Russell and Eileen's Church Missions: KIDNEYS AND CASTLE

This week I (Russell) finally did what I have been putting off for a couple of months. I went to have some medical tests done as a follow-up to the operation I had just six weeks prior to starting this mission. Although I have been feeling well with no apparent symptoms, I had promised my doctor back home that I would do this. The test was the same one I had just eight weeks prior to entering the MTC which revealed that, following the two kidney stone procedures I had between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year, I had stricture or blockage of my right ureter. Similar to my current state I was not then symptomatic so the findings took Eileen and I by complete surprise.

Fortunately I was blessed to have access to great medical care and a quick operation to remedy the situation. Had I been living just a generation ago or in most places of the world today I would have probably lost a kidney. As it was I just had the inconvenience of trying to get the operation done in very short order and having the stent pulled after our first week in the MTC just a few days prior to boarding the flight to Germany.

Going to see the doctor here in Germany is a bit different than in the States. The first thing that stood out to me was that immediately after the radiologist did the test he had me come in and review the x-rays with him. He told me what he saw and gave me a hard copy of the x-rays. The cost for the whole procedure was under $150. The same procedure cost me (my insurance company) over $750 when I had it earlier this year in Utah. When I asked the referring physician when I should come back after having the test so he could review the Xray and the blood test done, he said next week. When I asked for a specific time he said that he operates on Thursday, any other day would be fine and to just drop in. While just as professional and competent, the doctors here seem far less formal. Perhaps that is a reflection or our litigious culture in the States.

As I was leaving from the procedure on Friday the doctor looked at my tag and asked what church we represented. I told him and gave him one of my business cards. He said he was Aramaic Orthodox, but that his church building was a long ways away. We told him ours was only a little over a mile from his office. He said he might join us there sometime.

Coming to the end of this months-long ordeal I find myself both relieved and grateful. I am very grateful for a good doctor who was willing to see me on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, which allowed me to not miss work (serving in the Missionary Department) and still have my multiple kidney stones removed. I am grateful for Home Teachers, Priesthood Leaders, my son and son-in-law who gave me priesthood blessings during the five months during which I had the three operations. I am grateful for a good Bishop who took me to see the doctor on New Year’s Day to get my second stent removed. I am very grateful for family members who supported me during this challenging time, particularly for my wife who was by my side through it all. And I am most grateful for a loving Father-in-Heaven who has comforted and looked after me – I’m sure more than I am even aware of.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit a castle a couple hours west of here. Burg Eltz Castle is a medieval castle in the hills above the Moselle River between Koblenz and Trier. It is still owned by a branch of the family (the Eltz family) that lived there in the 12^th century, 33 generations ago. In one of the rooms there was a large painting of a genealogical fan chart, which was several hundred years old. On one side it showed the husband’s ancestry and on the other side it showed the wife’s going back many generations.