With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible

I had a conversation with others yesterday about leaders and leadership, and I failed to take the opportunity to talk about President Russell M. Nelson. So I will write here today about one reason for me that he is a powerful leader whom I choose to follow. What stands out to me most is the repeated theme from his life and teachings that we can each accomplish things which seem impossible through our diligence and faith in Jesus Christ. He showed this most clearly with his pioneering work in the field of cardiovascular surgery. He helped develop the first heart-lung machine which in 1951 was used to support the first ever open-heart surgery. In 1955 he “built his own heart-lung bypass machine and employed it to support the first open-heart surgery in the United States west of the Mississippi River.” He also “performed the first successful pediatric cardiac operation at the SLGH, a total repair of tetralogy of Fallot in a four-year-old girl. He was at the forefront of surgeons focusing attention on coronary artery disease, and contributed to the advance of valvular surgery as well. In 1960, he performed one of the first-ever repairs of tricuspid valve regurgitation.” Among his many successfully operations would include a surgery performed on later Church president Spencer W. Kimball whose damaged aortic valve was miraculously replaced. He also helped perform a quadruple bypass surgery on the Chinese opera performer Fang Rongxiang, making him beloved of the Chinese.

All of these accomplishments in the medical profession came because of his determination and faith in God. He told of how at one point he was asked to perform an operation on a little girl whose brother had died of a heart disease, but despite his best efforts she died. When he performed another heart operation on that girl’s sister and she died as well, he recounted, “This third heartbreaking loss in one family literally undid me. I went home grief stricken. I threw myself upon our living room floor and cried all night long. Dantzel [his wife] stayed by my side, listening as I repeatedly declared that I would never perform another heart operation. Then, around 5:00 in the morning, Dantzel looked at me and lovingly asked, “Are you finished crying? Then get dressed. Go back to the lab. Go to work! You need to learn more. If you quit now, others will have to painfully learn what you already know.” He indeed did just that and “went to back to work and learned more.” And what he learned came not just through his grit and perseverance but because he knew how to turn to the Lord for help.

He showed this through another experience with a man who came to him for heart surgery. He recounted, “Extensive evaluation revealed that he had two faulty valves. While one could be helped surgically, the other could not. Thus, an operation was not advised.” But the man did not accept this: “I have prayed for help and have been directed to you. The Lord will not reveal to me how to repair that second valve, but He can reveal it to you. Your mind is so prepared. If you will operate upon me, the Lord will make it known to you what to do. Please perform the operation that I need, and pray for the help that you need.” President Nelson recounted, “Following a fervent prayer together, I agreed to try. In preparing for that fateful day, I prayed over and over again, but still did not know what to do for his leaking tricuspid valve. Even as the operation commenced, my assistant asked, ‘What are you going to do for that?’ I said, ‘I do not know.’” He continued, “We began the operation. After relieving the obstruction of the first valve, we exposed the second valve. We found it to be intact but so badly dilated that it could no longer function as it should. While examining this valve, a message was distinctly impressed upon my mind: Reduce the circumference of the ring. I announced that message to my assistant. ‘The valve tissue will be sufficient if we can effectively reduce the ring toward its normal size.’ But how? We could not apply a belt as one would use to tighten the waist of oversized trousers. We could not squeeze with a strap as one would cinch a saddle on a horse. Then a picture came vividly to my mind, showing how stitches could be placed—to make a pleat here and a tuck there—to accomplish the desired objective. I still remember that mental image—complete with dotted lines where sutures should be placed. The repair was completed as diagrammed in my mind. We tested the valve and found the leak to be reduced remarkably. My assistant said, ‘It’s a miracle.’ I responded, ‘It’s an answer to prayer.’” He has lived with that kind of faith and worked those kinds of miracles through the power of God. Over his career he performed nearly 7000 operations and accomplished wonders through his pioneering efforts in cardiovascular surgery.

That is how he has lived, and his teachings have repeatedly encouraged us to similarly work miracles in our own lives through diligence and faith in Jesus Christ. He has taught, “Faith in Jesus Christ propels us to do things we otherwise would not do. Faith that motivates us to action gives us more access to His power… When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him—when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life—you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do.” On another occasion he said this, “My dear brothers and sisters, my call to you this Easter morning is to start today to increase your faith. Through your faith, Jesus Christ will increase your ability to move the mountains in your life, even though your personal challenges may loom as large as Mount Everest…. Faith in Jesus Christ is the greatest power available to us in this life. All things are possible to them that believe. Your growing faith in Him will move mountains—not the mountains of rock that beautify the earth but the mountains of misery in your lives. Your flourishing faith will help you turn challenges into unparalleled growth and opportunity.” In the most recent general conference he also taught, “Every book of scripture demonstrates how willing the Lord is to intervene in the lives of those who believe in Him. He parted the Red Sea for Moses, helped Nephi retrieve the brass plates, and restored His Church through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Each of these miracles took time and may not have been exactly what those individuals originally requested from the Lord. In the same way, the Lord will bless you with miracles if you believe in Him, ‘doubting nothing.’ Do the spiritual work to seek miracles. Prayerfully ask God to help you exercise that kind of faith. I promise that you can experience for yourself that Jesus Christ ‘giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.’” He has lived by and taught the principle summed up so succinctly in this verse of scripture: “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). I look forward to hearing his words this weekend in another general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where we will no doubt again be inspired by his words on how through faith in Jesus Christ we can each overcome the difficult challenges of our lives. I invite all to come and listen to the word of God through His servants this weekend!