Skip to main content

She Will Find What is Lost: A True Story


This October there was an article in BYU Studies (Vol. 58, No. 3, p. 78-97) about a woman who had contracted hepatitis C from blood transfusions that happened when she was young and had another serious illness.  The treatment for hepatitis C required her to take 11 months of strong drugs which had the serious side effect of causing significant depression and suicide ideation. She delayed the treatment for several months as she researched her options but eventually started the treatment.  The side effects were much worse than she had imagined despite also taking anti-depressants.
As the medications took effect, she lost hope and was full of despair. She prayed regularly for God to end her life.  She felt she was a burden to her family, that she was not good enough, that she was not worthy of being healed. Voices in her head told her that if she was really courageous, she would end her life.  Her husband was unaware of how terrible the depression was since she didn’t tell him. She couldn’t feel the influence of the Holy Ghost, a common side effect to depression.
About six months into the ordeal, her prayers were answered in an unexpected way.  One day she recalled a scripture in 2 Chronicles related to the story of the Assyrians surrounding the Israelites.  The answer to the Israelites was this scripture, Be not afraid of the king of Assyria, for behold, there be more with us than with him.  As this woman contemplated this scripture, the thought came to her that there were more with her than against her. “She perceived a chain of spirit beings stretching out above her whom she understood to be family members.  These were people she had known who had already died and people who had not yet been born but who were interested in her welfare. She could sense they were aware of her loneliness--they knew her and cared about her. They loved her.  She understood from them that it was not her time to die and that she had much to live for, including a young family who also loved her.” Later she was praying to know that God knew how hard this was for her. The answer came as a calm voice that said, “I do. I know this is hard. And I’m sorry.”  Those experiences helped her survive this terrible time and gave her the hope to carry on.

Some years later they came to Utah for a visit and were in a Deseret Book store where the painting called “She Will Find What is Lost” was being displayed in a limited edition series.  It immediately spoke to her as she recognized that it portrayed the experience that she had had of seeing this chain of people ministering to her. She and her husband ended up shortly thereafter buying the original painting and donating it to the church so that it could be displayed in the Conference Center where many people can see and enjoy it.  The artist, Brian Kershisnik, says about the painting, “Many unseen forces are interested in you, love you, and work to influence matters for your profound benefit. Most of what we all do is resist it, misinterpret it, or mess it up, but my experience indicates that these unseen efforts persist impossibly. I thank God for that.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Cousin Drew

 This last week, my brother and his wife lost a very precious son, just 13 years old. He collapsed while running with a cross-country team and passed away before he could be revived. Everyone that knew Drew is broken-hearted at this loss. He was the happiest, most agreeable kid we knew. I remember him being at my house without anyone close to his age to hang out with, so he found our Duplo blocks and started building even though it is a toy that boys his age don't usually enjoy. He was so content. He didn't complain that I ever remember. His mother always called him the perfect child. He will leave a big hole in not only his immediate family but our extended family as well.  Here is a poem my aunt shared that seems fitting: Leave Taking How I would have liked to wave goodbye  and watch until you turned and smiled and disappeared on the horizon. You who taught me to dance  and let me teach you,  who laughed at my stories  and winked at me when I was sad. I can  just see you trav
Post a Comment
Read more

Remembering Drew

 This weekend we celebrated Drew's life. On Thursday night, we gathered as an extended family and had a dinner then sat in a big circle and talked about our memories of him. I took some notes and here is what people said. Grandpa (Gary Hansen):  The last time we saw Drew was last week on the 4th. I remember all the cousins on the trampoline, bouncing up and down and playing basketball. Grandma (Susan Hansen):  I asked Drew to come over last winter to teach my Activity Day boys how to make origami stars. He was very patient in working with them even though they were pretty clueless. Eventually they all went home happily with their stars. Paula: This last winter we invited Bruce and Michelle over for dinner and we didn't have anyone his age for him to hang out with. I remember that Drew found the Duplo blocks on his own and played with them all by himself, quite cheerfully entertaining himself. I asked him if he wanted to play with a different toy--maybe something more sophistica
Post a Comment
Read more

Drew's Funeral

Yesterday was the viewing for Drew and then today was the funeral. There were a LOT of people at the viewing. Bruce and Michelle greeted people for almost four hours yesterday and then again this morning before the funeral. Bruce said that if weren't for Drew's death, it would be the best week of his life with so much love being shown to them. Friday actually began with a family run in Drew's honor. We started at a church by the new Lindon temple and ran to Bruce and Michelle's house with breakfast following. Friday night was the viewing. There was a very nice display of all things Drew. This was one of the pictures displayed and I recognized someone I know: We stood in line and the paramedics who worked on Drew stood in line behind us so we got to talk to them. Here's a fun fact:  They cover both Orem and Vineyard but Vineyard gets a lot more 911 calls than Orem per capita. It's a younger population and they are quicker to call. They said it's hard when the
Post a Comment
Read more