Russell and Eileen's Church Missions: LOOKING BACK ON OUR BLESSINGS

It is New Year’s Day and we are experiencing our first snowfall in Germany. In Utah we would call this a dusting rather than a snowstorm.

Yesterday afternoon we went with Elder and Sister Roberts to see a movie and dinner. Elder Roberts is an attorney serving in the Area Legal Department. During our conversations it came out that we were on the same cruise to New Zealand and Fiji last January. Eileen said, “Remember the lady that broke her leg? That was me!”

As I thought back on the last year it has reminded me on just how blessed I am. One year ago today I was home alone. Eileen had gone with Jessica and her family to San Francisco. I had to miss the trip due to some medical problems. The Friday before Thanksgiving 2015 I ended up in the ER with a kidney stone; actually several stones, some in both kidneys. Thinking (perhaps an oxymoron) that it might just go away or that I could deal with it later I went the next week to visit Becky and her family for Thanksgiving. Early on the day (night) after Thanksgiving I was back in the ER in Nampa – it didn’t go away! I was training our replacements in the Missionary Department and didn’t want to miss any days of work so I went into the hospital the next day (Saturday) to have the kidney stone removed. And then on Sunday morning Eileen and I gave a 45-minute presentation to a ward adult meeting in Bountiful on senior missionary service. The surgery and my recovery were so successful I thought that having the same operation on the other kidney was a good idea. The second operation was performed on the day after we were released from our mission, December 18^th.

Unfortunately this operation did not turn out quite so successful. During the operation there was a problem and I would need to have a slower recovery, one that did not allow me to go on the trip with Jessica and her family. Fortunately I was able to go on the cruise in early January 2016 with Eileen. It was during this cruise that Eileen broke her leg. We were both in less than prime physical shape to start our next mission here in Germany a few months later in April.

Although I was having no adverse symptoms in February following our return from the cruise, I went in at the end of the month for a test just to see how my kidney function had recovered. The test showed that there was a blockage from my right kidney resulting from the second operation. My doctor said that if it were not fixed that I would lose the kidney. That meant going in for a more invasive operation, one that I would be unlikely to be recovered from in sufficient time to go to Germany as scheduled.

I was determined to enter the MTC on my assigned date to start the mission. I was blessed with good doctors who accommodated my limited schedule. President Monson has said that when you are on the Lord’s errand, that if you are worthy, you are entitled to His blessings. I took that quite literally and was convinced we should go forward in faith – Eileen with her leg still in a “boot” and me still having follow-up medical procedures while in the MTC.

As President Strong set me apart as a missionary the night before we entered the MTC, he said that I would be able to “run and not be weary and walk and not faint.” This promise I also took quite literally just as I had the statement by President Monson.

As we began our mission here in Germany, Eileen and I were both limping along but getting stronger with time. Each morning we would walk for two or three miles in a neighboring graveyard. We joined a gym last October and I began the process of building up my endurance jogging. By December I could jog/run for 30 minutes at a 10-minute mile pace. While this is slow compared to where I was just a few years ago in Indonesia, it is a great improvement over where I was just nine months ago.