Sunday, June 26, 2016

June 27, 2016 Faithful and Obedient


The Lord’s tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness and obedience enable us to receive these important gifts and, frequently, the Lord’s timing helps us to recognize them.

I guess you may have heard by now, Elder Busath suffered a major heart attach
 on Monday, June 21, 2016!

I wish I could be more light-minded and just gloss over the experience, but I can't.
It has changed our lives.
 At the Idaho Boise Mission Office bright and early Monday morning preparing to drive 18 of our missionaries to the Idaho Pocatello Mission as a result of the recent Idaho Missions boundary changes. 
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Elder Busath's heart attack story began with a simple sore shoulder. He had noticed it the day before and woke up early Monday morning with continued mild pain. He took some over-the-counter pain medication, and then headed to the Mission Office thinking the pain would go away. Later that morning, the shoulder ache was still there so he said a quick prayer and asked that the pain be removed or increased so he would know if he could safely continue on the trip to Pocatello.  The answer to his prayer was immediate and he quickly told me to get in the car and drive to the nearest hospital. 
I reluctantly drove him to the emergency department at St. Luke's Hospital in Meridian. Because I am directionaly impaired and wasn't sure where another hospital might be I quickly followed his instructions. I guess I didn't really believe him when he said that he thought he was having a heart attack (although he was exhibiting all the classic signs; sweating, chest pain, arm and shoulder pain). 
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When we arrived at the hospital I discovered that he had texted our oldest daughter, Andi, to advise her of his concerns just before we left. She just happens to work in the Emergency Department at St. Luke's so she called them and told them to prepare for his arrival. The Emergency Room staff and a cardiologist were waiting for us and after they were finally able to perform an EKG on him they had us racing down the hallway to the cath lab.  I assumed that if it were a heart attack they would be prepping him for surgery, so when they said that they would follow up with me in a few minutes, I expected my wait to last for hours.
Minutes later the cardiac team came to the waiting room, where they informed me they were able to save him. Elder Busath had a 100 percent blockage in his main coronary artery, which his surgeon immediately opened up with two stents.
They said he would have died  if he had come in just a few minutes later. Only two percent of patients generally make it, but we were blessed.
 Widowmaker
There are three arteries that run over the surface of the heart and supply it with blood. (See the diagram above.) There is one artery on the right side and two arteries on the left side of the heart. The one on the right is known as the right coronary.  On the left side, which is the main side, we have the left anterior descending (LAD) that runs down the front of the heart and supplies the front and main wall, and then the left circumflex that supplies the side wall. When the main artery down the front of the heart (LAD) is totally blocked or has a critical blockage, right at the beginning of the vessel, it is known as the Widow Maker. (The medical term for this is a proximal LAD lesion). No one knows exactly who came up with the term, but the reason they did is likely that if that artery is blocked right at the beginning of its course, then the whole artery after it goes down. This essentially means that the whole front wall of the heart goes down. As far as heart attacks go, this is a big one, with big consequences if not dealt with appropriately.
(On a side note, Sister Busath's father died at the age of 40 as a result of a Widowmaker)
                               Monday                                                   Tuesday
 Wednesday 

If you know Elder Busath you know that even a major heart attack is not enough to keep a good man down!  So on Wednesday, following his discharge from the hospital, we had to stop by the Mission Office for an hour to put out some fires before going home. We had nine houses that we needed to close down before our new Mission President arrived on Tuesday so it was business as usual.Of course he would have to be a supervisor instead of a worker bee but after a few phone calls we were able to schedule help from the Elders now in the Idaho Nampa Mission and the Elders in Boise.

 Another tender mercy was to find that the sisters had been obedient and had left their place shining a instructed! It was one less thing we had to worry about.
 On Saturday Elders Adkins and Melton met us at the Lowder home to help close it down following the transfer of the two sisters to the Pocatello Mission.
Elders Anderson, Benavides, Saline and Dean helping us empty out surplus furniture 
from the Roberts home.

 Elder Neubarth and Elder Smith waiting at the storage unit to help us unload our treasures.
Grandparent Corner
Shelby and Sienna checking out the puppies by Cabelas.
                                                    
                       Kahlen meeting her Great Grandma (GG)for the very first time!
"We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance"(see 1 Ne. 1:20). 
                                                     David A. Bednar
If we had just one piece of advice to give it would be to listen to your body! We really thought that we were doing a fair job of exercising and eating right, but I guess we were wrong. Elder Busath had been feeling tired and out of breath for weeks, but we just chalked it up to getting older.
In closing we just want to thank you for the prayers said on our behalf.  We are still a little in denial, but know that the Lord was watching out for us.
..."your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power."
Doctrine and Covenants 100:1
After this experience we may never take off these missionary badges!

Sunday, June 19, 2016

June 19, 2016 Happy Father's Day


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 We believe in “the ideal of the man who puts his family first.” We believe that “by divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.” We believe that in their complementary family duties, “fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.” We believe that far from being superfluous, fathers are unique and irreplaceable.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson

 
 More home improvements...

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  Returning with Honor-six missionaries now on their way home to family and friends.
Elder Max Hann-one of our favorites!
 
                                                       Sisters Machado and Rabello, companions in their matching outfits.

 It's the Saturday before transfers so what do we do???
 
 Move furniture and set up housing, of course! 




Setting up a new home for two sister missionaries soon to transfer to area became even easier than expected thanks to the help of Elders Lamb, Crandall, Farnsworth and Bean!

The Idaho Boise Mission picture board of all of our arriving missionaries, 
before the Idaho Boise, Twin Falls, Pocatello and Nampa Mission boundary changes 
and after. 
We can't wait to get the pictures of the Twin Falls missionaries so we can begin to fill the board up once again.
The official boundary changes take effect on Monday!
 Elders Bird and Bowler updating the Transfer Board prior to Monday's transfers.

The Elders in the Star area, soon to be in the Nampa Mission, 
have a new double wide trailer to call home as of today!

“It must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, … righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad” (2 Nephi 2:11)
Now we know why there is no water pressure to our drip system in the backyard :(

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 and their children having you for a Grandpa!

And we would be truly ungrateful if we didn't mention the love and appreciation we have of our own fathers on this special day...

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Wherever you rank your own father on a scale of good-better-best, make up your mind to honor him by the way you live your life. 

Your righteousness is the greatest honor any father can receive.


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Sunday, June 12, 2016

June 12, 2016 If Dr. Seuss taught Sunday School


Knowing what a big fan I am of Dr. Seuss 
I couldn't resist sharing these life lessons with you!
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If Dr. Seuss taught Sunday School...he would use Thidwick the Moose to teach us about giving our burdens to the Lord.

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Thidwick is a a moose too big hearted to say no, but eventually becomes overburdened like many of us.
The Savior invites us to "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28-30
                                             
On Monday the Senior Missionaries who had served in the Idaho Boise Mission in the past three years held a special Farewell Dinner for President and Sister Winder and President and Sister Christensen and thank them for the memories.


             Elder Olson, past vehicle coordinator,   Sister Workman singing her own version                  conducted.                                           of "Thanks for the Memories"
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Dr. Seuss would read us, "The Sneetches", to teach us about not judging. 
...for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."
(1 Samuel 16:7) 
Just like the Sneetches and their stars the Lord doesn't love one of us more than another.

Mission Leadership Council Meeting was followed by a delicious baked potato bar 
and special dessert...
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If Dr. Seuss taught Sunday School he'd be sure to use "Horton Hears a Who" to remind us that the Lord can make small things become great.

We are no strangers to setting up bunk beds for the missionaries.  
It is only when we purchased our very own set of bunk beds for visiting grandchildren, and discover that there were missing pieces that we gain an appreciation for the small and simple things that are necessary to complete the job.
Sisters Machado and Rabello were preparing to welcome two additional sister missionaries temporarily to their little home only to find that the septic tank in the home simply could not accommodate two more people. So after a quick prayer we were on the road again and on the phone. Our prayers were answered and we were able to locate another place to house the other sisters temporarily in record time.



Guess what? We are getting a community pool built just down the street!!! 
We are accustomed to empty promises when it comes to new housing developments.  But they have broken ground and are actually posting a date of completion. Not sure if September is still summer, but it does specifically state 2016.

The Mission recently received a brand new red truck for our missionaries assigned to the Idaho City area. Elder Busath would gladly switch out the old, white Mission truck he uses if it were just a little bit bigger.
Summer is here and with it rising temperatures. 
Because we are new to the area we are continually being warned of the long HOT Idaho summer days ahead. Being from California triple digit weather is not new to us, but just in case we decided to install a fan in the front bedroom. At nine o'clock at night, by flashlight, no less, because it was the only free time we had available.

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Dr. Seuss would probably use the lovable elephant Horton, in "Horton Hatches the Egg", to teach about unspeakable faith. "I mean what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant is faithful one hundred percent", says Horton. These word remind us of a similar faithful servant by the name of Nephi, when he tells his father, "I will go and do the things which the Lord commands."
(1 Nephi 3:7)

             Faith to locate missionary housing, faith to move a mountain of rocks!



On Saturday at 9:30 am, 4 yards of rock was delivered. 
By 10:30 all the rock had been moved and the driveway swept, thanks to Marianne, Sienna, Shelby, Brian, Dax, Cale, Jett, Dave, Janie and Cooper!
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"You'll have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose."


If Dr. Seuss taught Sunday School he would read us "Oh the Places You'll Go" to remind us of our potential as children of God.
 Our Primary Class:  Colton, Sisley, Brigham, Briley, Owen and Henry
(CTR 4, not Sunbeams we soon learned)

Grandparent Corner

Sienna and Jett helping Grandpa.             Wade picking blueberries at Apple Hill.

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Try to enjoy the journey!!!