3rd Nephi 8:4

When I was a junior at Woods Cross High School, almost eight years ago at the age of 17, I attended an LDS Seminary class that was studying The Book of Mormon. Among the many great learning experiences I had during this class, there is one that I remember most distinctly above all. The teacher, who I unfortunately don't recall the name of, based the day's lesson on the 7th and 8th chapters of 3rd Nephi. These chapters describe the circumstances of the Nephites right before a huge storm causes major destruction among the wicked people, followed soon after by a visit from the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ.

After pointing out how this part of The Book of Mormon parallels the days that we live in, preceding another prophesied destruction of the wicked to be followed by the second coming of the Savior, the teacher focused specifically on the following passage of scripture:

"And there began to be great doubtings and disputations among the people, notwithstanding so many signs had been given."    ~ 3 Ne. 8:4

This single verse triggered the following question in my mind: How could anyone be so blind to signs and miracles? This question then moved me to the personal resolution of never falling into such a state of blindness in my own life. I concluded to never overlook a sign or miracle in my life.

Now fast forward to today, December 24th, 2017. On our way to Utah from New Haven, Connecticut to be with family for Christmas, my wife and I had the following experience. Having thought that all our plans were good, I felt an impression to double check the time of our flight on the evening of December 23rd. To my surprise I found out that our initial flight was 5 hours earlier than expected! But even though I had found out, would we be able to adjust our plans with public transportation accordingly? Fortunately, the car we rented (to get from our apartment to the New Haven train station) was available to change our rental period to earlier hours. So we were able to get to the train station successfully, soon to realize that we caught our MetroNorth train no more than a minute before its departure time. When we arrived in Grand Central Station of New York City, we transferred to some subway lines that would take us to JFK Airport. But the 4 train we got onto malfunctioned after a couple stops so that the doors could not close. After hearing a common station announcement that "there is a downtown local 6 train approaching the station", and knowing that that train would provide an alternate route having served as a full-time missionary in this exact area previously, we got off the malfunctioned 4 train only 30 seconds before its doors shut and all other passengers were stuck inside at that station (since the train also couldn't move). After getting onto the 6 train, and then onto the A train, we made it to the airtrain to the JFK Airport. And again, we arrive right as an airtrain was there, and managed to get on only seconds before the doors closed. Passing through security my wife, Bethany, almost couldn't find her driver's license. But after searching through her purse and wallet just once more it was found, helping to prevent a potentially long and extended security process. And we made it to our gate right before the doors were closed. Had we missed any of the trains, or not had things work out the way they did, we certainly would have missed our flight and been alone for Christmas.

In today's culture, where everything is considered either a natural result of scientific laws or mere coincidence, this experience would likely be labeled by the common person as just a big pile of coincidences or luck. But having been inspired from my high school years of studying The Book of Mormon, I see it as an absolute miracle. It is a sign that God is real and intimately involved in my everyday life.