Member Voices
The Attitude of Gratitude
My wife and I, together with baby Kay, were all fine and good the evening we bid granny good night and entered our room to sleep. After some conversation and night prayers, we slept.
Around 3:50am on Sunday, 16 July 2023, my wife started complaining of acute abdominal pains. I went to the nearby 24-hour pharmacy to get her medication. After taking the medication and receiving a priesthood blessing, she was fine, and we went back to sleep.
About 5:45 am, the pain began again and this time it was so severe and intense, we could not take care of it at home. As a health worker, I knew I had to quickly send her to the hospital.
I asked myself “Why now”? I had prepared for a talk at one of the branches in the district where I serve as district president, and I didn’t want to fail them. The branch president there was newly called, and I didn’t want him to lose trust in me, but I needed to be there for my wife. My family is very important to me. I was going to call the branch president and tell him that I would not be able to speak, but I felt strongly I should not call him. So, I obeyed the promptings and decided there was still time.
At the hospital, all physical and laboratory investigations done on my wife were within normal ranges. She was given some pain medication and antibiotics.
As we got to the emergency unit, there was a little child who was suffering from severe anemia. Nurses on duty were prepared to transfuse the child with one pint of blood. The blood was ready but due to the low level of blood in the child’s system, the veins had collapsed, and the nurses were unable to secure the intravenous line.
This hospital is the same facility that I work at. I was asked to set the intravenous line for this little child. On the second attempt I got the vein and the transfusion started immediately.
When I went to my wife’s bed to see how she was doing, I had a great surprise! She was fine and I got to bring her home to be with our little boy, Kay.
As we were going home, I thought about what had happened. I was able to save the life of this little baby. What would have happened if my wife had not experienced the sudden onset of abdominal pains? I know that this handsome little child would have died. It made me feel very grateful for my training and abilities to help others.
Often things happen to us where the Lord wants us to use that opportunity to save a life or help rescue someone. We are his hands here on earth.
Let us have the attitude of gratitude in all things. Let us give thanks to our Father in Heaven and to His Son, Jesus Christ, for all that happens to us. It can be a blessing in disguise. Even if the blessings don’t come today or tomorrow, I testify that they will definitely come.