"Cancer is a Disease of Love"

It seems as if we will all be touched by cancer sometime in our lives.  Either ourselves, a family member, or a friend will fight this disease.  Over the past 30 years my mother has battled breast, colon, and skin cancer.  She eventually died of Parkinson's last year.

In 2007 I remember hearing a talk given by Steven Snow as he talked of his own mother's battle with cancer.  His statement, "...cancer is a disease of love" intrigued me.  His next sentence explains the opportunities that come our way as we face cancer.

"A few years before my mother passed away, she was diagnosed with cancer, a disease she fought with great courage. As a family we learned, strangely enough, that cancer is a disease of love. It provides opportunities to mend fences, say goodbyes, and express love.”

Steven E. Snow

Oct. 2007 LDS General Conference

I am grateful for the many different opportunities that have come my way to mend fences, say goodbyes, and express love.

The quote was taken from this talk by Steven E. Snow.  

You can also see the video by clicking here.

How We Celebrated Dr. Seuss's Birthday

The Marion Harris Family

I spent most of the day scanning family pictures.  These are pictures of my Dad's family.

From left to right:  Joe, Marion, Elaine, Marguerite, and my dad, Kiefer

Elaine, Kiefer, Joe

This is a picture of my dad with his siblings years later at a family picnic in Utah.  

I have happy memories with my Uncle Joe and Aunt Elaine.

Everything you ever wanted to know about kidney stones

One month ago I had a pain in my gut and blood in my urine.  After a trip to urgent care, I was told that I had a kidney stone and to go home and drink lots of water and wait for the stone to pass.  One month later and after a CAT scan, ureteroscopy, ureteral stent placement and removal, and a lot of pain, I am kidney stone free and as good as new.   Now I will be drinking lots of water , I will not be salting my oatmeal, I'll eat less protein, and I'll be buying more citrus for the rest of my life because I don't want to go through that pain ever again.  People say the pain is worse that labor pain.  It is true.

This post might be TMI (too much information) but i decided to write about what I learned from my experience for my posterity or anyone else who will have the bad fortune of dealing with kidney stones.  My father and two of my brothers have had kidney stones and I'm thinking it might be in our Harris genes.  All I can say to my youngest brother is:  Watch out!

I found the best website that simply explains everything that I needed to know about kidney stones.  It is found on the Intermountain Healthcare webpage.  They posted a pamphlet on the subject that you can get to it by clicking here.

Here are a copy of a few pages that I found helpful (you can read the pages more clearly by clicking onto the link to the pamphlet above.  Pay close attention to pages 2,3,5 &7):

This page explains what a kidney stone is.

My kidney stone did not pass on it's own.  After a CAT scan I found out that it was 6mm in size.  It was lodged in my ureter.  After my stone was removed, it was tested and determined that it was a calcium oxalate crystal.  

After 3 weeks of not budging, my urologist advised me to have an ureteroscopy and have that stone taken out using a tiny snare or "basket" which is explained below:  

After the kidney stone was removed, the doctor put in a ureteral stent.  More pain:(

At my last doctor visit I was given guidelines on how to prevent future kidney stones.  

Please pass the water.  :)

Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet

The Mormon Channel made part of Elder Holland's April 2015 General Conference talk to a video.

You can also see the video by clicking here.  

Without safety ropes, harnesses, or climbing gear of any kind, two brothers—Jimmy, age 14, and John, age 19 (though those aren’t their real names)—attempted to scale a sheer canyon wall in Snow Canyon State Park in my native southern Utah. Near the top of their laborious climb, they discovered that a protruding ledge denied them their final few feet of ascent. They could not get over it, but neither could they now retreat from it. They were stranded. After careful maneuvering, John found enough footing to boost his younger brother to safety on top of the ledge. But there was no way to lift himself. The more he strained to find finger or foot leverage, the more his muscles began to cramp. Panic started to sweep over him, and he began to fear for his life.

Unable to hold on much longer, John decided his only option was to try to jump vertically in an effort to grab the top of the overhanging ledge. If successful, he might, by his considerable arm strength, pull himself to safety.

In his own words, he said:

“Prior to my jump I told Jimmy to go search for a tree branch strong enough to extend down to me, although I knew there was nothing of the kind on this rocky summit. It was only a desperate ruse. If my jump failed, the least I could do was make certain my little brother did not see me falling to my death.

“Giving him enough time to be out of sight, I said my last prayer—that I wanted my family to know I loved them and that Jimmy could make it home safely on his own—then I leapt. There was enough adrenaline in my spring that the jump extended my arms above the ledge almost to my elbows. But as I slapped my hands down on the surface, I felt nothing but loose sand on flat stone. I can still remember the gritty sensation of hanging there with nothing to hold on to—no lip, no ridge, nothing to grab or grasp. I felt my fingers begin to recede slowly over the sandy surface. I knew my life was over.

“But then suddenly, like a lightning strike in a summer storm, two hands shot out from somewhere above the edge of the cliff, grabbing my wrists with a strength and determination that belied their size. My faithful little brother had not gone looking for any fictitious tree branch. Guessing exactly what I was planning to do, he had never moved an inch. He had simply waited—silently, almost breathlessly—knowing full well I would be foolish enough to try to make that jump. When I did, he grabbed me, held me, and refused to let me fall. Those strong brotherly arms saved my life that day as I dangled helplessly above what would surely have been certain death.”

My beloved brothers and sisters, today is Easter Sunday. Although we should always remember (we promise in our weekly sacramental prayers that we will), nevertheless this is the most sacred day of the year for special remembrance of brotherly hands and determined arms that reached into the abyss of death to save us from our fallings and our failings, from our sorrows and our sins. Against the background of this story reported by John and Jimmy’s family, I express my gratitude for the Atonement and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and acknowledge events in the divine plan of God that led up to and give meaning to “the love Jesus offers [us].”...

You can read his full talk here.

"You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"

We received our mission assignment in the mail on Thursday, December 22nd.  We opened it the next day with our children.

We have been called to the El Salvador San Salvador West/Belize Mission  We will begin our service on July 3, 2017 and serve for 23 months.  We will be serving in the country of Belize.

The light green areas are the mission boundaries.

If you ever wondered how mission assignments are made, you can click here to learn how the process is done.  

If you want to follow our mission you can go to our mission blog at: ourmissiontobelize.blogspot.com or click here.  

We are excited to prepare for this new adventure and know that we have lots to learn and do before we leave.  

Out of the Mouths of Babes: Why was it important that Jesus was born?

These children understand why Jesus was born and the events surrounding his birth.  I agree with a comment that was left on youtube.com about this video:  You can see and feel the boy's testimony of the birth of Christ at 2:57 to 3:02

You can also see the video here.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints produced several Children's narratives on the life of Jesus Christ.

The subjects are:

• Baptism
• Sacrament
• Who is Jesus
• The widow's mite
• The Atonement
• The birth of Jesus
• The good Samaritan
• Jesus heals a mon on the sabbath
• Jesus organizes the church
• Fishers of men

You can view them all by clicking here. My favorite ones are Baptism, The Atonement, and The Birth of Jesus.

Forgiveness Will Change Bitterness to Love

In the April 2003 General Conference David E. Sorenson gave a very good talk on forgiveness.

Here is a quote from his talk that I liked.

The Savior said, “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.”  D&C 64:9

This is not to say that forgiveness is easy. When someone has hurt us or those we care about, that pain can almost be overwhelming. It can feel as if the pain or the injustice is the most important thing in the world and that we have no choice but to seek vengeance. But Christ, the Prince of Peace, teaches us a better way. It can be very difficult to forgive someone the harm they’ve done us, but when we do, we open ourselves up to a better future. No longer does someone else’s wrongdoing control our course. When we forgive others, it frees us to choose how we will live our own lives. Forgiveness means that problems of the past no longer dictate our destinies, and we can focus on the future with God’s love in our hearts.

You can also listen the quote by clicking here.  

You can read or listen to the full talk by clicking here.  

Welcome Bryce!

Earlier this month Bryce asked Kristine to marry him and she said YES!   They are planning a Thanksgiving wedding which means that their marriage will be on the top of our list of things to be thankful for this year.

One by One

You can also view the video by clicking here.

One by One

Words by David A. Bednar

Music by Paul Cardall

1. One by one, one by one.
Jesus, the Fa-ther’s Beloved Son—
One by one, one by one—
From the beginning said, “Thy will be done.”
Jesus Christ came to earth to fulfill God’s plan,
For He alone could atone as Savior of man.
The Lord blessed and beckoned them, “Come unto me,”
And willingly sacrificed to set us free.
One by one, one by one.
He suffered for us and victory won.
One by one, one by one.
We marvel at all His love has done,
One by one.

2. One by one, one by one.
Multitudes gathered and saw Him come.
One by one, one by one.
Each heard a voice declare, “Behold My Son.”
Jesus Christ came and stood in the midst of them.
They fell to the earth in great rev’rence for Him.
The Lord bid, “Arise, and come forth unto me.”
With hands they did feel and with eyes they did see.
One by one, one by one.
Each knew and bore record, He is our Lord.
One by one, one by one.
They cried “Hosanna” with one accord,
One by one.

3. One by one, one by one.
Christ looked around Him and saw their tears.
One by one, one by one.
In His compassion, He calmed their fears.
Jesus Christ healed each one brought forth unto Him.
Then He blessed each precious child and prayed for them.
The angels descended from heaven above,
Encircling those little ones; each felt His love.
One by one, one by one.
He intercedes for each daughter and son.
One by one, one by one.
Strength from His grace gives us pow’r to become,
One by one.

This is what Elder Bednar said on his facebook page about writing the lyrics to the song:

Much of what we need to know about the character of Christ is embodied in the simple principle of “one by one.” This principle evidenced in the life of the Savior has been a focus of my study for a very long time. I am always touched to consider how much the Savior loves each one of us as individuals. I wrote the lyrics to a song about this principle of “one by one,” which Paul Cardall put to music. It was later beautifully performed by the One Voice Children’s Choir.

As you study the ministry of Jesus Christ and seek for eyes to see and ears to hear, you will find that He ministered to “ones.” He healed the leper, the centurion’s servant, the man with palsy, the woman who touched his garment—plus many more (see Matthew 8 and 9 in the New Testament).

In the New World, He invited the multitude gathered at the temple in the land of Bountiful to come forth one by one and witness for themselves that He had been slain for the sins of the world. The Savior invited the multitude to bring all who were afflicted in any manner, and He healed every one. Then He commanded that their little children be brought unto Him one by one, and He blessed them and prayed for them (see 3 Nephi 11 and 17 in the Book of Mormon).

Remember, the simple truth of “one by one” reveals not everything—but much of what we need to know about the character of the Savior. Similarly, each one of us in our service to others—in our families, among our friends, in our communities, or in our callings in the Church—has the opportunity and responsibility to minister to “ones.”

You can get the sheet music from the July 2016 New Era Magazine by clicking here.