Our Mission Call Arrived

Monday, December 20, 2010  Today we wrote Christmas cards because it was getting so late but we were waiting for our mission call.   It has not come yet but hopefully within the next day or two we will get it.  We had Mason, Jayden, Madison, Scott, Christie, Barrek, Kasen, Camron and Hudson come in the afternoon and decorate sugar cookies.   Then Marv took Mason, Jayden and Madison home and Scott and Christie and their kids went to WalMart to get some friend and brother presents while we watched Hudson, who slept while they were gone.   When they came back I had made Hamburger pie and invited them to eat with us.  Then we went to the Detention for Family Home Evening.   We finished watching the last half of the Polar Express.   It always makes me sad to think Quayde is going to have to spend Christmas inside there but he has a good attitude and said he doesn’t want out until he is sure that he has really changed his attitude and all the things he has done wrong,

  

Tuesday, December 21, 2010  No mission call today.  Marv and I went to the viewing and Catholic Mass for Julie McGuirk, who was Don McGuirk’s wife.  Marv used to work with him at the FAA.   She was 53 years old when she died.   It was really sudden.   Our understanding is she had breast cancer started her chemo but had a reaction and they found she had a blockage of some sort and I believe she had surgery but I don’t know if something happened during the surgery or what but she died some time after that.  Apparently it was only 2 ½ weeks from the start to finish.

Marv and worked on Christmas presents.   Marv did the recording of Twas the Night Before Christmas on two story books (the three book wouldn’t record – we will have to take it bake) and I put the Ancestors Charts I had made into forms and then we went to lunch at IHOP and then we went shopping for me a new coat for Christmas.   I found one at Beall’s and so we bought it for Christmas.   We went to Smith’s and picked up a couple of gift cards and bread, eggs, etc.   Came home and finished wrapping up the presents and cleaned up just in time for the kids to come over to decorate gingerbread houses.   Bryan and Candayln and their three kids, Mason, Jayden, Madison and Scott and Christie and their four little boys, Barrek, Kasen, Camron and Hudson came over.   It was fun and the kids and parents made cute houses.   Marv and I worked on ours.   Then Marv took pictures of the kids with their gingerbread houses.   We will miss this doing these things with our grandkids while we are gone but I am sure the blessings will be worth all of it.  

Wednesday, December 22, 2010  Well it is 8:30 a.m. and I did not receive a phone call from the post office this morning saying our mission papers were here.   I feel like a mother waiting for the birth of her child.   It seems like it will never happen.   I guess I feel this because both of my boys were past their due dates, Bryan 2 weeks and Scott a whole month.   The only reason Christie came close to her due date was the doctor was going out of town and so he induced me around her due date.  

Marv said the Lord is trying to teach me patience but haven’t I been patient enough?   After all the whole process started the end of August and now it is the end of December.,   Scott Perkins parents were contacted about a mission at the Guatemala Temple around the 1^st of November and they were told they will get their call this week.   They think it has taken forever but it definitely is quicker for them.   I know the Lord had to get Marv to the point that he was willing to go.   I know he isn’t anxious for the call because then he knows the whole thing is a reality and we will need to move forward.  I hope and pray that he can get excited at this call whatever it is and that it will be one of the most rewarding experiences for the two of us.   I sure hope it comes by tomorrow.   That will be the best Christmas present yet.

We are probably going to St. George today because one of the books “Twas the Night Before Christmas” that Marv was recording in doesn’t work.  We hope they give us a new one but if they don’t then I hope we can find another one so Marv can record in it for Scott’s family.   I can’t believe Christmas is here in three more days.   This year has gone by fast.

Thursday, December 23, 2010   Princess, my cat, woke me up at about 7:40 a.m.   I got up and showered and took the phone out of the bedroom so it wouldn’t wake up Marv if the post office called.   I sat on the couch and read in my scriptures for about a half hour.   I was so hopeful that we would get our call today.   I read the scriptures that teach us we must believe all things are possible with God if we just believe and if it is good.   I had said my morning prayers and asked again that we might get our call so that we would have it before Christmas.   I was expecting the post office to call by 8:00 a.m. but no call came and finally when it was past 8:30 a.m.   I thought that we must not be getting our call.   I was pretty discouraged.   I said another little prayer and then the phone rang and it is Rachel from the post office asking if I was looking for a mission call.   I said, I sure am, do you have it?   She said she did and that either I could come get it or we could have our carrier deliver it.   I said, “I’ll be right down.”   I got in the car and drove down.   I had to fight back tears because I was so excited that our call had finally come.

When I picked up our call, I started to call my kids in the parking lot to let them know.   I talked with Bryan, Kristin, Scott Perkins and Christie and then I stopped by Candalyn’s Office on my way home because she was the only one having to work today to find out when she could come to have us open the call.   We decided on 11 a.m. because Christie had visiting teachers coming over at 10:00 and I had told Marv or fed him breakfast yet.   He was home when I got home and figured I had gone for the letter.   I definitely more inpatient about getting it than him because he said, what does it matter this year or next.  

Mason had the flu so he had to stay home but Bryan and I got our computers set up on Oovoo so we could do a video chat and he could see us open our letter.   Candalyn ended up going home to be with Mason and Bryan brought Jayden and Madison to the house.   Scott and Christie and their four little boys just barely beat Bryan here and were so excited at beating him to our house.   Apparently they were following each other out to our house from Enoch. 

 

It was probably around 11:30 a.m. when we got everything set up and we asked everyone to give their guess of where we were being called.   Then I opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.   I realized there was a letter for Marv and one for me.   I handed him his letter and everyone told me to read it out loud.   I started to read and my eyes scanned and saw that we were assigned to the Germany Frankfurt Mission with our assignment being to labor in member and leader support and in the Frankfurt Germany CES Program.   When I saw this, I started jumping up and down and screaming, yes, yes, we are going to Germany.   I’m sure I looked like an idiot but I was so relieved that we were assigned to the position we had been talked to about before.   We had been told even though we were tagged for this assignment, we needed to be aware that when the General Authorities considered it we might be assigned somewhere else.   We will go to the MTC on February 21^st, 2011.   That will give us almost two months to get prepared.  

Scott and Kristin’s baby is suppose to be born March 6 so we wouldn’t be here for that and Kasen’s birthday is February 24 and Makayla’s Birthday is February 29^th and will miss those this year.   Of course I can make sure they have their presents before I leave so that will be good.   I guess this will be the start of missing some birthdays and events but I am sure we will be blessed and our kids and their families will be blessed.

Scott Perkins has put in his application for a position as Principal in Enterprise.   I hope that works out for him if it will be a good move for him.  If he gets it, it will start the middle of January 2011.

Scott’s parents did not get their call today.  They were told last week that they should get their call this week.   I hope they get it tomorrow.   They are both so excited about it.

I made a count down chart that I bought from Deseret Book for each of the kids family so they can mark off the days we are gone.   I put our picture on it.   The name on it was Grandpa and Grandma Paxton and then there was a place to enter which mission we were called to.   I printed all this information off on sticker paper and put it on the form.   I made copies for all of Scott’s brothers and sisters which was for two years instead of 18 months that they could add a picture and information for Lynn and Terri when they get their call.   (The chart I had bought had 18 month on one side and 24 months on the other so I just copied the side I wasn’t using.)

Marv and I tried to take Pam Bringhurst and Jim Wilson a present for Christmas but their office was closed so we went to Pam’s house but she wouldn’t answer her door.   Her car was there and her door was kind of open.   I hope she is okay.   Then we went to Jim Wilson’s house and took him some See;s Chocolates and to thank him for his help and tell him about our call.   Then we went to WalMart to finish up things for Christmas.  We went to Walgreens but didn’t buy another there.   We went to Smith’s but Marv had walked around plenty and was really tired and hurting so I had him sit in the Denali and I did the food shopping and then we came home.   Before we left I sent out a quick e-mail to a few people to let them know we had received our call.

When we got home it was around 5:00 p.m. and I put away the groceries and then I took around our neighbor gifts, visiting teaching gifts and friends gifts.   I only really got to talk to Sharon Eddings and Shannon Roseberry.  It was 7:15 p.m. by the time I got done with all that and we hadn’t eaten since morning.   We took Scott Perkins Christmas present that was too big for them to take (ice fishing hut) out to their house and then we went to Wendy’s and brought a chicken club combo for dinner.   We brought it home and finally sat down and watch the Sorcerers Apprentice which Bryan had paid for us to watch on satellite.

I am so excited about this opportunity to serve a mission for our Savior in Germany.   I am nervous that I won’t be able to do everything but I keep reminding myself that with the help of the Lord all things are possible so I am trusting in his help and support.  I pray Marv will get more and more excited about the call now that it is officially here.   I guess I had best go get the paper I need to write my acceptance on and get it done.   I am so grateful the Lord gave me the best Christmas present ever today by letting me get my call.  

Journal Entries from September 2010 to December 2010

December 7, 2010

I have been thinking about all the ways I have been blessed over the past few months and the things we have been doing.   I have seen the Lord’s hand in our life and have felt the strong impression that “Be Still and Know I am God” is real.   From the time I received a phone call from Richard Hawks from Church Educational System seeing if Marv and I were possibly ready to serve a mission or not.   That, of course, started the process of thinking more seriously about a mission.   That was on a Monday and the following Saturday is when Marv had his 4-wheeler accident where his life was spared and he ended up a broken leg, which had to have surgery and a plate with 12 screws put in but if could have been so much worse.  

It seemed we had a lot of challenges as we prepared our paperwork for the mission.  The doctor’s office messed up a couple of times and I had to have my mammogram redone on the side that I had cancer 6 years previously and an ultrasound.   Everything worked out well and it was only scar tissue.  

Marv had to have a stress test and had to do the chemical one because his leg was broken and he couldn’t walk on a treadmill yet.   But we think that turned out goo too.  We finally got an appointment with the Bishop (Chad Carter) on October 31^st (Sunday) and couldn’t get an interview with the Stake President (Allan Rau) until November 14^th (Sunday).   Then our papers didn’t get turned into Salt Lake until November 18^th because there were some issues with our medical papers – the doctor’s office forgot to fill out some of the boxes on the first page of Marv’s medical records so I had to go back to the office on Wednesday and get them to complete it.   I think the doctor’s office was tired to seeing us.  It took all day to get the paperwork and then I had to take it to the Stake Clerk that night so he could enter the information.   On Tuesday night I had to take down the stress test papers for Marv to the Stake Clerk and he didn’t have our medical papers and then Bishop Carter found them and took them to him.   It was a stressful time.

Now we are just waiting to hear if we will get the assignment in Frankfurt Germany at the Church Educational Office with the Area Director there or some other assignment.  Marv agreed to this mission because he felt they needed me.   I know I have had to put a lot of trust in the Lord and his timing because he knows what is best for us.   If we are asked to go somewhere else, I hope that Marv and I will be willing and feel it is the right thing to do.   I am just telling myself that if we get our papers before Christmas that will be great.  That will be 5 weeks since our papers went in.   I am trying to be patient and not get to anxious but it will be nice to finally know what we are doing and when we will be going.   I pray that Marv and I will be able to do whatever is asked of us.

 

On November 22, 2010, we received our 9^th grandchild.  Our daughter, Christie, had her fourth little boy and her 4^th C-Section.   The doctor said she had a lot of scar tissue and her uterus was extremely thin and that their decision to tie her tubes was a good decision because it wouldn’t be safe for her to have any more children.   They named him Hudson Riley Perkins.   He was 6 lbs 14 oz and 19 inches long.   He is her smallest baby.   He is so cute and sweet.   He loves to be held and he has done really good.  He had a little bit of jaundice after they took him home from the hospital but he is doing much better. 

 

On November 24, 2010, Mason Lee Paxton, our first grandchild, turned 11 years old.   We took he and his family to the Pizza Factory for lunch.   It was lots of fun and I sure love those grandkids and then that night we all went to their house and had cake and ice cream.  Scott Perkins, Barrek, Kasen, and Camron came for the party.   Christie just got home from the hospital that day with the baby so she didn’t come.  Calvin and Carol Ann Goodwin came from Beaver for the party.   Scott and Kristin, MaKayla and Sterling came for Thanksgiving weekend but didn’t make it to Bryan’s until the party was pretty much over.   Bryan has worked really had to do light outside that play to music when you tune to FM 88.1.   He turned them on that night for the light show.   It was wonderful.   He is so smart and is not afraid to try hard things.   I am so proud of him.   He is doing really well at his job too.

  

On November 25, 2010, Thanksgiving Day.   Christie, Scott, Barrek, Kasen, Camron and Hudson Perkins, Bryan, Candalyn, Mason, Jayden, Madison Paxton and Scott, Kristin, MaKayla, Sterling Paxton were all at our house for Thanksgiving dinner and stayed pretty late.   Christie and her family went home around 10:30 p.m. and she was feeling really bad she couldn’t stay and play but she had had a really long day and she really needed to go home to rest.   We ended up letting Bryan’s kids sleep downstairs because we were going to have Mason help with the kids while we went to Black Friday sales at Wal Mart.   Marv ended up staying home because he still has a little bit of a hard time walking for very long and he was going to get up at 4:00 a.m. and go with Bryan to Sport Authority.   So Candalyn, Scott, Kristin, Bryan and I went at midnight to WalMart and it was pretty crazy.   I didn’t buy very many things but did get Marv the Modern Warfare #2 for the X-Box that the boys wanted to play on their game night.   Scott got one too and then I got a few DVD’s but that was all I bought.   I just get so overwhelmed at the masses of people everywhere.   It is kind of fun.   We got home at 1:30 and Bryan and Candalyn went home to sleep for a couple of hours and Scott and Kristin and went to bed.   

When the alarm went off I told Marv he didn’t need to go because Scott and Kristin and Candalyn were going.   He had been moaning during the night about his leg so I felt it was better for him to stay home.   I stayed home to help with the kids.  Bryan, Candalyn, Scott and Kristin got back about 8:00 a.m.   They had gone to breakfast at the All American Diner and I think they had a good time together.   I am so blessed to have kids that enjoy one another.   In the afternoon everyone got together again and hung out at our house.  We watched Christie’s boys while they took Hudson back to the hospital to have his belly ruban checked again.

We played some games in the evening and Bryan had rented some DVD’s for the kids to watch. 

November 27, 2010, Scott, Kristin, MaKayla, Sterling, Marv and I went to the All American Diner for breakfast and then later in the day everyone came over and we played games.   Everyone went home late.  The weather report was not too good and said there was a major snow storm coming in.   Scott and Kristin decided to head home that night.   They left at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 28, 2010. It ended up being a good decision.   I made him promise to call me when they got home so he said I will call on your cell phone.   Apparently they got home at about 5:00 a.m.   They last hour and half they hit the storm and could only travel about 30 miles per hour.   They were glad to get home.   The kids slept most of the time so that was helpful too.

November 28, 2010 (Sunday) Christie’s 32^nd birthday.   Scott made chicken cordon bleu and invited Marv and I over for dinner at 5:30 p.m. and then Bryan and his family came over at 7:00 p.m. for cake and ice cream for her birthday.   She is amazing that she is doing so well after all her surgery.  

November 29, 2010 (Monday)  I went over to Christie’s and helped pick up things then took her, Hudson, and Camron to the hospital to get Hudson’s belly rubon checked again and then over to the doctor’s office and then we came back to our house and fixed lunch and then I took them home before the other boys got home from school.

November 30, 2010 (Tuesday)  I went over to help Christie and took her lunch (Subway sandwich) and we watched the movie Return to Me.   It was a nice afternoon.  I can’t remember which days I went to help but I didn’t go as often as I think I should have.  

December 1, 2010 (Wednesday)  Marv and I went to St. George and did some shopping for Christmas.  We went to Costco, lunch at Red Robin, Shopping at Penney’s, See’s and Target and then we came home.  Marv and the boys played Modern Warfare 2 on the Xbox on line.   Our internet went down.

December 2, 2010 (Thursday)  The Relief Society Presidency came for a visit.  Karen Marchant, President; Kathy Barton, counselor; Rochelle Hansen (don’t remember her married name).   I talked too much but it was nice they came.  We talked about Marv’s accident and our turning in our papers for a Mission.   I got the tree in the front room done and so decorations out before they came.   Marv was working on the tree in the family room trying to put new led lights on the tree because the other lights were not working very good.  

December 3, 2010 (Friday)  I went over to Christie’s and helped get her house cleaned for the weekend so she could relax.   We fixed a ham and avocado sandwich for lunch.   It was so good.  

December 4, 2010 (Saturday)  We worked on decorating the tree and Bryan and his family came and got us to go to the Storybook Parade down town at 2 p.m.   We were going to run out some presents to their house when they called.   I rented three redbox movies, “Ironman 2”, “Eclipse”, and “Letters to Juliet”.  We picked up dinner from Applebees.   We each had a steak with baked potato and vegetables with a spinach/artichoke dip and chips.   Marv had a 9 oz steak and I had the 7 oz steak.   It tasted really good.  We watched  “Eclipse” and “Ironman”.  

December 5, 2010 (Sunday)  We went to church and I was asked to tell the story of Esther in Sunday School.   There wasn’t very much time for me to do it but I am glad that I was asked because I learned so much more about the story than I knew before.   I fixed spaghetti for lunch with a salad and garlic cheese bread.   I had Choir practice from 4 to 6 p.m.  When I got home, we watched “Letters to Juliet”.  I enjoyed it but Marv was not impressed because it is a Chick Flick.  Oh well.

Marv's Four Wheeler Accident

Four Wheeler Accident

Saturday, September 4, 2010

This past week has been one of a roller coaster ride for me.  On Monday, August 29, I was contacted by Richard Hawks, Administrative Assistant of the Seminaries and Institutes, to see if Marv and I would be willing to serve a mission for a year in German with a CES assignment.   I felt so good about it and came home and talked to Marv.   His major concern was what will I (he) do?  I started to fast and prayer for an answer and had a pretty restless week at night because I kept thinking of things I needed to do if we were to go.  Things I needed to study if I were to take the assignment.  I felt so strongly that we should accept this assignment but I was trying to be patient with Marv in making his decision.   He was waiting to hear what Richard Hawks had determined what we were needed for. 

On Friday, September 3, Richard Hawk e-mailed me and said he was working with the Area Presidency and Area Director and when he had some answers he was planning on contacting us and we would talk further.

The previous week I had been volunteering at the Cedar Institute because it was the start of school and I knew how busy they get.   I had had a very strong impression that I should call them on August 7^th to see if they would need some help.   They of course were very excited to think I would volunteer because they did not have any missionary couples there to help.   I loved that week and it just seemed that everything was going along great.

I volunteered the next week too because Chris Reynolds needed to take Tom up to Salt Lake for some unexpected surgery on his face.  They were removing part of a nerve in his face because he was in so much pain that he couldn’t eat or drink or move around.   I hadn’t plan on volunteering this week because I was trying to get things done for Mike, Emiliya and her parents from the Ukraine on September 6.   So it was during this second week that I received a phone call from Richard Hawks on my cell phone asking if Marv was feeling better about a mission and that he really needed us to serve in CES over there.  I know we were blessed because Marv and I were able to get quite a few things done by Friday.

Marv and I had decided that we needed to spend Saturday with our children and that somehow we would get everything else done in time for company.  So Saturday morning we went with Bryan, Candalyn, Mason, Jayden and Madison up Summit Canyon for  a  4-wheeler ride.  It was a  beautiful sunny day.  We bought subway sandwiches for Marv and I and Bryan and Candaylyn fixed hoagie sandwiches for their family.   We unloaded the 4 wheelers and had a nice ride.   It was a nice ride but got a little chilly the higher we went.   It was windy up top but we took some pictures with the background of the red rocks behind us.   We rode to Twisted Forrest and ate our lunch and then took a little hike up the Twisted Forrest and then returned to our 4-wheelers to return back to home.

On the way down I was leading the way and Mason was behind me on his 4-wheeler.  I had said a prayer before we started on our trip that we would be safe and protected.   I remember as I was returning I was praying to the Lord and thanking him for our safe trip so far this day.   There were lots of other 4-wheelers on the road that day.   We got back around 2:30 p.m.

We all worked on unloading the packs on the 4-wheelers and then Marv started to load up the 4-wheeler I had been riding.   I believe he said to Mason, this is Grandma’s 4-wheeler, she should be doing it.  

I was standing next to the trailer and ramp and when Marv started going up for some reason the 4-wheeler he was on  jumped to the side.   I remember trying to put my hands up to steady him but something told me to back away and that that I wasn’t strong enough to stop it.  I remember backing away and then seeing the 4-wheeler start to turn upside down off the trailer with Marv on it and then I remember seeing Marv under the four wheeler on the ground and the four wheeler coming down on top of him.   I felt so helpless.   I couldn’t do anything.   The last thing I remember is seeing the four wheeler but I could not see Marv.   I thought, “He’s dead, no God, not now!”  

Then in that exact moment my son, Bryan, was there and somehow I saw him pick up that four wheeler and throw it.   This was totally amazing to me because earlier in the month when we were four wheeling in Grover (Torrey Area) I tipped my four wheeler (the same four wheeler) over half way but some how was thrown away from it and somehow only bruised my arm.   I remember I thought that someone must have saved me from injury because I didn’t even know how I got off and away from the four wheeler and why it only landed on it’s side.   I felt that day my life was spared.   This was the week of August 1 through 8^th sometime.  It took both Bryan and Marv to tip this four wheeler back up upright.   Now I just witnessed my son totally take this same four wheeler and flip it from an upside down position to an upright position and about 4 feet away from my husband.  

I then heard my husband cry out, “My leg it is broken, it hurts!”   I looked at him and thought, “Your leg?”  I thought he was crushed.   I looked him over and could not see any problems to his face, back and no blood anywhere.    I then knew that we needed to get something to immobilize his leg.   I walked away to the small area of trees and started to cry and prayed to God again and said, “God thank you for saving him but I thought we were suppose to go to Germany for CES, please God help him be alright, please help us be able to do this.”    Then I walked over to where Candalyn was to look for a strap and I said to her,  “He’s got to be okay because we were asked to go to Germany and I have felt that that is what the Lord wants us to do.”  

Bryan was beating himself up and saying, I almost killed my Dad.   I said, “No you didn’t, you saved your Dad.   If you hadn’t done what you did, he would be dead.   You and God and the angels have saved your Dad.   Don’t you ever forget that!   I will always be grateful to you and God for his life.”

I asked Mason to get all the keys out of the four wheelers and then I was still looking for sticks that would work for a splint.   This is where Mason was running to get the keys that he tripped over Marv’s foot and Marv screamed.   I kept saying he didn’t mean to because I didn’t want him to yell at Mason.  I believe that when Mason did this he reset Marv’s foot and that is why it hurt so bad.

I walked just a little ways away and found this barnwood that was tangled in some barbwire and asked Bryan, “Do you think this will work?”   It was actually curved and yet it seemed straight.   I really felt I was directed to it.   Bryan came over and got the wire off of it and broke it into two pieces.   It worked beautifully and Bryan attached it with the tie down strap which was bright orange.   I have to admit it looked pretty good.   At this point we were still not sure if there was anything else wrong with Marv.   I asked Bryan to give him a blessing before we tried to move him.   He was so scared and said, “I don’t know if I know how.”   I had asked if they had any consecrated oil and we didn’t but I said, “God will still listen, give him a blessing.”   Bryan placed his hands on his dad’s head and gave him a simple blessing and as soon as he did that I had a peace come over me that Marv was going to be alright.   It took Bryan, Candalyn and myself to get Marv into the back of the Yukon.   Marv is amazing because I know he was in a lot of pain but he was doing everything he could to help us.

It was totally amazing to me that we were all on the same wave length even the kids and everyone just moved into action and did their part.   The kids collected all the keys from the four wheelers, took all the things that were in the back of the Yukon out and put them in the Rhino (coolers, bags, etc.).   Bryan was unhooking the trailer, Candi was finding a strap, I was looking for wood for a splint and then Bryan used his first aid knowledge he had learned as a scout and put the splint on his Dad’s leg.   I really felt the Lord’s spirit as we all moved into action with no major panic or coming apart.   I think we were all being directed as to what needed to be done.

We got Marv in the Yukon and he had to use Madison’s little jacket because where he had to sit had the metal for the seats that go across the back.   I know he was in a lot of pain and we knew we didn’t have any other choice than to get him to the hospital in Cedar.   He did follow over once and we all panicked but he was just trying to get comfortable.   All the way over there, I kept saying a prayer that God will protect him and that his injuries could be fixed and thanking God for saving his life.   I made a commitment I would do whatever he wanted me to do.  I knew Bryan, Candalyn and the kids were all so worried and I could really see my son was really worried.   I told him, “Bryan, he is going to be okay.  You saved him and your blessing will help.”

We got him to the hospital and Candalyn and I ran into the Emergency Room and to tell them we needed  someone to get Marv out of the Yukon.   The girl helping us name was April and she was someone that Candalyn knew.   She sent a guy out there and they put him in a wheelchair and apparently they were really impressed with the splint.

Bryan, Candalyn, the kids and I waited in the waiting room because they wouldn’t let us go back.   Finally after about an hour to hour and half Candalyn went and asked April if we could go back and they let me go back.   I was really worried when I saw him because he was in so much pain and he said that X-Ray girls were so mean to him.   I was trying to figure out what they knew.   Finally a nurse came in and asked if we were okay.   I thought she was talking to Marv but she was talking to me.   I said, well I just wanted to know what was wrong with him.  She said she would have the ER Doctor come talk to me.   Finally she came and took me over to the computer and pulled up Marv’s X-Rays.   She explained that he broke both bones that run down your leg to your ankle but that they were lined up perfectly and there were no bone fragments that they would have to put back together.  She said he had multiple breaks.   I asked if it could be fixed and she said, “Yes, they do this all the time.   They will put a plate in and some screws and he should be good as new.”

I asked, “Long until he is healed?”   She said, “He should be walking normal within 6 weeks.”   I thought, Wow only six weeks?   That is doable.  They asked me what happened and bore testimony to them that it was a miracle and that I thought for sure he was going to die and if all he did was break his leg we could live with that.”

At this moment, I felt the Lord had answered my prayers again and that it was still possible for us to serve in Germany.   Now it would be up to Marv to realize the Lord saved his life through his son and that he needed to do whatever the Lord needed him to do.  

I went back to see Marv and then in a few minutes the PA for Doctor Delcore came in to talk to us about the surgery and what to expect.   He said he would admit Marv into the hospital because they couldn’t do the surgery until morning.   He acted as if this surgery would make his leg even better than before and that he should be walking normally in six weeks.   I felt so dirty from our four wheeling trip and so I left Marv to go home to shower and then I came back to the hospital.  Bryan and Candalyn had stayed at the hospital the whole time with me.  Candalyn just left long enough to run the kids home after they had been there for over 1 ½ hours or 2 hours.   They took me to my house so I could get my keys and wallet and then out to their house where the Denali was parked.   They went back up to Summit to get the four wheelers and I prayed that they would be safe.   Bryan called me when they had everything loaded and said they were safe.   We made arrangements for them to come to the hospital about 9:00 p.m. to give Marv a blessing with oil.   I talked with Christie and Scott and they said they could come at 9:00 p.m. also.   I washed and went back to the hospital about 7:30 p.m. 

I asked if Marv had eaten but they hadn’t brought him any food.   So they tried to find something for him to eat.   I was just about ready to leave to buy him a hamburger or something when they finally said they found an oriental chicken salad and brought that to him after everyone was there.  

The kids and grandkids came and had a nice visit with Marv.   Christie’s little boys each brought him a bag of candy and a DVD to watch.  Then I said they needed to give him a blessing.  Scott Perkins asked if Bryan wanted to do the anointing or the sealing and Bryan said he wanted to do the sealing.   Scott Perkins anointed and then Bryan sealed the blessing and gave his father a beautiful blessing.   I could tell he had gone home and looked up what he was supposed to say and then he gave a beautiful healing blessing.   He asked that the doctor be directed and that the surgery go perfectly.  He blessed Marv that he would heal quickly and properly.  This was the best blessing I have heard in a long time just because I knew it came from his heart and it was from this son.   These are things that he has always had a hard time doing but he did it for his Dad.   You see this was another little miracle in the events of this day.

When the kids left, I left to go home because I needed to go to WalMart to buy Marv some stretch pants.  Bryan said that Mason could stay with me.  While we were standing out in the parking lot of the hospital, Mason said, “Grandma hopefully someday we can forget about this day!”   I stopped and said to him and the rest of his family,  “ Mason, I don’t want any of us to forget about the events of this day because today we witnessed a Miracle.  We saw that Grandpa is loved by God and that your Dad is loved by God also because without him, we wouldn’t have Grandpa.   So let’s never forget about the blessings we have been given this day.”

Mason and I went to Walmart and got Marv a couple of pair of pants and then I stopped at Panda Express  to get us some dinner.  Mason got chowmein, oriental chicken, fried rice and I got Orange Chicken and chowmein.   We came home and ate our dinner and turned on the TV.   It was 11 p.m.  I found a movie on Chanel 13, “The Best Two Years” a movie about missionaries.  Mason asked a few questions and I fell asleep and Mason woke me up and said, Grandma it’s over and time to go to bed.

I went to bed and he went to bed.   I forgot to check the garage door before I went to bed.  I didn’t sleep very well because I kept reliving the accident and every time I did I thanked the Lord for preserving my husband’s life.   It was during the night that I had the thought come to me that when Mason tripped over Marv’s leg he actually reset it.   I finally fell asleep about 6 a.m. and woke up with a start at 7:00 a.m and hurried and got dressed when Bryan called and  he was at the back door in the garage.  He had come to get Mason so he could run him home and then Bryan and Candalyn were going to meet me at the hospital.  

I called Karen Marchant at 7:30 a.m.  She is our Relief Society President and asked that she ask people to include Marv in their fasting and prayers today because he was going in for surgery at 8:00 a.m.  I had tried to call the Bishop and Doug Phillips, our home teacher, the day before but did not get a response.  She said they would do it and asked what they could do for us.   I told her I knew he was going to be okay but extra prayers will help.    

I went to the hospital and Bryan and Candalyn came to be with me.  When the doctor came in he told us what to expect and then while he was gone, Bryan and Candalyn and I had a great visit about what had happened and I told them that we had been asked to go to Germany and my feelings about it all.  I think it was a very special time together.  It was so fun and wonderful to hear about their spiritual experiences and I could share mine.

When the doctor came in he said the surgery went picture perfect and that he will have the cast off in 2 weeks and should be walking perfectly in 6 weeks.   I overheard one of the nurses who was in surgery with Marv say it was “picture perfect” surgery.   We were told he could go home that afternoon after the therapist came in and helped him use crutches.   This was again an answer to our prayers.  

Bryan, Candalyn and I went to grab a drink and a hamburger because we were all beat.   While we were gone Christie came and visited with Marv and then she had to leave to go home to get her children ready for church.  

We brought Marv home around 4:00 p.m.   Bryan and Candalyn came back to the hospital with my Denali because I had driven the Impala and that was going to be too hard for Marv to get in and out of so they took it to my house and brought back the Denali.  

We got Marv dressed and filled his prescriptions and then we were able to take him home.   Candalyn made us dinner and then they went home.   Scott and Christie and their boys came over to see Marv and so did Bryan and Candalyn and their children.   When Bryan left he handed us a 2 page typed experience which he typed up that afternoon.   He said this is lame and I could tell he was embarrassed.   Marv and I read it.   It was the most spiritual thing I have read in a long time.   He bore his testimony as to what he had learned this weekend.  

Marv said that it was well worth breaking his leg just to have Bryan give him the two blessings.   This was a wonderful experience that I have learned so much from.   I know that God loves me, he loves my husband and that my husband has something important he needs to do, and that he loves my son, Bryan very much.   I know that things happen for a reason and I know that accidents do happen but I know that we are so blessed when those accidents turn out to be okay and that God does work miracles in our lives and we should never doubt that.

               

Request to Serve a Mission in Germany

How our Mission Call Came About

The following are my journal entries regarding our serving a mission and what happened to make it come to pass.

August 30, 2010  

             

I have been volunteering at the Cedar Institute to help with registration for the past week.  I only planned on doing it for a week but Chris Reynolds’ husband had to have surgery where they were going to remove a section of his nerve in his face because he is such pain.   It was about 4:00 p.m. and my cell phone rang.  I did not recognize the phone number.   When I answered it, Richard Hawks was on the other end.   He is one of the six Administrative Assistants in the Church Educational System.   He works with the Utah South Area among many other places in the world.   He asked how things were going and then he told me he had just been in Germany and that he had something for me to consider.  

He asked if my husband and I were thinking about a mission yet.   I told him I was but that my husband still had no desire to serve.   He talked to me and said that they really needed my talents and skills to help in the Area Office or Country Directors Office, I’m not sure which because I was not expecting this.   Anyway he said they really needed us for a year and that it would make a big difference in Europe if I would be willing to go there and help them.   

I asked about whether I had to learn German and he said, No.  He said they were in such desperate need that he would even check to see if they would send us for six months if that would work better.

  

As he was talking with me, I felt so strongly that we needed to go but I knew the problem I would have would be with my husband.  How was I going to convince him that I felt so strongly that we needed to do it?  

I said I would talk it over with my husband and see what we could do.   He said that my husband could do just about anything he wanted and that he was sure there would be something he would enjoy doing.   I thanked him for his confidence in me and realized the huge responsibility this would be.

Rhonda Hlebasko was the only one in the office when I took the call and so I talked with her.   How do I approach my husband?   What do I do?   How do I let him know that I feel this is a call from my Heavenly Father?   I left to go home and felt so full of the spirit and scared at the same.  I cried all the way home praying that the Lord could help me.

I told Marv when I got home that I needed to visit with him about something.   He listened but then he said, "Sounds like they just have a board that you are on one side when you are working and then when you retire they move you to the other side of the board so they can use you to work for free."

That really hurt but I was trying to understand that that would be how he would see things.   I told him I really felt we needed to do this but it was something we both had to want or we couldn’t do it. 

Richard Hawks said they needed us as soon as possible so I felt we needed to make a decision very soon.  I tried not to be too pushy so I changed my clothes, prayed some more, went outside and pulled weeds for a while.

We went to the Youth Detention Center to teach a young man.  This was our church calling to go every Monday night with about 6 or 7 other couples and do a Family Home Evening and teach the gospel to one of the boys were were assigned to.  This evening we played Apples to Apples in groups.   It was a pretty good evening.

We came home and before I was going to bed I asked Marv would he like us to pray together about what we should do and he said,  "Don’t you think we should think about it." 

I said, "yes but I think we should pray about it and then think about it."   

We did not pray together so I just went to bed and said my personal prayers.   I had a hard time sleeping so after waking up around 1:00 a.m. and laying there I finally got up at 3:00 a.m.   I checked on how to renew my passport and how long it would take.   If I expedited it I could get it about 2 weeks.    I then read the book by Robert Millett, “Talking with God”, which talks about how to pray and recognize our answers.   I read in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants until 6:30 a.m.   I decided I needed to go to bed and try to get some sleep.   I didn’t sleep very good and so at 7:30 a.m. I got up and showered and got ready to go back to the institute to help.
 

During the night when I was trying to sleep, I dreamed about where would we live, how would we get around and just a ton of things that I would need to do before we left.   I am sure that is why I couldn’t sleep.

I keep reading that if I have faith the Lord can make my desires come to pass.   I do realize Marv has his agency and I can’t force that.   I just wish I was better at conveying my feelings to Marv.  

August 31, 2010

After being up most of the night I decided that I would fast today.  I wrote Marv a note telling him I loved him and that I hoped we could work through this decision and do whatever the Lord’s will would be. 

I went to the institute and my heart was hopeful.  I still feel that if the Lord wants me to do this, I will be able  to do it.  

I tried to call Richard Hawks back because Marv didn’t know what he would be doing and that really seemed to bother him.  I had to leave message and so I am waiting to hear back from him.

I told Debra Cox what we were thinking about and she said she would pray for me.  She put our names in the Manti Temple too.  The St. George Temple is closed for the rest of this week.

How do I feel?   I feel so at peace that we should go and serve in Germany.  I feel this was a request from a leader that should be followed.   I feel that if we do this, our relationship will grow, our children and grandchildren will be blessed.   

I am so scared because I asked Marv if he has been thinking about it and if so how he feels.  He said he feels we should stay here because that is what he wants to do.   I said,  "I think we should go."     

Why is it so hard?  Why can’t we be on the same page?   Why can’t Marv ask the Lord to tell him if he should have the desire to go?  He says he believes in prayer but he won’t pray and listen for answers when it is something he has made up his mind he doesn’t want to do.   I know this is a hard thing but I know that the Lord will help us do it. 

If we have to turn this down because Marv does not want to go, I pray the Lord will help me not be resentful of Marv and ruin our relationship.   Please Heavenly Father soften Marv’s heart and let him know that we need to do this.  You see he has a hard time with me volunteering for work that is similar to what I was getting paid for.   I worked for the church for 16.33 years and my life was blessed because of it.  I chose to retire because I felt I should and it has been good but I feel that Lord has blessed me with wonderful talents and gifts and if these talents and gifts and the knowledge I have learned while working for the church can be used to further the Lord’s work then I want to use those talents.   What a great blessing it would be to me to know I am doing what the Lord wants me to do.   I truly hope Marv doesn’t ask me to not do this but so far I am not confident that he will allow this to happen.   I wish he would understand and feel that this is like a calling from a church leader and that we should not turn it down.   I will try to be patient even though we are really not talking much.  Why do we do this?   Why can’t we talk?   It is not going away.  We will have to make a decision.   I just hope and pray that Marv will realize what I know and feel and be able to feel it too.   I know if we go he will end up loving it and will be grateful that we did it.   May the Lord bless us both is my prayer.

I went visiting teaching tonight and Marv had to go to his audit meeting.   I am going to bed and hope that I can feel the Love of my Savior and know that my desires are good.