When a Song Says You're Not Done Yet After Cancer Diagnosis

Your arms hurt when you sculpt. Your ribs ache when you raise them for surgery. Your neck won't turn all the way. The cat scan reveals multiple myeloma. Blood cancer. Your doctor friend's voice on the phone confirms what you already know: it doesn't look good. You're seventy-two years old. You've spent thirty years and tens of thousands of hours creating sixty Book of Mormon sculptures and an eighteen-foot Christ statue. You're racing to finish the Monument of the Americas by 2028, exactly two hundred years after the Book of Mormon was printed. In that moment, you realize: retirement is immediate. The monument might never open. Your life's work could die with you.

In this episode of Why We Believe with host Nathan Gwilliam, Dr. Steven Neal shares how three words from a song became the Lord's voice after his cancer diagnosis. He's the physician who painted Lehi's Dream that hung in the Church History Museum for over thirty years. He's the sculptor whose marble Christ statue President Oaks unveiled at the MTC. He's the man who felt Lehi's actual presence while painting late one night. His testimony demonstrates that God's timeline continues beyond what the diagnosis predicts, that patriarchal blessings unfold across decades in unexpected ways, and that divine assignments become achievable one faithful step at a time.

The Temple Vision That Changed Everything  

Thirty years ago Dr. Neal thought he would paint Book of Mormon scenes for life. At fifteen, he started oil painting using his mother's fishing box paint set from Relief Society lessons. He still uses that box today. At BYU President Boyd K. Packer's talk about using art for the restoration inspired him to paint scripture scenes. His masterpiece Lehi's Dream featured his five-year-old daughter Heidi under the tree of life. The eight-by-four-foot painting won the grand prize and hung in the Church History Museum for three decades. But in May thirty years ago, everything shifted. He attended the Portland Temple and experienced the endowment presentation with music for the first time. The Spirit came over him so strongly that he describes it as the closest he's ever come to seeing a vision. In his mind's eye, he saw a bird's eye view of a sculpted park.

Large Christ statue at the center. Other sculptures surrounding it. The Spirit spoke clearly: This is the explanation of your patriarchal blessing you never understood. His blessing read: "You shall hold a light where it may be seen from afar. The effect will be a blessing to those who are prepared to hear the council of truth." For decades, he didn't know what that meant. It sounded too grand. The interpretation came: The light isn't him. The light is the Savior that people will see from across the valley. He received an overwhelming assignment that day. His response? Start one step at a time, one sculpture at a time.

When Lehi Was in the Room  

While painting Lehi's Dream, Dr. Neal repeatedly prayed: "Lord, can I see the vision so I can paint it?" He wanted to see what Nephi saw. He never saw the vision that way. But late one night during residency in San Diego, everyone was asleep. He was alone painting Lehi in the lower left corner. Then he felt someone watching. Like when you're alone and suddenly sense a presence. You turn around expecting someone there.

The presence was so strong that he heard rustling of clothing and sensed breathing. It felt like Lehi stood right there in the room. He could almost see him, talk to him, and shake his hand. The testimony that came was this: Lehi was a real person. Not fictional. Not metaphor. Real. The Lord gave him this witness instead of the vision he requested. That experience has anchored his testimony for decades.

The Contrast Between Demanding and Receiving  

That anchored testimony began at eighteen through a lesson in humility. The summer before BYU, Dr. Neal finished the Book of Mormon and went into the woods like Joseph Smith. Clear night. Nearly full moon. He looked up and demanded testimony from the Lord. Nothing happened. Disappointed. Discouraged. Failed. Three days later, in a testimony meeting, someone spoke about parents leading them right. He thought of his mother who introduced his father to the gospel. As he reflected on her love and teaching, warmth started in his chest. Then the warmth became burning so strong that he almost couldn't stand even sitting down.

Embarrassed by tears. The feeling lasted hours. The message was clear: What your parents taught you is true. The Book of Mormon is true. God exists. The contrast taught everything: Demanding shuts heaven's door. Humility opens it. The Spirit comes on His terms, not ours. You can't force it. Softness invites what hardness rejects. That burning testimony has never left.

One Sculpture at a Time for Thirty Years  

After the temple vision Dr. Neal began creating sculptures. Some weren't good. He destroyed them and started over. One step. One sculpture. Year after year while practicing medicine, raising six daughters, and living in Pendleton, Oregon for thirty-seven years. Twenty years ago, sculptor Michael Hall joined him, the artist who created the Father and Son statue with Joseph Smith on Temple Square.

Monument of the Americas will have two gardens. The American Covenant Garden celebrates the inspired founding of America based on 1 Nephi 13 where Nephi sees Columbus, pilgrims, and the Revolutionary War. The Book of Mormon Garden contains sixty sculptures and twenty panels, each ten feet by seven feet, depicting scenes from Lehi's dream to the brother of Jared to the destruction of the Nephites.

The central piece is the eighteen-foot Christ statue standing on gold plates with water cascading eighteen feet into a pool below. In the pool are life-sized bronze figures arranged like worshiping hands. Left side represents the Western Hemisphere. Right side the Eastern Hemisphere. Christ holds a lamb for the Old World and a baby alpaca for the New World. The fountain has three tiers with twenty-four figures. Music will be choreographed to water. It will be lit at night, visible across the valley. Target completion: 2028, two hundred years after the Book of Mormon was printed.

Have a Little Faith  

Two years ago in August, everything seemed threatened. Arms hurting. Ribs aching. Neck stiff. The diagnosis: multiple myeloma. Immediate retirement. Surgeries scheduled through December. The monument is unfinished. Thirty years of work possibly wasted. He was sculpting to music as always. Seven thousand songs from classical to jazz. One song came on. Simple lyrics: Have a little faith. The Lord spoke through them: Steve, you're not done yet. Miraculous treatments exist for multiple myeloma. No cure. He still has it. But after one month of treatment, his cancer markers went from one in a thousand to one in one. Complete remission. Two years and four months later. Eight hundred days. Still cancer-free. Not a day passes without thanking God.

A few years earlier, his daughter Melanie developed Budd-Chiari syndrome. Liver failure. Kidneys shutting down. Thirty-nine out of forty on the transplant list. Giving her a blessing, inspiration contradicted his medical training: Promise her she will walk out of this hospital. He followed the prompting. Her numbers improved daily. She walked out the day before Christmas Eve. The park is going to be built. Even if he died tomorrow, it's going to be built. But his assignment remains. He's going to finish it.

You're Not Done Yet  

What assignment have you been given that seems too overwhelming? What blessing have you received that doesn't make sense yet? What work feels unfinished because time is running out? Dr. Neal started when the Lord showed him a vision thirty years ago. One step. One sculpture. Through decades of medical practice. Through cancer diagnosis. Through eight hundred days of borrowed time. Still building.

The light visible from afar isn't him. It's the Savior. The monument isn't about his talent. It's about testifying that Lehi was real, the Book of Mormon is true, and Christ is the light of the world. Everything else is just a method. The message is what matters. You're not done yet. Have a little faith. Start one step at a time. Your patriarchal blessing will unfold when God is ready. Your assignment will become clear in His temple. Your time isn't up until He says it is. The work you do will outlast you if it points to Him.

Hear Dr. Neal's complete testimony on the Why We Believe show; He talks of of feeling Lehi's presence, receiving temple visions, surviving cancer, and racing to complete monuments that will outlast him. Listen to the full episode and discover why he believes despite overwhelming odds.

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