The month of September has passed

It has been about five weeks since I wrote. Since then we have been to Nebraska and back, seen Bryan, Sandy and whole family, had another great-granddaughter, sent a third grandchild to the MTC, taught three PAF classes, been released as Service Missionaries and re-set apart and sustained as Bulletin Editor for the Kearney 1st Ward. My it sounds like we’ve been busy .

We had a wonderful trip to Nebraska to visit B & S and to welcome C home from the Chile, Concepcion, South Mission and see B before he left on his to the Russia, Samara Mission. We heard many things about Chile. We went to church with them and enjoyed listening to both C and B talk. We went to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch. That is a very unique place. It was a lot of fun. 3-year old Jason didn’t like the camels. I guess they were too big for him. They were very friendly tho’. C tried to get him to pet them but he cried and said he wanted to go home. We really hadn’t been there that long yet. I walked over next to C and altho’ C was holding J he leaned over and threw his arms around my neck and cried, “I want to go home.” We decided to look at the goats instead. They weren’t as big as intimidating. Bryan helped me out with WORD and showed my how to set up a page and do column break etc. I’m thankful he did. I still have a lot to learn but I think it will be something that I enjoy. I hope the ward members will cooperate with me and get things to me by Thursday evening so I can put it together and print it on Friday. It has to be Friday because we work at the FHC Saturday and I don’t feeling doing much once I get home from there.

C took us to the Airport October 1; we were there shortly after 7 a.m. B was home finishing packing the van so they could leave for Utah and Idaho as soon as he got back. They were taking some of J’s stuff to her that wouldn’t fit in her car when she went back to BYU. They also had a young woman from their ward with them that they dropped off in Brigham City. Then they headed up to Idaho to K’s. they got there about 2 a.m. That was a very long day for them. We got in IF and home about 2 :45. We were an hour and a half later because of a longer stop over in Denver than we had anticipated. I had a hair appointment at 4:00 and then did some shopping after unpacking my suitcases. By the time I got home from that I just collapsed in my chair. I was really tired. I went to bed earlier that night than in a long time. Bryan, Chris and Bryce were here shortly after 10:00 the next morning. They and Karl cleaned off the carport and took stuff to the dump for us. Sandy came about noon and helped me get started on my kitchen. They also helped get stuff out of the living room we are no longer using. Both the living room and carport and kitchen too look so much better. We’ve been doing a little bit here and there every day to keep things cleaned up and looking better and even doing more. I’m very thankful to them for doing that for us.

We were re-set apart as Service Missionaries as I said. The bishop gave us both a beautiful blessing along with the setting apart. I’m thankful that my health has been such I have been able to do this and will be able to do this. I was also released as RS pianist before I was sustained as bulletin editor. So now I will have to consciously play the piano a couple of times a week so I can still play effectively at the FHC for our prayer meetings. I’m very grateful for the knowledge I have acquired during the last 2½ years. My testimony of Family History has grown so much. I’m thankful for a good mind and Spiritual Gifts that I wasn’t really aware of before we started there. I am more sensitive to knowing when the Spirit is prompting me than I was before we started our mission. I have gained so much since we first started our mission. We have also made some very choice friends that we wouldn’t know otherwise. Some of them have even more health challenges than we do but are still constant and faithful workers.

We went to the doctor’s on September 11 for our quarterly evaluation. Dr. L ordered an UA for K. It had been awhile since he had one. It turned out that it showed gross hematuria. (lots of blood). The doctor called the Monday before we left for Omaha and said he needed to see Karl very soon. That it was considered cancer until it was ruled out. K had not been feeling well for about two or three weeks about two or three weeks before this. I asked if it could be one of his kidney stones moving. He said he didn’t know but didn’t think so. Well, he had a CTKUB (CT scan of his kidney uteter and bladder) on October 5. it showed that he now has a kidney stone in his uteter. I’m sure that that is what caused the blood in his urine. It also showed some fluid in each kidney as well as two or three stones in each kidney. We told Dr. L that we knew about the stones but had been told they were too large to move. He also has a large gall stone that isn’t causing him any trouble. The CT scan also showed masses in each kidney. In the right one was a hard mass….neither are very large. So he had an ultra sound last Thursday. Both the radiologist and Dr. L said that cancer can’t be ruled out but we are to wait another three months and do another one and see if it has grown any. Depending on whether it has or not will determine what we do next about it.
The kidney stone doesn’t seem to be moving now but will cause him much discomfort when it does. I hope it is at a time that won’t inconvience him too much when it does decide to move.

As for weather is concerned: it was in the 80’s when we left for Omaha. It was cooler there than here while we were there but still very pleasant. I took my jacket with me and the only time I used it was when we went from the airport here in IF to the car to come home. It was in the 40’s with the wind blowing. All last week it was like that! 20 degrees below the norm. we are to get back up into the 60’s this week. This has been such a weird summer; we only had two weeks of autumn, then winter. We have had snow fall two or three times now. It really makes one wonder what kind of winter we will have. I hope it isn’t too cold. I don’t mind the snow too much. But I do the cold.