December 17, 2012 – Launa and Reece (Launa is my favorite cousin) received their
mission call last Thursday in the mail and since they were coming to our house
for our annual Christmas get together to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Concert, they wrapped it up so that they wouldn’t peek, and brought it with
them to meet their family on Sunday for the grand opening. When they were completing their mission
papers, I told her that the London Temple shows that they are looking for
missionaries and it was within their price range – so they put that down. Well, that is where they are going – as
Temple Ordinance Workers at the London Temple and they are to report to the
MTC, April 1. We are excited for their
call.
January 2013 – back to work. 2013 will be a good year as that will be my
retirement year. But before that
happens, we have lots of activities to look forward to. There will be baptisms, watching
grandchildren, birthdays, anniversaries, FBE trip to Europe with the EMBA
students, and a trip to Vancouver for GMAC.
January 9, 2013 – I did return to work and it was really
good to see Yvette Anderson and Shawna Gygi and all the people that I work
with. It reminded me of what a great
place it is to work at BYU. I had my
missionary physical today and dropped off all the paperwork to the dentist so
that can be signed and mailed back to Bishop Hamilton. All I have to have done is the colonoscopy –
just waiting for a date on that. Next
week we will watch Bodhi and Dakota while Andy and Cretia go to Vegas to
celebrate Cretia’s birthday. Then we
will watch them again in February when they go to the Dominican Republic for
the President’s club. I heard from Launa
regarding my cousin Lois Kisby (Aunt Maxine’s daughter). She died from pancreatic
cancer. She was 56 years old. As far as we know, Aunt Maxine didn’t know
she was sick until Edward went to Dillon Beach after Christmas to tell her and
then they went to Junction City Oregon where Lois was living. I think they were there about a week or 10
days with her until she passed away. Her
funeral is tomorrow, January 10, 2013.
We worked on Kelsey’s medical history for the mission
application for about 4 hours on Saturday,
January 12th. They may tell us thanks for applying to go on
a mission, but we think the two of you need to stay close to home! But, dad says we won’t know unless we try –
so that is what we will do.
Kelsey had his treadmill test and we were so excited
because he had to get his heart rate up to 138 – which he
did. The treadmill was on a steep inclined and
Kelsey was going fast – had to run. He
thought his legs were going to fall off – but he did it and we were so excited
as we thought he passed! But then the
technician said he didn’t – he actually failed.
So, the cardiologist called that night to say that Kelsey had to have an
angiogram – which they have scheduled for Monday, February 25th. He also went for an eye test and they are
sending him to a specialist because the eye doctor said there was something
wrong. So, we don’t have our missionary
stuff done yet!
Kelsey finally had the angiogram on Monday, February 25th
and they did find a 95%blockage in an artery on the left side of his heart. In fact, when Dr. Cragun showed us the video,
the artery appeared to be kinked in 2 places and of course, that artery wasn’t
supplying any blood to the heart in that area.
Then he showed us the video afterwards and it was doing a great
job. Kelsey stayed the night in the
hospital and came home the next day.
Yesterday, we went to the eye surgeon (the last thing we needed to do
before submitting our papers) and the doctor said that the retina was okay for
now, but that he needed to have his cataracts removed in both eyes. One of those surgeries is scheduled for March
15th and the other one is scheduled for April 12th.
We submitted our completed application yesterday,
Thursday, February 28, 2013. Now we just
wait for the Bishop interview and the Stake President interview. This weekend is Stake Conference, so it
probably won’t happen for another week.
Well, the missionary application continues to be an
interesting, on-going discussion. Kelsey
really wants to serve in Samoa so he is contacting the doctor in the New
Zealand area to verify that he could receive medical help if necessary. He is persistent!
We had our interview with our Bishop last night, March 6th. He said that President Trent won’t send it in
until May 1st, which would be 4 months before. I thought we would turn it in quicker and get
an answer back sooner – turned out to be the wrong idea. So, we will just need to be patient. If it is turned in May 1st, then
we won’t hear until mid-June. Going on a
mission when you are old requires perseverance and is not for the weak, weary
or the faint of heart!
I
substituted at the Temple on Tuesday night and President Randall gave a great
story about enduring to the end and “staying in the boat”. He said that Elder Neilson told a story about
when they had their first child and they thought it would be exciting to give
their child about 2 years old a ride in a canoe. So, they got in the canoe and put the child
in the canoe and went around the lake.
About 10 minutes into the ride, their young child decided he was done
and started to climb out. They told him
he had to stay in and really held him down tight to keep him in the boat. This is what our Heavenly Father wants to do
with us is to keep us in the boat – help us to stay in and endure to the
end. He wants to protect us – but also
knows that we have our free agency. He
wants us all to return to live with him again.
We have to make the right choice!
March 13, 2013
I just
talked with Launa and they received a letter from the Missionary department and
they now don’t go to the MTC, but they check into the Residence Inn in SLC on Saturday, the 13th of April
(because the Provo MTC is too busy with all of the new young missionaries and they don’t
have room) . They will go with 12 couples to the Spoken
Word on Sunday and then do Temple training at the SLC temple for 3 days and
then fly to London on the 18th of April. They are going to take Aunt Larue to Nauvoo
on the train on the 1st (that was the day they were to go to the
MTC) to keep their minds off of everything.
And, she didn’t want to go to Church and people ask why they weren’t on
their mission.
We are
still waiting for the Stake President to call us so that we can submit our
papers. This missionary business
requires a lot of patience. Kelsey has
his cataracts in one eye removed on Friday.
What a weekend!
Kelsey had the one cataract removed in his right eye on Friday and all
went well. They will do the other one on
April 12th. He can see really
well; in fact, he put a contact in the left eye, so that he won’t have to wear
the glasses with 1 lens in it. I also
received a call from Dean Michael Thompson of the Marriott School Deanship. He left a voice mail message on my phone
while Kelsey was in surgery that said, “Debbie, I know you are out with Kelsey,
but give me a call right away, I have wonderful news for you.” I waited until Kelsey came out of surgery and
told him of the call and said, if they are going to retire me early – do we say
yes? We talked about that for a few
minutes and then I went outside of the hospital to call the Dean back and he
said that I had been nominated by my peers for the N. Eldon Tanner award –
which is the highest award you can get in the Marriott School! I was speechless – and felt really bad that I
thought they were going to retire me early.
They said that I could invite my children and their spouses. I was then really nervous about how I was
going to tell my children and what I was going to wear. I seem to always wear the same thing all the
time! So this Friday, we will celebrate
the award and my retirement in August.
How amazing is that?
More Mission info: Then on
Sunday morning we heard from the Executive Secretary for President Trent and he
said that we could meet with President Trent at 1:00. We did – and our mission papers will be sent
to SLC today – Monday, March 18th.
We have done all that we can do!
We should hear about May 1st.
Which brings me to the following scripture, D&C 84: 88 – “And whoso receiveth you, there I will be
also, for I will go before your face. I
will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your
hearts, and mine angels round about you to bear you up.” And, then I add 89: “Whoso receiveth you receiveth
me; and the same will feed you, and give you money.” Oh good!
Someone is going to give us money….
I found
this statement that President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, “There is no sabbatical
or retirement program from (covenant) priesthood responsibilities—regardless of
age or physical capacity. While the
phrase “been there, done that” may work as an excuse to avoid skateboarding,
decline the invitation for a motorbike ride, or bypass the spicy curry at the
buffet, it is not an acceptable excuse for avoiding covenant responsibilities
to consecrate our time, talents, and resources in the work of the Kingdom of
God. There may be those who, after many
years of Church service, believe they are entitled to a period of rest while
others pull the weight. To put it
bluntly…this sort of thinking is unworthy of a disciple of Christ. A great part of our work on this earth is to
endure joyfully to the end—every day of our life.” October
2009, Two Principles for Any Economy
