 layers of skin that were being put back together.
When his father was told that the injuries were self-inflicted, the father was furious, denying that something like that would ever happen. The doctor then told him that without slicing his throat, he would have hyperventilated, gone into shock, and died. He also told him that the major artery that runs through that area clotted up directly after it was cut and that his cut had missed his voicebox by 3 centimeters. "He didn't do this by himself." Is what the doctor said to the Father.
Many other problems were dealt with at this time, not all of which I can recall, but from what the doctors said, this young man should have died 12 times.
His legs had swollen up to the size of 11 inches in diameter.
His Kidneys should have failed him but didn't. His Kidney count or whatever the medical term is topped at 310,000. The last person to have died from this in the hospital was an old man whose kidneys failed him at 150,000, and the record for highest kidney count was a person whose kidneys hit 210,000 from which they immediately died.
The amount of blood lost should have easily killed him. He was down to 135 pounds in fluids when he arrived from the hospital and after 1 day in the hospital he was up to 210 pounds.
In the end, he was under that Ranger for 2 and a half to 3 hours.
The doctors told him he wouldn't be able to walk for a year, and that he would have a limp. He was paralyzed for only 3 months and at 5 months played football.
The scar on his neck is unreal, probably about 5 inches long, and he was unable to show the scars on his chest.
I know that this Gospel is true. I know it with all of my heart. I know that through the grace of God, this Elder was saved and is now serving a mission for a special purpose, that of which is only known to God. I know that Christ suffered for us, and that through him, and only through him, can we return to live with our Heavenly Father and live with our families forever. I'm so eternally grateful to my parents for the opportunity to serve a mission, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Con Amor,
Elder Spencer Layne Robertson
P.S. If any of you have any questions or would like me to clarify on parts of the story. Please let me know! :)