followHIM - Heart Transplant from Grandson • followHIM Favorites • Apr. 6 - 12 • Come Follow Me

Episode Date: April 2, 2026

SHOW NOTES/TRANSCRIPTSEnglish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastOT215ENFrench: https://tinyurl.com/podcastOT215FRGerman: https://tinyurl.com/podcastOT215DEPortuguese: https://tinyurl.com/podcastOT215PTSpanish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastOT215ESALL EPISODES/SHOW NOTESfollowHIM website: https://www.followHIM.coFREE PDF DOWNLOADS OF followHIM QUOTE BOOKSNew Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastNTBookOld Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastOTBookBook of Mormon: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastBMBook  WEEKLY NEWSLETTER https://tinyurl.com/followHIMnewsletter  SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/followHIMpodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Cofounder, Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsAmelia Kabwika: Portuguese TranscriptsHeather Barlow: Communications DirectorSydney Smith: Social Media, Graphic Design "Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com

Welcome to Follow Him favorites. This is where John and I share a single story to go with each week's Come Follow Me lesson. John, Exodus 7 through 13. You've told me you have a story that fits. What is it? Yeah, you remember after all these plagues, boy, Moses says the coolest thing. Exodus 13.3, Moses said into the people, remember this day in which you're come out of Egypt. That idea of remembering a day.

Hank, when's your anniversary? That would be March 18th. You remember that day. Absolutely. Mine's November 28th. When's your birthday? That would be May 12th. October 8.

So you just, you remember those things. They're important days. Elder Dale G. Renland in April of 2020, he gave a talk and he told this amazing story. He said, I became acquainted with Thomas Nielsen, a remarkable man who needed a heart transplant. He was 63 years old, that hits home, and lived in Logan, Utah, in the United States,

following military service during World War II, he married Donna Wilkes in the Logan, Utah Temple, became an energetic and successful brick mason. In later years, he especially enjoyed working with his oldest grandchild Jonathan during school vacations. The two developed a special bond, in part because Tom saw so much of himself in Jonathan. Tom found waiting for a donor heart frustrating. He was not a particularly patient man. He had always been able to set and achieve goals through hard work and sheer determination. Struggling with heart failure, with his life on hold, Tom sometimes asked me what I was doing to speed up the process. Jokingly, he suggested avenues I could pursue that would make a donor heart available to him sooner. Remember, Elder Rendland is a doctor,

right? Yeah. One joyous yet dreadful day, an ideal donor heart became available for Tom. The size, the blood type, were a match. The donor was young, just. 16 years old, the donor heart belonged to Jonathan, Tom's beloved grandson. Earlier that day, Jonathan had been fatally injured when the car in which he was writing was struck by a passing train. When I visited Tom and Donna in the hospital, Elder Renlan says, they were distraught. It's hard to imagine what they were going through knowing that Tom's life could be extended by using their grandson's heart. At first, they refused to consider their proffered heart from Jonathan's grieving parents, their daughter and son-in-law. Tom and Donna knew,

though, that Jonathan was brain dead and came to understand that their prayers for a donor heart for Tom had not caused Jonathan's accident. Their prayers for a donor heart, right? No, Jonathan's heart was a gift that could bless Tom in his time of need. They recognized something good might come out of this tragedy and decided to proceed. The transplant procedure went well after words Tom was a different man. The change went beyond improved health or even gratitude. He told me he reflected every day. Wow. On Jonathan. On his daughter and son-in-law. On the gift he had received, what that gift had entailed. Even though his innate good humor and grit were still readily apparent, I observed that Tom was more solemn, thoughtful, and kind-hearted.

He lived in addition to 13 years after the transplant. Years he otherwise would not have had. His obituary stated that these years allowed him to touch the lives of family and others with generosity and love. He was a private benefactor and an example of optimism and determination. Now, just as Tom, Alder Renlan concluded, did not take Jonathan's heart for granted. In a joyful and reverent way, Tom remembered each day the tragedy that brought him extended life.

Wow. The exuberance of knowing that we can be saved in, exalted, we need to remember. Salvation and exaltation came at a great cost. Wow. I just thought, remember this day, said Moses, and every day he remembered that gift. Wow. What a powerful story about remembering, and it's because you're looking in the mirror that you're going to remember, right? It's the fact that you're still breathing, that you're going to say, wow.

Hank, can you remember elder Kevin Brown of the 70 that gave a talk of conferences to a go and how he remembered the day, right? Remembered the day that he accepted the gospel? These are important days. And here's Moses saying, okay, everybody, don't forget, remember this day. That's beautiful. We hope you'll join us on our full podcast. It's called Follow Him.

You can get it wherever you get your podcast. We're with Dave Hadlock this week. He has quite a background in biblical Hebrew, and he shows us some really fun things about the Book of Exodus you've probably never seen before. And then come back next week. We'll do another follow him favorites.