SALT LAKE CITY — For Charles Tjas, 61, a physical tragedy evolved into a spiritual triumph.
The branch manager for an automotive sales company, whose wife, Sydney, is a member of the Monument Park 9th Ward, experienced a change of heart after an accident forced a change of lifestyle.
At the time, Sister Tjas had invited her husband to read the Book of Mormon, which he did along with his reading of the Bible.
The accident occurred Jan. 13, 1997. He was sprinkling salt on his icy driveway when he had a terrible fall and suffered permanent spinal cord damage that left him a quadriplegic and bed-ridden. Since that time, most of his life has been in hospitals and care centers, much of the time hooked up to a respirator.
Often, infections made it necessary for him to return to the hospital from his care center. One day, after a setback had returned him to the hospital, he was visited by Elder Robert E. Wells, then of the Seventy, who unexpectedly came to give him a blessing. Mr. Tjas had never met Elder Wells, so the non-member asked why a General Authority had come.
"The prophet sent me," replied Elder Wells. He proceeded to give a blessing that brought peace and hope and special encouragement to the injured man.
"I wept," recalled Charles Tjas. "I mean, I really wept."
While hospitalized, he accepted his wife's long-standing invitation for missionaries to teach him. His feeling that the Book of Mormon was true led him to accept the challenge to be baptized. Several baptismal dates were set but, because of health complications, were postponed. Finally on Feb. 6, 1999, he was baptized by his respiratory doctor, a member of the Church. Five men stood in the baptismal font to assist. The ordinance went smoothly. Tears, the language of the Spirit, were evident everywhere as the long-expected and heaven-sent miracle was witnessed.
The new convert said that he had feared going under the water because he had no control, but as he was baptized, he felt a sense of comfort and peace encompass him.
With humble exuberance, he exclaimed, "You're looking at a new man. I felt different from the time I went into the water."
He was returned to the care center afterward where he was confirmed by President M. Darrell Nilson of the Salt Lake Monument Park Stake.
"I can't promise you full restoration to health, but I can promise you that the Holy Ghost can help you by bringing great peace and being a witness to your soul," said Richard Hughes, then bishop of the Monument Park 9th Ward, who spoke at his confirmation. "You can be a missionary of the gospel now with everyone you meet." Brother Hughes is now Brother Tjas' home teacher and visits every Sunday.
Nearly a hundred ward members attended the confirmation, and the ward has continued to support him, uniting in an outpouring of love. Evidence of their caring is on the walls and ceiling of his room. There are posted reminders of the gospel's blessings: many pictures and messages, an enlargement of the Articles of Faith, pictures of temples, and an artist's illustration of the Savior with the caption, "You are never alone."
His positive attitude is contagious, visitors say. Brother Tjas greets every visitor with, "I'm fine."
Although ward visitors find themselves uplifted by his outlook, the visitors have also helped him cope. He said that once discouragement was so strong and real that without them he wouldn't have had a reason to live.
On Easter Sunday, April 23, 2000, his bed was pulled away from the wall and brethren stood around his bed to ordain him an elder. Again he was encouraged to be a missionary.
He has tried to fulfill that admonition. His wife describes him as a good listener who influences his medical attendants. He often bears his testimony and encourages people to investigate the Church. Ward mission leaders occasionally bring investigators to hear his conversion story. One individual responded to his caring nature and investigated the Church and was later baptized. She gave him back the copy of the Book of Mormon he had given her, a memento to remember her by.
Though he isn't healed physically, he has received the greater blessing of coming out of spiritual darkness into the light of the gospel. He continues to turn tragedy into triumph at his unique "Care Center Utah Mission."
