6.22.2025

This week has been an in-between week of sorts. Without an infusion or doctor visit of any kind for Doris, we were in the mode of concentrating on our walks, our spiritual lives, and unpacking from when we were preparing to leave for England for 18 months. This is a milestone of sorts. We were to depart for England on May 12. In the intervening 41 days – nearly seven weeks! – we have experienced some difficult times, but we still rejoice in the time we have together. And yet, we continue to feel that sense of loss as the time rushes by. We walk together at least four times a week. We spend more time together on the same level of our home, and we are continuing to make of our home what we envisioned it would be when we returned from serving the Lord in England.

We walked together on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. These walks consist of 40 minutes of walking, which we complete in something less than an hour with breaks. This week, we branched out into some different routes to make our walking maps more interesting. Then Doris requested that I share them with our children to see what sense they could make of the shapes. It was similar to cloud shape identification by way of maps experience. We also approached our connections with our family with this type of creative encouragement during the COVID-19 pandemic lock-down. There were some creative and artistic interpretations of these maps, which I will post in a new category. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Tuesday morning, I served and worshiped in the Meridian, Idaho temple at 6:00 AM, and we started our walk by about 8:50 AM. Our goal is to complete the walks before the UV exposure begins its peak around 10:00. I realized that this date, June 17, 2025 was the anniversary of my own endowment on June 17, 1978 just prior to my serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Belgium Antwerp mission. Thursday, Doris and I also served and worshiped in the Meridian, Idaho temple for the purpose of serving as proxy in the initiatory ordinances of the Endowment. We were able to enjoy that with the assistance of some kindly ordinance workers who were willing to wear masks to help Doris participate in that experience and minimize the risk of sharing illness with her.

We have discussed whether I should return to a small level of work as a consulting engineer with Keller Associates. Keller left the door open to that at such a time as we return from our mission to England. Since we are here now, we are beginning to execute some of the plans we had for our return. Working between 10 and 12 hours a week was what we considered. With this week being our first week since May 5 that we have not had at least one doctor’s appointment for Doris – and sometimes up to four – we began to see how this work would fit into our schedule. It is fitting in well and we are still meeting our hopes and desires to be together. There are additional things that we planned such as furniture replacement, adding a patio cover, and other home improvements upon our return from England. The biggest change in my home office is that I moved my home office upstairs, so we are on the same level as our home more consistently. The office has a comfortable recliner so Doris can enjoy her time there if I am busy with something work-related or on the computer.

We find joy in studying the gospel together. This week we studied the atonement of Jesus Christ. This study is suitable for weeks, months, and years. Indeed, our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson said, “I urge you to devote time each week—for the rest of your life—to increase your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.” (President Russell M. Nelson urges us to learn more of the atonement). If you are not familiar with what the atonement entails, consider the fact that we are mortal beings, being subject to death of two types. The first and obvious death is a physical death – the separation of our spirit from our bodies. The second death is a spiritual death – the separation of our spirits from God.

Our bodies are only temporary dwellings for our spiritual selves. These spirit selves are our identity. We will all die. We will also all be resurrected through Jesus Christ. As the apostle Paul wrote:

21 For since by man came death⁠, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die⁠, even so in Christ shall all be made alive⁠.

1 Corinthians 15:21-22

This is part of our Easter Celebration each year. But there is more. Because of our tendency to sin and our need of repentance, we cannot tolerate the presence of God.

Where God dwells is a holy place. Nobody that is impure or made impure because of sin can dwell with God. Jesus, as the only perfect Being to ever live on earth, suffered for our sins on condition of our repentance. For those who do not repent, it is for them spiritually, as if Jesus had never suffered for their sins. With our repentance, we may have the full benefits of the mission of Jesus Christ, known as His atoning sacrifice. Because of His exercise of power over death, being the “firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20), and his propitiation for our sins, Jesus removes the two great hurdles standing between us and God. The first is our own mortality, and the second is our unworthiness. Mortality is often known obviously as physical death. Our separation from God because of our unrepentant sins is a spiritual death. Understanding and applying the benefits of the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ is the most essential of all pursuits in our lives. Without the gifts of Jesus Christ, the meaning of life is obscured by the pursuit of worldly things.