Blaine Yorgason - The Greatest Quest

1987 Blaine M. and Brenton G. Yorgason

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Deseret Book Company, P.O. Box 30178, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130.

Deseret Book is a registered trademark of Deseret Book Company.

First printing October 1987

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Yorgason, Blaine M., 1942

The greatest quest.

I. Yorgason, Brenton G. II. Title.

PS3575.057G741987 813.54 ISBN 0-87579-114-X

87-22373

For those who earnestly seek

Contents

Authors Note

Shortly after the beginning of World War Two, Floyd Weston and four of his college friends set out on a quest to find the one true Church of Jesus Christ. Armed with a list of seventeen points that they had compiled, they began visiting different churches, searching. Although later separated from each other by the war, in the next few years four of the five young men, by differing routes and under varying circumstances, found and joined one particular religious denomination. The fifth didnt join because he had been killed in the South Pacific.

This book is the fictionalized account of that quest.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the help of Floyd Weston, Sheri Dew, Ron Johnson and Guy K. Lester in the preparation of this manuscript. We would also like to thank our father, J. Gayle Yorgason, for helping document the forty-two evidences of the true church.

PART ONE

The Present

Chapter 1

W hen the STAT call came over the speaker, I was almost thirty minutes beyond my shift, and was just finishing the cast on a particularly difficult fractured wrist. Normally I leave casting to the technicians, but the young girl with the fracture had serious problems. No specialists had been immediately available to set the crazily misaligned bones; and so, as Emergency Room physician, I had ignored time and procedure and stayed with her from X-ray, finally completing the task.

I smiled at her; wiped her small, oval, tear-streaked face; did my best to defer the almost obsequious gratitude of her parents; and fled to the scrub-room, where I hastily cleaned up.

Marilyn, I then said into the hospital exchange, this is Doctor Altman

I got no further, but listened with exhausted mind as Marilyn, a dear friend who almost single-handedly ran Emergency from her cubicle of an office, spoke in anxious tones of the accident victim who was even then being rushed into Emergency O. R.

Paramedics report cervical spine injury and apparent spinal damage, she stated quickly. According to their report, there are many lacerations and contusions, and possible internal bleeding. Theyre worried about the head, though the man does seem alert.

Sounds bad, I said, feeling real sympathy in spite of my exhaustion. But Marilyn, I went off duty almost half an hour ago. Doctor Hooker is here, and Doctor Thomas is on call

Joe, the man keeps asking for you.

For me? I asked, surprised. But who is he?

We dont have a name yet. What do you want me to tell the charge nurse?

For a moment I hesitated, thinking of the date I had made with my youngest daughter, Marcie. She had brought her college roommate, and best friend, home for the holidays, and we were all planning on an enjoyable evening together.

All their lives I had had the tendency to put my children off, and lately I had vowed that no longer would I let my work interfere with my family. And this might be only thatan interference.

On the other hand, it might also be a friend, someone I would surely want to at least acknowledge. If I did nothing else, I could reassure whoever it was that he was in good hands. That would take only a few minutes, and I would still have plenty of time to meet my daughter and her friend, and then spend the evening with them.

Marilyn, Ill see him. And call my daughter Marcie, will you? Tell her theres an outside chance Ill be late for our date.

Youre a good man, Joe. And Marcie will understand. Shes too much like you not to understand.

I accepted the compliment for my daughter and myself, hung up, and hurried down the corridor into one of the longest, most memory-filled evenings I have ever spent.

Chapter 2

A ll right, I said quietly to the charge nurse as I pushed toward the hive-like activity of Emergency O.R. What do we have on him?

His neck, Doctor Altman. Weve no X-rays yet, but there seems to be severe trauma on the cervical spine, and the patient feels no pain or other sensations below his neck. Doctor Hooker says hes quadriplegic, at least, and is in spinal shock. Doctor Hooker is with him now, and I think I saw Doctor Hammond coming in.

I immediately wondered why on earth the man felt that he needed me , and could not imagine an answernot unless he was an old friend or acquaintance.

Do you have an identity? I asked the nurse.

Yes. His name is Deltano. James Deltano.

James Deltano. Jamie Deltano! My surprise was so great that I almost halted in mid-stride.

Areare you certain of the identification? I asked quickly.

Well, that is the name I was given.

Thank you, I muttered as I hurried, almost panic-stricken, down the hall.

Now my mind was truly awhirl. An old friend, and was he ever! Jamie Deltano was one of the two or three closest associates I had ever known, though I hadnt seen him in at least a year. Friendships do that, though. Theyre on-again, off-again sorts of things, where people move in and out of other peoples lives. Ive noticed, though, that if friendships are true, then no matter how much time passes between seeing each other, it is as though the last visit had occurred only a day or so before. And that was the way my friendship with Jamie Deltano had always been Close. Personal. Truly I loved the man as much as if he had been the brother I had never had.

When at last I looked down at the still form on the gurney, I felt myself growing almost faint. It was Jamie, there was no doubt of it. He had the same large head and wide forehead that always, to me, signaled unusual intelligence. The same wiry body that seemed filled with nervous energy. The same delicate fingers that years before had wielded the chalk and written such intriguing things up on a long blackboard we had stowed in my apartment at college.

Jamie?

For a moment there was no movement on the still face of my friend.

Jamie, this is Joe Altman. Can you hear me?

Finally Jamies eyes flickered open, rolled slightly, and focused in recognition.

Joe? he whispered. Joe,whatswhats a good guy like you doing in a place like this?

I smiled at Jamies never-ending, wonderful sense of humor.

Slummin, Jamie. Its Friday night, you know. Isnt that what we always did?

Jamie tried to smile but couldnt quite manage it. And somehow I knew then that he understood how badly he had been injured.

Amam I going to make it, Joe?

You will if I have anything to do about it, buddy. I thought you knew how to drive.

I do, Joe. Itit was that blasted Ferrari. I knew I shouldnt have leased itbut you know me

Yes, I do know you. Thank God that I know you. Wheres your wife and family?

Theyre at home, in Chicago. I think. Let them know about this, will you?

Of course I will. And I want you to know, my friend, that youll have the best help available. How do they say it? Youve come to the right place?