Acey and Jalyn Shaw: In Sickness and In Health

Morgan Jones 0:00
In 2015, ESPN released a short documentary that told the story of Acey Shaw, who in 2011, right after winning his first state championship as a girl's basketball coach in a small Idaho farming community, returned home to find a baby calf at risk of hypothermia. He loaded the calf into his truck, but what Acey didn't know is the calf carried a rare virus that left Acey without the use of his legs and limited use of his arms. The virus also made it difficult for Acey to speak, and yet, ESPN told the incredible tale of how Acey returned to coach the game he loves, winning three more state championships. But what they didn't tell you was the faith that has carried Acey through, for as his wife Jalyn told the local newspaper, "Life here on earth is for a short time, and our eternal family, we will be together forever." Acey Shaw coached the Dietrich High School girl's basketball team to four state championships during his 16 years coaching. He attributes his athleticism and basketball knowledge to great parents who love to see their son succeed and made sacrifices for him to improve. Jalyn is a school secretary who has, since Acey's accident, devoted her life to serving her husband. They are the parents of three children. Acey says the message of his story is simple. I'll let him tell you in his own words.

Acey Shaw  1:35
In Moroni 7:29 it says, "Have miracles ceased?" And he says, "Nay." I testify that miracles have not ceased.

Morgan Jones  1:51
This is All In, an LDS Living podcast where we ask the question, what does it really mean to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ? I'm Morgan Jones, and I am honored to have Acey and Jalyn Shaw on the line with me today. Acey and Jalyn, welcome.

Jalyn Shaw 2:08
Thanks for having us.

Morgan Jones 2:10
Well, I already told Acey and Jalyn this, but I watched a documentary years ago that featured Acey and his story—which is also Jalyn's story—but I watched it, and I instantly wanted to interview them, but I couldn't figure out any way to get ahold of them. Then just last week, their cousin reached out to me over Facebook, and I felt like it was just a miracle. So I am thrilled to have this chance to talk with both of you today. My first question for you is, I wondered if you could start by sharing a little bit about your story and your experience. Jalyn, your cousin told me that, while ESPN showed a lot about the basketball part of the story, which I loved as a sports fan, we didn't see the spiritual aspect of your family's story. Could you start by telling us the story from your perspective through the lens of faith?

Jalyn Shaw  3:16
Yeah. So it all started—on ESPN, I just want to start with that, they were amazing. We had the opportunity to be with them for about a year in our home, and they did a beautiful job. They showed—really depicted—Acey's story and what happened so well, but they only saw one side, so we're excited to be able to tell you the other side of the story. So it was 2011, and it was Acey's first state championship win. And the next day he goes out and he is checking the cows. It was really cold, it was snowy, and there was a calf down, and it was just born, still wet. So he took it, put it in his cab to warm it up, turned the heater on and was in the cab for about 15 minutes. We didn't think anything of it. It was about a week later when he started to get sick, and it just kept progressing worse and worse. We thought it was the flu. We went to several doctors, they thought it was the flu. We went to the emergency room a couple of times. So that's kind of where the story started. We went to our local hospital a couple of times. The first time they said it's the flu, just go home, he'll be fine. He just kept getting worse. So it was the second time we took him in, and I thought, "Oh, we're not gonna get the same doctor. You know, what are the chances? Maybe somebody else will see him and know what's really going on." So we're waiting in the emergency room, and in walks the same doctor we had before. He looks at us and he says, "What are you doing back? I told you the flu." And I said, "It's not the flu, it's something more." And he says, "You know what? I'm not going to do this. It is the flu. I already told you it was the flu. I sent you away. I don't want you to come back. We're done." So I said, "I think he needs a neurologist." And he says, "No, he doesn't. He's fine. It's the flu. And that would take a month at least to get into the neurologist." Anyways, long story short, we left pretty upset that day. This is when I started to have to really look at and search out for the Lord's hand in everything. Because from that moment, we had to start really looking for the good because it wasn't just obvious in our face. We were going through something pretty rough. So, from that point, a friend of ours suggested to go down to the University of Utah, so we met with a doctor down there in the ER, and they admitted him, and that's kind of where the story takes off from. So fast forward two years, and we were finally home from the hospital. Our son, Cade, was playing football. He's in junior high playing football and he breaks his arm. And this break wasn't just, "Oh, I think it's a broken arm," it was a really horrible, horrible break. So we were right in the middle of two hospitals, and we hadn't been back to that one hospital in two years, and I had no intention of going back. So we thought, "Okay, do we go north or do we go south to the hospital? Which way are we going to go?" And I just thought, "You know what? We're familiar with the other one, we didn't have a good experience. But I think we need to go back. I think we need to go there." So we all go, and we hustled to the hospital. We're in the emergency room, the nurses are helping our son. And I said, "Hey, by chance, who's the doctor on call today? Who's actually working?" No way was it going to be the same doctor that rejected to help him two years before that. They said his name, and it was the same doctor. And I said, "Oh, no, there's no way I'm not going to let him touch my son." And the nurses were like, "Why? He's wonderful." And I told the nurses kind of what happened, and they said, "That doesn't even sound like him. There's no way could he have been that rude and just not want to help you." And I said, "Oh, that's exactly what happened." So then our son, who was 12 at the time, says, "Mom, you need to forgive him." And at this point, I didn't realize how much anger I had for this doctor. And I had been holding it in for two years, how angry I was for him to reject to help us. He could have helped him and didn't, and we've had this long road of recovery. And I'm like, "You're right, Caden." He says, "You know, Mom, that's exactly what God wants you to do. You need to forgive him." So, in walks the doctor, and he was so wonderful. And he reset his arm, he didn't have to have surgery, everything was great. And that was a great testimony to me that Heavenly Father, even though I wasn't really aware of how much heat I had, or anger I had for this doctor, Heavenly Father knew. And He helped me clear that up. Which brings me back to the reason why we went to the University of Utah. If that doctor would have pacified us, and said, "I think I can help you,"—which we knew he couldn't after we had known how severe Acey was—he could not have helped us. So really, he pushed us, and the Lord pushed us to where we needed to be, which was at the University. At the time, I thought he was being really awful and rude, but looking back and seeing the Lord's hand in it, he was actually saving Acey by getting us to where we really needed to be. But you never know how the Lord's going to touch you, and what time He's going to touch you, and what time He's going to answer your prayer. I mean, that was two years later that he kind of opened our eyes to why we really got sent down, and to help clear my heart up from that anger.

Morgan Jones  10:24
Absolutely. One thing that Holly told me in her message on Facebook is she said that she felt like you all had been kind of prepared for this experience. How did you, when you look back—obviously, that's not something that you typically see in the moment—but when you look back, how can you see that the Lord had prepared you for this experience?

Jalyn Shaw  10:50
So yeah, when we were building our house, we just thought it would be a starter home. Like, "we're just going to build this little starter home, and then we're going to move back out onto the farm." And it just kept growing while we were building. We're just like, "Yeah, I think we need to push this wall out. I think we need to extend this hallway. I think we need to make the kitchen bigger so a wheelchair can get through." We were going to have all the bedrooms upstairs, and then we thought, "No, if we were to stay here and we're older, we'll need a bedroom downstairs." So little did we know at the time, we were building it for our needs. Our needs in just a year and a half. We were thinking of our parents, if they got sick, because growing up, I had my grandparents living with us. My parents helped take care of their parents. So I felt like, if that was ever the case for us, we would be set up to be able to take care of our parents in our home. But little did we know that it was for us, and Heavenly Father really helped us with that. We built right across from the Church, and we're close to town, and we're close to the school, we're close to our little mercantile that we have. Acey has the freedom to go and socialize and be wherever he wants to be, so it was a huge blessing. When we were in the hospital down in Utah, my parents were actually sent on a mission for the LDS Church, and they were sent to New Mexico, and they were in the MTC at the time. So the mission president at the MTC let them come to visit us in the hospital. They would go back and forth, and my parents were really conflicted on what to do. "Do we stay home and help our kids, or do we go serve the Lord?" Then the MTC President met with them and talked to them and said, "You know what? Your mission is now to go home and serve your family." So they were released, and that's what they have done. They moved to Dietrich to be with us and to help us and, and that's been such a huge blessing for us. I mean, it's taken the weight off of me in helping with Acey and our kids. And his family's great. They live right here in town as well. And so we've had a ton of family support through all this.

Morgan Jones 13:27
Amazing. I love that so much. I heard that President Monson came to visit you when you were in the hospital. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

Jalyn Shaw  13:39
Okay, so when we were in the hospital, everyone would come and visit him. He always had visitors come. And every morning I'd say, "Ace! Guess who's coming to see you today." And I'd tell him who's coming to see him and he was so excited. So I said, "Ace! Guess who's coming to see you today." And he'd say, "President Monson!" I'm like, "No." So the next day, I'd say, "Ace! Guess who's coming to see you today." And he'd say, "President Monson." I said, "No." I kept thinking, "Why does he keep saying President Monson is coming to see him?" And then I thought, "Oh boy." So I said, "Hey, why are you saying President Monson is coming to see you?" And he says, "Well, because I've been praying for him to come to see me and to bless me." And I said, "Oh, Acey, you can't pray for things like that. He is so busy, he could be anywhere in the world. You can't pray for things like that." And he just looked at me kind of like, "You're nuts. Sure you can." Then I was talking to my dad, and I was telling him about it. And I said, "I don't want him to lose his faith." Okay—I didn't want him to lose his faith. I didn't think about where I was lacking faith. So I just didn't want him to lose his faith and be like, "Oh, Heavenly Father's not even listening to my prayers, because I've been praying for him and he's not coming." So it was probably two days later that and we had been in the hospital for about a month to two months at this point. And so we thought, "He hasn't been out of this room, we need to get him out of his room so he can just see something other than these walls." So it took like three or four people to get them in the chair, we put a neck brace on him to hold up his head because he couldn't even hold up his head at the time. And we're just like, "We're just going to take him outside, have some fresh air, bring him back." We're gone 5 to 10 minutes at the most, and we're on our way back to this room, and we turn the corner and there's President Monson. He's looking out the window, talking to this lady, and so I leaned over to Acey, and I'm like, "Acey, guess what! It's President Monson!" And he looked at me like, "Yeah, I knew he was coming." And so we just waited until he was done talking to the lady, and he came over and talk to us. He was so gracious and kind and he talked to us for a while, and then he's like, "Hey, can I get Acey's information? Because the apostles, we all meet together Thursday at 11, and I would really like for us to pray for him." So I'm like, "Oh, my heck. This is perfect. This is our ticket out of here." We were so excited. I gave him his information, and then he went off and was visiting somebody in the ICU at the time. Then I thought, "Oh, my heck, nobody's gonna believe this. No one's gonna believe that we saw President Monson." So I ran back to the room, got our camera, and a friend of ours made a quilt for Acey that everyone signed that went to go see him, so I got the quilt and waited for him to come back out. So he comes back out, we talked to him for a little bit longer, and he says, "Hey, do you think Acey would mind if I give him a blessing?" And I'm like, "Oh, my heck, this is really what we need. Like, he's gonna be—this is our ticket out. This is going to be great." We go into this little corridor area where they take the laundry and take it down the elevator, so we all piled in there. You know when you get a blessing and you already know what you want, right? I was like, "I so want to tell him what to bless him for and with." And I'm like, "Oh, my heck, he's a prophet of God. He already knows. He knows what Acey needs, so I don't have to say anything." The whole time. I'm like, "Oh, he's totally going to just heal him. I just know what. So he starts to give a blessing, and I'm just hanging on to every word that he says. And the words that I wanted him to say never came. I wanted him to say, "Rise and walk." I wanted him to say, "You're healed." But those words never came. He did bless them with endurance, and patience, and love. But to me, that was just a huge testimony builder where I lacked faith, and Acey never did. He never did lack any faith. But I was just grateful that Heavenly Father, to know He does hear and answer our prayers, even when they seem so impossible, that that can't happen, He finds a way to either make it happen or help us through that whole trial.

Morgan Jones 19:15
That's such a great story. Another thing that I wondered about, so on the ESPN video, you said, Jalyn, that there was a moment where you asked Acey if he just wanted to go or whether he wanted to keep fighting, and he said that he wanted to keep fighting, which I admire so much. Acey, I hope that you know that I just think that resilience and that willingness to keep fighting and to want to be here in this crazy world. I think there are just so many things that we take for granted. And so what do you think, Jalyn, influenced Acey's decision to fight? And then Acey, why did you want to keep fighting?

Jalyn Shaw  20:06
That was a tough day because we met with the doctors in a little family consultation room, and his dad was there and my dad was there. Acey obviously wasn't there because he was struggling at the time. The doctor said, "You know, it's time to make that decision on whether we need to just let him go." I couldn't make that decision. I said, "I can't make that decision. I can't say whether or not he needs to be let go. I can't do it." I looked at my dad and his dad and neither one could really help with that. Luckily, he was still aware of what was going on, so I went to his room and I said, "You have to help me with this. I can't make this decision on my own. You have to tell me what you want." And I said, "Do you want to fight? Do you want to keep going? What do you want?" And he says, "No, I want to fight." And I think the thing for me and him at the time is that he wanted to be there with us and help raise our three kids. What do you think, Ace?

Acey Shaw  21:29
Every time I look up, I see my kids. So the main thing is I just wanted to keep fighting so I could be part of my kids' and my family's life. That was the big force for me to stick around because I wanted to be part of that family and help them.

Morgan Jones 21:50
So neat. Another thing that your cousin said in a message to me, she said, "I lived with them"—meaning the two of you—"for a summer a few years before the accident, and I saw such love and respect in their marriage. They both had such a wonderful sense of humor, and that has not changed. Their roles have taken new courses, but the love, respect, and humor is even deeper than before. They still crack me up." And I thought that was like such a great tribute to both of you. In my life, I have always appreciated examples of that love and respect in a marriage, because I think, sadly, it's becoming harder and harder to come by. So what role has humor played over the last few years for your family?

Jalyn Shaw  22:43
Well, I think you have a choice: you can cry, or you can laugh. And we cry, don't get me wrong. There are days where we cry, but we try to find humor in everything. Even in the hospital, we had a good time. That's kind of hard to imagine, but we did. We had so many therapists and nurses and aides, and we just love to visit and have a good time and laugh and everybody said when they came into his room that they felt different, his room felt different. And I think that's because we look for—and you have to look for it, it doesn't just come. But you have to look for the good in everything and laugh things off.

Acey Shaw 23:27
The thing about humor is, just like she said, if you don't laugh about your own situation, pretty soon it gets pretty hard to go through life. So you've gotta laugh about what's happening because you're not going to see any change unless you do some laughing.

Jalyn Shaw 23:46
Yeah. So even when things were really tough, and here's an example, Acey was on life support for a couple of weeks. They were putting a speaker valve on so he could talk—he couldn't talk at all at that time. We were so excited because we hadn't heard his voice, we hadn't talked to him, he really couldn't communicate with us. And so I was just like, "Oh, my heck." We had been through so much, he was very much aware of everything that was going on. It wasn't like he was in a coma, he was awake through everything. So he could watch and see, but he couldn't communicate what he wanted to us. So he's finally getting the speaker valve, and we put it on his little trach, and I'm just right in his face, and I'm like, "Oh, my heck. It's kind of like a "Days of Our Lives" moment, when they're in the hospital, and one's about to die, and you're just hanging on to every word they say, and you're like, "Oh, just tell me you're gonna say something so sweet and endearing." So we were having that moment in the hospital. He was finally gonna be able to say something so sweet and kind of loving to me that I've been waiting for, because he almost died, and he didn't, and he's here. And now his chance to say something sweet is right here. So he puts the speaker valve in, and he's trying to talk, like trying really hard to talk. And I said, "Hon," and I'm just in his face just right there, and I'm like, "Just say it, just say it." And he's like, "Ahem," and I'm like, "Oh, my heck, here it comes, here comes the sweetest thing he's ever said to me in his life." And I'm like, "Yeah, what?" And he's like, "Hon, brush your teeth." I'm like, "Are you kidding me? That's the first thing you're gonna say?" So, even through the super hard times, we've found some humor.

Acey Shaw  25:53
Tell her about April Fool's.

Jalyn Shaw  25:57
Oh, boy.

Acey Shaw  25:58
I played this April Fool's joke on my physical therapist.

Jalyn Shaw  26:02
Yeah. So it was April Fool's, and he was in rehab. We were back and forth—we were in rehab, we were back in the hospital, we were back in ICU, we were back in the hospital, we were back to the rehab—and it was just bouncing back and forth. So we're in rehab at this time, and it was April Fool's. The nurses come in, and they do this spiel every morning and they're like, "Acey, good morning. What's your name? Who's president? What year is it? What's your birth date?" They give him all these things. And so he answers it all, and they're like, "So how are you feeling today?" And every day was different with him because his condition was always changing. And so he says, "Well, I woke up today and I can't feel my legs." And the nurse was like, "Oh, my heck. What do you mean, you can't feel your legs?" She's trying to be so calm, like, "Oh, okay," and she says, "You know what? I'm going to go grab one of the therapists. So she goes and grabs the therapist, brings them into our room and says, "Hey, guess what? Acey woke up today, and he can't feel his legs." And they're like, "Oh, wow. Okay, well, Acey, we're going to go find the doctor." So they're just about ready to leave the room. And he's like, "Wait, wait, what's today?" And they're like, "Who cares what today is? Like, really, we don't care. We've got issues with your legs." And they're like, "I don't know, Ace." And he's like, "Well, what day is it?" And they're like, "I don't know. It's April 1st." He's like, "Exactly." And they, I think, wanted to kill him. He thought that was the funniest thing, but the thing is, a week later he did lose feeling in his legs. So you have to be careful what you joke about. Yeah.

Morgan Jones  27:58
That's so funny. So my next question, Jalyn, is primarily for you. I think that there are a lot of people—and I have recently watched this because my mom's parents are not in very good health, and she's been having to take care of them. I think a lot of people are in the position of being a caregiver, whether it's to a spouse or to parents or children. What are some of the biggest challenges that you feel like you've faced as a result of being a caregiver? What are the biggest challenges that face someone in that position?

Jalyn Shaw  28:36
Ooh, that's a tough one. Because you don't think you're gonna end up being your husband's caregiver. I mean, not until maybe in your 70's, 80's, 90's. You think, "Okay, when that time comes in my life, I'm ready for it." And that's just an expected given thing that I was thinking of. Of course, that's what I'll do for him, and I hope he would do for me. But when it comes when you're 35, it's tough. It really is, because your whole life changes, and it's no longer a partnership. It's now me giving and having to do a lot for him. That was, I mean, I'm more than willing to, and I'm grateful that I was able to do that for him and still do that for him. But it was hard. It was a hard transition. So not only did I have to become a caregiver, but our kids, you know, they were 7, 12...

Acey Shaw  29:46
And 14?

Jalyn Shaw  29:47
What were they? 7, 10, and 13 or 14. And they had to become their father's caregiver as well. They helped with shaving and brushing his teeth and feeding him and getting him into bed and dressing him. So it wasn't just me that had to take on that caregiver role, but our kids. And it was tough. I mean, it's just a constant thing. But where we were lucky was, not only did we have a lot of family help, Acey is so kind and patient, and he makes serving him a lot easier. When we were in the hospital—he had a brain infection, we did brain biopsy, and they did a lot of things with this brain—and they said, "Sometimes when people have brain injuries, their personality changes." And I thought, "Oh, my heck. You know what, you can take away his body, his mobility, you can take away anything, but please don't take away his personality, because he's always been kind and patient and loving and funny, and he's a great friend for everyone and to everyone." I didn't want that lost. And I didn't want him to become angry and mean and hateful. So that was a fear of mine, that his personality would change, and it didn't. He's stayed the same the whole time. Very positive and upbeat and very spiritual still. So that's where it's good for us because to take care of somebody that has those traits, it makes it a lot easier than if he was angry and resentful and mean and bitter.

Acey Shaw 31:47
Those first few years were hard with the kids, because if the kids are taking care of you all the time, pretty soon they get to where they resent you. You have to be really patient, and you have to let people help you.

Jalyn Shaw  32:02
Yeah, that was our main thing we didn't want for myself, I never wanted to get resentful towards Acey for having to take care of him and be his caregiver, because that can happen very easily. So we work on that. He allows me to have my time, and the kids still get to do their activities. So it's a team effort for sure.

Morgan Jones 32:29
I think it's so interesting, my mom was just talking to a lady that works in hospice, and she was saying how, a lot of times the person that is sick will not treat the caregiver very well, but they'll treat everybody else really well. So I think it's interesting how there are those different dynamics. You mentioned not wanting to feel resentful, but I think that that can go both ways, and I think it's such a credit to both of you. Before we get to the last question, I just wanted to ask you how you feel like your marriage and your family is stronger today than it was in 2010 when this happened, and why you're each grateful for each other.

Jalyn Shaw  33:17
Yeah. So in 2010, our marriage was great, right?

Acey Shaw 33:21
Yeah.

Jalyn Shaw  33:23
Had to make sure, I have to verify it. Now, our marriage was great. I mean, at the time, Acey was coaching, which he loves, and he was farming and ranching, which he loves. And we had three great kids. We didn't really have a whole lot of major problems or major trials other than, we had issues with fertility and keeping our babies. We had five miscarriages. That was definitely a trial. But really, we were strong. We were strong in the Church, we were strong in the gospel, we were strong with our marriage and our kids, and things were going pretty smoothly. We didn't argue much or anything, we just were coasting.

Acey Shaw  34:10
We were having a great time.

Jalyn Shaw 34:11
Yeah, we're just pretty much coasting. And then it hit, and it really made us practice what we preach. Because, you know, in the gospel, we're taught to serve and love each other for all eternity, and we made those commitments to each other and to our Heavenly Father. So now it was time to practice what we preached and really apply what we'd been taught our whole lives to our marriage. It definitely tried us and still tries us, because it's not easy. And some days that's not fun, but I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else other than Ace.

Acey Shaw  35:01
Yeah.

Jalyn Shaw  35:01
He makes it pretty easy.

Acey Shaw  35:03
And one thing that I know, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have gotten this far without the help of Jalyn. I wouldn't even be here. So I'm grateful for them and I'm also glad we're still part of the family and we know that this is forever.

Jalyn Shaw  35:24
Yeah.

Acey Shaw  35:25
It's only one short time that I can't walk. Forty or fifty years, whatever it is, it's a short time.

Jalyn Shaw  35:33
Yeah.

Acey Shaw  35:34
And then for eternity, I'll be able to walk and be responsible for myself, and that's the thing that keeps me going. My faith in the Savior, that He died for us so that we can live with each other throughout eternity.

Jalyn Shaw 35:51
It's given us the opportunity to apply the gospel to our life. You can practice it, and you can preach it, and you can know it, but to apply it is something different. So it's really given us the opportunity to apply the gospel. And it is, it's just for a short time. You know, the longest it'll be is, you know, we were 35 at the time, is another forty to forty-five years. What's forty-five years to all eternity? So keeping things in perspective I think is the main thing that we keep trying to bring it back to, is keeping it in perspective.

Acey Shaw 36:35
And I just think that our family is stronger because of all that. There's no way around serving. They have to serve me every day. Even though I'm the same person. I can't do it without them, without their service. They get me dressed, give me food every day, if I drop something they have to pick it up.

Jalyn Shaw  37:07
And along that line, for me, I wanted to make sure my kids had a good example because they're going to have hard times in their life, and how I take on my challenges, I want them to do that and even better. I want them to say, "Oh, my mom had struggles, and this is how she handled it. My dad had struggles, but he didn't quit. He kept going, and this is what he did." Everyone has trials, everyone's gonna have struggles. We all have different things in our lives, but I just wanted to be a good example, and I hope I am, to my kids that they can look at and say, "Mom and Dad didn't quit. Mom and Dad stayed tough. They stayed strong in the gospel, and their testimonies never wavered." And I hope that helps them when their trials come their way.

Morgan Jones  38:00
Yeah, that reminds me of one other question I did want to ask, which is, what have you learned about why God allows bad things to happen to good people?

Acey Shaw  38:14
That is a good question. The only thing I can think of is... God knows you and sees you, He knows what's best for you, so bad things that you think are bad, but it turns out to where you wouldn't have it any other way. Even though we think it's bad, God knows what He's doing. Someone has to learn something from this. I have to learn something, or Jalyn has to learn something or the kids. I don't know what it is, but I can guarantee that there's been a lot of learning from this experience. I think the main thing is, you've just got to remember that God is in charge and that He knows what we need to be like Him. Well, as you can see, my life is more than I could ever imagine. And like you said, I've won three state championships. It's been an amazing life.

Jalyn Shaw 39:20
It's amazing to see how the Lord puts us in a situation, such as Acey coaching and winning state championships. Having him sick and hurt, and then continuing to win, and how it's set the platform for him to share the gospel and to share his story and to help inspire other people. Even though we're living it and it's hard, it helps us to know that our story can inspire and touch other people when they're going through their trials. Sometimes I'm like, "I wish everyone would just hurry up and learn their lesson so we can get on with our life." But Heavenly Father knows what's best for us, and if He can use us as a tool to help others to spread his message, then we're happy to do that.

Morgan Jones  40:11
Well, you two are incredible. Power couple right here. My last question for you is, what does it mean to you to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Acey Shaw  40:25
Okay, the main thing is, like in the scriptures, it talks about being built on the rock of our Redeemer. And we've got to remember that, through revelation, you get the revelation that God is real and that Christ is real, and this is His kingdom on the earth. That's what it means, going all in. If you believe that, you are always engaged in the good cause.

Jalyn Shaw 40:53
All in for me, I think of Christ, and how He is all in for me, and what He can do for me and what He has done for me. I mean, He's helped me with everything. It doesn't matter if I sin, it doesn't matter if I'm struggling. He is all in for me, and He's helping me through all of it. And so I think of all in, and Christ was all in for sure. And I hope that I can be all in for Him. Some days I am, some days I struggle, but it's very reassuring to know that He is all in for me.

Morgan Jones 41:34
You both are awesome. And I am so appreciative to you for sharing your testimonies and your light with me. And I just thank you very much.

Acey Shaw  41:45
Thank you.

Jalyn Shaw 41:46
Well, thank you. We appreciate your time, Morgan.

Morgan Jones  41:51
We are so grateful to Acey and Jalyn Shaw for their willingness to share their story on this week's episode. To learn more about Acey and Jalyn and to see the incredible documentary that was done by ESPN, visit our show notes at ldsliving.com/allin. You can also find transcripts to every episode we've ever done on that page, so be sure to check it out. A huge thank you to Derek Campbell of Mix at 6 Studios for his help with this episode and thank you all so much for listening and spending your time with us. We'll be with you again next week.