Joe Richardson
February 12, 2017
My name is Joe Richardson. Ilene is my cousin. My mother, Elaine Richardson and Ilene's father, Melvin were sister and brother.
A couple of days after Christmas, 1952, when I was eight years old, I came down with polio and was in the Polio Ward of the Salt Lake County Hospital on 2100 South State Street in Salt Lake City. I was very sick and my mother was desperate to do something to help me. Vern and Ilene were managers at a small motel on the east side of State Street just a short distance north of the hospital. My mother stayed with Vern and Ilene at the motel.
A few years before I had polio, Ilene was sick with a terrible and very persistent ear infection. Vern knew President David O. McKay, and one day when President McKay came to Vern & Ilene's ward, Vern asked President McKay to give Ilene a blessing. President McKay gave Ilene a blessing and she recovered from the ear infection that the doctors had tried and failed to cure.
Ilene told my mother about the blessing from President McKay and suggested that my mother go to the Church Office Building to ask if President McKay could go to the hospital to give me a blessing. My mother went to the Church Office Building and made the request. The kind secretary said President McKay would not be able to go to the hospital, but asked if it would be OK if Elder Matthew Cowley could go in his place. My mother immediately agreed to that offer.
Apostle Matthew Cowley and Bishop Glen Rudd came to the hospital and gave me a blessing. I began to get better and about 4 ½ months later I was able to return home to Vernal.
So you see there was a chain of faith-based events that created my life saving blessing: Vern had the faith to ask for a blessing for Ilene, Ilene had faith in her blessing, and my mother had faith to ask for a blessing for me. Elder Matthew Cowley said that when he laid his hands on my head that he knew that this boy had faith and having faith in his faith, he gave me the blessing.
There were many other family members and friends who were praying anxiously for me to get well and their faith was also increased as a result of my blessing. Their lives and the lives of others have been blessed so much by their faith in the Gospel. We all need to “keep the faith” to the best of our abilities.
I am so grateful to Ilene and Vern for their faith in the Gospel and that we are in a family that has such deep roots of faith in the plan of salvation. We will surely miss Ilene, but we will keep on going, just like previous family members have done for a long time now.
Sincerely,
Joe Richardson