Thanks...giving

We love Thanksgiving - the sentiment, the action, and the holiday. We are truly grateful for all the bounteous blessings that our Lord gives to us individually and to all of His children. This beautiful world, family, the Gospel, health, friends, music, learning, salvation, comfort, forgiveness.....the list is long and heartfelt.

We enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with our family.  Mike and Wendy were the hosts to her family and to Ray and me, 30+ in all. Dave was heading out for his traditional Thanksgiving camping, so he stopped by to visit before dinner. We enjoyed good company, cooking and cleaning, and visiting together. It was a lovely day. On Friday we served in the temple, and today we set up outside decorations for Christmas under blue skies and mild temperatures.  Tomorrow Linda shares a "favorite" hymn as part of the Orchard 6th Ward's sacrament meeting centering on sacred hymns - another tradition. We're grateful for our sacred hymns and their teachings.  Some snippets from Linda's message:

So much of my understanding and testimony of the Gospel comes from the words of our hymns and sacred music.  I know I feel a special joy whenever we sing hymns with the word “alleluia.” And in reviewing hymns with those words, I found they are all among my favorites and for particular relevant reasons.  Alleluia, isn’t that a wonderful word?  Surely it has heavenly roots; it always conjures up in my mind a vision of heavenly choirs and the feeling of joy. The word means “Let us Praise or Praise Ye the Lord.”  It’s a shout of joy, praise, and gratitude. 

The alleluia song I’m particularly grateful for today is Hymn #81, Press Forward Saints.  I love its positive message; I love its harmonies and energy. Its words lay out a clear and simple path for righteous living. As Ray and I been preparing for a mission call, its message is particularly meaningful to us. The Lord blesses us when we show our faith and move forward. He has made such wonderful promises to us if we will trust in Him and follow Him. 

In the 2^nd Book of Nephi, Nephi prophesies of things to come; testifying of Christ in a manner he describes as “plainness.” He foretells the ministry of the Savior among the Nephites, warns of destruction, and describes events of the last days. In the final chapters, he encourages us to gain personal knowledge of his prophecies through scripture and prayer. Centuries ago, in Chapter 31 of 2nd Nephi, Nephi summarized the Gospel in five steps: follow the Savior, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end.* 

Nephi penned a true alleluia message, and we find it preserved in the Book of Mormon. The song Press Forward Saints sets Nephi’s message about the plain and precious path to eternal life to music: 

“Press forward, saints, with steadfast faith in Christ, with hope’s bright flame alight, and love of all mankind. Press forward, feasting on the words of Christ; receive His name, find everlasting light. 

Press on, enduring; His love proclaim.” 

* 2^nd Nephi, Chapter 31, Verse 20:

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Note:  Nephi's counsel in Chapter 31 is now restated as the purpose of missionary work in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and introduces Preach My Gospel:

Your (My) purpose as a full-time missionary is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

It's November

Several weeks ago, we enjoyed a dinner at the Szvoboda's apartment (Lilla is a great cook, and so cute with her broken English and feisty personality). Their table service of four place settings was skillfully used to serve us a multi-course dinner. We brought our own chairs since they have only two. We were happy to invite them to stay in our home while we're on our mission. It will bless them and us. We feel so grateful to have been led to one another. Our minds starting racing about the preparations we'd need to make to prepare to depart for a mission. November is the month we hoped we would receive our call and begin our journey and service. The Lord had others plans, however.

Ray was prompted to follow through on some nagging aching and weakness in his hands. During his mission His physician cleared him for missionary service during the mission physical with the advice to proceed and have another surgery for carpal tunnel. The recovery is short, and he would heal long before a mission call would come. Well, one appointment led to another, and then another. The problem was not carpal tunnel, but spinal stenosis (narrowing of the opening for the spinal cord) in the lower neck. More arthritis fun! Typically this problem manifests itself with pain, which Ray does not have, but he does have numbness and weakness. The narrowing destroys nerves and functionality lost is never regained; putting off the surgery runs a risk. So after consultations and prayer, we reluctantly called the Missionary Department to request a hold on our application. Ray told the surgeon to operate right away, and on November 1st he had a cleanup and fusion of the 5th and 6th cervical vertebrae. Originally the doctors felt an additional fusion of the 7th vertebrae might be needed, but we were blessed to have a more straightforward surgery. No pain after the surgery and Ray's doing great! Priesthood blessings and supportive information, faith, and encouragement from family and friends have certainly enabled positive outcomes. Ray has a post-surgery check-up in 10 days. We continue to pray for quick bone fusion and hope to reactivate our mission application at the end of December. 

Just days before making the surgical decision, we spent 3 days in Moab with the Wasatch Cruisers Toyota LandCruiser Club and had a great time recreating with good friends in one of our favorite places.

We returned home for a surgeon consultation and then drove to St. George to spend a few days with Linda's brother and wife who just recently relocated there from Chandler, Arizona. We always enjoy time with Thyce and Harriet and look forward to having them only 4 hours rather than 12 hours away. We also had fun in the foothills of Tooele County on Halloween Day with Mike, Wendy, and the grandkids. We let 15-year old Faith drive our LandCruiser, and found feeling young again was a good prelude to a day of surgery!

Based on original plans, Ray informed his Bountiful Temple coordinators that he would have to wear a rigid neck brace for the two-month recovery, so in Saturday's mail he received a formal release as an Ordinance Worker. He will certainly miss the work. But since he does not have to wear the brace full-time, he may be able to return sooner as he's sure to be restless on Thursdays and Fridays when Linda is serving there. So for now, we'll enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations with family.

We continue preparing to rent out our home, but on a more relaxed schedule. We finished our first study of Preach My Gospel and have expanded our reading to the Book of Mormon and the other authorized missionary publications. There are still many personal preparations (like coats or no coats) we just can't complete until we know when and where we are going. There will be some advantages in not leaving until 2012. It will allow us to take care of some business issues without having to leave them behind for children.  We feel a bit letdown about the mission delay, but feel the Lord's loving hand firmly and gratefully directly the events of the last 30 days.

Indeed, November is a month of gratitude!