From Bristol to Boise with Faith

  I am grateful:   For the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. One day my body will be healed. Paul is retired and we are on this journey together.  His kindness to me is constant. I feel at peace. Many people are praying for us. For medical personnel who make the CIC a positive place. Ward members who are providing meals for us on days when we are exhausted from procedures. For the opportunity to grow closer to God as I battle cancer. For sunshine and blue skies. For the sound of birds singing. I am not alone on my journey.  God is sending angels to support me.  I feel my parents close by. For music. I feel the most hope and joy while listening to hymns. For the laughter and love of our grandchildren.

That through the shedding of His blood, one day my blood will be healed. That I feel peace. How can I share the gospel at this season of my life?

God gave me the strength to endure 15 hours of infusions between Thursday and Friday.

 This was the winner for the week. It elicited the greatest response. It is probably not as funny to someone not married to a bridge engineer.

 

  Ye cannot behold with your natural  eyes ⁠ , for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the  glory  which shall follow after much tribulation. Doctrine & Covenants 58:3 And he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith. The Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 26:13

I need to create.   During this journey, I am going to make a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. It uses a technique called English paper piecing.   Here is a picture of a block I finished this week.   The hexagons are all stitched together by hand.

Even in our darkest hours, we have blessings.  Some days it is hard to find something for which to be grateful.  In my battle to regain my health, I recognize that a large part of my battle will be against discouragement.  I am grateful I established a habit of making a daily gratitude list years ago.  As I look for my blessings in order to record them, I see them everywhere.   Perhaps these weekly excerpts from my gratitude lists will bless your lives.  

  As anyone who has spent any time around our family knows, humor is part of the fabric of our lives.   I have learned through the years that if I can find something to laugh about, I can endure hard things.   In an effort to focus on happiness, I issued a challenge to our children: please send me things to make me laugh.   I will post here a weekly favorite.

  Cycle One A cycle in Doris’ treatment consists of 28 days. There will be multiple cycles involved. Her targeted treatment includes IV infusions of a medication that has shown to be highly effective in fighting the type of Lymphoma that Doris has. During Cycle One, she will have weekly infusions and blood draws for watching over her health and response to the medications. The next cycles will adjust the medications administered and the frequency of infusions. For Cycle One, Doris will be taking daily doses of oral chemotherapy coupled with weekly infusions of a targeted treatment. Before Cycle One can begin, Doris needed to get a couple of tests and one procedure completed. We begin cycle one Thursday. ECG and EKG (Fruitland, Idaho) 5.27.2025 - Tuesday A little insight into the heart of my sweetheart: She is SO sensitive to others and so gracious to those who help her. Tuesday as she had to endure some inconvenient and uncomfortable positions for her echocardiogram (ECG), she ...

  “Faith in God includes Faith in His Timing” Elder Neal A. Maxwell

  “I bear witness that priesthood and prayer are restoring my life—Christ’s priesthood and your prayers.” President Jeffrey R. Holland April 2025 General Conference

  “All must pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact and strong.   There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. Yet this is part of the purging to be acquainted with God.” President James E. Faust  April 1997 General Conference

Our new mission After I went through weeks of testing, including a needle biopsy of a lymph node and a bone marrow biopsy, Paul and I sat in the hematologist’s office.  He told us that I was one of the unfortunate people who had no symptoms, but actually had an aggressive form of lymphoma.  He emphatically stated that we would not be able to serve a mission.  I can’t put into words the sorrow and grief we felt then and continue to feel.  Remarkably, one emotion we do not feel is anger towards God.  We are willing to submit to this new mission assignment.  I like to say we were transferred from a ward in Bristol, England to the cancer ward.