"I am a God of Miracles"

Just over two months ago, (January 25, 2017) I had surgery, a hysterectomy. Apparently, my uterus had a talent for growing fibroids (benign uterine tumors). I had seven of them. This meant I had to make a trip back to the United States and I was gone from the mission for a month. Maybe I was not supposed to enjoy it, but I really did. I had the privilege of "hanging out" with my daughter Jodi and her husband Chris and my four grandchildren, CJ, Chase, Rosie and Lucy in Vancouver Washington. What a treat after not seeing them for two years (my grand-kids)! This was my second trip back to the United States, the first being a trip to California for the wedding of my son Brian to his sweet wife Megan.



                                            I had the rare treat of being with Lucy for her
                                              4th Birthday. I don't get to spend birthdays
                                                     with my grandchildren very often.

                                                          Lucy's new Birthday outfit.

 We got to have lunch at Lucy's fav;

Chick Fillet!

The Birthday Princess!

A Big Bear from Nana1

The week before my trip to the United States, Jodi and Chris were able to make a trip to Peru and visit us. It was a fun filled week. They got a true missionary experience! They came in on Monday night and were able to experience welcoming seven new missionaries the following morning. They got to hang out at the office awhile, chat with missionaries and feel of their sweet and humble spirits. They really enjoyed it. Wednesday they were able to attend a District Meeting with us. I'm not sure how much they understood, but they got the idea of what that experience is like! We also did the traditional trips to the pyramids, to the museum and to the beach. Chris was extremely daring and courageous and jumped off the pier with a bunch of teenagers. Mark, on the other hand; we'll just say it never happened! We enjoyed spending time with them and were able to fly out on the same flight with them at the end of the week to go to the United States.



                                           A crop of seven new missionaries; five Americans
                                    and two Latinas. We always take them to Pimentel Beach.

                                                        Mark and Chris on the beach.

                                             With Jodi at a nearby park. The guy with us
                                                      was a High Priest for Lord Sipan.

In front of an ancient boat. Very 

similar to the boats in "Moana"

At the Central Market

Eating out with Jodi and Chris

Chris and I in front of fishing boats still used

today, just like those used for hundreds of years!

Jodi with her Dad in front of the Pacific Ocean.

Pimentel Beach

In 2nd Nephi 1:20, Nephi says "But behold, I Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." I would like to add my testimony to that of Nephi. I learned, from this surgery experience, that the Lord does care for and bless his servants. I also learned that miracles are not dead. They are still being performed in our day. In 2 Nephi 27:23, the Lord says, "For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith." My hope is to show that I too know that God is a God of miracles and that He is the same today.



                                               Treasures from Peru from Mom and Dad
                                                             (And Nana and Papa!)

When I thought about having my abdomen cut open and my husband not being there with me, I was paralyzed with fear. I made the mistake of looking up the side affects of a hysterectomy and Siri told me in a very loud voice, "A hysterectomy is major surgery and has a long, painful recovery." For a day and a half I was haunted by that statement. My husband finally gave me a blessing and I felt more at peace. Two hours later I found out that a laparoscopic hysterectomy was a possibility and that my Area Leaders insisted that my husband go to the United States with me to have my surgery. I cried from relief and gratitude. I felt the tender mercies of the Lord on that day.

From the very beginning, I had a strong impression that I should have this done in the Portland area. It made sense. I had two children in the area and my daughter Jodi had plenty of space for me to stay and recuperate. I also knew that there was great medical care and very good doctors in this area. The next challenge was to find a doctor who was willing to do the surgery and in a timely manner, as my husband could not spend too much time in the United States. We called many Doctor's offices and got the same response; I would have to be an established patient and have at least three to four appointments to do this. We realized it was going to take some kind of a miracle to find a doctor who would be willing to do this in the time frame that we needed and that was the last week of January.


                                           All of our children were able to come for a few
                                            days right after my surgery. It was our first time
                                            all together in 2 1/2 years. Brian, 25, Eric, 28,
                                             Lisa, 31 (& with child), Jodi 32, & Julie,34

Getting ready for company!

At the end of the week, my daughter Jodi heard of a doctor in her area that was an expert in this type of laparoscopic hysterectomy. He happened to be a Stake President in a neighboring stake in Vancouver, Washington where my daughter lived. My husband called him, explained our situation and he immediately agreed to do the surgery. He was not available in December or February, but the last week of January was perfect for his schedule. We could not believe that we really had been given a miracle! This doctor came highly recommended by all who knew him. He agreed to meet with us on January 23, a Monday, a day after we arrived and then would do the surgery on Wednesday, January 25. It was perfect for us!


                                                       

We got to meet a very important person; Eic's

girlfriend, Rachel!

                                           One night all five jumped in our bed We couldn't
                                               go to bed: Julie, Jodi, Lisa, Eric and Brian

Recovering. Thankfully it was not a long painful

recovery. Just a short semi-painful one. I was

feeling pretty good after a month.

Cheesecake Factory! We do not get that in Peru!

Julie and Lisa headed home after a fun weekend!

For the following six weeks until I had the surgery, I felt no fear and perfectly at peace. But when I was laying in the hospital bed being prepped for surgery and having an IV inserted in each arm, (which is standard procedure for robotic laparoscopic surgery), I started feeling unsettled again and wondered if we had made the right choice. I had two kind sweet nurses preparing me. One was working at the computer and we had some discussion with her about faith in God and prayer. She was obviously a very religious person with a lot of faith. During this time, my anesthesiologist came to the room to chat with me. After she left, the nurse purposely commented, "She is the best anesthesiologist in this hospital or this area! And your doctor, Dr. Rushing, he is also one of the best doctors I know." Then she added, "God is really watching out for you today!" When she said these words, I knew it was true. The Spirit told me so. The Lord had put these circumstances in place so that I would get the best care possible. What a miracle!




                                                             A Brave Smile! Ha ha!

All the fear and worrying I had been experiencing completely left me and I felt at peace. It was amazing to me that not only did I have the best anesthesiologist and surgeon, but also a nurse who was a woman of faith and with her comforting words had brought peace to my heart. With tears in my eyes, I told her that her words had brought me comfort. She looked at me again and said, "Please do not worry. I am going to pray for you." She was not only a woman of faith, but one with great charity. She hardly knew me and was concerned for my welfare. What an example of love she was to me. When Dr. Rushing came and told us that the surgery was a complete success and it appeared there was no threat of cancer, my husband asked him to find this nurse and let her know, because she had been so concerned about me. When Dr. Rushing told her the news, she cried. I am sure it was another confirmation of her faith and prayers.

Recovery. I was hallucinating really 

bad. I just knew there were monkeys on

the bed and couldn't understand why

nobody else could see them!

The first thing I wanted, when I woke up, was to see my husband. My first words were, "Where is my husband? I love my husband!" Seeing him was my way of knowing that everything was okay. I am so thankful for his support. He was able to stay with me for another five days after the surgery, but then was anxious to get back to the mission (which he should have been). We were able to keep all of this a secret and none of the missionaries even knew he had been gone, until after he got back. I was still able to receive calls from missionaries with health problems and other questions during my recovery. Some called me with "health" problems to see if I was doing okay.

When Mark got back it was only two days before there were severe rain storms and flooding in Chiclayo. Most of the missionaries were fine, but he spent a few days bailing water out of missionary's rooms. This was in February and Chiclayo was a mess. Dirt roads and garbage are not pretty when they get flooded. Most of the roads here do not have drainage and the sewer water overflows and mixes with the flood water. It really does not smell very good!

We only had two missionary rooms that flooded very 

badly. Out of 70 rooms, that was not too bad.

I found this out, because after I got back in March, we had another round of rainstorms and flooding. This time it was throughout all of Peru. The Central Highway has been flooded for two weeks now, so there are no trucks or supplies getting up to Chiclayo. We are experiencing shortages of foods like chicken, bread, bananas, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, apples, carrots, and avocados. We walked by McDonald's at the mall the other day and the only food available was fried chicken and french fries. At Chili's there were no salads or hamburgers. We are hoping the road will open up soon so we can at least eat a salad! We are safe! We had a few puddles in our house one night, but all the leaks have been fixed now. Our neighborhood has not flooded like many others, because we have a drainage system. We have been blessed. We have not suffered like many who have lost their homes and possessions to the flooding. In one area, members of the church had to be airlifted out from their flooded homes in helicopters, because the road was flooded and impassable.

Our Multi-Zone Conference was the same week as the rains and was interrupted by the impassable roads. We had two areas that could not get to the second day of our Multi-Zone Conference, so we had to postpone it until three days later. When they finally made it, we were all very happy. We had a great Multi-Zone Conference and trained and taught many things. One of the things we emphasized is the importance of inviting people "with a date" to be baptized. This is one of the key indicators of missionary work. In Preach my Gospel, the missionaries are encouraged to give the baptismal challenge in the first lesson and then to have a date set by the second lesson. My husband had the idea to make all the missionaries a t-shirt to remind them to make these baptismal challenges and to make sure the investigators have a set baptismal date they are working toward. The t-shirt says, "Con Fecha" which means literally "with date." In the mission, this means that the investigators have set a baptismal date!



    Our First day of Multi-Zone Conference with the Chiclayo Peru, Pomalca, Victoria and Dorado                 Zones. Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Here we are in our matching "Con Fecha" t-shirts!

    Our second day of Multi-Zone Conference with the Chiclayo Central, Latina, Jaen and                         Lambayeque Zones. Friday, March 17, 2017. This Conference was supposed to be on Tuesday,
    but the Jaen and Lambayeque Zones were not able to get through on the roads until Friday. We
    were so happy to see them when they finally made it! Lambayeque has been the area most hard hit
    by the flooding in our Mission.

In the midst of all this, we had a missionary miracle! The 72 year old mother of Edna (our maid) was taught and baptized a member of the church. Mark was able to teach her some in our home and once in her house, and the missionaries did the rest.  It was an honor for Mark to baptize her. Redelinda is a very humble woman who has lived in the jungle all of her life and worked very hard to raise and provide for her children. Before this, there were not any other members of the church in Edna's family, accept for her three children. Edna has been a member for nine years. It was a very happy and special day for all of us! Edna's children, (Redelinda's grandchildren), could not believe that their abuelita had been baptized and said it was a miracle. One granddaughter is serving a mission in Chile and one grandson in Bolivia, so they were not able to attend, but they were so happy! My husband emailed them pictures so they would believe it was true!



                                           "Us" with Edna and Redelinda dressed in white!
                                                        She asked Mark to baptize her.

This father was also baptized and a family was

made complete in the gospel.

                                                 Me with the Relief Society Sisters. These
                                               ladies make me look and feel tall! So weird!

                                                 Mark and I with Redelinda and Edna.

One last miraculous experience that I had! My flight home was a little difficult, because I was alone. I had to be careful; I could not lift my luggage and I had to walk every two hours on the flights. Everything had been fine, but when we were nearing Lima, I began to feel a little worried about my ability to communicate in Spanish and handle all of this on my own. I felt very alone! I said a silent prayer in my heart that Heavenly Father would be with me and help me. When I got off the flight, there was a young Peruvian man helping me. He looked at my name tag and said, "Are you a missionary for the Mormon church? I'm a member too. I served a mission like you!" We got on the elevator with another woman and she said, "What church are you talking about?" The young man informed her that it was the Mormon church. She said, "Oh yes! I'm a member too! I have worked in the Lima temple for many years. How marvelous that all three of us are here together!" I did not feel alone anymore. I felt like I was with friends! I know this was not an accident, but a tender mercy in answer to a prayer. It was a long night, but I made it home, to my husband and the missionaries, knowing that the Lord had watched over me for the whole trip. He is a God of miracles! I know that!

Sorry! More grand-kid pics!
                                                 

                                                    I got to see Chase and CJ play B-ball!

                                                    Rosie is quite the character. She wore
                                                her Mom's high heeled boots to the game!

Rosie and Lucy dancing in Mom's shoes!

Cutter doing the splits in my tennis 

shoes! He may have a talent here!

Cutter wrapped in my jacket like a

Straight jacket. He liked it!

                                                  Hanging out with Kashli, Carly and Cali.
                                                      They have really grown in 2 years.