DOING MISSIONARY WORK FROM A HOSPITAL BED

The missionary bear on duty in my hospital room

Of the many things I have learned while Sister Lindsay and I have been on our mission, one of the most amazing is just how many different ways that the Lord provides unique opportunities for us to share the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ with other people. From August 3rd until August 11th, I had a number of opportunities to teach gospel principles (sometimes with my wife present and sometimes not) while confined to my bed or chair at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore.

Since wearing a missionary name tag on my hospital gown was not very practical due to the great collection of electronic monitoring wires and other paraphernalia that were attached to my body, I quickly discovered that the hugging bear provided by the hospital to all heart patients following surgery could conveniently be the keeper of my identify as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He didn't seem to mind being assigned to wear my name tag and he served quietly and faithfully in that capacity until my hosptial release.

The hospital staff in the heart unit was readily accustomed to seeing hugging bears in patient rooms throughout the floor, but that bear in Room 404 who was wearing a special black and white name tag was a bit different and soon became a conversation piece among the staff members. Nurses and technicians coming into my room soon began asking questions about the Church and what my wife and I were doing as full time missionaries in Baltimore. Because my room was immediately adjacent to the nursing station, I could easily hear the verbal communictions emanating from staff members.

It wasn't long before nurses who personally knew why the hugging bear in Room 404 was wearing a special name tag were sharing that information with others. The uninformed were told that Elder Lindsay is serving with his wife as full time missionaries in Baltimore for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And so, the opportunty was available to the nurses and patient technicians to talk with me about gospel-related concerns. Not only did my new friends at the hospital encourage me to believe that everything would go well with my heart bypass surgery, but many of them also told me that they were praying for me. It was a great blessing and comfort for me to be able to talk about the Lord so freely and openly from a hospital bed.