miracle man

To be quite honest, I have re-typed this blog post multiple times, wanting the words and description to be perfect, but I realized that whatever words I say, they won't even compare to hearing the mans story in person, but I feel like everyone needs to hear it. Today at 11: 00 A.M. my life forever changed.

Here is a little background. The night before, I was saying my nightly prayers. Praying for a missionary experience the next day; wanting to stand as a light for someone in need. Not thinking much of it, I headed out the doors for school. I was in the library sitting at a table working on my laptop for my online class. I had noticed a man in his mid forties was sitting at the table behind me. We had made small eye contact a few times, smiling at one another, but mostly minding our own business, doing our school work and things. A little while later, I raised my hand, turning my body to look and ask for help. At this point, we were in full eye contact. He looked me and asked, "are you from Germany? You have a strong German look to you." I proceeded to tell him no and I told him a few things about myself. I turned back around after a few minutes determined to finish my school work. I could feel him staring at me, so I turned back around and smiled. He soon after asked, "are you LDS?" I thought to myself, yay a missionary experience, so I quickly and excitingly told him, "YESSSSS." He said, "I have been watching you and I just knew it." I was so excited to learn more about this man. We started having a casual conversation, quickly opening up to one another. I soon asked him what he was studying and he had told me that he had been in college for 7 years. I asked him if he was going to be a doctor, and he started laughing and said, "not exactly. You see I was a pro snowboarder training to be in the Olympics when I got into a severe snowboarding accident." He went on to tell me, "I was in a coma for 4 days and I....." He paused with tears in his eyes and he looked at me in my eyes and said, I don't share this story a lot, but for some reason I feel like I need to tell you." Realizing he was serious and needed someone to talk to,  I pulled my chair closer, never guessing in a million years what he would soon share with me. 

He went on and said, "while I was in my coma, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ welcomed me into Heaven with open arms, calling me by name. He had explained to me that before his accident he wasn't living the best life and he wasn't the most spiritual man. He kept baring his testimony to me that Heavenly Father knows all of his children and knows them by name. He described Heaven to me, the feelings he felt, the conversations he had, the people he saw, and he explained to me what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ looked like. I will never forget what he said, "Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were in white, they were shinning so bright that their clothes radiated almost a purple/blue color, it was so bright. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are the most loving and forgiving people. I felt happy. I was in a perfect state. Time didn't matter. I had no pain and I learned so much about the gospel, things I never even knew before. Heaven was full of missionary work. Heavenly Father has a message and he wants all of his children to hear it." He explained to me that Heavenly Father was there in all times, in all things, and in all places. He said to me, "I don't understand how people don't know this gospel is true. If you ever start to doubt or fall off the path, get back on and hold tight because I promise you are going to want to feel his embrace and hear him call you by name."

To be honest, listening to this man for the first couple minutes, I didn't believe him. I was thinking, this man has a severe brain problem and he must be making it up. He explained to me that after he came out of his coma, he had to learn to walk and talk again. He said, "I remember coming back and the doctor was asking me silly questions like: Who is the president? When is your birthday? What is your favorite color? And all I wanted to do was tell him that none of that mattered, but Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loved him, knew his name, and wanted for him to hear of their message." He told me that they wanted to put him in a mental institution for awhile, but slowly as he shared his message more and more people started to listen and believe him. For a man that has a hard time grasping certain concepts and ideas, he could quickly answer the questions I had for him, almost perfectly talking and describing Heaven in a very detailed way, yet it happened to him clear back in 1997. 

I wish so badly more people could have been there to hear of his message and testimony because it was one of the neatest and most spiritual days of my life so far. Little did I know that man did HIS missionary work today, not the other way around. That "miracle man" forever changed my life. I suggested to him that he read, Heaven is for Real.   A book about a little boy that emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to Heaven. I SUGGEST YOU ALL READ IT. I am not a big fan of reading, but I absolutely love this book. READ IT, READ IT, READ IT.

I will never forget the experiences that man shared with me today. I bare my testimony to you that I KNOW THAT THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, IS THE ONLY TRUE CHURCH. I feel of Heavenly Fathers love every single day. He loves us and wants us to return with him so he can "embrace us in his arms and call us by name." My heart is full friends. The church is true. I am grateful that Heavenly Father places certain people in our life and a certain time. I will forever be grateful for that "miracle man" that changed my life today.