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During the Sunday Morning Session, Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, General Authority Seventy, echoed the question Moroni posed, “Has the day of miracles ceased?”
He then affirmed with his words that God still performs miracles. Then, President Russell M. Nelson, president of the Quorum of the Twelve, affirmed it with his actions.
As soon as the closing prayer’s “amen” was uttered, President Nelson broke tradition. Instead of waiting for President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, to come shake his hand, President Nelson met him halfway, right behind the podium (see above screenshot). He whispered something in President Eyring’s ear, and then the camera cut away. I can’t tell you exactly what happened next.
But here’s what I assume.
I assume the conversation between the two included President Nelson telling President Eyring that he needed to visit his quorum member, Elder Robert D. Hales. He then left the Conference Center and headed straight to the hospital.
The session ended at 11:54:51 p.m.
I don’t know what hospital Elder Hales was at, but here’s a look at average travel times from the Conference Center to some local hospitals:
- LDS Hospital — 8 minutes
- Salt Lake Regional Medical Center — 7 minutes
- University of Utah Hospital — 12 minutes
- Veterans Hospital — 13 minutes
- St. Mark’s Hospital — 16 minutes
Including the time it took to get out of the Conference Center, President Nelson probably arrived at the hospital between 12:05–12:10 p.m.
According to Mormon Newsroom, Elder Hales died at 12:15 p.m.
Think what you may, but I consider it a miracle that President Nelson arrived at the hospital moments before Elder Hales’ passing.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles later said, "How kind of the Lord to impress upon President Russell M. Nelson to quickly leave the first session of conference and skip his lunch and quickly move to the bedside of Elder Hales, where he could arrive and be there, his quorum president, with the angelic Mary Hales, as Elder Hales graduated from mortality."
President Nelson responded to a prompting without delay. He has taken to heart the words of our beloved President Thomas S. Monson: “Never, never, never postpone a prompting.”
His obedience brought a miracle. And our obedience can do the same.
"No matter our ethnicity, no matter our nationality, no matter what we have done if we repent, no matter what may have been done to us — all of us have equal access to these miracles,” Elder Hallstrom said in his remarks.
And that’s what I learned at conference today.
P.S. I love Elder Hales and I will miss hearing his words. I have had the marvelous opportunity to create image quotes with my jobs.These are some of my favorite Elder Hales quotes I've made. Also, shameless plug, make sure to follow @MormonMix and @LDSconf on Twitter for the best conference coverage around.
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