Welcome to the blog of Paul and Doris Blackham

Welcome to the blog of Paul and Doris Blackham, which we have entitled, “From Bristol to Boise with Faith”. What follows is a brief description of the events in our lives that bring us to this point.

On October 29, 2024, we received a call from the Lord’s Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson to serve as a senior missionary couple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Our assigned calling was to the England Bristol Mission in the role of Member Leader Support (MLS), with our service to begin on May 5, 2025. From that day forward we watched on the missionary portal as the number of days until our service counted down from 188 until we would report to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah. After five days in the MTC we would proceed to England to begin our service in the England Bristol Mission.

We completed the numerous checklists of what we needed to accomplish before our departure, including clothing preparations, personal items, visa needs, immunizations, and so forth. Everything seemed to be going per plan. We thought the timing we had considered was a match with the Lord’s timing in our lives. Paul retired in time to meet the scheduled mission start date.

A couple of months preceding our mission submittal, we completed a number of medical evaluations, which seemed to indicate everything was in order. Subsequent routine blood work for Doris in October of 2024 suggested she follow up six months later. In March and April of 2025, the follow-up blood work indicated the need to consult a hematologist.

We were unable to obtain an appointment with a hematologist until May 5, 2025 - ironically the day we were to have reported to the MTC. Initially the hematologist indicated there should be no concern with our moving forward with serving a mission to England, and that Doris would simply need to obtain periodic blood draws and evaluations at six month intervals. But when he reviewed her family medical history, including the fact that her father had suffered from Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL), he ordered additional diagnostic tests. On May 16, 2025, after Doris had been subjected to the additional diagnostic procedures we received the unwelcome news that she has cancer, specifically an aggressive form of Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL). Recommended treatment would begin within seven to 14 days.

Cancer. That is a word that nobody wants to hear. But our hematologist reassured us that the current state of the art for treatment of this form of MCL has been very effective with encouraging results.

As a result of this diagnosis, we informed the appropriate leaders of our church of the need to have treatment for a 24-month duration. All plans for our travel and service in the England Bristol Mission were thus cancelled. We now have a new mission of healing and faith that we want to share with you. While this diagnosis seems ominous and overwhelming, we continue to have experiences that impress upon our minds and hearts that God is mindful of our situation. He is watching over our needs by the timing of these discoveries, and extending His comforts, mercy, and reassurances. He is paving the way to treatment and healing.

We hope you will find a measure of inspiration and joy through following this blog from what we have experienced as we consider a new focus to our lives, which we have entitled “From Bristol to Boise with Faith”.