Landstuhl Army Medical Center, 8 April 1984
In April of 1984 I was assigned to be the Administration Duty Officer (AOD) on the same weekend as our Ward Fathers and Sons campout. AOD responsibility came monthly. It required sleeping at the hospital overnight. Getting another officer to swap duty days was usually fairly easy to accomplish. As soon as I was notified of my assignment, I began calling other officers on the roster. To my dismay not one of the other officers could trade! When I got home from work, I explained the frustration to my family. The boys and I had looked forward to the outing and really wanted to attend. We made it a matter of family prayer that week. I found several other officers on the call roster I didn’t know and asked them to switch. Everyone I called had a good reason for not switching.
A little discouraged and somewhat dismayed because our prayers had not been answered as I intended (My cause was just. Why had Heavenly Father turned a seemingly deaf ear to my pleading?) I reported for duty while other fathers and their sons in our ward went to the outing. Sunday evening the hospital was unusually quiet. In fact, nothing at all happened from the time I arrived until time for bed. I ate dinner at the Mess Hall then went to the AOD room and got into bed.
I was awakened because of a tragedy. A woman (the young mother of a large family) was DOA at the ER. She had died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest. My duty as AOD was to ensure her next of kin were notified, collect her valuables, ensure that the body was properly cared for and notify the appropriate chaplain to comfort her loved ones.
When I got to the ER, I was directed to a treatment room where her body lay. I walked into the room and pulled the sheet from her face. I was shocked and greatly saddened to see that it was a close friend, Jenny Edgar. I was so surprised and so sad. My knees were weak, and I sat right down on the floor next to the gurney to gather my thoughts and pray for help.
I had recently been released as a counselor in the Stake Presidency. One of my responsibilities was Primary; Jenny Edgar was the Stake Primary President. My other responsibilities included young men and young women. Jenny’s husband, Scott, and I had been responsible for a 3 Stake youth conference the summer before. I knew the family very well and I loved them. I found Scott and we wept together. We prayed together. We mourned together.
Amazingly Scott’s Bishop (Scott Worthington) was also there. And, he had had a similar experience as mine. We were both prepared, positioned, and led by the Holy Spirit to assist our dear friend, Jenny Marie Edgar (and her family), during this ordeal. Late that evening, Bishop Worthington was driving past the Edgar home after working a late-night shift and he noticed an ambulance outside their building. When he got home, Bishop Worthington immediately called Scott and Jenny to see if they were okay. “No, Bishop. Something’s wrong with Jenny,” Scott replied. With that, Bishop Worthington went straight over to the Edgar home to be with them, and to provide help and comfort. He stayed beside Scott until the paramedics transported Jenny to the hospital. Then, he and Scott drove in Bishop Worthington’s car as they followed the ambulance to Landstuhl Medical Center. This good Bishop stayed with Scott throughout those very dark hours. After a long and very emotional night (and completion of necessary procedures and reports), Scott and his Bishop rode together back to the Edgar home to speak the unspeakable to Scott and Jenny’s seven young children.
I think I spent the remainder of that morning kneeling at my bedside thanking my Heavenly Father that He had indeed answered my prayers and left me as the Duty Officer that terrible night. I thanked Him for His incredible kindness in allowing me to be there and allowing for Scott’s Bishop to be there to help him.
Ten years later I was an Early Morning Seminary Teacher in our Hawaii Ward. Three of Jenny’s children (Scott, Amanda, and Wil Edgar) were in my class. I was able to reassure them how the Lord loved their mother and cared for her, especially in her passing.
What I Learned: Our loving Heavenly Father is ever mindful of us. In mortality we have to go through difficult times but if we are faithful, He will always be there to help us.
“But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all of those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.” (Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 1:20)
S. Dean Harmer, LTC, USA (Retired)
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