From Bristol to Boise with Faith

 From Kyle: Lachlan explained to me that to fill up a car with gas, you must fill all the tires.  From Paul: I only seem to get sick on weekdays. I must have a weekend immune system.

  Original map From Jonathan, who just returned from a multi-day business trip: "Call it PTSD from my recent trip, but this looks like a roller suitcase to me." Original map From Doris: A vacuum cleaner

  From Doris: I Surrender All

  From Doris: Our daughter Amy came to visit us this week. She lives in Austin, Texas. Just being around Amy is fun. Her smile, kindness and generosity lifted my spirits. Amy chose to spend time with me in the infusion center. There were still colored leaves on our trees when Amy arrived. I finally got the results of my genetic testing. I do not have a genetic mutation for cancer. When I had a CT scan this week, the nurse successfully accessed my port. She told me she thanked God she was successful. I told her I did too. She was pleased to learn that I was also a Christian. Most of our local family joined us on Friday evening. Kyle grilled the steaks we had purchased. He is a master at grilling steak. We were able to attend our sacrament meeting today. I still don’t have the strength to stay for the entire meeting, but I stayed a little longer than last week.

  From Doris: Adenopathy is the medical term for swollen lymph nodes. We were able to fit in three walks this week around my CT scan and my infusion. We walked for 25 minutes each day. Paul and Lachlan love to play hide and seek in our basement. Paul installed an additional handrail for our basement stairs.

  From Doris: I have been dealing with migraines this week.

 From Doris: I had a CT scan on Tuesday, six months after my first one. This one showed marked (cancer) treatment response and no swelling of my lymph nodes.

  From Doris: Doctrine and Covenants 121:7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

From Doris: Dieter F. Uchtdorf October 2025 General conference  Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift but receiving it is a conscious choice that requires a commitment of all our “might, mind and strength.” It is a practice of every day. Every hour. It takes constant learning and determined commitment. Our faith, which is our loyalty to the Savior, becomes stronger as it is tested against the opposition we face here in mortality. It endures because we keep nourishing it, we keep actively applying it, and we never give up. 

  From Paul: Cycle 6 Week 1 Even though we go through the same routine for each visit to the Cancer Institute at St. Luke’s this week was different because Doris’ doctor had ordered a CT (Computed Tomography), which she had on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday she received the report with some very welcome indications that the treatment is being very effective in reducing the size of her lymph nodes back to normal and that the adenopathy (swollen lymph nodes) is completely resolved. It was the CT scan on May 5, 2025 that triggered the additional test of the lymph node biopsy later that week, then the bone marrow biopsy the next week. These tests led to the diagnosis of the aggressive form of Mantel Cell Lymphoma (MCL). Now, about six months into this journey, we are seeing effective treatment results. While it seems unlikely that the treatments will be discontinued before the full 24 cycles that we understand will be necessary, it is very encouraging that they are finding success. I...