On December 3, 2024, my wife, Tanie, mentioned that the Church’s Giving Machine was scheduled to leave the Park Place Mall in Lethbridge, Alberta, after closing time the next day. This would be our last opportunity to participate in the Giving Machine. When my wife suggested the idea of going the next day, my heart swelled with the desire to do just that. I felt these words powerfully. At that moment, I knew we needed to go. I told her, “You were inspired to say that; we have to go to the Giving Machine tomorrow.”
The Impression Intensifies
As the day wore on, the idea of going to the Giving Machine worked upon my soul so intently that I decided it was very important to invite my ministering companion and the families we minister to. We could make it a special event!
I phoned and invited my companion and each of our ministering families so we could arrive together at the Park Place Mall to participate in the Giving Machine.
I told them that we planned on being there at exactly 7:00 p.m. My wife asked me why it was so important to arrive at 7:00 p.m. I shrugged and replied, “I feel strongly that it is the time we are supposed to be there.”
Because my invitation came with so little notice, only one family could come, but my excitement did not wane.
We Begin Our Journey as Directed by the Spirit
The next day, with a 40-minute drive ahead of us, we picked up two sisters I minister to at 6:15 p.m. and headed into Lethbridge. It was a foggy night, and the weather was not great, but the idea of participating at the Giving Machine kept us going.
Right on schedule, we pulled up to the mall. Tanie dropped us off at the doors and then went to park the van. The rest of us went inside, and we walked to a bench just outside the movie theatres. I invited them to rest while I went ahead to see if the Giving Machine was where I hoped it was.
My Life Changes In An Instant
I didn’t get far. After taking 30 steps, my chest seized up so tightly I could hardly breathe. Both of my arms instantly ached with deep pain, making my fingers tingle and my back cramp up. I found it almost impossible to breathe. Turning back towards the bench, my vision blurred, making it hard to focus. The bench seemed a mile away, but somehow, I managed to make it. I collapsed there beside the two ministering sisters.
They asked if I was okay. “No!” I gasped. I was now sweating, gulping for breath, and felt nauseous.
Just then, my wife arrived, and she asked with alarm, “What happened? Are you okay?”
“I think I’m having a heart attack. Call 911! I need an ambulance.”
As she made the call, my focus shifted to two ladies nearby, sitting on another bench behind us. One of them asked the other, “What time is it?”
The other replied: “It’s seven o’clock.”
Seven o’clock! When she announced the time, it rang like a gong in my head. All day yesterday and today, I knew we had to be at the mall at 7:00 p.m. exactly.
The Timing Proves to be Miraculous
911 informed Tanie that an ambulance had just cleared a call in the mall parking lot. Paramedics would be with us in a minute.
The response time from her call to 911 and me being put on a stretcher was about two minutes. By 7:03, I had been given nitroglycerin and baby aspirin. By 7:05 p.m., I was on my way to the emergency room. In the ambulance, they started an IV and gave me more nitroglycerin, trying to stabilize my heart.
I survived that heart attack because of the quick response by the paramedics. My condition was serious. At the Lethbridge Regional Hospital, they decided to transfer me to the Foothills Medical Center in Calgary. I was scheduled for an emergency angiogram and then for triple bypass surgery the next day.
The Lord Knows Our Needs Before We Do
By seemingly small things, a miracle had been performed by the Lord to save my life. I was in the city of Lethbridge at the mall at the exact moment of my heart attack. We live in Taber, Alberta, 45 minutes from the Lethbridge Hospital. An ambulance had received and cleared a call in the mall parking lot. They had parked by the doors to do their paperwork just as my wife called 911. Within five minutes of the onset of my heart attack, I received medication to help me survive it.
Faith and Action Precede the Miracle
Nephi, looking back at the time he was led by the Lord into Jerusalem to retrieve the plates of brass, recorded, “I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do” (1 Nephi 4:6). In like manner, my wife and I were led by the Spirit to go to Lethbridge on a cold foggy evening, something we would never have dreamed of doing unless inspired to do so. Nothing else would have taken us there except the idea of going to the Giving Machine.
If I had been in Taber, if I had to wait for an ambulance to arrive, if, if, if…but none of that happened. I was exactly where I needed to be at the moment my heart attack struck so I could receive immediate medical attention.
President Nelson taught us to “Seek and expect miracles” (in General Conference, Apr. 2022, 99). On December 4th, 2024, Tanie and I witnessed a miracle. It wasn't the only miracle that happened. As we went through the surgery and recovery, we witnessed many more. The impossible was made possible.