In this heartwarming episode of 'Latter-day Miracles,' hosts Haley Hatch Freeman and Misty Smith welcome Ferrell Hornsby, an author and devout believer, to share her profound experiences of divine love and miraculous events. Ferrell recounts deeply personal stories, including a premonitory dream about her great-grandfather's death, a miraculous healing from cancer, and encounters with earthly and heavenly angels who guided her through life's challenges. She also shares insights from her book, 'If We're Breathing, We're Serving,' and discusses the importance of her life motto, 'Lift the World.' This episode is a moving testament to faith, the power of prayer, and the enduring message that we are loved by God and Jesus Christ.

Ferrell Hornsby

Ferrell’s great-grandfather, Alma Joseph Gunn.

Ferrell’s mother, Janet Lee Peterson McCleve

Contact Our Guest

Facebook: Ferrell Hornsby

Ferrell’s book, “If We’re Breathing, We’re Serving”, is available online on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Ferrell is happy to sell autographed copies. Just send her an email at authorferrellhornsby@gmail.com.

Transcript

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to Latter-day Miracles, where we share true stories of angels and marvels. Get ready to enjoy accounts from everyday people that remind us of divine love, that we're never truly alone, and the power of faith in these latter days. I'm Haley Hatch Freeman. And I'm Misty Smith. Sit back, open your heart and prepare to be inspired.

Haley Freeman: Welcome to Latter-day Miracles. We're so excited to have Farrell Hornsby with us today. She has some beautiful miracle stories that I cannot wait to share with you. We'll go ahead and do her introduction and then turn the time over to her.

Misty Smith: Okay. Hornsby as a wife, mother, grandmother, an author who has experienced firsthand the love of God in her life.

She is passionate about sharing that love with those around her. "Lift the world." is her motto and Kindness Begins with Me, is her favorite [00:01:00] primary song. You also wrote a book called If We're Breathing, We're Serving. Which I'm so excited to talk about that. I have a question for you about that.

Farrell Hornsby: Okay.

Misty Smith: And I'm also assuming that today we're going to talk about your motto, "Lift the World."

Farrell Hornsby: Mm-hmm.

Misty Smith: So I am excited to get to know. About why that became your motto. So I guess let's just turn it over to you now, Farrell, let's hear about your miracles and stories. I'm excited.

Farrell Hornsby: That sounds great.

I sure appreciate you two having me on your blog. Uh, this is such a great opportunity for me. Some of these miracles I've not shared with very many people. Um, they're very dear to my heart. Yeah.

I guess we'll just dive in. The first one I wanted to share was, it happened when I was 10 years old, but I'm going to backtrack a little bit.

Um, when I was five, we went to Salt Lake City. I lived in New Mexico, went to Salt Lake City and visited my great-grandfather. His name was Alma Joseph Gunn, [00:02:00] and he was this curmudgeony old man that didn't really, you know, he didn't smile a lot, you know, and I was a little nervous meeting him, uh, but mom had brought some crayons and some paper and I sat and was on the coffee table.

I was coloring on the coffee table and I glanced up at him and he winked at me. Now you have to understand, I had just learned how to wink. Oh, very excited. And so I winked back and then went back to my coloring a little bit later. I looked up and he winked at me again and I winked back and it happened about three or four times, and then he turned to my mom and he says.

Janet, you are raising a flirt. Now I didn't know what a flirt was, but I thought, oh, this is cool. So we had that little connection in that moment. Um, fast forward 1967. I'm 10 years old. I had a dream and he came and sat on my bed and I sat up and I [00:03:00] said, Grandpa Gunn, why are you here? And he said, come here.

And he held me and gave me a big hug. He says, I want you to know that whatever happens in your life, I love you and Jesus Christ loves. Always remember that. And he squeezed me again, and then he was gone. Well, I, I got up out of bed and I went into my parents and I woke my mom. I said, Mom, Grandpa Gunn is dead.

And she said, no, he's living in the nursing home in Salt Lake. He's fine. And I said, no, he's gone. And anyway, she kind of poo-pooed and, and sent me off to bed. But the next day she got the phone call that he had passed away that night.

Misty Smith: Wow.

Farrell Hornsby: Now that message has become a very strong focal point in my life, that he loved me and Jesus Christ loves me.

Fast forward, uh, 1986. I have five children under the age of 10. And I am living in California with my husband, [00:04:00] and I begin having pains in my right side. And the doctors checked and it wasn't appendicitis that they couldn't figure out what it was. And they had me do a CT scan, which was fairly new in that day, and they had me do a CT scan and I was in that CT machine for three hours.

Misty Smith: Wow.

Farrell Hornsby: Can you

imagine trying to lay still for three years?

Haley Freeman: Yeah.

Farrell Hornsby: And that message from my grandpa kept going through my head, I love you and Jesus Christ loves you. Okay, I can do this. I'm not alone. I can do this. And after it was over, the doctor said, we're sending you to a specialist down in Loma Linda.

You have cancer. Oh. And the specialist agreed with that. It was a mass behind my kidney and I can remember I was in shock when it was confirmed and the doctor said, you have to understand we're fighting for your life here. And then it hit me really hard. That's what was going on, [00:05:00] and it was tough.

They put me in the hospital that very day and I was laying in bed the night before the surgery and I didn't know what to do, so I was praying, you know what? I wanna raise my children, you know, they're under 10. I wanna be here to raise my children, and I just wasn't getting any confirmation.

The priesthood blessings that I'd received, none of them had said I would recover. All of them said, you'll have the strength to endure. That's not very encouraging when you're going through something like that.

Misty Smith: Right.

Farrell Hornsby: But I was trying to have faith so then a little after dinner, the surgeon actually came in my room and he said, I want to have a prayer with you. We've never had a doctor do that in my life.

And I knew in Utah

quite a while, but they, they didn't do that. But this doctor wanted to pray with me and as he took my hand and he said the sweetest little prayer, that the spirit of God would be with him and [00:06:00] steady his hands and be with the team.

And that, that eased my heart a little bit. Okay. This is a God-fearing man. He's gonna do his best. And then shortly after he left, there were three people that came into my room. I didn't know them, but they came in and they said, we would like to sing a hymn for you. What hymn would you like us to sing?

And the one that came to mind was, how Great Thou Art. I love that hymn. I love that hymn. And I was just enjoying the music. And they got to the third verse. Where it said, when Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation and take me home. And in that moment, I felt the spirit witness to me that I would not have to go home to Heavenly Father, right then I would be allowed to raise my children.

And when that little inspiration left, they were gone. I, to this day, don't know if they were from the other side or from this side, but whoever they [00:07:00] were, they were angels to me, right? Because they brought me that piece. All right. Here comes the rest of the miracle. The next day I went in for surgery and when I came out of it, my husband was there and he said, you're not gonna believe it.

I said, what? They went in and they couldn't find anything.

Misty Smith: Oh,

Farrell Hornsby: there was nothing there.

Misty Smith: Wow.

Farrell Hornsby: In fact, the doctor apparently joked and went, "And why are we in here?"

Misty Smith: Yeah. Wow.

Farrell Hornsby: And so I was completely cured, completely healed, and I've not had any recurrence of it in the rest of my life.

Misty Smith: Wow.

Farrell Hornsby: That, that has been so powerful to me that God hears and answers our prayers, not always when we want Him to.

Misty Smith: Right.

Farrell Hornsby: But He always does.

Haley Freeman: Right.

Farrell Hornsby: The third miracle I wanted to share, there was a point a few years after that, four or five years after that where [00:08:00] someone in my ward had offended me. Let me rephrase that. I had allowed someone in my ward to offend me. It was my acceptance of that offense.

Mm-hmm.

And I refused to go back to church until that person was no longer there.

I would, I'm not doing it. I'm not gonna be in the same room with this person at all. And for months I wouldn't go. I wouldn't go. But Heavenly Father provided an angel for me in the form of my Relief Society president. She assigned herself to be my visiting teacher. That's what they used to call him back then.

That's what they called ministering.

Haley Freeman: Yeah.

Farrell Hornsby: Um, anyway, Sister Hoff would come to my house, not just once a month. She was there a lot, several times a week sometimes. And she would knock on my door and most of the time I wouldn't even answer the door. I would pretend not to be there. Uh, she would call and leave messages on my answering machine.

She just was so lovingly persistent. And one day I was having a really [00:09:00] bad day and she came and knocked on the door and I peeked through the peephole and it was her. And I yelled at her, go away, and she said, I can't. Why not? Because I love you and Jesus Christ loves you and we're not giving up on you.

Those very same words that my great-grandfather had spoken, touched my heart, and over the next few months she helped me come back to church to where I felt comfortable. She has been an angel to me. It's been wonderful.

Misty Smith: That's beautiful.

Farrell Hornsby: Thank you. The next one is my mom. She passed away in 1993, and I was going through a really tough time, um, going through a divorce and a lot of other things going on, and she was my anchor.

I would talk to her daily and she passed away suddenly of a heart attack. I was devastated. I was absolutely devastated and lost. So lost. I [00:10:00] kept going to church, but uh, my heart wasn't in it. I just, I couldn't function very well, and it was just a really dark time. And this went on for about six months.

And then once again, in a dream, my mom came to me. I was in a relief society room. Okay. You all know what those look like. Yeah, and I was standing in this relief society room that I didn't recognize, and she's sitting on the front row with a little girl on her lap, and I looked at, Mom, what are you doing here?

I have not been given the recollection of the exact words, but the message was the same. I love you and Jesus Christ loves you, and you are not alone.

Wow.

And that helped me turn around. I was able to get up outta myself and function again. And that's been, it's been wonderful to have that reassurance from so many different places.

Mm-hmm. There was a point in 1996 where I needed [00:11:00] to go to work and I needed some skills to be able to finish raising my children. I was led to a computer-aided drafting course at a local technology college, and I never thought about doing that, but that's where the book kept opening to. So that's what I did.

And then my very first day there, I'm terrified. Terrified. And this man comes wheeling up in a wheelchair with a woman, long, red, gorgeous red hair, and said, hi, I'm Ron. She said, hi, I'm Robin. I'm going, I'm Ferrell. But they were just so, again, consistently persistent in becoming my friend, and it was just so nice to have somebody that I could, could be there with.

We studied together, um, we went to the temple together. I mean, just really, really solid friendship built there over the course of the next two years. And then I graduated and went to work [00:12:00] and he went to live closer to his kids. So we didn't see each other for 12 years.

Haley Freeman: Wow.

Farrell Hornsby: Then I went to Logan with my son.

Mm-hmm. And he wanted to go to school there, and I got on a bus one day. There's Ron sitting in his wheelchair. Hey, I know you. Wonderful. And he was single. I was single. So we connected and we've been inseparable ever since.

Misty Smith: Oh, that's wonderful.

Farrell Hornsby: Sweet husband.

Oh, he

has his own miracle story.

He

has multiple sclerosis and he spent the first eight months after his diagnosis in bed, unable to do anything for himself.

Hmm. And over the course of the, while a physical therapist came and taught him how to get out of the bed and into the wheelchair and do some things for himself. And the book that, that you referenced, that's actually the book that I wrote. It's a fictionalized version. 'cause he wants to write his own story.

Misty Smith: Okay.

Farrell Hornsby: I [00:13:00] took. Experiences that he had. How he first discovered that he had MS and, and what was going on there, and some experiences he had, learning how to function as someone in a wheelchair, and now his next miracle, he's not in a wheelchair anymore.

Misty Smith: Oh wow.

Farrell Hornsby: Our first

official date.

Mm-hmm.

And we met at the bus stop. He got off the bus with a walker.

Misty Smith: Oh.

Farrell Hornsby: I had never seen him without the wheelchair. It was wonderful. And so he gradually, he got on some medication and that helped and he says. His story is, and I was just blessed. It was

Oh.

So it was

Misty Smith: Congratulations.

Farrell Hornsby: Thank you. Thank, you've been married for 14 years and they've been absolutely amazing.

Haley Freeman: Great. Yay.

Farrell Hornsby: The final miracle that I wanted to share is, again, very dear to my heart. We had moved to Washington on the Peninsula and our daughter had some property there [00:14:00] and we were there taking care of the property for her. And it's been great. We loved it. We felt like it was kind of a mission for us.

We got to mix and mingle with a lot of the people there, and it was really fun. And then last August, my husband had a stroke and a month later my daughter said, I know this is terrible timing, but I have to sell that property. I can't keep it. So the month of October, we're madly scrambling, trying to find a place to live September and October, and just can't find anything that's in our budget and that's accessible and that we can use.

Then a brother came into Relief Society and said, the Portland Temple is looking for temple workers. Now Ron and I had talked about it over the years, but we've never pursued it.

Misty Smith: Okay.

Farrell Hornsby: And when I told him that, he said, it's time to pursue it. So we talked to the branch president and he said, well, you're in the middle of moving.

Why don't you wait till you get moved? Okay. [00:15:00] But we made that commitment that we were going to pursue becoming ordinance workers in the temple. And the very next day, this house came up on the market in our price range.

Misty Smith: Wow.

Farrell Hornsby: Okay. Let's go look. We went and looked and walked in the door. We hadn't taken two steps in the door and looked at each other and went, yep, this is where the Lord wants us.

Misty Smith: Oh, that's

wonderful.

Farrell Hornsby: It's an hour closer to the temple. It's an hour closer to his doctors and it's a half hour closer to our Washington kids that live up here. This is where the Lord wanted us, and since then we've met some wonderful people. The branch here is amazing, and we just feel like we've come home.

So that has been such a blessing and such a miracle in our lives. Those are the highlights of, there's other miracles too,

Misty Smith: of course.

Farrell Hornsby: These are the highlights of my life. The Lord is so good and He loves us so much, and He knows us. He knows us individually, not just our names. But He [00:16:00] knows what we need and He knows how to sucker us and how to lift us.

And you were asking earlier, about my motto.

Misty Smith: Yes.

Farrell Hornsby: My motto, lifting, lifting the world. Mm-hmm. And that came to me, oh golly. It's been probably 10, 11 years ago. Okay. And I have felt very strongly that each of us has a mission here on this earth. And that one of the things that we do is we affect the people around us.

Mm-hmm. For good or for bad, or

Haley Freeman: Yeah,

Farrell Hornsby: mediocre. We are just here for everybody around us. And that's the biggest part of our mission. Let me back up a little bit. I wrote a song years and years and years ago that I wanted to share. I wanted the Tabernacle Choir to sing it, you know, all these big, grandiose ideas,

Misty Smith: Uhhuh.

Farrell Hornsby: And there was a teacher, a music teacher, who said, you know, you need to focus on your circle. If the Lord wants that song out there, he will make it happen, but you focus on sharing it with the [00:17:00] people around you. And take your talents and share 'em with the people around you. And he used the words, lift the people around you.

And so as I have been writing in my journey as an author, this book does that. Okay, I can lift those who read this book. And there's another side story that I just remembered. I had given this book to a friend of mine and she likes to share books. She likes to pass them on, and so she gave it to a friend of hers who was just diagnosed with MS.

Misty Smith: Oh

wow.

Farrell Hornsby: And this woman, she has been raving to her friend about it, how she can't put it down, how it has touched her, and is giving her hope and that's what I want. That's what the message of this book is, is no matter what your situation, you can lift the people around you. You can share what you have and help make their lives better and happier and brighter and lighter.

So that's where my motto of lifting the world comes from.

Misty Smith: I love that so much. I feel as I've [00:18:00] grown with more spirituality, I've noticed that our relationships do matter, and I think that's something that Satan is so good at, is telling individuals to leave others alone.

Don't bother them.

Farrell Hornsby: Don't bother them.

Yeah.

Misty Smith: Yeah. And so I love that your relief society president made an effort and that she told you, I love you, Christ loves you. You matter. And I love your motto. I understand it so much better now. And I totally agree with that because I feel like as we grow with our spirituality and as we grow closer to Christ mm-hmm.

We start learning more of Him and that He also began in his circle. Mm-hmm. And as He taught His family, His community, His disciples, they in turn turned around and taught others.

Farrell Hornsby: Right.

Misty Smith: And obviously it's touched the world.

Haley Freeman: The world, absolutely.

Misty Smith: Yeah. I love that. Thank you. I love your motto.

Farrell Hornsby: Thank you.

Misty Smith: I appreciate [00:19:00] that.

So I do have a question. Your book, If We're Breathing, We're Serving mm-hmm. Tell me a little bit more about that title.

Farrell Hornsby: The character in the story who was taken after my husband, ends up in a nursing home, and he is a young man, all right. All of his life. He has served others. One of the stories in the book is an actual true story.

This man had a Christmas tree lot and at Christmas and people would come and there was one couple came and they couldn't afford the tree they really wanted, so they were gonna settle for something else and he told them to go in and get some cookies in the cookie shack, and he would find a tree for them.

He says, I, I've got the tree for, well, he found a tree similar to the one that they liked, and he cut a limb off the bottom. And he brought it around and and showed them. He goes, this tree is perfect for you. Uh oh. No, that's way too expensive. Oh no, it's deformed. I can't sell it at full price.

Mm-hmm. And so we sold it to them for what they could [00:20:00] afford, and that's the type of service that this man in the story and my husband, used to do. And then he got MS and he couldn't serve anymore. He didn't think, um, but he went into the nursing home and started noticing the people around him.

It didn't matter what their circumstances were, they were lifting each other. The woman who couldn't walk very well held onto the arm of the blind man, and then she read him the newspaper. A woman who was flat on her back in bed and couldn't get out of bed would ask the CNAs every morning, who needs my prayers today?

And those are experiences that have actually happened and he realized that it didn't matter what our circumstances are, we can still lift those around us with a smile, with a kind word, with a compliment, with an inspirational story. And so that's where the title comes from. If we're breathing, we're serving, we can serve those around us.

Misty Smith: I love that so much. Thank you for that. [00:21:00] Going along with your husband and his miracle. How do you think living your daily lives, having this miracle of you with being cured miraculously and him being able to walk, those are big things.

Farrell Hornsby: They are.

Misty Smith: How do you guys live every day and have these miracles affect your lives?

Do you live differently? Because of them,

does it?

Farrell Hornsby: I don't think so. Ron is very fond of saying that he's learned a lot through MS and he's grateful that he has it. Because he's learned to rely on the Lord. The same thing with me. I mean, I got to raise my children to adulthood.

I've got grandchildren between us, we have 26 grandchildren. Okay.

Misty Smith: Wow.

Farrell Hornsby: And I wouldn't have been around to see them in this life. And he wouldn't have been able to do what he does. But because of those miracles, we are able to, it has given us, an attitude of gratitude. And every day, you know, our prayers are more about gratitude than requests.

You know, thank you for allowing us to serve in the [00:22:00] temple. Thank you for allowing us to see our grandchildren today. Thank you for this beautiful place that we live and the wonderful people that surround us. And having that, those miracles and recognizing. God in our lives every single day. Yeah, that's really changed how we look at life and how we live.

Haley Freeman: I know this is putting you on the spot, but do you have any stories that come to mind about serving in the temple that you'd like to share?

Farrell Hornsby: Okay. You have to understand we've only been serving since March.

Haley Freeman: Oh, yeah.

Farrell Hornsby: I will tell you that the Portland temple is ramping up.

They have wanted more workers because they're

training ordinance workers to go out to the two new temples that are being built here. One in Oregon and then the other one in Vancouver, Washington. And so they're training people to be ready to jump in and start when those temples are open.

So as they're ramping out, they're pushing us through our trainings very quickly, and I was very nervous about that. As I noticed how quickly we were [00:23:00] going through, I was nervous about learning everything that I need to know. Ron was nervous about being able to find his way around.

It's not a small temple and the floors when you get off the elevator look very similar to each other. But we've been blessed to be able to find our way around. I have found that I've been able to learn the things I need to learn. Ron has been able to do more than he thought he could. Now, he was worried that he wasn't gonna be able to serve, but his sweat coordinators have found the places where he shines and have been able to let him serve in ways that he feels like he's contributing.

As I've served, like at the recommend desk, or I've served in other areas of the temple, I've had more opportunities to interact with patrons than I thought I would. And it's been wonderful to hear some of their stories and to be able to let them know, yes, you are here, you are loved, you are important.

That for me is one of the biggest reasons that I'm there, is to help them know the same thing I [00:24:00] was taught. You are loved, you are noticed, you're important. Mm.

Haley Freeman: Beautiful. I love that.

Misty Smith: So really quick with that your message to you. I just find it incredible that there's quite a few people that have had messages that are reiterated to them throughout their lives.

Farrell Hornsby: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Misty Smith: And I just wanted to point out that I think it's beautiful that Christ is part of that message that your identity, that you matter that Christ loves you and your worth is so important. I just think that's absolutely amazing. It's just something I've noticed is that there's many people that have reoccurring messages.

Farrell Hornsby: Mm-hmm.

Misty Smith: And it's almost like their key to know that that message is a pure, intentional message for them.

Farrell Hornsby: Exactly. Absolutely.

Well, it's like I said, everybody has their mission here on the earth. Sometimes those messages speak specifically to that message, to that mission, and they need that message in order to be able to fulfill [00:25:00] whatever mission the Lord has in mind for them.

Misty Smith: I love that. Thank you.

Haley Freeman: Do you have any advice or tips to, share with anyone in similar situations that you've had

Farrell Hornsby: Absolutely. First of all, breathe.

Sometimes we forget to breathe when things are tough. But breathing helps clear things and then pray. Ask for help. You are not alone. Even if you feel like you're alone, there are always angels around you. The spirit of the Lord is with you all the time. You just have to open up and be able to feel it.

And that's part of the breathing. You know, it helps you to open up and and open your mind. And then the third one would be to trust. Trust the fact that your Heavenly Father knows you and loves you and will send you the help. In fact, it's probably already there. You just have to be able to recognize it.

So those are the three things I would absolutely advise anybody going through any kind of a tough time.

Haley Freeman: Wonderful. [00:26:00] Yeah. What is your final message that you want listeners to take away from your miracles?

Farrell Hornsby: If you're breathing, you're serving, you can lift anybody with anybody around you, no matter what.

Even if it's just give them a smile, a compliment, just, just listen to them. Yeah.

Haley Freeman: I love that. All right. So what is the best way for people to reach out to you or contact you?

Farrell Hornsby: Okay, on

Haley Freeman: Facebook.

Farrell Hornsby: I am on Facebook under Ferrell Hornsby. And if they wanted to send a private message, they can email me at authorferrellhornsby@gmail.com

Those are the best ways to get a hold of me.

Haley Freeman: And then they could get an autographed copy of your book that way.

Farrell Hornsby: That way. Exactly.

Haley Freeman: And then otherwise they could go to Barnes and Noble and find your book or on Amazon, correct? Correct.

Misty Smith: That's correct.

Haley Freeman: Great. And we'll put those links on our show notes as well.

Farrell Hornsby: Sounds wonderful.

Haley Freeman: On our website. So [00:27:00] you have been a delight to interview and we love your stories. Thank you so much for spending this time with us. We really appreciate it.

Farrell Hornsby: It's been my pleasure. Thank

you.

Thank you for joining us on Latter-day Miracles. If you have a miracle story that you feel inspired to share, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us on our website at latterdaymiracles.net or message us on social media. Until next time, keep your heart open to the miraculous and may you feel the presence of angels in your everyday life.

[00:00:00] Welcome to Latter-day Miracles, where we share true stories of angels and marvels. Get ready to enjoy accounts from everyday people that remind us of divine love, that we're never truly alone, and the power of faith in these latter days. I'm Haley Hatch Freeman. And I'm Misty Smith. Sit back, open your heart and prepare to be inspired.