Wayne Osmond Independence, Missouri - Sunday, September 17, 2000 Well, it's a real pressure, I mean pleasure, to be here. I had such a wonderful trip driving up here from Branson, MO this morning. I was looking out the window, looking at the beautiful trees, beautiful grass, everything…all of God's creations, it was just a beautiful drive. As we got closer to Independence, I started thinking…oh my goodness, this is where it happened, this is where it all started…where Adam and Eve were. And I can just imagine, Eve, our sweet mother Eve, looking over and saying…Adam, do you love me? And Adam looking around and saying…who else? Isn't the Gospel wonderful? It is so wonderful. I love this Church, and the reason I love it is because it is my Savior's Church. It is the complete Church of Jesus Christ, in our latter day, restored by Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ, to the boy prophet, Joseph Smith. What greater blessing is there? There is none. Are we not blessed to the ultimate degree to be partakers of this complete Gospel of Jesus Christ, along with the Ordinances and the Temple Covenants, and all the many blessed things we received of the Lord's hand. Why? Because He loves us. Then what's wrong with us, brothers and sisters, when we get cankered, and get silly about our lives and our situations. This person is acting stupid in my life, and I don't like her anymore…all this petty stuff we go through, silly, isn't it? Really dumb. I used to be one of those people, I admit it. I'm probably the most sinful Osmond of my family. I traveled along the iron rod, but I took the scenic route. Really enjoyed life. But I am a very blessed man, extremely blessed, in spite of my weaknesses and the many things that I have made mistakes with. I know about you guys, you've made mistakes. Oh, there are a few out there who are perfect…I can see you, you're glowing. But I'm not one of them, I've struggled through this life. One thing I do know, is that the Lord loves me, and He has forgiven me of my sins. He has made me perfect in a certain way, under His protection, under His guidance, under His council. For He has paid the ultimate price for sin. He died for us, because He loves us that much. He has earned us, and He has earned our allegiance. Any investigators who might be here today, may I just say, there is no doubt, this is God's Church, this is the complete Church. When Jesus comes back to be with us someday, will he visit the Catholics and the Protestants, the Baptists, Lutherans, whom ever? Oh absolutely, he loves them all. But in this Church, we have the Ordinances, we have the great blessings of the Temples, and I am so grateful to be a partaker of those marvelous blessings.

I was greatly blessed in my life by a wonderful person, she was absolutely placed before me, and the Spirit whispered to me that she was my eternal companion. Oh Heavenly Father has been good to me. And he blessed me with five precious children, and my first child has now made me a grandpa. What a joy, being a grandpa! I never thought of it…oh, I don't want to get that old! But I am! And I'm so tickled pink with that little boy. But then his mother moves to Pennsylvania with him! His dad is a good guy, he's going to medical school there.

Brothers and sisters, I guess I only have a few minutes, like Merrill said. Wasn't that a nice talk that Jay gave though, isn't he full of wisdom, that rascal? He is, he's a good guy…I don't care what anybody says! I had the most wonderful blessing that I think could ever happen to a person. It might sound strange to you, but it was the greatest blessing that ever happened to me, because it made me realize how tenuous this life is, and how we shouldn't rely on…oh I don't have the best car in the world…or I want that boat…and all these little wants and things. They're really stupid, they don't mean anything…they're really dumb, you guys. They really are…when you realize that life can be so very tenuous. When I got married to my sweet Kathy, I told her, you know I'm a little worried…a little fearful. I have these very strange feelings in my head. I felt there was something wrong there, but she said, oh don't worry about it, the Lord will bless us. So, we got married, went on, and I would have these bouts, these weird feelings in my head. I would take a lot of Excedrin extra strength, to try to get rid of the headaches, really bad headaches. It just got to the point that it got worse and worse, and worse. About five and a half years ago, we were on stage in Branson, and my feet started falling out from under me, almost comedically. I couldn't figure out why. I went home one day, and I started driving the car. I went out, I had never seen Bingham Copper Mine out there in Utah, I just wanted to see it. So I drove out there by myself, and on the way home I had another one of these weird attacks, these twinges. I found out if I held my head just right, I could still drive the car so I could get home. I did get home, and I said to Kathy, I better get in and find out what is wrong with me. I have a good friend who is a doctor, Kevin Clark. I said, Kevin, there is something wrong with me. He said, let's go take an MRI. What a novel idea! So we went over to the hospital, and he saw to it that I got an MRI. He looked at it and said there is a specialist in Salt Lake, and I want you to go and see him. The guy looked at it and said, you're fine. I said, oh, that's a wonderful relief. There was this little Chinese girl who reads the MRI, who is actually better at it than doctors are. She went back to the doctor and said, hey, there is something wrong here…there is something wrong…it looks like a cancer to me. I lost my faith in the doctor immediately. I've been very, very close to these guys all my life, I really have, they've been on both sides of me, I've been really close to Jay and Merrill. I called Merrill and said, Merrill, I just got an MRI and there's a problem up there. I'm scheduled to go get some more tests, but I think I have a problem. He called a friend of his, Dr. Henry Friedman out at Duke Medical, which is the number one brain tumor place in the country. Merrill said, you get on that airplane and you get back there. I did. I took my wife with me, and we went to see a specialist that Merrill's doctor friend knew. He looked at it, and it was like child's play to him. He looked at it, and looked at me and shook his head (that was real unnerving). He looked at it again, but you know, doctors like that become very calloused, they see these tragedies everyday. Later on, I found out that they called me dead man walking, in the hospital. I went through my surgery, but I've always had a lot of faith in my Heavenly Father. I didn't know that all would be well, but I did know that whatever happened would be His will. Not my will, my will doesn't mean anything, but His will. Whatever the outcome was, it would be right with Heavenly Father. I remember holding this nurse's hands, I was nervous, of course, and had tears rolling out of my eyes, because I was mostly fearful worrying about my sweet little wife and my kids. The nurse said, are you ok? I said, well, just hold my hands for a minute. She held my hands, and that was the last thing I remembered. I didn't remember anything until I woke up. See, I had about 25 operations before this, so I was used to sodium penathol and all that stuff…I wake up quickly. Next thing I remember, I'm on a gurney, being wheeled out of the operating room, and I say, oh…I'm still alive! I couldn't believe it. I had all these tubes and bandages all around me…but I said, oh, I'm alive! It was wonderful. I stopped and I said, thank you Heavenly Father for this blessing. I went on, got back to the room, and the doctor came in…he said, how are you? I said, I feel really lousy. He said, well, you're not out of the woods yet, we don't know how bad your cancer is. There is one type of cancer that we can pretty much not cure, it is pretty much fatal. But mine was anlapendonoma, mine was the sister that grows real slowly. Remember when I told you, that I told my wife before we got married, I think I have something wrong with my brain? I was right. This little rascal was attached to my cerebellum back here, that controls all of your movements, and it was two inches long and one inch across…now that's a big tumor. It had lot and lots of these fingers on it, like cancers do, into my cerebellum, that's why I was falling down and stuff. I had the most wonderful doctor, a wonderful Jewish man, and he stood over me for 15 hours. It wasn't getting the cancer out, the tumor was pretty easy actually, it was all there together. But it was all those little fingers, and that man stood over me pulling those little, fine hairs of cancer out of my cerebellum…he got 98% out, and the radiation took care of the rest.

When I was having radiation, the doctor who was in charge of it would look at me funny everytime I'd go over and get my radiation. Eventually, after having 35 treatments, I said, you always look at me funny everytime I come here…what's the problem? He said, you don't know? I said, no. He said, well I'll tell you…when you came to this hospital, people called you dead man walking. I said, really? He said, now everybody calls you the miracle baby. That was the sweetest thing he ever said to me. A miracle baby. Heavenly Father said it was ok for me to live. Then there was something else, my brothers and sisters, I don't know why, but Heavenly Father has been very, very, very good to this idiot. This person who made a lot of mistakes in life, this person who probably doesn't deserve as much as he has received.

I cannot tell you exactly what happened to me toward the end of my cancer treatment, because it's too very, very sacred, but I do believe that Heavenly Father would not mind my telling you this…after this wonderful, marvelous experience, it is very, very easy for me to stand before you and tell you…in all verity, that my Heavenly Father lives. My Savior, Jesus Christ lives. And I know it. There is no doubt. If you can understand through the Spirit, you'll know what I'm saying. I know this is our Savior's Church, I know it with every fiber of my being. This is the way back to Him. This is where the Ordinances are. This is where the Truth is, the complete Truth. Isn't it interesting how, in our pre-existence, our Savior was there, and our brother Lucifer was there too. We all know that our Heavenly Father asked Jesus to present his plan, and Lucifer presented his plan, and we all pretty much know what happened after that.

There are many wonderful things I could go on with, but I think my time is out right now. I want to tell you to not forget the special testimony that I've given to you, because I've never given it to anyone else. It is true. The things we talked about today, are true. And I say these things to you humbly, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ~ Wayne Osmond