0:00

Welcome back to release

0:00

the podcast. I am really

0:03

grateful you're back to listen

0:03

to these amazing returned

0:07

missionaries experiences when it

0:07

comes to coming back

0:11

transitioning and ultimately

0:11

really succeeding because they

0:14

have faith in God's plan for

0:14

them.

0:18

In this episode I get to

0:18

interview Jamison Blasco. We

0:22

talked about his amazing

0:22

experience coming back home and

0:25

being diagnosed with cancer the

0:25

day after his wedding. Jamison

0:30

Blasco is 28 years old and was

0:30

born and raised in Utah. He

0:35

finally moved back after living

0:35

out of state for a number of

0:38

years. He's the fifth of eight

0:38

kids. He's married to the love

0:42

of his life and will be

0:42

expecting his first baby girl

0:45

any day now. When he's not

0:45

working on his real estate

0:48

company. He loves to ski Cook,

0:48

bake read, and he even does

0:53

CrossFit. worse, worse. Going

0:53

away 1000 miles

1:08

away our vision was generally

1:08

very obedient. But there were a

1:17

couple stories I heard about the

1:17

elders baptizing that turtle.

1:21

Oh,

1:23

I don't know about that one taking it

1:25

on, like putting it in

1:25

their backpack. And so when they

1:29

went and taught someone they

1:29

would count it as a joint teach.

1:32

Oh.

1:35

I don't think I don't

1:35

I've never heard that one. But

1:37

that one is hilarious. That's my

1:37

brother. That's gonna be

1:41

hilarious. That's clever.

1:42

Everybody. This is

1:42

elder blossom. I guess Jameson

1:46

blossom. I know him as elder

1:46

blossom, because we served in

1:49

the same mission Scotland and

1:49

Ireland. And yeah, I'm excited

1:54

to have you on man. Just like

1:54

memories flooding back from when

1:58

we were together. And the

1:58

mission is so much fun. But

2:02

could you just kind of introduce

2:02

yourself? Tell everybody where

2:07

you're from? Kind of your

2:07

upbringing, and what made you

2:10

want to go on a mission in the first place?

2:12

Yeah, that's a great

2:12

question. So I'm originally from

2:15

Utah. So I was born and raised

2:15

in Orem. So I'm in I'm the

2:19

middle child of eight. So

2:19

there's eight, eight kids and my

2:22

family. So I've got four older

2:22

siblings and three younger

2:25

brothers. So there's six boys,

2:25

two girls all together. Yeah.

2:29

Big Family. And yeah, so I was

2:29

growing up. It was pretty

2:35

standard for a Latter Day Saint

2:35

family go to church every

2:39

Sunday, family home evening,

2:39

which we can on Mondays, but it

2:43

just turns into a yelling fest,

2:43

because all the kids are crazy.

2:46

Yeah. So yeah, so I don't know

2:46

how my mom held down the fort is

2:50

pretty wild. That's um, so all

2:50

my, my of my older siblings, my

2:55

two older brothers, they served

2:55

a mission and one of my sisters

2:58

also served a mission my both my

2:58

parents served a mission in

3:01

Sweden. And because of that,

3:01

that's actually how they met

3:04

later at BYU. My mom's a

3:04

convert. So like, she was very,

3:08

they did a good job of like,

3:08

ingraining the gospel into us,

3:12

and maybe not the greatest job

3:12

of teaching and really the why

3:15

behind why we do things. Like

3:15

there's a memories of mine were

3:18

like, Brian, when you're

3:18

baptized, you have to fast but

3:21

it's like, not the two meals.

3:21

It's like 24 hours to the dot.

3:24

Yeah. Like you're starting at

3:24

4pm on Saturday, and you're

3:26

ending at 4pm on Sunday. Yeah, I

3:26

remember. It's like an eight

3:29

year old kid, like I couldn't

3:29

really handle it. So like,

3:31

gotten to the point where I was so weak that I actually started throwing up on fast Sundays

3:33

because I was just so famished.

3:36

Yeah, and so like, all of that

3:36

was like, Alright, I'm just

3:40

starving then on Sundays, like

3:40

fasten days. But through all of

3:45

that, I ended up going on my own

3:45

spiritual path. So after joining

3:50

in high school, I actually told my parents I didn't want anything to do with the church.

3:52

I told my dad, he was really

3:55

shocked. And I was like, well,

3:55

I'll still go to church. Um, so

3:58

when my younger siblings can see

3:58

that their older brother is

4:01

still going. I'm kind of keeping

4:01

up appearances a little bit,

4:04

because you know, that's so

4:04

important. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. So

4:08

important. And so actually is

4:08

after I graduated high school,

4:11

back in 2013, I moved on my own

4:11

to New York City. Oh, wow. So it

4:17

was about six months after I

4:17

graduated, because my parents

4:20

were essentially kicking me out

4:20

of the house. They might say

4:23

differently, but when you

4:23

graduate high school, and your

4:26

dad says you have to be out of the house by the end of the summer. I feel like that's like

4:28

saying, you're gone, you're out

4:32

of here. And granted, my dad

4:32

said he didn't want to fund my

4:35

indecision. And sure, I

4:35

understand that, but it's

4:39

actually one of the biggest

4:39

blessings. So I moved to New

4:42

York. I have never actually been

4:42

there before my life. So I fly

4:47

into LaGuardia Airport, take a

4:47

bus down to Harlem. So I get on

4:51

the bus into the middle of

4:51

Harlem and I just meet this

4:54

person who's a sibling of a

4:54

friend of one of my siblings,

4:58

and he just allows me to like

4:58

couch refer to his place for a

5:00

little bit while he tried to

5:00

figure things out. Yeah, step

5:03

off in the middle of middle of

5:03

Harlem. And to feel to say that

5:08

I had Culture Shock is a bit of

5:08

understatement. And for Orem,

5:12

Utah, yeah, from Orem, Utah to

5:12

downtown Harlem, 120/5 Street

5:17

and St. Nick, as an 18 year old

5:17

kid clutching his suitcase.

5:22

Yeah, terrifying. It was

5:22

terrifying because everyone that

5:25

I told ultimately, I was like,

5:25

I'm moving to Harlem. Like, I'll

5:27

be careful, you're gonna get

5:27

mugged. Like, it's dangerous. So

5:31

that was my all my idea going

5:31

in. It's like, I'm moving here

5:34

to New York. It's dangerous. So

5:34

when I'd see a group of kids all

5:38

hanging around, like Harlem,

5:38

granted, most people probably

5:42

can imagine, but Harlem is like

5:42

97% Black or like Hispanic, or

5:46

like, specifically a Puerto

5:46

Rican or like Dominican? Yeah.

5:50

So I move live there for like, a

5:50

week. And I was so nervous for

5:54

like, the first week that if I

5:54

ever left the apartment, like in

5:57

the middle of the afternoon, and

5:57

then I'd always back before the

5:59

sun went down. So like, I didn't

5:59

want to be out walking the

6:01

street because like, I never saw

6:01

anyone white other than myself.

6:05

Yeah. And yeah, so yeah, so it

6:05

was quite the experience. I also

6:10

lived there for a little bit.

6:10

Then I moved to another

6:12

apartment, because I got to know

6:12

these guys and the Harlem isa

6:15

Ward, and I figured, in order

6:15

for me to be like, just surround

6:22

myself with good people.

6:22

Churches a good way to go. Yeah.

6:25

Because I didn't not unless I

6:25

was going through my own

6:28

spiritual, like, I don't know,

6:28

journeys kind of a lame way, I

6:31

think, in my opinion, to say,

6:31

but I was just figuring out if I

6:34

actually believed, yeah. And so

6:34

I went to the y se Ward, the

6:38

Harlem, I say, Ward, and I met a

6:38

group of guys, and they had an

6:41

opening at their apartment. So

6:41

seven, actually with seven guys,

6:45

it was an apartment, it was a

6:45

five bedroom basement. And I had

6:48

seven roommates. So there's

6:48

eight of us today, and all of

6:51

them returned missionaries, I

6:51

think two of them are actually

6:53

converts to the church. So it

6:53

was a really good environment

6:57

for me. And yeah, so I, but it

6:57

was actually there that I

7:02

decided to actually go on a

7:02

mission. And the reason for that

7:05

is my best friend was serving in

7:05

France at the time. And he just

7:10

invited me he's like, Hey, he,

7:10

he kind of knew where I was at

7:13

in life. He knew some of the

7:13

decisions I've been making. And

7:16

he just wrote me, he said, Hey,

7:16

I'm on a mission. It's great. I

7:20

love the Book of Mormon, you

7:20

should try reading it. And he

7:24

said some nicer things. But the

7:24

gist of it was try reading the

7:28

Book of Mormon. I was commuting

7:28

to work in Brooklyn is about an

7:32

hour and 15 minute, one way

7:32

train ride. I said, you know,

7:35

what, what the heck, I don't

7:35

have anything else to do. So I

7:39

might as well read it. And

7:39

really, when it comes down to it

7:41

is the book of Mormons either

7:41

true or it's not, it can't be

7:44

somewhere in the middle. Yeah.

7:44

And so I figured, I'm on my own,

7:49

no one can really pressure me

7:49

into doing this, no one can

7:52

really talk me into doing it, I

7:52

kind of tuned out my family and

7:55

all this stuff, they thought I

7:55

was just kind of my parents were

7:58

worried that I was just going to

7:58

end up terribly not have a good

8:01

result. And who knows where he's

8:01

going to end up, like or become

8:04

while moving to New York. So

8:04

while I was reading the Book of

8:08

Mormon on the train, my best

8:08

friend then also was like, Hey,

8:12

make sure to pray about it. And

8:12

I hadn't prayed in years, up

8:16

until that point. And I remember

8:16

was in October of 2013, I moved

8:21

there in August. And it took me

8:21

about a month actually to build

8:25

up the courage to pray, which is

8:25

kind of funny, because they

8:28

think, why would it be? Why

8:28

would you be scared of praying.

8:33

And it's because I knew there's

8:33

certain experiences and maybe

8:36

I'll share later, there's the

8:36

things that happened to me in my

8:40

life that I knew for sure,

8:40

happened, and were real, and

8:43

they're miraculous. And so it's

8:43

not that I never, I couldn't say

8:47

my faith is completely gone. I

8:47

would just, maybe just a teenage

8:51

rebellion just didn't want to

8:51

believe in it and all that type

8:54

of thing. But it was, I knew

8:54

that by praying, it was

8:58

acknowledging that really the

8:58

things I was doing were wrong,

9:01

and that there'll be some shame

9:01

or guilt. And there's a lot of

9:04

guilt actually leading up to

9:04

praying and I felt like I was

9:07

going to be rebuked or chastised

9:07

when I pray. Um, because growing

9:10

up was like, that was just how

9:10

it was if you break a

9:13

commandment or your break, doing

9:13

things, that there's a strong

9:16

punishment, there wasn't really

9:16

an emphasis on, on how Christ is

9:20

very loving and compassionate.

9:20

And he deals with sinners in a

9:24

very compassionate way. And

9:24

there's a time and a place for

9:27

rebuke, but when someone's

9:27

struggling, that's not the time

9:30

nor the place. You're there to

9:30

love and to stretch on hand to

9:33

give them a hug, because all

9:33

that stuff can come later. Yeah.

9:37

But that was what I was thinking

9:37

is I'm just going to get this

9:39

rebuking this chastisement if I

9:39

pray, but I remember kneeling

9:43

down in my room. It was a tiny

9:43

room. It was maybe like 15 feet

9:49

long, like eight feet wide, like

9:49

it was a shoebox. And there's a

9:53

bunk bed in there. So like it

9:53

was literally it's like a narrow

9:56

path to walk and there's a desk

9:56

so like, there's not a whole lot

9:59

of space in there. Yeah. And I

9:59

remember the minute I started

10:03

praying, just this warmth over

10:03

came in, it just felt like

10:06

someone has given me a big hug.

10:06

And I just broke down and

10:09

started crying. And it was

10:09

actually in that moment that I

10:12

knew that Heavenly Father loved

10:12

me that he cared for me and that

10:15

he was actually there. And it

10:15

didn't answer all my questions.

10:19

But it was at that moment, there

10:19

was a turning point. Yeah.

10:23

Because I remember as I started reading the Book of Mormon, I got a different job. And people

10:25

started asking me about what I

10:28

believed in as I started

10:28

explaining the things that I

10:31

believed in are the things that

10:31

the church like principles of

10:34

the church, all of my questions

10:34

that I had started being

10:37

answered by the answer I was

10:37

giving. Wow. And so I eventually

10:43

decided I'm gonna go on a

10:43

mission, but I didn't want to

10:45

tell my family. And so I decided

10:45

to do all of it in secret. And

10:49

there's like a couple of people,

10:49

I led into that into the secret.

10:53

And actually, my dad was one of

10:53

them. I remember when I visited,

10:56

like, the beginning of the year

10:56

of 2014. And I was like, Hey,

10:59

Dad, I need to talk to you. So

10:59

he's like, Okay, this seems

11:02

pretty serious. We go up to my

11:02

parents bedroom, and said, Hey,

11:06

I just want to let you know, I'm

11:06

going on a mission. And just the

11:11

shock on his face his job, I hit

11:11

the floor. He's like, are you

11:14

serious? Yeah. No, Mike, I

11:14

can't, you can't tell mom. I was

11:20

like, I want to do this on my

11:20

own. I need you. Because as I go

11:23

and do my dental checks, and my

11:23

medical checks, you're going to

11:26

be getting emails and things.

11:26

And I want you to be able to

11:29

cover for me, and I want you to

11:29

know that. So that way, there's

11:32

no suspicion. My dad knew, I

11:32

think my brother knew. And maybe

11:35

there's a couple others. And so yeah, so that's I decided

11:38

to go on a mission. That's kind

11:42

of a long story made short.

11:42

There's actually a funny

11:45

experience about how I told my

11:45

mom, which is, uh, I don't know

11:49

if you want me to go. Yeah,

11:49

let's hear it. That's actually

11:51

hilarious. So my mom had no idea

11:51

where I was at spiritually. The

11:57

last thing she knew is I didn't

11:57

want anything to do with the

11:59

church. I moved to New York. And

11:59

that was about it. Now I'm like,

12:03

we're talking once a while and I

12:03

tell her about update some of my

12:05

job, but there's nothing really

12:05

personal. So it's April 1, is a

12:10

April Fool's Day. I assigned to

12:10

my coworker and as I wanted to

12:13

be a brilliant idea if I told my

12:13

mom and called her and told her

12:16

that I got a girl pregnant. And

12:16

she's like, that is cruel. Am I

12:22

think I'm gonna do it. I was

12:22

like, either that or like, I got

12:24

mugged. And I'm like, calling

12:24

her from the hospital or from

12:26

like, the police department.

12:26

Yeah. So I remember I was on the

12:30

porch. I give her a call. And I'm like, Hey, mom, like, how's it gone? She's like, like, how

12:32

are you? Great. And my timing of

12:36

calling her couldn't have been

12:36

worse. Because she was like,

12:40

sewing these outfits for my

12:40

brother who was in a rock band.

12:43

She was really stressed because she was under the gun to get these done. There's a lot of

12:45

things going on at home with my

12:47

younger siblings, my sisters

12:47

that are helping her like she

12:50

was just really stressed. So I

12:50

call her and I'm like, Hey, I

12:55

don't know how to tell you this.

12:55

But I've been seeing this girl.

13:00

And like, one thing kind of led

13:00

to the next. And she called me

13:05

and she said that she's

13:05

pregnant. And my mom was like,

13:08

Are you serious? I'm like, yeah,

13:08

and here's the kicker. I was

13:11

like, but I don't know if it's

13:11

mine. And she's like Jameson.

13:16

My, my cousin. This happened to

13:16

him. This girl showed up said

13:20

that she was pregnant. And they

13:20

finally got a DNA test. And it

13:23

wasn't his she's like, You have

13:23

to get a DNA test. You have to

13:26

know if this is real. Like, and

13:26

why are you with this girl where

13:28

you don't even know if it's

13:28

yours. And this type of thing.

13:31

And I'm like, and then I decided

13:31

like, hey, actually, mom, she's

13:34

calling right now. Can I call you back

13:36

in just a little bit?

13:36

You're doubling down on? Yes. So

13:39

I hang

13:40

up. I walk into my

13:40

apartment, I go down, I stopped.

13:43

So I'm like, Hey, guys. There's

13:43

a couple of my roommates. And

13:46

I'm like, This is what I just

13:46

did. I just call my mom and told

13:49

her that I got a girl pregnant.

13:49

They're like you did not like

13:52

that is the worst thing you

13:52

could ever do. So I'm like, what

13:54

could you do to me, I'm in a

13:54

different state. I'm 1000s of

13:56

miles away. And so I don't call

13:56

her back for like 10 or 15

14:00

minutes.

14:01

Oh my gosh,

14:02

I find out later, my

14:02

mom hangs up the phone and she's

14:04

yelling at my siblings to like,

14:04

get in the kitchen, like wash

14:07

the dishes. Everyone's like

14:07

what's going on going on? Like

14:10

they knew that my mom was

14:10

talking to me. And for some

14:14

reason, she thought that this

14:14

was a better lie. She said

14:16

Jamison just had a drug

14:16

overdose. And they're all

14:22

texting me. And one of them was

14:22

like, What did you do to mom

14:25

because she started freaking

14:25

out. And I'm like, okay, all

14:27

right. I need to call my mom

14:27

back back. So I hop on the

14:30

phone. I'm like, Hey, Mom. I'm

14:30

sorry about this, but April

14:35

Fool's. And she was like, Are

14:35

you kidding me? She's like, are

14:39

you serious? I'm like, yeah,

14:39

just kidding. Like, I didn't get

14:42

a girl pregnant, which is April

14:42

Fool's. And I had to say that

14:46

she was emotionally distraught.

14:46

And just that whole it was a

14:50

complete understatement. Yeah.

14:50

So I this timing also couldn't

14:56

have been better because a week

14:56

later, I got my mission call.

14:59

And my mom's still had no idea.

14:59

And that is, so I got my

15:03

mission. I'm one of my roommates

15:03

is like I was terrible, I need

15:07

to get back in your mom, back

15:07

get back to you on behalf of

15:10

your mom. So like when your

15:10

mission call comes, I'm gonna

15:12

hide it. I'm like not attune to

15:12

that. So he never did. But I

15:17

then eventually, I get my

15:17

mission call, I opened up in my

15:20

bedroom called to the Scotland

15:20

Ireland mission, and which is

15:24

the greatest mission in the

15:24

world? Yes. But in all honesty,

15:27

like I thought I was a bit

15:27

disappointed because I was

15:29

wanting to go someplace foreign

15:29

like to speak another language.

15:31

Yeah. Because my older brother,

15:31

my oldest brother went to

15:34

Germany, my older brother went

15:34

to France, both myself, my

15:37

parents went to Sweden, my

15:37

family lived in Europe before I

15:39

was born. So like, I got a shoo

15:39

in. Like, I'm gonna go foreign.

15:42

I'm gonna be speaking another

15:42

language on my application. I'm

15:44

like, I want to go to Serbia.

15:44

learn another language as much

15:47

as possible, like my as a huge

15:47

desire of mine. So I was a

15:51

little disappointing, but I was

15:51

like, alright, so I told my dad,

15:54

as Okay, got my mission, call

15:54

this one. I'm going, I'm like, I

15:57

need to tell mom. So the next

15:57

day, I or maybe it was that

16:02

night, I give my mom a call my

16:02

dad's now on the call to and

16:05

he's recording it. And I'm like,

16:05

Hey, Mom, how's it going? She's

16:09

like, good. But when you call me

16:09

you need to start off with some

16:12

good news. I can't know. I don't

16:12

know if I can take anything like

16:14

last week. Like I'm still

16:14

recovering. Like, I can't

16:17

believe that you put me through

16:17

that. And like, I know, I'm so

16:19

sorry. Like that was, I was

16:19

pretty cruel. And I was like,

16:23

but you know, I actually want to

16:23

call because I do have some good

16:25

news. I actually have this

16:25

unique opportunity that I'm able

16:28

to go work for an organization

16:28

over in Scotland, Ireland. For

16:32

like, she's like, Oh, wow, it's

16:32

so cool. Like, How'd you hear

16:35

about us? Like, yeah, well,

16:35

actually, my bishop was able to

16:38

introduce me and like, helped me

16:38

through this. And it was

16:41

actually pretty cool. Like, do

16:41

this. And she's like, Oh, so

16:44

you're gonna be in Dublin,

16:44

Ireland, and like, no, Scotland

16:47

and Ireland, like but but before

16:47

I go there, I have to go spend

16:50

some time in England, actually,

16:50

for some training before then I

16:54

go and spend the time there. She's like that. So cool. My cats like, sweet this cool

16:56

organization. And they actually

16:59

sent me a letter. And what's

16:59

pretty neat is at the bottom of

17:01

the letter was signed by guy

17:01

named Thomas Monson. She's like,

17:05

What? Like, you're going on a

17:05

mission? I'm like, Well, yeah, I

17:09

guess that's what they call it.

17:09

And she's like, she just started

17:11

bawling. She's like, I don't

17:11

know if this is true. I don't

17:14

know if I can believe you have

17:14

to last week and my dad hops on

17:16

she's like, he's like, Carolyn.

17:16

Carolyn. It's true. It's true.

17:19

He's going on a mission. So

17:19

there's actually a recording of

17:22

that on Facebook. So yeah, I'll

17:22

have to find it and send it to

17:25

you that whole phone call.

17:25

Please. But yeah, so that's like

17:28

a very long story of how I ended

17:28

up going on a mission. So I then

17:32

left July 31. And then served

17:32

for two years. So yeah, it was

17:38

just shy of two years. But yeah,

17:38

yeah. So that was me going on

17:41

mission and a little bit of

17:41

where I'm from.

17:43

Dude, that is, yeah.

17:43

That's so fun. That's a great.

17:47

That's a great story. Yeah, I

17:49

just know, it's karma.

17:49

I'm having a baby anytime now.

17:51

And I just know like, it's a

17:51

baby girl. But if I have a baby

17:54

boy, if they either want to go

17:54

on a mission, but I feel like if

17:57

I have any child that's like me,

17:57

my wife is just gonna be it's

18:01

gonna be rough. Yeah, it's gonna

18:02

love it. That is

18:02

hilarious. Man. So you served

18:07

for two years. We were in. In a

18:07

district in Northern Ireland

18:13

together as important down

18:13

you're in Lisburn. Great times,

18:17

amazing times. Could you tell

18:17

everybody maybe an experience

18:21

that you had while on the

18:21

mission? That changed you?

18:25

Yeah, there's, I think

18:25

that the point when I say that

18:29

my mission changed was actually

18:29

when I was serving in Shetland.

18:32

So it was my second area. It was

18:32

my Shetland was your secondary

18:37

as of May so I went, I was in

18:37

Glasgow, I served there for

18:39

three transfers, and then I got

18:39

sent to Shetland. Yeah. And for

18:43

those that don't know, Shetland

18:43

is about 400 miles off the coast

18:46

of Scotland. It's where all the

18:46

Shetland ponies come from. In

18:49

order to get there, yes, yeah.

18:49

In order to get there, you have

18:52

to take a 14 hour ferry. So it's

18:52

an overnight ferry. And then or

18:57

you have to take a plane ride.

18:57

I've done both and the plane

19:00

ride I went on was the worst of

19:00

my life. Like that thing was

19:03

like, it was like a kite in the

19:03

wind. That's what it felt like,

19:06

oh, it was terrible. But anyway,

19:06

so it was there. And I was

19:09

actually I was serving with a

19:09

companion extra from Denmark's

19:14

Daniel. So I'll give a shout out

19:14

Danny molar. That's, I butchered

19:18

his last name, but so how do you

19:18

how do you say it's molar? Moo?

19:23

Yeah, so it's an order. Oh, so

19:23

it's mo l l e. R. I always joke

19:27

that he's German, because everyone calls him Daniel Mueller. But he doesn't like

19:28

that, but it's great. So it's

19:32

actually when I was serving with

19:32

him, I served with an Italian

19:35

companion before them. And some

19:35

of my previous companions were

19:38

not the most, like diligent and

19:38

obedience, especially my Italian

19:42

one. He would always tell me

19:42

elder you worry too much and he

19:44

was very relaxed and and he

19:44

didn't really he wasn't very

19:48

obedient. But Daniel when he

19:48

came in, he's like, we're gonna

19:54

tighten this ship up like and I

19:54

just like it's not worth putting

19:57

up a fight if one companions not

19:57

being very good. disciplined,

20:01

because there's going to cause

20:01

contention and there's bigger

20:03

fish to fry. And so it was

20:03

really about with Daniel, he

20:07

really cracked the whip. And he

20:07

really set me on a path that

20:10

Evers after I served with him,

20:10

we only serve one transfer

20:13

together, that I was extremely

20:13

diligent and really disciplined

20:17

with the rest of my mission and

20:17

took just being obedient very

20:20

seriously, just because it made

20:20

me feel better about what I was

20:24

doing. But it's actually and so

20:24

that was how I changed as far as

20:29

like how I behaved as a

20:29

missionary. So, like a spiritual

20:34

experience I had was, um, while

20:34

I was in Lisburn, I'm sort of

20:37

teaching a Baptist family. And

20:37

they're asking questions about

20:41

the Godhead, and how they didn't

20:41

really believe that Heavenly

20:45

Father and Jesus Christ have

20:45

bodies of flesh and bone, and

20:48

that the Holy Ghost is a person

20:48

of spirit. They believe in the

20:51

Trinity. So all three of them

20:51

are one, whether each different,

20:55

but they're like, Jesus is God

20:55

made flesh, and the Holy Spirit

20:59

is God to. And I said, You know

20:59

what, I can't really say that I

21:05

know this, for sure. And like, I

21:05

know. And so I decided, I'm

21:08

going to just pray about it, and

21:08

study to know for a fact if

21:12

Heavenly Father has a body of

21:12

flesh and bone, if Jesus Christ

21:14

as a, as a body of spirit is a

21:14

person which also has a body of

21:18

flesh and bone, and the Holy

21:18

Ghost of the persons of spirit.

21:21

And it was through that

21:21

experience. And I again, the

21:25

testimony I knew is true. So

21:25

that way, I knew that whenever I

21:28

bear my testimony, that heavenly

21:28

father lives, that Jesus Christ

21:31

is his son, that the Holy Ghost

21:31

is real, and that is Spirit, and

21:34

He communicates to our spirits.

21:34

I can bear testimony because I

21:37

gained a testimony of that. And

21:37

so that's one of the things that

21:41

changed for me is it's important

21:41

to gain a testimony of gospel

21:45

principles. And, like, if the

21:45

First Vision is true, I know

21:49

what happened in Ojai Smith as a

21:49

prophet. But I also know in

21:51

addition to the First Vision,

21:51

that I gained a testimony, just

21:54

like Joseph of the Godhead, and

21:54

so I can bear testimony of that.

21:58

So there's kind of two

21:58

experiences, obviously missions

22:01

there's, there's a dime a dozen

22:01

of experiences. And but those

22:05

are two that I usually that came

22:05

to mind as far as like, changes

22:09

or turning points in my mission,

22:11

man, so great. Yeah, I

22:11

loved love that mission. I, I

22:17

vaguely remember you kind of

22:17

talking about that. The God had

22:23

thing. While on the mission.

22:25

I think it was when I was serving with elder black, actually. So I may have shared

22:27

it with you. Well, while we were

22:30

serving around each other, yeah.

22:30

So, man, so good memory.

22:35

It's let's go to the

22:35

kind of the end of your mission.

22:38

Cool. It's nearing the end. Were

22:38

you preparing? I didn't prepare

22:45

very well, coming back home. But

22:45

what were some of your

22:48

expectations coming home? And

22:48

just telling me the story with

22:51

that?

22:51

Yeah. So it was

22:51

actually unique I was, when I

22:55

applied to get my visa to then

22:55

go on my mission. They actually

22:59

issued it for a couple of weeks

22:59

short of my return date, like I

23:03

gave them all the information,

23:03

but they still issued it. The UK

23:05

issued it shorter than what I

23:05

should have had. And I was the

23:09

only one in my group. And I think that's like one of the only ones in the mission, to be

23:10

honest. And I was like, you

23:14

know, that's kind of lame. I'm

23:14

now getting I came home may 31.

23:18

So it's exactly 22 months that I

23:18

served, I went out on July 31.

23:22

So this is kind of lame, going

23:22

home a transfer early, but I

23:25

kind of knew that there's a plan. It's like, alright, everything's gonna work out. And

23:27

that's just kind of just kind of

23:31

the attitude I have about life.

23:31

Everything's gonna work out. I

23:33

don't know how but I know it

23:33

will. But there's like some

23:38

senior couple missionaries in

23:38

Ireland cuz my last year was

23:41

Galway. That did, like, let's

23:41

prepare you for home. Let's talk

23:46

a little bit about like personal

23:46

finance or like things like

23:48

that, to get easy win. But

23:48

there's a guy I met while

23:51

serving in actually Livingston,

23:51

which is in between Edinburgh

23:56

and Glasgow, and Scotland. And

23:56

he'd said, The most important

24:01

thing you can do to set you up

24:01

for success in life is to find

24:06

the right spouse is to marry

24:06

someone. That's great. And he

24:09

also convinced me to go to BYU

24:09

Idaho. So I'm like, I didn't

24:12

have the grades to go to get

24:12

into BYU Provo. And I was like,

24:15

you know, I want to go back to

24:15

New York. So go to BYU Idaho.

24:20

It's like 100% acceptance rate,

24:20

and then I'll just transfer to a

24:22

school in New York. That was my

24:22

original initial plan. I was

24:26

also planning on doing summer

24:26

sales once I got back because

24:28

one of my roommates in New York

24:28

was opening up an office and in

24:31

Oklahoma, and he did really,

24:31

really well. And so I was gonna

24:34

open that up with him. So that

24:34

was kind of my plan coming home.

24:40

And I come home, and it was

24:40

actually four days after I get

24:43

home. And this is a whole nother

24:43

story. I actually meet my wife.

24:47

She's the first girl ever met

24:47

for coming home from my mission.

24:50

She's a convert also. And she

24:50

was in town for a wedding of a

24:54

friend of hers that she met in

24:54

the wife's a ward in New York.

24:57

She's going to school in New

24:57

York at the time. Dang and how

25:01

she and she knew my sister

25:01

because my sister moved to New

25:05

York to work after because she

25:05

served her mission in New York,

25:08

actually. And we overlapped. I

25:08

saw her when I went through the

25:11

temple. That was really cool.

25:11

What's really interesting is my

25:16

sister when she moved to New

25:16

York after her mission, she

25:18

said, I only want to work at one

25:18

place in New York want to work

25:21

at Anthropologie, at this

25:21

specific location. That's the

25:24

only place you want to work out

25:24

in New York. She goes in

25:27

interviews at the place, then

25:27

they don't hire her. She's like,

25:30

Alright, I'm gonna go to this

25:30

other place. She goes to another

25:32

anthropology location. She's

25:32

like, hey, is there a hiring

25:35

manager? So I can actually believe it or not. She's here today. She talks to this lady.

25:36

Turns out this girl is also a

25:41

member of the church. They have

25:41

like an impromptu interview on a

25:43

couch, she hires are there on

25:43

the spot. And then my wife goes

25:47

to like an orientation all the

25:47

all the new employees go. And

25:51

she's talking, she's saying, Oh,

25:51

hey, yeah, I used to live in New

25:55

York. I was a missionary for my

25:55

church. And my sister, then

25:57

here's this young girl say what

25:57

elders do you know, like one of

26:01

the elders. Turns out that was

26:01

my wife. So my wife was actually

26:04

being taught by the missionaries

26:04

at the time. And when she met my

26:08

sister, she then got married,

26:08

absolutely met my sister. She

26:11

got married about a week after

26:11

that. So that was July 28. That

26:16

was June of 2016, like the

26:16

beginning of June 2016. Fast

26:20

forward a year, I then come home

26:20

from my mission. My sister

26:24

invited her to my parents house

26:24

because she was in town. She

26:27

said, Hey, I have a cute brother

26:27

coming home from my mission.

26:29

Yeah, she looked me up on

26:29

Facebook. Me and my younger

26:32

brother were out at the same

26:32

time. My younger brother was in

26:34

France. She saw our two

26:34

pictures. She saw me in the

26:36

airport wearing a kilt and she's

26:36

like, I don't want this guy. The

26:39

younger guys better looking. And

26:39

so when she found out it was me,

26:43

that's the one coming home she's

26:43

like, dear, all right, well, at

26:45

least I'll come say hi to the

26:45

family. But just like to kill to

26:50

do Yeah, she was let's just say

26:50

the kill. It was not the

26:53

redeeming quality.

26:55

And I just don't like

26:55

getting photos. I thought the

26:57

girls would love kilts. You

26:57

know, every single girl I've

27:01

brought it up to. They're like,

27:01

No.

27:04

Yeah, the kilt is just,

27:04

they just don't understand the

27:08

greatness and the majesty of the kilt

27:10

greatness, majesty, the

27:10

cultural richness that it brings

27:14

and the

27:15

Yeah, and the most

27:15

manly cultures in the world all

27:19

wear a variety of a skirt. So

27:19

you've got Polynesian cultures.

27:22

They've got the Scots I think

27:22

like Spartan Spartans. Exactly.

27:27

Yeah. And you name it as you can

27:27

find men wear. kilts, and

27:30

they're very manly. Yeah, they

27:30

are. So anyway, so I walked into

27:36

the kitchen, she's there the

27:36

kitchen table. And she was she

27:41

was, she loves how I tell the

27:41

story, because I definitely

27:44

exaggerate a little bit. But I

27:44

also don't and she'll tell me

27:47

later, but she was smitten when

27:47

she saw me and I shook her hand.

27:51

She was, Wow, this kid is

27:51

extremely good looking. He is

27:55

yeah, all the things and I was

27:55

still like coming home from a

27:58

mission like still in that

27:58

missionary days. We chatted for

28:02

a little bit, played a game and

28:02

she was leaving, like stood up

28:05

was like, hey, it was great to

28:05

meet you. Murphy. I shook her

28:07

hand and my dad in the other

28:07

room was like, trainers and can

28:09

you not hug girls? Like, yes, I

28:09

can shut up dad. So I gave her a

28:14

hug. I didn't have a phone at

28:14

that time. So like messenger

28:17

later on Facebook. And I was

28:17

like, well, she's living in New

28:19

York. Nothing's gonna work out.

28:19

I said, Hey, it's great to meet

28:21

you. If I'm ever in New York,

28:21

like, I'll let you know. Or next

28:25

time you're in town. Like, let's

28:25

hang out or something. Something

28:28

super, like writing her off and

28:28

like being nice about it. But

28:31

then she messaged me back and

28:31

she said, Hey, here's my phone

28:35

number text me when you get a

28:35

phone. Cuz she's like, I'm not

28:37

gonna let this guy go. Who?

28:37

Yeah, so I got like a phone a

28:41

couple days later, we started

28:41

texting. And then I gave her a

28:46

call. And then after that, we

28:46

just started Skyping. Like every

28:50

single night. Yeah, for like, a

28:50

like a couple of weeks. And then

28:53

I saw her again or three weeks later, because she was in town for another wedding. And it was

28:55

really at that. Three weeks

28:59

later, after initially meeting,

28:59

we then became official driving

29:02

up to the airport. I was like,

29:02

I'm not really interested in

29:04

anyone else. She's like, Well,

29:04

me neither. And all right. Well,

29:08

I guess that makes us a thing.

29:08

Yeah. It's like, I guess it

29:10

weren't boyfriend or girlfriend.

29:10

She's like, all right. This is

29:13

about drop her off at the

29:13

airport. And it was then I told

29:16

her I loved her like two weeks

29:16

later, like the weekend of the

29:19

fourth. And I knew I was going

29:19

to marry her within like a

29:22

month. Doing long distance. She

29:22

knew the same thing. And yeah,

29:27

so we got married a year later,

29:27

and it was pretty miraculous how

29:30

that hang later after

29:30

knowing. Uh huh. That's rough.

29:33

Yeah, waiting that long.

29:35

Yeah, it was. I mean,

29:35

we did it three long distance

29:38

three months. In the fall. We

29:38

like that fall conference in

29:41

October of 27 2016. We said

29:41

yeah, we're gonna get married.

29:48

We planned. We picked out the

29:48

date in like, February of that

29:51

following year. And then I

29:51

proposed in between conference

29:54

sessions in April, and then we

29:54

got married June 22.

29:57

That's Oh, yeah. Dang,

29:57

man, that's great. And this is

30:02

where the story gets kind of

30:02

crazy. Yeah. So as you guys

30:08

might know, I have all of my

30:08

guests right in their story. And

30:14

when I got to this part of the

30:14

story, it's his is definitely

30:18

one of the best stories

30:18

submitted just because you put a

30:21

lot of thought and detail in

30:21

you're a good writer. And so

30:26

but yeah, it's so first off,

30:26

it's that's like the coolest

30:31

thing that you were kind of

30:31

like, bummed you had to go home

30:34

a little bit early, but it

30:34

worked out perfectly, that you

30:37

met your wife, and she wasn't

30:37

initially interested in the

30:41

picture with a kilt, but smitten

30:41

by you. When she first meets.

30:45

Yeah,

30:45

I was radiate as

30:45

exuding attractiveness. For the

30:48

Spirit house clean cut, I came

30:48

back from my last area where we

30:52

were biking everywhere. And I

30:52

was running every single morning

30:55

and you know, six months to

30:55

sexy. I didn't even have to do

30:57

six months. Because like my last

30:57

area where it was in Galway, so

31:00

there's hills everywhere. Yeah,

31:00

like I was trying on pan. So

31:03

like, TK Maxx. So it's the TJ

31:03

Maxx and Ireland. And my thighs

31:09

couldn't even get through the

31:09

pans, because they might advise

31:12

for so beefy because writing for

31:12

each, like, see how they work

31:15

because of riding the bike

31:15

everywhere for three and a half,

31:17

like three months, four and a

31:17

half months, actually. So I was

31:20

like, I was in great shape.

31:20

Yeah. So I was extremely fit. I

31:24

was full the spirit and excuse

31:24

me. And then also I wasn't a

31:29

nice, you're like English

31:29

tailored suit. So I had it all

31:33

working for

31:34

me. Yeah, that day. It

31:34

was kind of inevitable.

31:37

Yeah, so I mean, I was

31:37

a hot commodity. Like, yeah,

31:41

she's just lucky she was there

31:41

when she was exactly she got me

31:44

first before and and outskirts.

31:44

Yeah, no, that's great. Yeah.

31:49

Okay, well, I'll tell

31:49

ya, tell us a little

31:49

bit about leading up to the

31:53

wedding.

31:55

Yeah, so to fast

31:55

forward a little have to

31:57

backtrack a little bit, I got

31:57

home from a mission. And after I

32:00

moved to New York, I started

32:00

feeling a little ill, like I

32:02

was, it was like, my father was

32:02

sick to my stomach. And like, it

32:09

was a little rough. And I was like, Alright, this is probably really nothing. And this really

32:11

started in the fall of 2016.

32:15

Like, I'd go for a run and just

32:15

felt really lethargic. And then

32:17

I'm going out, like stretching

32:17

out, stand up, I'd get extremely

32:20

dizzy, which I gets normal. If

32:20

you stand up too quickly, you

32:23

get a little dizzy. But this

32:23

would happen every single day.

32:26

And I was getting really sick, I

32:26

wasn't really eating a lot. My

32:30

diet was really impacted. And it

32:30

just progressively started

32:33

getting worse and worse. And

32:33

I've had a lot of things happen

32:36

to me in my life where I

32:36

probably should be dead by this

32:38

point. But I'm not. And that's

32:38

actually one of the things I

32:41

have a testimony of is like

32:41

priesthood blessings. Because

32:44

when I was in fourth grade, I

32:44

actually got severely burned

32:47

like hot grease spilled all over

32:47

my hand, and like boiled it off,

32:50

like the flesh was completely

32:50

cooked off. And my dad and my

32:53

neighbor gave me a blessing. And

32:53

the minute they took their hands

32:56

off my head, I couldn't feel any

32:56

pain. And one of the things that

33:00

they had to do is after I went

33:00

to the burn unit up at the

33:03

University of Utah, they had to

33:03

take a washcloth and like brush

33:06

rub off all the dead skin. I had

33:06

no painkillers that entire time.

33:11

And I actually asked him if I

33:11

could help and like, this never

33:14

happens because kids are usually

33:14

screaming, because that's what

33:17

rough cloth and you're scraping

33:17

off all your flesh. So

33:19

everything underneath is just

33:19

your veins, your veins, my

33:22

goodness. And so that was one of

33:22

the things that I had a

33:25

testimony of because there's no

33:25

chance that it could have

33:28

happened by any other way other

33:28

than an absolute miracle and

33:31

something from God. And so I was

33:31

going through the whole faith

33:34

thing. That was the flame that

33:34

was in the back of my mind that

33:37

I knew I can never deny what

33:37

happened. Yeah. So that was

33:40

that's one of many things like I

33:40

was run over when I was one and

33:42

a half like I've gotten mauled

33:42

by a dog a couple of times crack

33:45

my head open like a lot of

33:45

things. Holy cow. Yeah, so

33:48

that's a whole another another

33:48

day but I've been feeling really

33:52

ill and I grew up in a home

33:52

where unless you want to

33:54

bleeding if you're if you're

33:54

bleeding or broke your arm,

33:57

that's when you went to the

33:57

hospital. If you're just kind of

33:59

feeling sick, like my sister

33:59

broke her collarbone. We never

34:03

took her to the hospital even though it looked like a mountain but like I just walked in. So I

34:04

just kept feeling really really

34:10

sick all the time. I didn't and

34:10

so just sick to my stomach and

34:13

it progressively got worse. I

34:13

then went down to do summer

34:16

sales and Florida in May and

34:16

this is not 2017 and it that's

34:22

where things took a turn like my

34:22

health nosedived. I remember

34:26

walking like around and the

34:26

neighborhoods and I was like I

34:31

just after lunch is like I feel

34:31

like I'm just gonna blackout

34:33

just collapse on someone's lawn

34:33

and there's going to drive past

34:36

cities unconscious guy just

34:36

laying there and there's there's

34:39

a thought going through my mind

34:39

every single day like almost

34:41

every hour like after a day of

34:41

selling my ankles were

34:44

completely swollen. Like to the

34:44

left of my abs like it just got

34:48

out getting very hard and where

34:48

the right time like this really

34:51

squishing I'm like this is a

34:51

little weird. But maybe if I

34:54

just changed my diet a little

34:54

bit like it'll be able to heal

34:57

itself. And it just can be

34:57

aggressively kept getting worse

35:01

and worse until about a week

35:01

before my wedding. I was still

35:05

in Florida I woke up one morning

35:05

an absolute agony. Like the left

35:09

side of my body felt like

35:09

someone was shoving a hot knife

35:11

to my side. And it my ignorant

35:11

self was like hey, it's probably

35:16

like a bad case of heartburn.

35:16

Let me get some Tums or

35:19

something maybe it's just like

35:19

some of my stomach going on and

35:23

get some times didn't help. And

35:23

I just continue to feel that

35:27

sharp pain for like a couple of

35:27

days like, hey, got it mentally,

35:32

like healed itself a little bit,

35:32

but I could still feel that like

35:36

a dull ache and a bit of

35:36

throbbing. So I go to Utah for

35:40

my wedding. It's like two days

35:40

before to have like a bachelor

35:44

party and still feeling really

35:44

ill the next day. I we go on

35:48

this hike to Stuart falls up

35:48

Provo Canyon. Yeah. And that was

35:51

like the worst decision I could

35:51

have ever done. Like when I get

35:53

home. I'm like, as white as a

35:53

sheet. laying on the couch. Like

35:58

I can't even do I can't even

35:58

move. I'm just so weak. I feel

36:01

so sick. And but I'm like the

36:01

wedding's tomorrow. I gotta go.

36:05

So yeah, when bear gets it, I'm

36:05

not missing. No. And like, the

36:09

whole time I was like, just suck

36:09

it up. Like get through it. I'm

36:12

like, alright, and I like I tell

36:12

people I'm like feeling well,

36:15

but unwell. But I wouldn't

36:15

really severely complain because

36:18

I don't really do that. So then

36:18

I was leading up to my wedding,

36:22

I was walking through the temple

36:22

saw one of my neighbors. And I

36:26

was like, I just and she was like how you feel? I'm like, I feel so sick. She's like, well,

36:28

that's not good. Like, like,

36:31

Well, I mean, I have nerves, but

36:31

I also just like physically just

36:34

feel ill go through that whole

36:34

day. Feeling like absolute

36:38

trash. My wife is like, can you

36:38

at least look happy? Like my

36:42

family's here gonna be like,

36:42

look like you love me. And like

36:44

you do not know how sick I feel.

36:44

And I was wearing I wear a kilt

36:47

for our reception. So it was

36:47

cool. She was cool with that

36:52

word. The whole thing I had you

36:52

wander over? I did. It was

36:55

great. But like the kill, it was

36:55

tight around my stomach. Oh,

36:58

yeah. So it was pressing against

36:58

what I found out later was my

37:01

spleen. It was pressing into all

37:01

that. So I just felt terrible.

37:03

So we end the night. We're

37:03

driving to our, our hotel for

37:08

our honeymoon to start a

37:08

honeymoon. And I'm like, Murphy.

37:12

Nothing's gonna happen tonight.

37:12

I know. We just got married. I

37:15

feel so sick. It's like my time

37:15

we get there's gonna be like

37:19

31am is when we went to Park

37:19

City. And like, I just maybe in

37:24

the morning. I just I can't

37:24

right now. Yeah. And that was

37:26

me. She's like, are you serious?

37:26

Like we just got married to

37:29

finally we drove up and like,

37:29

Alright, who am I kidding? It's

37:33

our wedding night. Yeah, I can't

37:33

be the one guy that just like,

37:37

sorry, Honey, I'm going to bed

37:37

on our honeymoon. Like, there's

37:41

already a lot of pent up

37:41

emotions. Before that. I'm like,

37:44

alright, well, we'll do the

37:44

deed, well consummate our

37:47

marriage. And so we do the deed.

37:47

And it was great. My wife went

37:56

to bed. I went to bed. And then

37:56

I just laid there. And I was in

38:01

so much pain. And the reason why

38:01

I was in so much pain, is it

38:05

like 4am At this point, my wife

38:05

had been asleep for probably

38:07

about an hour and a half, maybe

38:07

two hours. I was having I had an

38:11

erection for four hours.

38:11

Completely natural. And I gave

38:17

my wife a bad precedent for how

38:17

marriage life is gonna be.

38:20

Because all the all the husbands

38:20

out there all the guys, it's

38:24

like 30 seconds. Like I was I

38:24

like to say I was like an

38:30

absolute stallion in the sheets

38:30

was is an understatement. But

38:34

then I was like, it was so

38:34

painful and like the most

38:37

excruciating pain I've ever been. And it's like one of those. I mean, it's a bit

38:39

graphic, but it's like one of

38:42

those party balloons that you

38:42

like, make it to like a balloon

38:45

animals. It felt like that, but

38:45

like right about before it

38:48

explodes. Like that's what it

38:48

felt like. Yeah. So I took a

38:50

cold shower, took a cold bath,

38:50

like doing anything to calm

38:53

myself down. Nothing What

38:53

happened, I woke up my wife and

38:56

I was like, Hey, this is what's

38:56

going on. She's like, I'm not

38:59

going to deal with this. We're

38:59

going to the hospital. I'm like,

39:01

no, no, no, because medically

39:01

it's called the priapism. And

39:04

there's ways to treat it. And one of them is they have to actually stick a needle in a

39:06

syringe and just drain it off.

39:09

And I'm like, that's the last

39:09

thing I want right now. That's

39:12

all you can do like muscle

39:12

relaxers. I found out later and

39:14

like ice packs and your shorts.

39:14

So I'm like, Alright, I need at

39:18

least know the medical term

39:18

because when I walk into the

39:20

hospital, that's the last thing

39:20

I want to tell them is like, I'm

39:24

not on Viagra. But I've had an

39:24

erection for four hours. But so

39:29

I went in there. It's like I've

39:29

had to bribe him for four hours.

39:31

Yes, it's natural. I haven't

39:31

taken anything like Okuni to

39:34

take you back. It's like well,

39:34

I'm already here in the

39:36

hospital. I might as well tell

39:36

them all the other problems I've

39:39

been having. Yes, Mike. Well,

39:39

I've been having this and this

39:42

and this like here on the side

39:42

of my body. It's feels really

39:44

hard. Like I feel extremely sick

39:44

to my stomach. Super lethargic.

39:47

My ankle has been swelling. It's

39:47

like alright, we'll give you

39:50

take you give you a CAT scan. So

39:50

and before this though, they

39:52

gave me a muscle relaxer and

39:52

then ice packs to put down my

39:55

shorts to kind of calm

39:55

everything down. So I was kind

39:58

of like this doped up I'm like,

39:58

situation, whereas I kind of in

40:03

and out of consciousness

40:03

extremely tired, because I

40:05

haven't slept at all. This is

40:05

like 4am. Like actually as like

40:08

five, five in the morning, we

40:08

got married the day before. And

40:12

so give me a CT scan, and they

40:12

take me back and they're trying

40:15

to draw my blood to run it. And

40:15

they try to put it in one arm,

40:18

nothing's working. So they put

40:18

in the other, and the blood

40:21

won't even come out of my arm.

40:21

And they're like, This is crazy.

40:24

So then they had hooked up a

40:24

syringe and start, like,

40:26

manually like pumping. Because

40:26

normally the tubes that they

40:29

collect the blood in their

40:29

vacuum sealed, so then it just

40:32

pulls it out. Yeah, but the

40:32

blood won't even move. Like

40:35

you'd come up a little bit. It

40:35

was like molasses. So like, wow,

40:38

this is crazy. So they're

40:38

pulling in. I'm like, Yeah,

40:40

doesn't look good. So here, I am

40:40

just kind of in this doped up,

40:45

like, in like, just situation.

40:45

And they come in the doctors

40:51

like so. The results came back,

40:51

you've got one of two things,

40:58

you either have lymphoma or

40:58

leukemia. And I'm like, Oh, look

41:04

at my wife. And the first thing

41:04

I think, is like, hey, at least

41:08

we were sealed. Because, I mean,

41:08

that's like, the first thing I

41:11

could think of was, I'm probably

41:11

going to die. It's going to be

41:15

maybe six months. I know my

41:15

health is extremely

41:18

deteriorating. At least were

41:18

sealed. And I was like, Hey,

41:23

by the way, like if I do die,

41:23

like, you're young, like, maybe

41:27

you can still get married, like

41:27

live a full life, like it's

41:30

okay, like, but she's like, I

41:30

don't want to marry anyone else.

41:32

We got sealed, like, I love you.

41:32

And these are serious

41:35

conversations we're having. I'm

41:35

also like, on these muscle

41:38

relaxer, so I'm not kind of in a

41:38

delirious mind. But these are

41:42

like the conversations are

41:42

having less than 24 hours after

41:45

getting married. So my wife

41:45

steps out, she calls my mom, she

41:49

calls me Dad finally gets him.

41:49

It's like, hey, we have to be

41:52

transferred to the Huntsman

41:52

Cancer Institute right now

41:54

because Jamison has his cancer.

41:54

And we need you to come clean up

41:58

our hotel room, the cars in the

41:58

parking lot at the hospital. But

42:02

we're being transferred by

42:02

ambulance right now. And it's

42:04

funny because they're like, do you want to drive to the Huntsman? Or do you want to take

42:06

the ambulance? And I'm like, if

42:08

I take the ambulance is going to

42:08

be expensive. So Murphy, you can

42:11

just drive me she's like, I'm

42:11

not going to drive. You've got

42:13

port in your arm, like I this is

42:13

a bad situation, what are you

42:16

going to take the ambulance. So

42:16

I'm like half delirious, and I

42:20

all I remember just kind of

42:20

these glimpses of me getting me

42:23

lying there in the ambulance,

42:23

then being moved to a

42:26

wheelchair, and then moving down

42:26

this hallway and the cause of

42:30

cancer and Huntsman Cancer

42:30

Institute. Looking at all these

42:33

pictures, the nurses like I like

42:33

these pictures, because they're

42:36

places that I'd always love to

42:36

go visit. And here I am making

42:39

jokes. I'm like, I'm sure the

42:39

people, the patients don't like

42:43

it, because these are other

42:43

places that they probably won't

42:45

ever get to visit. And he's

42:45

like, wow, that's a little dark.

42:54

I'm like, All right. So then

42:54

they they wheel me and they do

42:58

all the tests. And that's where

42:58

we spent our honeymoon was. And

43:02

before this, we were supposed to

43:02

just spend the weekend in Park

43:04

City and then fly down to

43:04

Florida to then finish selling

43:07

for the summer. All of those

43:07

plans were scrapped. Oh, yeah. I

43:11

was like, there's no chance I

43:11

can sell anymore. Yeah. So yeah,

43:15

that's where things really kind

43:15

of took a turn. And to figure

43:20

out what happened is a normal my

43:20

white blood cell. So I have

43:23

chronic myeloid leukemia, such a

43:23

genetic mutation is not

43:26

hereditary, known. How's it how

43:26

you get it actually developed

43:29

halfway through my mission is

43:29

what they're able to track. But

43:33

it progresses on like a

43:33

logarithmic scale. So it's like,

43:37

if you like the penny a day

43:37

doubling that type of thing.

43:39

Yeah. And what they found is my

43:39

blood was so thick because of

43:44

the white blood cell count. Like

43:44

my spleen was pretty much just a

43:48

sack of white blood cells. So

43:48

it's normally three centimeters,

43:50

it was 15 centimeters is like a

43:50

football was next to my stomach.

43:55

And then, on top of that is my

43:55

normal healthy blood count is

43:59

like 4000 to like 11,000 of

43:59

white blood cells. My blood

44:03

cells are like 262,000. So I was

44:03

months away from being having a

44:09

heart attack or a stroke or and

44:09

probably dying. And leading up

44:14

to our wedding actually, when

44:14

we're thinking about it

44:16

Murphy's, like I think we need

44:16

to get married in October, like

44:19

okay, but I have a feeling we're

44:19

gonna get married a lot sooner.

44:22

And it's actually the beginning of the year. We're trying to figure out the day and I was

44:24

like, I feel like we need to get married in June. It was June 22

44:26

is actually the day after my

44:29

parents wedding anniversary, and

44:29

then also the day before my

44:32

cousin so it's a lot going on

44:32

that weekend. But honestly, like

44:36

getting married that day, quite

44:36

literally saved my life. So the

44:39

honeymoon put me in the

44:39

hospital, but my wedding

44:42

actually saved my life. So I was

44:42

when I got to the Cancer

44:46

Institute, they had to do all

44:46

the tests, take a bone marrow

44:49

biopsy out of my hip to take a

44:49

cord to build a test to see what

44:54

type of cancer I have. And so

44:54

there I am lying in a gurney

44:59

like in a hall hospital bed, my

44:59

wife sleeping on it, like a

45:02

bench near the window. And we

45:02

joke that this is called the

45:06

huntsman the huntsman suite the

45:06

huntsman honeymoon suite. We had

45:09

a nice view of the Salt Lake

45:09

Valley. But yeah, that's that's

45:14

where things definitely heated

45:14

up a little dude, that

45:17

is that is insane.

45:17

Yeah, dang, I love what you just

45:22

said that the honeymoon got you

45:22

to the hospital. But the

45:27

marriage saved your life kind of

45:27

thing. Yeah. Because yeah, if it

45:30

was in October? Yeah.

45:35

What do you think would have happened? I probably would have been dead if I hadn't gone

45:37

to the hospital. Yeah. Because

45:39

the way that my blood was just

45:39

replicating at that point. I

45:43

mean, I was already off the

45:43

charts when it comes to testing

45:47

for my white blood cells. My

45:47

blood couldn't even move it's a

45:50

president have a blood clot.

45:50

Because like, it couldn't go

45:53

anywhere. And that's why I had

45:53

the prime ism is because the

45:56

blood flowed. But it couldn't

45:56

even go back into my body

45:59

because it was so thick and

45:59

nowhere for it to go. Exactly.

46:03

And it was just my blood was so

46:03

saturated with white blood

46:06

cells.

46:07

That's insane. Oh my

46:07

gosh, dude, that's insane. Yeah,

46:12

man there, it seems to be like

46:12

God had a hand. I love how

46:18

you've told the story. First off, because you think you've shown how God has had the hand

46:20

from when you go into New York

46:27

the first time to you going on a

46:27

mission to you coming home early

46:32

to you, meeting your wife and

46:32

then getting married earlier

46:37

than you guys thought? And how

46:37

that all has kind of led up to

46:42

you saving your life. It sounds

46:42

like your life has been saved on

46:46

several occasions. Yeah. Which

46:46

is just insane.

46:49

Yeah, it's absolutely

46:49

miraculous. Because I the way I

46:53

like to think is I could have

46:53

been diagnosed with any type of

46:55

cancer, I guess if I had to get

46:55

cancer, if I sign up, I know how

46:58

to get cancer. Heavenly Father

46:58

was like, I'm gonna give you a

47:01

cancer. And the good news about

47:01

this one is it's one of the

47:03

success stories of cancer

47:03

researchers, it's treatable,

47:06

it's not curable. So I'll have

47:06

it the rest of my life. But

47:10

there is a type of treatment you

47:10

can take where it targets the

47:13

cells that has this genetic

47:13

mutation and prevents them from

47:16

replicating. So you can be able

47:16

to live a healthy life. If you

47:19

saw me on the street, you'd known whatever, no, and usually when I tell people, which isn't

47:21

extremely often because it's a

47:24

bit of a heavy thing to do,

47:24

like, Hey, by the way, I have

47:27

cancer, like what the heck do

47:27

you ever say cancer jokes? Yeah,

47:30

my family touched cancer jokes

47:30

all the time. And like

47:32

sometimes, like if I joke around

47:32

like that have cancer with

47:35

people that aren't really you,

47:35

like, don't know how to respond.

47:38

They're like, yeah, like, Take this, like you're laughing. But this is kind of a serious thing.

47:40

Because you have to kind of find

47:42

humor in life, right?

47:43

Yeah. But you have to

47:43

have a dark humor.

47:47

Exactly, yeah, when

47:47

you're in a situation like this.

47:50

And so I know that Heavenly

47:50

Father has preserved my life.

47:54

And I know that I'm meant for

47:54

bigger and better things. And

47:57

that's actually something that I lean upon all the time as my patriarchal blessing. It just

47:59

thinking about it, and knowing

48:02

that there's certain promises

48:02

that are meant for this life.

48:05

And knowing that, that's one of

48:05

the things I told my wife is

48:08

obviously when we were

48:08

discussing, like, hey, if I die

48:11

like, and glad things were

48:11

sealed, but at the end of my, at

48:15

the back of my mind that I just had peace, knowing that everything is going to work out

48:17

the way that it should, I don't

48:20

know, understand what that's

48:20

going to look like. But I know

48:25

that God is involved in my life,

48:25

that there's things that I'm

48:30

going to have to go through that

48:30

are going to teach me important

48:32

lessons that are important for

48:32

me to know, to learn, and to

48:37

grow in certain ways to be able

48:37

to help others. Because I know

48:41

that perspective, and what I've

48:41

gained through this experience,

48:45

I am able to understand pretty I

48:45

mean, whenever I go to the

48:48

hospital, I'm usually the

48:48

youngest one there is usually a

48:51

lot of old people that are

48:51

there. And everyone there that I

48:54

associate with because I have to

48:54

go pretty often is if they're

48:58

struggling with something that

48:58

is probably going to kill them.

49:00

This is I have come to the

49:00

decision. And the conclusion

49:03

like I think this will probably

49:03

kill me later on in life. I

49:06

don't know when I imagine it'll

49:06

be when I'm old. But I just know

49:11

that my time will come at some

49:11

point. But at the same time, as

49:16

I know, I've had a lot of

49:16

struggles in my life, but all of

49:19

them is because it's through

49:19

like the refiners fire because

49:23

they have to be put through

49:23

these hard experiences. So that

49:26

way you can be able to learn and

49:26

to be able to grow. And on the

49:30

flip side of that, as if you

49:30

think Wow, you got dealt with

49:33

cancer, like the first day, not

49:33

even a day after you got

49:36

married, like what else is in

49:36

store for you? But the thing is,

49:39

like when you climb one

49:39

mountain, there's going to be

49:42

another mountain to climb. And I

49:42

heard it said which I really

49:46

like is if everyone were to

49:46

throw their problems or trials

49:50

into a pile, no one would want

49:50

to pick someone else's. And a

49:54

lot of my things I have struggled with is a lot of health struggles, a lot of

49:56

health related things getting On

50:00

over or getting burned or

50:00

getting cancer, my joke is

50:03

probably not appropriate that the only thing I haven't experienced is I haven't gotten

50:05

shot or stabbed. Let's hope that

50:08

doesn't happen. But like broken

50:08

bones, like does, and you get to

50:13

live through it exactly. And I,

50:13

you know, and that's something

50:18

that is beautiful is actually

50:18

talking to my wife. And so one

50:24

of the things is I've been on

50:24

treatment for the last six

50:26

years, and I've responded really

50:26

well to the treatment. And as

50:31

really, I was able to get to an

50:31

undetectable phase, where when

50:35

they do the tests, they're not

50:35

able to detect anything in my

50:37

blood doesn't mean it's not there. It's just it's such a little such a low amount. Yeah,

50:39

that it's it can't be picked up.

50:44

And so they said, Hey, you can

50:44

go off treatment. So my great,

50:46

so I tried it out for February's

50:46

the first month I was able to go

50:49

off treatment, which is pretty

50:49

awesome. And I got it, I then I

50:53

had to test every single month.

50:53

And then April got my last test.

50:57

And the results came back that

50:57

they actually were able to

50:59

detect it. So I'm testing this

50:59

last April. Yep. So I'm, I have

51:06

to go back next week to test

51:06

again to see if my levels go

51:09

down. And if they don't, then

51:09

I'll have to go back on

51:12

treatment. How and what

51:14

what is treatment look

51:14

like? Yeah, so

51:19

what it is, is called

51:19

TKI. It's an inhibitor. So it

51:23

means that it's like a It's a

51:23

type of chemotherapy, because

51:26

it's a chemical. So it's a

51:26

chemical therapy. It's not like

51:29

a radiation or things where

51:29

people lose their hair or things

51:32

like that. And so what it does

51:32

is it targets the white blood

51:35

cells that has the genetic

51:35

mutation, and it prevents them

51:38

and kills them and prevents them

51:38

from replicating. Because any

51:41

mutation that I have, the white

51:41

blood cells are always

51:44

replicating so they don't stop.

51:44

And that's the cancer. And so,

51:51

being on treatment, there's like

51:51

some side effects, like I have

51:53

a, I get a rash. And when I was

51:53

on a full dose, it felt like

51:57

bugs are like crawling all over

51:57

my skin when I'd get really hot.

52:00

Like it was almost like

52:00

psoriasis on the scalp or my

52:03

scalp would get really flaky.

52:03

And like it wasn't really

52:07

painful. But like mentally it

52:07

was really exhausting. Because

52:11

if I'm out camping and like

52:11

there's actually bugs and they

52:13

like land on me, it flares up my

52:13

rash. And it really feels like

52:16

they're all crawling over my

52:16

body. And then it just gets

52:18

really I get really agitated and

52:18

irritable. Because it just it's

52:22

it's not anything that I can

52:22

really, there's not a way to sue

52:26

that. I mean, sure, maybe I can

52:26

put cortisol cream or whatever

52:29

on my body. But I don't want to

52:29

do that all the time. And

52:33

so that's really, this

52:33

is from the treatment not the

52:36

cancer. Yeah, so

52:36

from the treatment. Yeah.

52:38

I was gonna ask about your body butter.

52:42

Moisturize every day

52:42

though. So yeah. Jergens like

52:45

it'd be sponsored against Yeah,

52:45

a lifetime supply.

52:48

Butter. Yeah.

52:49

So Jergens lotions does

52:49

great. It's the my one my one

52:53

stop shop for all my needs. I

52:53

use it for my hair. My skin is

52:56

great. Yeah, it's awesome. So

52:56

yeah, so that's my treatment.

53:01

And my I had a conversation with

53:01

my wife. And she's like, do you

53:05

want us to faster? Do you want

53:05

the family to fast for you?

53:08

Like, do you want them to pray

53:08

that you'll be able to then go

53:11

off your treatment. And I told

53:11

her was like, you know, I've

53:15

kind of come to the decision

53:15

that I felt strongly prompted, I

53:19

could have gone off treatment

53:19

probably last year. But I feel

53:22

like this is the year that do

53:22

it. And I felt like that it was

53:26

the right thing to be doing. So

53:26

I move forward that decision.

53:29

And if I have to go on

53:29

treatment, it's not that that

53:32

prompting was wrong. And that

53:32

all of a sudden, I have to do

53:35

this, go through this again. But

53:35

for me, if I had never gone on

53:40

treatment, I'd have always been

53:40

wondering what would happen if I

53:42

didn't go off. If I did go off

53:42

what I have been to, and the

53:45

chances of me staying off is

53:45

about 6040. So is a bit of

53:48

better than a coin toss. Yeah.

53:48

And the chance of me going off

53:52

and staying off again in the

53:52

future is around 20%. So it's

53:55

pretty low. But I said you know,

53:55

I follow this prompting, I knew

54:01

is the right thing to be doing.

54:01

Even if I have to go back on on

54:04

my treatment, I can have

54:04

confidence and faith knowing

54:07

that it has been all part of the

54:07

plan, exercise my agency to do

54:11

this. God is able to intervene

54:11

and always reminds me there's

54:15

two quotes. It's one is elder

54:15

Maxwell, he struggled with his

54:20

struggle with leukemia as well,

54:20

when he was an apostle. And he

54:23

had always talked about it's not

54:23

about just enduring, it's about

54:25

enduring well. And that's the

54:25

thing I always remind myself,

54:28

it's not about just gripping and

54:28

grinning and bearing. But it's

54:31

enduring it well, the trial.

54:33

Yeah. There's, I think

54:33

I have his book. Okay, if thou

54:38

injure it well, okay. Yeah. I've

54:38

never read it, but it's actually

54:42

on my Goodreads. Okay, list is

54:42

on the list and read.

54:46

Okay. Yeah. And maybe

54:46

this will be the inspiration for

54:49

you to drain it, but that's what

54:49

he didn't realize that he had

54:51

leukemia. I think he had

54:51

leukemia. I knew he had cancer.

54:54

And I think that's ended up what

54:54

taking his life. What do you end

54:57

up dying from? It seems like

54:57

early 2000 wasn't nothing It was

55:00

when he passed away. But the

55:00

other The second quote is that

55:05

one, but I just lost my train of

55:05

thought, but I'll think of but

55:08

there's another quote. That's

55:08

great. But it's all just a

55:13

reminder that oh, yeah, is it's

55:13

very easy to have faith that God

55:18

can take away. He could take

55:18

away your burden, he can heal

55:22

you, he can do these all these miraculous things, I've experienced it. But as elder

55:24

Bednar, actually talking to

55:27

someone in the hospital, he

55:27

said, you have the faith to be

55:30

healed? Do you have the faith

55:30

not to be healed? That's what I

55:34

told my wife is I don't

55:34

understand, I know heavenly

55:36

Father can heal me. But if

55:36

that's part of his plan, he

55:41

would have healed me by now, I

55:41

would have this isn't something

55:43

that I have to be struggling

55:43

with. But I'm not healed. It is

55:47

a cancer that I'm never going to

55:47

be able to, there's not a cure

55:49

for it, I'm going to have it the

55:49

rest of my life. So my faith is

55:53

knowing that he's fully capable

55:53

of being able to take everything

55:56

away from me. But one thing is

55:56

interesting is the insight that

56:00

I came to is when Jesus tells us

56:00

speaking in the scriptures and

56:04

says, Take my yoke upon me from

56:04

my yoke is easy, My burden is

56:07

light. He didn't say I'm going

56:07

to remove your burden, he said,

56:10

I'm just going to place a burden

56:10

on you, that's light. But that

56:14

can be interpreted one of two

56:14

ways. It can be light, because

56:17

the Savior's carrying that. But

56:17

it also could be light, because

56:20

the Savior's carrying that with

56:20

you, but also you've gone

56:23

stronger, and your capacity for

56:23

other burdens has improved. So

56:28

that way, that burden that

56:28

you're going through, appears

56:30

and feels light, like in the

56:30

Book of Mormon, how those limb

56:36

Hein his people, were, they were

56:36

put up with all these burdens,

56:39

and they prayed, and then all

56:39

sudden, the burdens were lifted,

56:42

or they felt lighter. But it's

56:42

not that their burdens went

56:45

away, that their capacity to

56:45

deal with this. And to go

56:49

through it and to be able to

56:49

bear this burden was greatly

56:52

increased. And so let's through

56:52

all of this experience, and it's

56:56

been very difficult, because I

56:56

went after I was diagnosed, we

57:01

had to then stay in Utah,

57:01

because I had to get treatment,

57:03

I was put on a really intense

57:03

chemotherapy, right off the bat,

57:07

because I had to destroy all of

57:07

my blood to bring my blood

57:09

levels back to the normal,

57:09

healthy, healthy time. And

57:13

during this time, like my wife,

57:13

and I couldn't do any of the

57:15

regular marriage things because

57:15

like I was pretty much toxic at

57:19

that point. And summer sales is

57:19

supposed to be the way to be

57:24

able to save up money so that we

57:24

could survive in New York, that

57:26

wasn't gonna happen. I was like,

57:26

I'm only going to be here for

57:28

three months, because we didn't

57:28

have to move back to New York,

57:31

the only place I knew I could

57:31

get a job was at the high school

57:34

that my old high school job,

57:34

which was at a local carwash.

57:37

Nice. So here I am, I'm telling

57:37

for my mission, going through

57:41

cancer treatment, and then

57:41

having to work at my old high

57:44

school job. Because I get the

57:44

lowest lows. And it was there, I

57:47

was detailing the carbs. And I

57:47

was relying on tips getting paid

57:51

like 725 An hour plus tips.

57:51

Knowing that herbal all of the

57:55

money that I saved is going to

57:55

be going towards our apartment

57:58

apartment in New York. Yeah,

57:58

it's apartments and they're

58:00

super expensive. And so it was,

58:00

it was a lot to deal with. And

58:06

because there's so many things

58:06

that happen back to back to

58:08

back, we never actually had time

58:08

to really process and really

58:11

grieve because that's a lot to

58:11

really throw on someone, like,

58:14

Hey, you have cancer, you're gonna have to go through these treatments, we just never had

58:16

any opportunity to really

58:19

process what we experienced.

58:19

Because that's a very traumatic

58:23

experience through and it really

58:23

took years and an opportunity to

58:27

perform. And it was just a month

58:27

and then also moving to New

58:30

York, it was just all the stress

58:30

of New York of living in a city

58:34

of We barely made ends meet, it

58:34

was an absolute miracle that

58:37

we're able to survive in New

58:37

York, all those stresses really

58:40

just placed a big, really

58:40

impacted even our marriage, like

58:44

we got to a really low point in

58:44

our marriage. Because of all the

58:47

things that we were dealing

58:47

with, where I was going in

58:50

school, she was at school,

58:50

working the odd job, really just

58:53

struggling trying to make things

58:53

meet, make ends meet. And it

58:57

wasn't until after we moved from

58:57

New York in 2019, that we're

59:01

able to finally start like

59:01

decompressing from the last

59:04

three years. And really, like

59:04

there'll be times where I talked

59:08

about and I'll just start

59:08

getting really emotional about

59:10

it because I still hadn't quite

59:10

processed and my mom pointed out

59:13

that it's just grieving the fact

59:13

that you don't really have a

59:16

fully healthy body anymore, that

59:16

my healthy body the thought he

59:20

had was was gone. Like I have a

59:20

healthy body. I'm physically

59:23

fit. But I have this underlying

59:23

illness, and all the things that

59:28

are associated with that. It's

59:28

it's not a hereditary, it's not

59:31

a an environmental thing where

59:31

there's certain illnesses that

59:34

people have like cardiovascular

59:34

things that some of them can be

59:39

preventable. It's just through

59:39

like regular diet and exercise

59:42

and lifestyle changes. But this

59:42

is somebody that's going to

59:45

trail me the rest of my life,

59:45

and I'm happy to continue to get

59:49

treatment for it and see my

59:49

doctor multiple times a year and

59:53

just in and out of hospitals and

59:53

it's just it's a lot but the

59:58

thing that has kept us I'm going

59:58

and moving forward is knowing

1:00:03

that God has a plan for us that

1:00:03

He is in control, that I'm able

1:00:07

to exercise my agency by putting

1:00:07

my faith and complete trust in

1:00:11

Him, and that he's going to

1:00:11

bless me in remarkable ways, and

1:00:15

he already has. But also the

1:00:15

things that I go through my life

1:00:20

will be opportunities and ways

1:00:20

that I can be able to relate

1:00:23

with people connect with people,

1:00:23

and really just have a lot more

1:00:26

compassion and empathy through

1:00:26

suffering, because of the

1:00:30

suffering I've had to and I

1:00:30

think it's for everybody. But

1:00:34

obviously, no one wants to be

1:00:34

having to deal with cancer and

1:00:37

that type of thing, because it's

1:00:37

a serious thing. Yeah, but it I

1:00:41

mean, at the end if, if anything

1:00:41

it makes for a great story it

1:00:45

does. Holy cow. Yeah.

1:00:45

You know, Jay Gould and Kimball.

1:00:50

Everybody knows he's hilarious.

1:00:50

He's a legend. He says, not that

1:00:56

you were unhealthy before, but

1:00:56

he's like, there's nothing like

1:01:00

there's nothing that'll get you

1:01:00

healthier than

1:01:05

getting an incurable disease.

1:01:05

Because then you finally start

1:01:08

treating your health as like, a

1:01:08

big priority. Did you see any

1:01:15

shift in the way you were

1:01:15

treating your health or you're

1:01:18

already a healthy?

1:01:19

Yeah, I was already a

1:01:19

healthy person. Like my wife and

1:01:23

I, we don't really drink soda a

1:01:23

whole lot. I think chocolate is

1:01:26

a food group. So I eat

1:01:26

chocolate. I can't remember the

1:01:29

last day I did not have

1:01:29

chocolate. I love dark

1:01:31

chocolate, especially like I

1:01:31

love chocolate is a bit of an

1:01:35

understatement. Like I make my

1:01:35

own chocolate. I love it so much

1:01:39

chocolate here. Yeah, I guess.

1:01:39

No. But I think the thing that

1:01:45

really, for me was going through

1:01:45

this experience. And just being

1:01:52

able to really recognize the

1:01:52

hand of the Lord in our life,

1:01:56

and be able to see all of the

1:01:56

miracles that have happened,

1:01:59

whether it be the treatment that

1:01:59

I'm receiving the fact that I

1:02:02

responded so well to my

1:02:02

medication. I know other people

1:02:04

that have this similar this same

1:02:04

cancer, and they are not able to

1:02:09

respond well to various treatments and have to go through quite a few before they

1:02:10

settle on one that that works

1:02:13

for them. That I was just given

1:02:13

one, I responded really well.

1:02:17

And the side effects are very

1:02:17

minimal, which is a miracle and,

1:02:21

and the fact that it wasn't

1:02:21

anything very intense, where I

1:02:24

don't have to have any operations. I didn't lose my hair. I didn't go through the

1:02:26

very rigorous things. But also,

1:02:30

I think it's also just being

1:02:30

aware of the things that I am

1:02:33

eating. And the doctor said,

1:02:33

Hey, maybe your your diet could

1:02:38

improve things. But I just

1:02:38

think, personally for me is if I

1:02:42

keep physically fit, and if I'm

1:02:42

healthy, I just will feel

1:02:46

better, but also just allows my

1:02:46

body to just function the way

1:02:49

that it should. Yeah. And that's

1:02:49

kind of my goal is like, well,

1:02:51

if I'm exercising all the time

1:02:51

and undetectable level, if I go

1:02:53

off treatment, maybe that'll

1:02:53

help. But it's one of those

1:02:56

things. It's like it was a bit

1:02:56

of a crapshoot. So the 6040

1:03:00

odds, which I mean, I'd probably

1:03:00

take those to Vegas, but yeah, I

1:03:03

mean, it's slightly better, as I

1:03:03

mentioned before that better

1:03:06

than a coin toss, but yeah, no

1:03:06

man

1:03:09

did. That's not your

1:03:09

story is amazing. And I'm sure

1:03:15

your wife has like, her whole

1:03:15

side to this story. Yeah. And

1:03:20

everything. Yeah, cuz that's the

1:03:20

thing. That's, it's good to know

1:03:24

her perspective, because, and

1:03:24

also, that'd be terrifying. Oh,

1:03:29

yeah, someone and then that day.

1:03:29

Yeah.

1:03:32

And it's been hard to

1:03:32

because it really threw a wrench

1:03:35

into all of our plans, because

1:03:35

going and getting diagnosed. And

1:03:39

all of that I had to do with

1:03:39

again, when I was in New York,

1:03:42

my wife was going to school, and

1:03:42

then she'd be working too. And I

1:03:45

had to go to all my doctor's

1:03:45

visits by myself, and just

1:03:48

making that track and having to

1:03:48

work around that schedule. And

1:03:51

like, there's just a lot that

1:03:51

it's not necessarily that it set

1:03:54

our plans back. But the plans

1:03:54

that we did have got radically

1:03:58

changed. And so I'm grateful

1:03:58

like now like, like, it's like

1:04:03

my medication, for example, if

1:04:03

it wasn't for good insurance

1:04:06

would be cost around 17 grand a

1:04:06

month, if I didn't have good

1:04:09

insurance, like one hospital

1:04:09

visit was like $500 in that have

1:04:13

to do that every three months.

1:04:13

And then I was and so luckily my

1:04:17

insurance change that this year

1:04:17

is I want to have to pay that

1:04:20

that's one of the things I

1:04:20

pushed off going off treatment

1:04:22

before it'd be 500 bucks every

1:04:22

single month for me to get my

1:04:26

labs done and and things like

1:04:26

that. And I'm like, I don't have

1:04:30

like an extra 6k laying around.

1:04:30

Yeah, to put towards this and so

1:04:35

it's just it's really yeah,

1:04:35

there's I know my wife has been

1:04:39

absolutely an incredible lady.

1:04:39

And I know that the reason we I

1:04:44

met her and we got married is

1:04:44

because I needed someone like

1:04:47

her to be by my side during this

1:04:47

whole thing. It's like that guy

1:04:51

I met on my mission said is the

1:04:51

greatest success in life is

1:04:54

finding the right spouse, and I

1:04:54

know for sure that God had a

1:04:58

hand in bringing us together And

1:04:58

there's many countless instances

1:05:02

actually, when we are dating and

1:05:02

being married, that I've, I have

1:05:05

a strong belief I am. It's

1:05:05

obviously it's not doctrine or

1:05:09

gospel, but I have a firm belief

1:05:09

that we knew each other in the

1:05:13

premortal. And that we were

1:05:13

brought together because the way

1:05:15

that we brought together was the

1:05:15

divine orchestration. Because

1:05:20

all of these things lined up,

1:05:20

that brought us together. And

1:05:24

it's been absolutely wonderful

1:05:24

and beyond to lean on her and

1:05:28

her strength, because she's a

1:05:28

very strong, emotionally strong

1:05:32

person to deal with this,

1:05:32

because it's not an easy thing

1:05:35

to shoulder and to go through.

1:05:35

And, and the hard thing is, is,

1:05:40

trials can be a bit lonely,

1:05:40

because the only thing you can

1:05:44

really do is just express to

1:05:44

someone how you're feeling. But

1:05:47

really, no one knows how you're

1:05:47

what you're actually going

1:05:50

through. Because and especially

1:05:50

like this is like even

1:05:54

explaining the type of cancer I

1:05:54

have, is pretty confusing. And

1:05:57

so I got to the point is, like

1:05:57

you didn't even like sharing,

1:05:59

because there's a lot to talk

1:05:59

about. And so it just kind of

1:06:02

lonely, it was a lonely road to

1:06:02

go through and, and I only had

1:06:06

my wife and my wife would come

1:06:06

to appointments and, and would

1:06:09

be very helpful for me just to

1:06:09

really vent I know, there's

1:06:12

times where I just break down

1:06:12

and just start crying with just

1:06:15

all the things I was feeling

1:06:15

about just my illness. And just

1:06:19

as diagnosis, I was just very

1:06:19

challenging. And but I know

1:06:22

through all all of this, the

1:06:22

thing that has been a constant

1:06:26

is that we have always been on

1:06:26

our knees, we always pray

1:06:29

together and beyond to rely on

1:06:29

the Savior has given us so much

1:06:33

strength. And also the not the

1:06:33

knowledge that Heavenly Father

1:06:38

is in the details of our life.

1:06:38

We might not understand the why.

1:06:43

But he does. And everything that

1:06:43

happens to us, it's either just

1:06:48

the nature of just being mortal

1:06:48

humans. And when Adam and Eve

1:06:51

were kicked out of the garden,

1:06:51

they were told that their life

1:06:54

is gonna there's gonna have face

1:06:54

afflictions, thorns and thistles

1:06:58

and all those things, and it was

1:06:58

gonna be hard. And but the only

1:07:02

thing that God has, the thing

1:07:02

that God has asked of us is

1:07:07

really just for us to be

1:07:07

obedient. That's the thing. It's

1:07:10

and all of the blessings that

1:07:10

flow from that obedience is

1:07:14

incredible. And we be able to

1:07:14

experience that in our injustice

1:07:18

experience is just the peace and

1:07:18

knowing that everything will be

1:07:23

okay. And I don't know how it'll

1:07:23

work out. But it'll it will. And

1:07:28

I don't know what next trial is,

1:07:28

for me. I don't, it's not like

1:07:32

I'm like praying like, alright,

1:07:32

well, I'll send the next one.

1:07:36

I'm now I've kind of gotten a

1:07:36

handle on this, like, I've been

1:07:39

dealing with it six years, like,

1:07:39

throw something else at me. But

1:07:42

trials will naturally come and

1:07:42

those will help mold me and

1:07:46

they'll just compound on what

1:07:46

I'm currently going through. But

1:07:48

it's that compound effect of

1:07:48

those, those little things will

1:07:52

then make me a bigger and just

1:07:52

make me a better a better

1:07:56

person. Because of the things

1:07:56

that I go through.

1:07:59

Yeah, unlike those knee

1:07:59

fights. It's not that the nature

1:08:03

of the burdens were lighter.

1:08:03

It's that their capacity to

1:08:07

carry them is greater. Yeah. And

1:08:07

that'll be the same thing for

1:08:12

you. And you are about to go

1:08:12

into another trial and your

1:08:17

life. Amazing blessing. Yeah,

1:08:17

trial. They want to

1:08:21

Yeah, so my wife, she's

1:08:21

expecting and she's actually due

1:08:24

any day. So we're gonna be

1:08:24

having a baby girl. Her due

1:08:28

dates the 16th. So blossom.

1:08:28

Yeah, she she is gonna be a

1:08:32

little blossom. Yeah, she'll be

1:08:32

the blossom of her life. And

1:08:36

yeah, so I mean, that's just the

1:08:36

next step is and that's one

1:08:39

thing that actually was really

1:08:39

cool is I was more able to have

1:08:42

children, even if I'm under

1:08:42

treatment. And that's actually

1:08:44

one of the things that they

1:08:44

asked us was like, Hey, we don't

1:08:46

know if you're going to be

1:08:46

infertile, do you want to like

1:08:49

sperm bank? And that was like,

1:08:49

24 hours after getting married.

1:08:53

They're asking us what we have

1:08:53

to sperm bank, because I might

1:08:56

be infertile. From all the

1:08:56

radiation and things. Yeah, I

1:09:00

have a whole life ahead of me

1:09:00

like, All right, well, if we

1:09:02

have to sperm bank, we're gonna

1:09:02

do everything. But yeah,

1:09:05

luckily, there's no real side

1:09:05

effects that can't be

1:09:09

transferred to my my children,

1:09:09

which is great. And even if I'm

1:09:13

on treatment, everything is

1:09:13

going to work out. And we're

1:09:16

joking that when I go on

1:09:16

treatment, and when I'm on

1:09:19

treatment, that's when we are we

1:09:19

conceived our daughter, and if I

1:09:22

was able to stay off treatment,

1:09:22

and we had other kids, we can

1:09:26

compare them to see if there's

1:09:26

any like benefits. If our oldest

1:09:29

daughter she's able to fly, and

1:09:29

the other ones are all just

1:09:32

can't they can't do anything

1:09:32

cool. But she has like

1:09:34

superpowers, but now I'd be

1:09:34

sick. Who knows? I don't know if

1:09:38

we'll have that chance. But

1:09:38

yeah, dude, that is awesome. I

1:09:42

don't know. I might as well plug

1:09:42

this but yeah, so we talked a

1:09:45

little bit but I'm, I haven't

1:09:45

really been too involved. Right.

1:09:48

And I'm not very vocal about

1:09:48

this whole thing. And my doctor,

1:09:53

I just had my I had my visit

1:09:53

just a couple of months ago.

1:09:56

It's like, hey, there's a sports

1:09:56

fest coming up in June and And

1:10:00

what it is, it's a fundraiser

1:10:00

for cancer research. And it all

1:10:04

goes to the Huntsman Cancer

1:10:04

Institute. And he's like, I want

1:10:07

you to be my celebrity, I want

1:10:07

you to raise some money. So I'm

1:10:11

like, alright, I'll do what I

1:10:11

can. So I'm actually doing a

1:10:14

fundraiser for it. It's just

1:10:14

like 1000 bucks, or, like 97% of

1:10:18

the way there. And all the

1:10:18

proceeds go to the Huntsman

1:10:21

Cancer Institute to help them

1:10:21

further cancer research. Because

1:10:25

like, there's a lot of cancers

1:10:25

out there that need to be cured,

1:10:29

or at least have a good

1:10:29

treatment. Because with a lot of

1:10:33

chemo, it's really just a battle

1:10:33

of, can we treat this thing

1:10:37

faster than the chemo will kill

1:10:37

you is in a lot of cases, which

1:10:40

is crazy to think about that is

1:10:40

scary, is you're really either

1:10:43

if I don't go on treatment, I'm

1:10:43

gonna die. Or I can go on

1:10:46

treatment with, with the hope

1:10:46

that I can beat it out before

1:10:49

the treatment kills me. Oh, but

1:10:49

for but for this, I've been

1:10:55

actually starting to open up and

1:10:55

share. So that way people can

1:10:59

kind of know what I'm going through get a little bit of an update. But maybe I'll text you

1:11:01

the link for that. Yeah,

1:11:05

we'll put it in the

1:11:05

show description. Cool for the

1:11:08

link. And then. And yeah, this

1:11:08

is also a good way to support.

1:11:14

This is a good way to support

1:11:14

the Huntsman Cancer Institute

1:11:17

and anybody that has been going

1:11:17

through cancer, as well as you

1:11:23

can send this to anybody that you like, I don't want to have to explain my whole history. And

1:11:25

yeah,

1:11:27

there's a brief description of when I was diagnosed and like a little bit

1:11:29

of it, and two paragraphs, but

1:11:33

as anyone that is listening to

1:11:33

this can tell you can't fit this

1:11:36

whole story into like, three

1:11:36

paragraphs. Yeah, there's a lot

1:11:40

to it. And, and it's, it's been

1:11:40

a wild ride. And it's hasn't

1:11:46

been easy, but it has certainly

1:11:46

been worth it. And as I look

1:11:49

back as I change it, I mean, I

1:11:49

probably would say I don't want

1:11:53

cancer, but I know that all the

1:11:53

things that I went and learn

1:11:56

through it. And the ways that

1:11:56

we're able to grow, it's been

1:11:59

important and be able to now get

1:11:59

to be in a place I can openly

1:12:02

share and talk about has been

1:12:02

really helpful and healthy for

1:12:05

me. Because before it would just

1:12:05

really strike a raw nerve with

1:12:10

me and just I'd get really

1:12:10

emotional talking about it.

1:12:12

Because it was, it was a hard

1:12:12

thing for me to really discuss.

1:12:17

Because it was it was so

1:12:17

traumatic, and I hadn't really

1:12:20

processed what had happened.

1:12:20

Yeah. So but yeah, there's, it's

1:12:26

been crazy. Yeah, sounds

1:12:28

like it's been crazy.

1:12:28

Dude, I really appreciate you

1:12:31

coming on and sharing that

1:12:31

story. There's so many cool

1:12:37

lessons in there. But I think

1:12:37

like one of the biggest is what

1:12:40

you just just kind of said, The

1:12:40

God is God has a plan for you.

1:12:46

And he's gonna like he's gonna

1:12:46

take care of you. And as you are

1:12:48

obedient to His plan, the

1:12:48

blessings that come from that

1:12:51

are great. Even if you get cancer, you're

1:12:53

still seeing the bright side.

1:12:59

And have such faith in God's

1:12:59

goodness towards you and what

1:13:03

he's done in your life. It's,

1:13:03

it's amazing. Yeah. And so I

1:13:06

really appreciate you coming on

1:13:06

and sharing with me. Yeah,

1:13:10

this is great. I've

1:13:10

loved this experience. And I've

1:13:12

never been in a situation to

1:13:12

really have a captive audience,

1:13:17

but be able to just really talk

1:13:17

through this whole thing. I was

1:13:20

really excited for it, because

1:13:20

I've shared like bits and

1:13:23

pieces. But I've never been able

1:13:23

to really talk through in a lot,

1:13:28

because it's a lot to really, to

1:13:28

go over and to discuss. So I'm

1:13:32

really grateful for this

1:13:32

opportunity to catch up. It's

1:13:35

great.

1:13:35

So it is good to see

1:13:35

you again. Is there any last

1:13:39

words that you would give

1:13:39

somebody coming home from a

1:13:42

mission? Any last tips of

1:13:42

advice, either somebody coming

1:13:45

home from a mission or somebody

1:13:45

that might be in a similar

1:13:49

circumstance that you were in?

1:13:49

Yeah,

1:13:51

I would say it's always

1:13:51

good to have a plan and to act

1:13:56

to, but the thing that I learned

1:13:56

is, if you have promptings act

1:14:02

on those promptings, you don't

1:14:02

know how it's going to turn out

1:14:05

how things will work out. But

1:14:05

everything will work out. And if

1:14:09

you follow through on

1:14:09

promptings, whatever it is, um,

1:14:12

you'll be amazed on what's on

1:14:12

the end of that. And so that's

1:14:17

one thing. It's like people

1:14:17

coming home, you have a plan and

1:14:19

move forward with that plan. But

1:14:19

life is gonna throw curveballs

1:14:23

and just go with those

1:14:23

curveballs. But the most

1:14:25

important thing another thing,

1:14:25

too is, is if you're going

1:14:28

through a trial is it's It's

1:14:28

easy in the moment, to blame God

1:14:35

and say, Why is why is this

1:14:35

happening to me? Like, why can't

1:14:38

I be why do I have to be dealing

1:14:38

with this? Those and it's very

1:14:41

normal, and it's healthy to be

1:14:41

able to go through that whole

1:14:44

process. But at the end of the

1:14:44

day, have faith that God is in

1:14:49

control. It's like this the

1:14:49

country song Jesus take the

1:14:54

wheel. Yeah, but the thing is,

1:14:54

he was to hand the wheel the

1:14:57

whole time. Yeah. And you

1:14:57

decided to to exercise your

1:15:00

agency say I'm going along with

1:15:00

this ride, I'm gonna put my

1:15:02

faith in Christ. And I put my

1:15:02

faith in my heavenly Father,

1:15:06

that as I press forward as I

1:15:06

move through my life, and with

1:15:08

the gift of the Holy Ghost,

1:15:08

which I call one of the greatest

1:15:10

Cheech keep cheat codes to life,

1:15:10

is you're going to be prompted

1:15:14

along the way, and you're gonna

1:15:14

be able to have really heavens

1:15:18

help to really help you in your

1:15:18

life. And if you're making big

1:15:22

decisions, you'll know what

1:15:22

decision to make. And even if

1:15:25

you move forward, with a

1:15:25

prompting, and it turns out,

1:15:27

Hey, you have to change course,

1:15:27

that was all part of the plan,

1:15:31

like I mentioned before, is me

1:15:31

going off treatment, if I have

1:15:33

to go back on, I can now know

1:15:33

with full confidence that it

1:15:36

wasn't it just wasn't going to

1:15:36

work out. But that's okay.

1:15:40

Because I now can have that

1:15:40

confidence to say I now can be

1:15:42

on treatment. It's good. I know

1:15:42

the routine is something I'm

1:15:46

comfortable with, and that

1:15:46

everything is under control. But

1:15:49

yeah, I'd say those are probably

1:15:49

the biggest thing is have faith,

1:15:53

know that God is in control,

1:15:53

that he is going to make your

1:15:56

life better than you can ever

1:15:56

imagine. But also have a plan

1:16:00

and just move forward with that

1:16:00

plan. And you'll be amazed to

1:16:03

see the journey that it takes

1:16:03

you and then as you look back

1:16:05

and be able to connect all those

1:16:05

dots. Your path might seem feels

1:16:09

like it wanders. But really if

1:16:09

you zoom out it's been one

1:16:12

straight line the whole time.

1:16:12

Just in the moment it looks like

1:16:15

it's a bit of a wiggly thing.

1:16:15

Yeah, yeah, man.

1:16:19

Well, thank you so much