On Monday 23 June 2018 twelve boys on a soccer team in Thailand entered a cave with their 25-year-old coach.  The boys were ages 11 to 16.  When they entered the cave to explore, conditions were dry.  But it began to rain heavily while they were inside.  Water entered the cave, filled the passageway, and forced the group of 13 deeper and deeper into the cave.

The boys went missing.  Their bicycles were found at the entrance to the flooded cave.  The news of what had occurred went out to the world.  Two British spelunkers, whose hobby was diving in underwater caves, thought that they could be of help.  They flew to Thailand and joined others who were diving in the cave in a search to try to locate the missing boys.

The water was murky.  Visibility was zero.  It was a matter of feeling one’s way through the dark, submerged passageways while scuba diving, and while laying out a rope to follow on the return.  The cave was long, and the search was slow.  No bodies were found before the divers had to turn back before running out of air.  It was necessary to take extra tanks of air into the cave to be stashed in high spots so that the searchers could continue deeper into the cave.

The rising water had forced the boys deeper and deeper into the cave until they had taken refuge on a ledge 2-1/2 miles in from the entrance.  They had no food.  The batteries on their flashlights soon played out.  They had no light, no food, and only the water to drink that dripped from the rocks.

Imagine being captive in complete darkness with no possible way of escape or of helping yourself.  I can’t imagine a more terrifying position.  Is that what hell is?

Divers dove day after day pushing farther and farther into the watery darkness.  Finally on the ninth day the two British divers poked their heads and lamps out of the water into an air pocket and discovered the entire group sitting on their ledge.

Imagine the joy the divers felt upon finding that for which they’d been so diligently searching.

Imagine the joy of the boys when they saw light.

“How many of you are there?” the divers asked.

“Thirteen,” the only boy who knew English answered.

“Brilliant,” the divers responded.

“What day is it?” the boy asked.

“You went missing on Saturday,” the divers said, “Monday passed, and it’s Monday again.”

It was thought that perhaps the boys might have to stay in the cave until October when the monsoons would stop and the cave would dry out.  There followed days of preparation and planning as food and oxygen (which was getting low in the chamber) was brought to the boys by other divers.  Various plans for rescue were devised.  Pumps were brought in to attempt to lower the water level, which plan was only partially successful.  Heavy monsoon rains were predicted.  There was only a small window of time available to make a rescue attempt.

None of the boys could swim.  They were 2-1/2 miles inside the cave, and the round trip for a rescuer was an arduous 7-9 hours.

On the 14th day divers fitted face masks on four of the boys, attached air tanks, sedated them, and entered the water.  Two divers were assigned to each boy.  The lead diver held the boy face down, carried him and his tank, and followed the rope through the zero-visibility murk while fighting a current and negotiating narrow spots.  Some places were so narrow that it was necessary to remove the air tanks and push them ahead of the divers as their bodies wriggled through.

Halfway through the cave was a high spot which became a staging area where the boys were handed over to others who strapped them on stretchers.  They were then carried, floated, and pushed up steep places, down inclines, and through more submerged areas until they were put into ambulances at the entrance.

Four boys were successfully brought out on the 14th day.  Supplies and air tanks were re-positioned, and four more were brought out the following day.  On the 16th day the last five were brought safely out.  As the last rescuers made their way through the labyrinth the big pump failed and the monsoon rains began.  The cave filled with water.  All the world breathlessly followed the rescue events.  The boys were all saved, but one diver lost his life when he ran out of air.

The divers did for the boys what they could not do for themselves.  The divers saved the boys’ lives.  They brought them from darkness to light.  They brought them from hell to salvation.

The whole episode is a metaphor of what the Savior has done for all mankind.  The boys waited in darkness hoping to be saved.  An innumerable company did the same in the Spirit World as they anticipated the appearance of the Savior following His crucifixion.  (See D&C 138).  A blinding light appeared to both groups announcing their salvation and release.  What joy!  What relief!  What gratitude filled each rescued heart.  What love and satisfaction filled the hearts of the Savior and of the rescuers.

How grateful we must be for the knowledge that we will not be left forever stranded in our unsaved condition.