I called him back and sure enough, HE ASKED ME TO SPEAK IN STAKE CONFERENCE! I was shaking and even started to cry (after I hung up). The good thing was it was for the Saturday night session. But still, our stake is huge and I am NOT a public speaker. I have major anxiety every time I have to teach relief society or talk in my own ward. Another good thing is the topic was easy. I was asked to share our experience with Coelton.
The days and weeks flew by and before I knew it March had arrived. I began putting my thoughts on paper. I prayed that I would be inspired as to what to share and how to get my message across in a way that would help others. Here is my Talk
I’m not feeling the “luck
of the Irish” upon me right now. There is nothing “lucky about having to be up
here”. But I do hope the spirit will be with me as I
give this talk.
I’ve been asked to speak
on “finding faith in Jesus Christ”, specifically related to the experience of
our missionary son, Elder Coelton Hammer.
Our son Coelton is the
oldest in our family. It was always his
dream to serve a mission. He received
his call on December 17th, 2010.
Dear Elder Hammer you are
hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
day Saints, you are assigned to labor in the San Juan, Puerto Rico
mission. When he read those words, the
spirit touched me and I knew that that is exactly where the Lord wanted my son.
When Coelton was set apart
as a missionary one of the things that stood out to us was when President
Miller promised Coelton that if he
was obedient to the mission rules, that he would be protected. This was especially comforting to me. Sending my son to a small island in the
middle of the Caribbean to live for 2 years isn’t easy for a Mother.
We drove Coelton to the
Provo MTC on May 4. He was there for 3
weeks and then went to the Dominican Republic MTC for 6 weeks.
He arrived in Puerto Rico
on July 5th. He hit the ground running
and had a trainer who worked him hard. Coelton was learning to LOVE the people
and was learning to speak the language well.
His letters were very positive and he shared many amazing experiences he
was having. He was truly being blessed
for his service.
Back Home:
At 10:30p.m. we received a phone call from our bishop. He came over and told us that Coelton had
been in an accident and was being life flighted to San Juan.
Remembering the promises
given to Coelton when he was set apart by President Miller, our first thought
was “was our son obedient?”
We knew that as long as he
was obedient and obeying the mission rules he would be okay. We had faith in the blessing he received from
President Miller.
We had a brief call with
the Mission President. He did not have a
lot of details as they were still trying to understand the extent of the
injuries to Coelton. However, he
indicated that he was stable. We asked
him if our son was worthy, he indicated that he did not know, and that he would
need to interview our son. After the
call we knelt in prayer pleading with the Lord that he would heal our son. We were concerned, but had faith that if he
was obedient he would be healed.
We were up all night
waiting for the phone to ring so we could receive more information.
As the details of the
story unfolded we learned that Coelton had fallen from a cliff 35-45 feet.
At the Time of the Accident: The missionaries called 911 and a rescue team came
to get him out. He was taken to the nearest hospital in Mayaguez. His injuries were too severe for this
hospital to treat, so they life -flighted him to San Juan. Coelton had compound fractures in every bone
in his arm; his humerus, Radius and Ulna.
His Ulna bone was sticking out of his wrist and was missing 2 cm of this
bone. He had several small fractures, and a small gash on his head. He had lost a lot of blood and other than
that his body had some minor scrapes and bruises. The rescuers
told his Mission President that they knew he was a man of God. His President asked them why they said this,
they indicated that over the years they had been to the cliffs to rescue
individuals. Our son was the 9th
rescue they made and the only living person pulled from the cliffs.
I had Coelton write down
his experience and this is a small paragraph from what he wrote:
“ Right when I fell I
could hear my companion screaming my name and in his voice I could feel that he
thought this was the end for me. As I
was falling I had a feeling to tuck my head into my body, I’m not sure why, but
I only hit my head once on the way down.
I felt helpless and I had no control of what was going to happen with
the outcome of this fall. I had this
battle in my mind that I wasn’t going to die, I wasn’t going to let that happen, I knew that
when I got to the bottom, when I was done falling- I was going
to stand up immediately no matter what.
And that’s exactly what I did, things were a little blurry, I was in
complete shock, but I felt a sense of peace around me. I don’t remember the process of standing up,
which leads me to believe that this help I had been given was heaven sent. I could feel the presence of angels around
me, helping me. “
Jeffrey R. Holland said- I testify of Angels,
both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In
doing so I testify that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in
the challenges that we face.
Brothers and Sisters- I
too testify of angels. I know that our
son was not alone at the bottom of the cliffs that day.
For Coelton to have survived
this fall and not been knocked out and fallen into the ocean or bled to
death…is a miracle. Heavenly Father
watches over his servants.
Hospital:
At about 1:00 A.M., we received another call from Coelton’s Mission
President. He said, “I have looked Elder
Hammer in the eyes and there is light, I don’t have to ask, I know your son is
worthy, he has done nothing wrong. This
was a terrible accident.” We knew that Coelton would be alright through the
blessing given to him many months ago.
Coelton spent 5 days in
the hospital in San Juan. He had 2
surgeries there.
Our surgeon in Boise had a
conference call with the surgeons in Puerto Rico. When the call was done, our surgeon told us
Coelton was missing some bone from his ulna and also more bone in his wrist
area. He told us that Coelton could
possibly loose his hand.
Joel flew to Puerto Rico
to bring Coelton home. He told me how
the mission president and his wife and the other missionaries all sobbed as
Coelton left. They told him they wanted
him back in Puerto Rico by December 15th for the Christmas
Conference.
I will never forget seeing my son for the
first time. He was dressed as a
missionary. The mission nurse had
unstitched his white shirt and garment top and hand sewn little Velcro tabs in
his clothing so he could come home a missionary. Joel too was dressed in white shirt and tie
and pushed Coelton in a wheel chair. They were representatives of Jesus Christ.
Coelton looked awful; yet
he also looked like an angel to me. I
could tell he was in a lot of pain. We drove him to St. Lukes and he remained in
the hospital there for 3 days.
Coelton was released as a
missionary. I will never forget sitting
in President Miller’s office and seeing him be released. It was a sad day for all of us.
3 days later, he received
another surgery. The surgeon was able to
fix the rest of his arm in one surgery, which was another miracle; they
originally told us a minimum of 5 surgeries.
They also found that Coelton was only missing bone from his ulna and not
his wrist! He was able to attach his hand to his wrist bones. Another miracle! 3 plates,
a bone graft and about 30 screws later…our son was on the road to recovery. He broke the record at the Elks for having
the most screws ever in a wrist.
The next 3 months would
prove to be a time of much refining and faith building. He was in a lot of pain, and just plain miserable.
It was also difficult for him to have to
tell “the story” over and over. He was
tired of the rumors, speculations and hurtful things said. He was humiliated and his spirits were down. He hit a low point.
Life isn’t fair and when
it’s not fair to us we complain about it.
But life doesn’t have to be fair, there is so much more that Heavenly
Father is offering us. And that is why
bad things can happen. This is not
forever, the end of the final product.
In a talk by Elder Gene R.
Cook he said: Prepare for constant
and intense trials of your faith. Tribulation is a refiner of faith. The Lord
said, “For after much tribulation come the blessings” (D&C 58:4).
The challenges and difficulties that many of us resist are the
very elements which refine us and make us godly men and women. The Lord will
try you in every attribute possessed by man and at all stages of development in
your life. He will try you again and again and again until you know that you
will serve him at all costs.
How comforting the
words of Moroni: “I would show unto the world that faith is things which are
hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye
receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” (Ether 12:6).
Coelton began to heal and
improve. Little by little, he was
getting there. During his time at home Coelton stayed focused on his study time
and remaining in the missionary mode. He
went on splits with the Spanish speaking Elders a couple of times and he would
meet with a sister in our ward who lived in Puerto Rico for 6 years. He would practice his Spanish and teach her
the discussions.
He went to physical therapy about 3 days a
week and worked relentlessly at home to get his arm well enough to get a
release from the doctor, so he could go back on his mission, and we hoped- be reassigned to Puerto Rico. Above all he and our family prayed and fasted with the faith that our righteous desires
would be given to us.
As Christmas was fast approaching,
we hoped that the surgeon would sign the release for him to return. Week after week he would tell us no. Finally on December 22 he said he would sign,
but that Coelton needed 2 more weeks of intense therapy before leaving.
In just a few days Coelton
received a call from President Miller, telling him that he would be going back
to Puerto Rico on Thursday. It was a
Tuesday afternoon. We had a day to get
him ready! The bad part was my husband
was on a business trip in Tennessee.
Later that evening we received another phone
call… a conference call; with
President miller, the mission pres, the mission dept, and the church travel
agent. The mission President had
postponed the Christmas conference on December 15, he didn’t want to have it without Coelton.
In Puerto Rico they celebrate a “3 Kings day” which is January 6. President Alvarado wanted Coelton there for
this celebration. The entire Puerto Rico
mission would be there. They asked if it was possible if he could be
on a flight that left Boise at 5:30a.m. the next morning. We said yes! It wasn’t the most convenient for us with
Joel being away and not being able to say Good-Bye. But we knew that through our faith we would
again be strengthened and become strong.
“All things are possible
to him that believeth”.
In closing I would like to share an email that Coelton’s mission
presidents sent to me to share with you.
We love elder Hammer. Elder Coelton
Hammer's accident was the worst and biggest emergency, even tragedy we have had
in our Mission here in Puerto Rico. But, it also turned out to be our most
miraculous event.
We testify that Angels from above
came down and were taking care of him in every step. We saw the angels in the
rescuers, nurses, doctors, counselors, all around him. We know that because of
his obedience, exact obedience, The Lord never abandoned him or us, so we could
make the right and best decisions for his well being. He never complained
even in extreme pain, always smiling, always shining. His countenance reflected
the light of Christ.
The whole Mission grew closer
together, praying and fasting for his soon recovery. His Faith in coming
back in a specific time was so strong that he, with the help of his wonderful
family made it just on time. Now, that
he is back, what a joy to have him again!, working more than ever. He is an
example to all of his companions. We learned and strengthened our testimonies
because of this. We also learned that as we faithfully serve the Lord, we can
come to want what He wants and be what we must be to bless those we serve for
Him. As we serve him long enough and with diligence, we can be changed.
We will become ever more like Him.
Oh! What a blessing and privilege you have as a Stake to have this fine Young Man to serve and represent you more than well!! Likewise, what an honor and how blessed we are to have him serve with us in our beautiful Island!
Brothers
and sisters, I testify to you that our faith never dwindled on the priesthood
blessing our son received. We knew that
he would be okay because he was obedient.
We didn’t know if okay meant he would require an amputation or a brain
injury or a severely broken arm. We knew
he would be okay because of the promises he was given, if he was obedient.
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