My week......WILD

Hello everybody!

My week was so crazy that I'm going to just send out this one email and then email you all individually after this. Buckle your seat belts, here we go!

My area: We are so close to getting Quentin on date! We feel very strongly that early November he will be baptized. That is exciting and we are happy for him :) We hope his friend Eric can baptize him as well-that would be amazing to see.

Here's where we get crazy! Just wait and see God's hand in everything...

We went out with one of our members this last week and one of the families we went to see was brother and sister miller. They are less active, Brother Miller has health problems, and there is no reason why sister Miller should not be at church. We had a great visit with them.

My companion and I spoke at stake conference on Saturday! Holy Moly! I have never spoke in front of so many people! I had prepared a 6 minute talk and so did my companion. During my talk my mouth got so dry, I felt like I needed a cup of water next to the pulpit like the apostles have in the conference center-it was bad. I sat down and asked my companion how long I spoke for, he said 14 minutes. :/ My companion and I together were supposed to speak for 15. Oops. #MissionaryProblems #ITalkTooMuch :) My companion spoke for 4 or 5 though and it was good. Right after we spoke the Stake President spoke and closed the meeting. We had a regional broadcast on Sunday which was phenomenal. Sister Esplin, Elder Scott, and Elder Bednar spoke to us and the other stakes in the region. I LOVE THEM! Lots of people complimented us on our talks, it was pretty rad.

Sunday night:

Got a phone call from K3-Kalispell 3rd ward elders Elder Crane and Cordova. Elder Crane said they were going to breakfast with some of our members so I razzed him hard about that. He wanted us to go to breakfast but I wasn't feelin it so I just told him we'd be fine. We were supposed to go to breakfast with YSA members Monday morning. It's a running tradition of 3 weeks now. 

Monday... (Yesterday)

Breakfast didn't work out this morning so we went straight to the library! (Part 1 of Gods influence)

I was putting in baptismal dates into the Zone Leader gmail account when President Mecham called. I took it and stepped out. He asked if we were at our apartment and I said no. He said, "You need to be at the hospital right now. Elder Crane and Elder Cordova were in a car accident and it's critical. Give them Blessings. Get there as soon as you can." So I said bye and we rushed over. This was incredible because if we would have gone to breakfast we would have been on the other side of town, but luckily we were just 4 blocks away from the hospital or so.

Let me preface this by saying I LOVE Elder Carl Crane and Elder Kiya'an Cordova. I have been Elder Crane's zone leader for his whole mission, minus 1 transfer. So 10.5 Months. The one missionary I love more than Elder Crane in this mission would be Elder Johnson, we were companions for 6 months though. Elder Cordova is a new missionary and we are really good friends, we have been since day 1.

We get to the hospital and Elder Crane has life threatening injuries. He had a tore aorta and needed medical attention ASAP. Elder Cordova just had a bruised lung, and a broken collar bone. 

What happened was they were driving and they needed to make a left hand turn. Looking left it was safe but Elder Crane didn't see one of the vehicles to his right because of a blind spot or something. They got T-boned. They were turning so they were going like 5 mph and the SUBURBAN that hit them was going like 55mph at least. They were driving a brand new jeep compass.

When they got to the scene Elder Cranes door opened instantly-they were able to pull him out right away (God's intervention, he had the more serious injuries) They couldn't get Elder Cordova out of the vehicle and it took 15 minutes of the firefighters using the jaws of life to get his door off to then get him out. (BLESSING-he didn't have as serious of injuries so this was good)

Back to the hospital: We get to Elder Cranes room and I just want to cry, I hold it together though. Gotta be strong. I told him I loved him and he went (with a broken voice) Love you too buddy. Heart wrenching. AHHHHHHH!!!! We gave Elder Crane a blessing, promising him a fast recover. Same with Elder Cordova. 

They initially let me and my companion both be in the ER. While we were there in Elder Cordovas room this man gets rolled into the other half of the room and they slide the curtain between them. Not 5 minutes later this women walks in. Guess Who?! SISTER MILLER!!! The less active couple! She goes, "It's not coincidence that we have seen you so much this weekend." I'm like, "You're right! It's not a coincidence, It's God." They said we could come by any time and they were also willing to feed us #Touchdown #Score

They flew elder Crane to spokane, he had surgery last night. Doctor was confused AGAIN because they didn't see a tore aorta but a stretched aorta (not as bad) and 6 broken ribs and a punctured lung. (Gods Intervention) Priesthood blessings work! It was so cool to see that all of these smart doctors confounded and confused because nothing to them made sense. But to us everything was working out how God wanted it too!

In the ER they would only let one visitor go back and sit with Elder Cordova. My companion, the 2 other missionaries, and the 2 members that were there said I should go back. So I did-I wanted to be the one to sit with him anyway (: We talked, we read scriptures, prayed together. It was a very faith building moment. He had a small piece of glass on his tongue... Yes I touched another mans tongue. Sacrifice! 

We stayed the whole day with Elder Cordova in the hospital. From 9am-9:45pm. Yes we broke curfew. We had a dinner appointment with our bishop for 1 hour then went back. We went to the hospital this morning from 7:45-11. Just sending y'all a quick email so you have an update. 

I saw the vehicle. They should both be dead. At least Elder Cordova should. It's a miracle. 

Last night Elder Cordova was in TONS of pain. We gave him another blessing. Elder Zacchilli gave this one this time though. It was me, my companion and the stake president-President Clark. Not 2 minutes after the blessing he had his 2 nurses and the doctor in the room. They readjusted him in his bed and he felt better! God answered almost immediately through other people. Amazing. 

I was on the phone with my last companion Elder Johnson last night. He called from Bozeman. President called him specifically and told him about Elder Crane. We were talking about it and reminiscing on all of the good times we had together with Carl D. (Elder Crane). We were talking when all of a sudden the phone buzzed and it said Kalispell 3. I was confused so I hung up with Elder Johnson and it was ELDER CRANE!!!! He called us from Spokane. He is doing good, I felt bad for making him laugh over the phone because I could tell it hurt to laugh. You could hear his family in the background and they were laughing at our conversation too. 

God is great. He is aware of us. It's funny how he works sometimes. 

Here's another thing. Elder Cordova's doctor worked along side our medical coordinator for 14 years. Our medical coordinator gave him a book of mormon back in the day. We go to dinner with our Bishop and Bishop invited a man in the ward who is a neurosurgeon because the mans family was out of town. The man bishop invited works with Elder Cordovas doctor as well! God prepares people in funny ways too. Well. Haven't eaten anything all day so I better grab a bite to eat soon. Gotta go back to the hospital too.

ps. Mom, message his mom back on facebook and tell them he's okay. I will send you pictures to send his momma right now. 

I love you all. 

Stay true to the faith.

-Elder Packham