Elder Hall stood at the podium and looked out over the congregation:

“Brothers and Sisters, I wish that each of you could sit where I sit and look at your faces.

I can see when the Spirit touches someone and they receive truth.

I can see those who have received their blessings in the temple and light it has brought to their countenances.

I can see the joy of those who are preparing to go to the temple, of those who are preparing to receive the Priesthood, and of those who are making positive changes in their lives.

I would like to read some of the promises to those who have received their blessings in the temple.

And when thy people transgress, any of them, they may speedily repent and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in thy house.

 And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them. (D&C 109:21-22)

Yesterday you had a wedding in your branch here. You had to wait a long time because the Branch President who was to perform the ceremony was not here. You finally had to get the mayor to perform the ceremony.

I would like to tell you what else was happening yesterday. I want to show you that the Lord does give the blessings He has promised to those who keep the commandments and receive the ordinances of the temple.

Yesterday, Sister Hall and I had a number of things that we needed to do. We had been asked to go to Cebu for a youth baptism, and for a personal endowment and sealing. A member had asked for a Priesthood blessing. There was a wedding here in this branch. We had been asked to attend a convert baptism. We were to attend a District Presidency activity.

We were confused and unable to decide which things we should do Then we received a call from the sister missionaries in this branch. They asked us to go and pick up the Branch President who was to perform the wedding ceremony. A short time later the elders assigned to this branch called and asked up to go and pick up the branch president. So we drove to his house.

The president was having a very severe asthma attack. He was leaning on a table by a by a window struggling to get some air into his lungs. His whole body was shaking from the effort.

The calls by the sisters and the elders were the first miracle of the day. Without their insistence that we go to the president’s house, he would not have received help in time.

After a blessing, I and another man put the president’s arms over our shoulders and walked with him past several houses to the road where the pickup was parked. The president is a big man and was almost unconscious at the time. Yet by some power, his legs moved and carried him quickly to the road. That was the second miracle of the day.

We lifted him into the pickup and drove rapidly to the hospital. There three medical personnel helped the two of us get him out of the pickup and into the hospital.

In the Emergency Room, the attendants started oxygen and gave us a prescription for medications that he needed. We drove down town to the pharmacy to get them and hurried back to the hospital so the medications could be administered.

The president’s lips were blue and he was totally unresponsive. At that point, the president’s wife called to ask if we would bring her to the hospital, which we did.

Sister Hall stood outside the hospital holding the couple’s three-day-old baby while the mother went to her husband.

She rubbed her husband’s arms and chest. She laid her head on his shoulder and spoke into his ear.

Rainier! Rainier! Rainer! I love you! I am here. I love you!

His eyes partially opened as he attempted to focus. She continued to stroke him and to talk to him, giving him strength to continue his struggle until the medication could take effect.

Finally the president was stabilized enough to be sent by ambulance to a hospital in Cebu. After we took his wife and new-born baby to Cebu, I said:

Sister, do you know you saved your husband’s life today?

Yes. I was praying for my husband and worrying that I could not be there because I had just given birth. Then I received a strong impression that I needed to go to my husband.

When you told him you were there and told him you loved him, you gave him strength to hold on.

Yes, I know. I know there is great power in love. Some of my friends in the Emergency Room were laughing at me, because in our culture we do not give public displays of affection. But I did not care. I knew what my husband needed.

And that was the third miracle of the day.

The Branch President and his wife received the ordinances of the temple several years ago. Yesterday the Lord confirmed the promised blessings upon them.

We believe that the Great God of the Universe knows and loves each of His children. Through the power of His love, He not only is able, but does, arrange miracles to bless the lives of His faithful children.

I testify that this is true, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”