Holy Sabbath, Day of Prayer

Today has been a beautiful day!

I stayed with Ryan last night at the hospital, and he had kind of a rough night with lots of coughing and spasms. The respiratory therapist said that his lungs sounded fine, so the coughing/spasms were likely a result of the brain damage or the brain trying to heal itself. It's so hard to be told that there really isn't anything we can do to relieve Ryan's suffering...

This morning I went to the hotel to shower and get ready for church, and then went back to be with Ryan. We read scriptures, listened to conference talks, and I sang some hymns while doing Ryan's range-of-motion exercises (he still cannot move his limbs, so we move them for him to keep his muscles from atrophying).

For church, we just drove to the first church building we saw belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (they're everywhere in Utah). :) I am so grateful for this Church, and knowing that I can attend church anywhere in the world and be taught the same gospel doctrines and principles and feel welcomed and loved.

One speaker in Sacrament Meeting today was a teen-age girl. She had recently fallen while long-boarding and sustained a major head injury. She talked about how the injury had affected her, and threatened to keep her from going on a humanitarian aid trip to Ecuador. But her doctor instructed her to get good cardio exercise twice a day for two weeks. Her recovery was miraculous, and she got to go on her humanitarian trip. I felt so strongly the importance of getting Ryan physical exercise during his recovery -- us being there today to hear that girl's story was no coincidence! A few other things she said that struck me were:

• Heavenly Father knows and loves His children, and He will provide for their needs.
• Faith requires action.
• Trials can turn into blessings.
• Take time for "gratitude moments."

The second speaker in Sacrament Meeting was an older gentleman. He seemed very genuine, and spoke from a life of hard-learned lessons. Some of the things he said that stood out to me were:

• This is mortality. It requires effort! But we cannot do it alone!
• If we stop working, there is no progress. (Maybe that seems obvious, but sometimes we need the reminder...)
• Do we make time to seek out guidance from the Lord?
• General Conference, temple attendance, ministering, personal and family scripture study and prayer are all vital!

Then, in Relief Society today the lesson was based on this General Conference talk given by President Russell M. Nelson, titled "We Can Do Better and Be Better!" Some of the thoughts I gleaned from the discussion were:

• The doctrine of repentance is repeated sooo much because that IS why we are here!
• Repentance is simply growing closer to God through changing our heart. It is a process, not an event.
• Take one step at a time, and stop wallowing!
• Daily repentance gives us power to overcome, and to be better.
• Positivity is attractive.

This afternoon, Ryan seemed much more aware and present. His mom had a great experience/conversation with him, and his dad was able to visit all afternoon/evening. 👪💙

My favorite part of the day was when Ryan decided to turn comedian and cracked himself up! 😀😂💜 He was trying to tell me something, but I was having trouble reading his lips. I kept asking him to repeat himself, but I just wasn't getting it...so I teasingly said, "Can't you just try to force some air past your lips?" Without missing a beat, Ryan blew a raspberry at me, and then we all busted up laughing, Ryan included!!! Seeing him laugh absolutely melted my heart!!! And when I told a nurse about it a few hours later (right next to Ryan's bedside), Ryan got a big grin on his face and almost laughed again at the memory of it! 💜💜💜💜💜

Ryan had a couple of other visitors today, too, for which we are grateful. He seemed to be in a good mood, in spite of the pain and frustrations. And one visitor was incredibly kind and brought our family a delicious, homemade meal for dinner. God keeps sending us so many blessings, and we are so humbled and so grateful!

Ryan is getting better at nodding his head in response to some questions (he isn't always "present" enough to answer, but today was a great day for conversations all around). When I told him that I was excited for him to get better enough to view his MRI and witness the miracle of healing God is showing through him, he got a big grin on his face. And when I encouraged him to hang in there and keep fighting, he nodded in affirmation. I'm excited for tomorrow to see what the doctors think of Ryan's weekend progress!

Once again, thank you for all of your prayers. I know they made a huge difference today, and I know we will continue to need them as we keep taking this journey one day at a time! The scripture that keeps going through my head today is:

Matthew 17:19-21

Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.