In general conference of
1985, Elder Thomas S. Monson shared a story of a
friend named Stan, a man who had been taken
ill and rendered partially paralyzed by the disease. Though the man had once
been healthy and athletic, he was now left unable
to walk or stand. Prayers of faith had been
offered in the man's behalf, yet he lingered in the
confinement of hospital bed and wheelchair. One day, late in the afternoon,
I was at the Deseret Gymnasium, gazing at the ceiling,
backstroking length after length of the pool,
and I felt a communication from a heavenly source. I felt within my
heart the message, "Here you are, swimming
almost effortlessly, length after length
of this pool, while your friend Stan
languishes in his hospital bed at the university Hospital. Get out of that pool
and up to his side, and give him a
priesthood blessing." Tom hurriedly dressed and
traveled to Stan's room at the hospital. Being told that Stan was at
the pool preparing for therapy, Tom found him there
alone at the edge of the deep end of the pool. After a greeting, he
wheeled Stan to his room, where a priesthood
blessing was provided. Eventually, feeling came
to his feet and his legs. Then he could stand. Then he could walk with a cane. Then he could walk
without a cane. Today, if you
could see Stan, you would not know how
perilously close to death he had lain that
day in the hospital. He frequently speaks
in sacrament meetings and bears testimony of the
goodness of God to him. To some, he reveals the dark
thought that was in his mind that special day as
he sat dejectedly in that hated wheelchair
looking into the depths of the deep side of the pool. He was contemplating
an alternative to life, but at that precise moment,
I happened to open the door, wave my greeting. You know the outcome. That day, Stan literally learned
that we do not walk alone. That day I learned a
very important lesson: never, never, never
postpone a prompting.