Bradley Badger

Modern Miracle

Melissa Chandler

Conference Sunday, I was wrestling Luke for the best seat in the family room to watch General Conference.  He eventually let me have it (with some encouragement from James) (He had already had it for two hours in the morning, and I was getting sleepy and wanted to lay down for the 2nd session.)  :)  The next day on Monday afternoon I noticed that I was feeling a lot of soreness on my side and back and thought I must have a huge bruise on my back - maybe Luke elbowed me during our "rough-housing."  Later that night, it was so sore that I tried to find the bruise on my side in the mirror.  I couldn't find anything, but saw about a 2 inch diameter rash on my back, towards the side.  I called to James to look at it, and I immediately had the impression, "It's shingles."  Shingles?  What in the world is shingles?  I really had no clue.  I thought it was some kind of skin disease of the legs, but that it also made you shake all over.  ???  I had James take a picture of it with my phone so I could see it more clearly.  Then I "googled" shingles and pictures of shingles to see if my picture was comparable.  There were many pictures that were way more severe than my picture, but I did find a few that looked similar to mine.  I read all about it and found out about the treatment.  All the sites said that early treatment was key.  I discovered that one of the medicines that treated shingles, was some medicine I had on hand to treat cold sores.  I thought "What's it going to hurt?"  So I took some medicine that night and then in the morning.  Later that morning, I was feeling slightly guilty that I had self-diagnosed myself with shingles and started the treatment when I wasn't for sure that was what I had.  So, I made an appointment with my doctor who I haven't seen in years.  When I went to the appointment, she looked at the rash and wasn't convinced it was shingles.  She asked me if I had bed bugs....(I certainly hope not!).  After I showed her the picture from my camera of what it looked like the night before, she immediately said, "Yes.  That's shingles."  She gave me more medicine and confirmed what I had read online - that with medicine the rash would likely go away in a week, but the soreness and pain could be around for months and she said even years!  Ug.

I woke up the first morning and thought that it was a tender mercy where it was on my body.  It was not on the side I sleep on so I slept through the night and ended up sleeping through every night this week.  The biggest deal for me was the headaches I had every day, but enough ibuprofen eventually took care of those.

What a tender mercy from God to have that impression come to my mind when I really had no idea what shingles was.  It is so painful in some that they miss months of church and work, and it really didn't cramp my style this week at all.  I have had an itchy, sore back that has moved to my frontside (not the rash, just the soreness and itchiness), but it is manageable.  I did not have to miss any work because the rash was covered by clothes and I caught it so early that the blisters/sores never opened.  I was never contagious.  I am thankful that He spared me the intense pain this could have caused me and the effect it would have had on me caring for my family.  God lives and He is aware of each of His children.  I am thankful for the modern miracle in my life this week!

The Miracle of the Fanbelt

The Miracle of the Fanbelt

David

During Spring break in 2013, as the Scoutmaster for my ward, my assistant Scoutmaster, Garth Dunford, and myself, planned a biking trip to Moab and Arches in Southern Utah with six of our scouts. We looked forward to using another family’s 15 passenger van. However, just before leaving, the use of that van fell through because the transmission went out. I was very concerned about using my truck to pull the trailer of bicycles and camping equipment. With 270,000 miles on it, the engine was making new, random noises. Garth also heard the noises and expressed concern about making it to Moab. I made an “off the cuff” remark, “Don’t worry; we’ll just pray it down there.”  As the father of one of the scouts going, our Bishop was asked to offer the prayer before we left. Off we went, me driving the truck and Garth driving his van with all the scouts.

We arrived safely to Moab. We had a great time playing in a giant sand hill just out of Arches, jumping off a cliff into a pool of water in Moab and riding our bikes on the trails at Dead Horse Point.

Waking up at 5:30 am on Saturday to drive home in time to listen to General Conference, we were concerned that the truck was still making those random noises. In the dark of the morning, with hats off, the scouts listened as I pleaded to heaven that I would arrive safely home in my truck. Garth and the boys followed me only to Green River. Because I was so nervous about my truck, I was driving at only 55 mph. I insisted that Garth and the boys drive ahead to get home in time for Conference. For the last three hours of my drive, I listened to Conference on the radio and prayed. Once I got over Soldier Summit, I felt pretty good that I might actually make it home.

As I passed each town on the way home, I said another prayer of gratitude. As I got closer to home, the thought went through my mind that maybe I was making a bigger deal out of this then I needed to. The truck seemed to be just fine. But the Lord needed to teach me a lesson.

As I pulled up to my house, to back the trailer into my driveway, I heard a very loud BANG, and a squeak. I turned off the truck, got out, and opened the hood to see what caused that noise. The pulley had broken, and the fan belt was shredded. Could there have been a more obvious and blatant answer to prayer than that? I had arrived safely home. I believe in miracles. I also believe that the Lord is aware of us and our needs. I would be extremely ungrateful if I didn’t recognize his Hand in my life. He listens to our prayers; he is involved in our lives.