Medical Miracles from Missionary Medical Newsletter

Mission Miracles

In one of the missions in the Philippines, there is a nurse who was a former OR nurse.  She was definitely in the right place at the right time.  An Elder had abdominal pain and the Surgeon wanted to operate.  The nurse asked him to do an exploratory laparoscopy instead of opening his abdomen.  He replied he would if they had gas for the insufflator.  The nurse prayed hard for the necessary equipment so he could have the least invasive procedure and they had it just for the one day. 

As Sister Rollins sat outside waiting, a member of the OR crew came and invited her into the operating room.  He knew she was a former OR nurse.  The surgeon showed her the situation, explained what he needed to do, called her back a 2^nd time to see the end results of the surgery.  The room was small, the equipment very old, but the surgeon did a great job and within a week the Elder was back in the mission field.  This nurse knew what to request and the Lord took care of it from there. 

The Lord puts us in the right place to use the skills we as nurses have developed over years of work in many settings.  Another nurse asked the right question to have blood drawn while waiting with a missionary in a busy Emergency Room waiting room in Boston, Massachusetts.  This gave the needed information for a surgeon to be able to work him into a schedule to perform an appendectomy within one hour of seeing him and bypassing the usual doctors in the ER.  This elder was diabetic and had been waiting for 6 hours in the waiting room.

THE BLANKETS:

My companion and I were asked by the Mission President’s wife to take some baby blankets to a hospital in Quilmes, Argentina.  That previous winter, the sister missionaries had made 20 tie blankets for a service project.  It was Christmas time when we were asked to deliver these blankets.  We were very excited to be able to do some service in a hospital, and also possibly get some REALLY good references for the elders in that area.  

I remember going to the hospital and being anxious to see how it was inside.  I had worked in a hospital for a year before I had left on my mission, and was eager to see the differences.  The differences were drastic, to say the least. The hospital was in shambles on the inside...dirty, cold, with minimal medical equipment.  I had this feeling of fear come over me, and I didn't want to go in a room for anything.  I was afraid of what I would see.  What I had already seen in the first 3 minutes of setting foot inside had made me feel sick to my stomach.  I could not believe that there were sick babies in these rooms, and that they were expected to leave healthier from this place.  There were only 6 babies on the floor that day, and no sick pediatiric children  So, we began handing out the blankets to those six.  We went into the first room, and there was a silver crib with a father sitting in a chair looking worried and perplexed.  The crib looked cold, and the room even colder with the bare essentials to be considered a hospital room.  Inside the crib was a handsome baby boy...probably only 5 lbs with a head full of dark hair.  We presented the perplexed father with a green blanket for his little, and first, son.  He seemed confused at first why two blonde women, who had funny accents and funny clothes, were giving him a blanket for his son.  He asked how much it cost, and we insisted that it was our gift.  We also told him about the better gift we brought...a message from Heavenly Father specifically for him that he loved him, and his son; that he was a child of god, and that God was watching over him and his family.  We explained that families were meant to be together forever, and that his was no exception.  We gave him a pamphlet about the plan of salvation, and offered to have missionaries come by his home and teach him and his family.  He agreed, and gave us his address.  As we were talking about the hope and the joy and the understanding that comes from following God, and keeping his commandments with this young father, there was a light that came into his eyes.  There was a new resolve to be better, and to fill his life with good things.  We continued to the other five rooms with little babies in them...giving out blankets, testifying of a loving Heavenly Father who had designed a perfect, happy plan for his children.  And again...there was the same light...a light of hope and joy that cannot be adequately described, but must be witnessed.  I will never forget that day.  I felt such an overwhelming peace come into my heart.  I knew that God loved and knew those parents and babies.  He knew that the hospital was limited on resources; he knew that parent and child alike were going to struggle and have trials...but he was going to care for them, and watch over them.  And he was going to start with a baby blanket.