December 29, 2020

 It has been a very nice week with Christmas on Friday. We have never been alone for Christmas in our lives. We have always been with our parents and family (Tom was alone on his mission with missionaries and members) or with our children or some of our children. Covid has resulted in many people having quiet Christmas’ without family and friends. We were blessed to have each other and we had a fun family zoom meeting on Christmas morning arranged by Rissa. We did a scavenger hunt, I told about an experience we had at the London Temple and Tom recited Melvin J. Ballard’s experience with the Savior and then bore his own testimony of the Savior and we visited with each other. Everyone was there except Ross and Sarah who were still with her family. We contacted people during the day, had our Christmas breakfast and ate leftovers in the evening.  Joanne and Dave FaceTimed us and we had a nice visit. We were blessed. We had our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and took a plate to Carol at that time.

Sarah and Ross were married on Tuesday the 22nd in a park behind her house. John Adams performed their ceremony. They were having trouble filming it for both family and others to see so Cindy just FaceTimed us. It had snowed the day before and they had their winter wedding. It was sunny on that day so there should be some lovely pictures. Sarah had not gone to the Temple when the Temple was open to receive her endowments and their sealing, which was scheduled for today, had to be postponed until the Temple moves to phase 2 again. They had a drive by reception at Temple View in the evening and that was cute. They had their bridesmaids and groomsmen stationed along the way with lanterns to welcome, take gifts and hand out treats. The bride and groom stood under an arch with a heater on them. The Nativity we bought them has been held at the mailbox in Lynden and Gerry Moore picked part of it up when he was down for work. He said he would get the rest the next time he is there.

Tom has been recovering from his biopsy this week and still dealing with stomach upset and back pain so not feeling his best. Yesterday Doctor Glen Collingridge called with results of the biopsy. It is prostate cancer and Tom’s levels are high so Glen is moving quickly to have a bone scan, PET scan and CT done. We already have the bone and CT scheduled. They will done at the Abbotsford hospital. The PET scan will be done at a private clinic. We are concerned but praying and they children are praying and concerned as well. We have informed Joanne and Dave and Wayne. We go for bone scan tomorrow. That will take two visits - one for the injection and back a few hours later for the scan. We have been walking this week but trying to be a little more restrained with our pace and distance. We feel very blessed and know that the Lord is mindful of Tom and taking care of him.

Challenges and blessings.  

December 22, 2020

 Today is Ross and Sarah’s wedding day. Because of covid restrictions, only ten people were permitted to be in attendance and that eliminated not only grandparents but siblings. Sarah wanted it in a park behind her home. Because it snowed yesterday, it was a little chilly and there was snow and water dripping on them from the trees but they seemed happy. They were having trouble broadcasting the ceremony for others to see. Cindy FaceTimed us and we will watch the filmed version later, as will the rest of the family. They are having a drive by reception this evening over by the Temple. We look forward to the time when Tom can perform their sealing in the Temple.

We went to Karl on Wednesday to get my hair cut, then picked up some Chinese food at Capilano Heights restaurant, went to see our old house and over to the cemetery to place little Christmas trees on Mom and Dad’s graves. The yard at our old house is overgrown and out of control. We have been trying to post more Christmas Cards and email and phone our friends to check on them and for Christmas. Our Willoughby Ward Devotional “Silent Night, Holy Night” was broadcast Saturday evening. We had previewed it first and were thrilled with what the Vernons had done with it. It was lovely and people seemed to enjoy it. We had wonderful performers and we feel that the Lord blessed us as it all came together. We had a busy but nice Sabbath day. We watched the London Temple Christmas Devotional and heard from all the presidency members. It was lovely to see them and hear from them. We watched our sacrament meeting and Cindy spoke and did well. We then zoomed Betty Small’s funeral and Tom gave the closing prayer. It was nice to see everyone from our old ward. We took Carol Jones the sacrament  after all these meetings. Sundays can be busy even when we don’t go to the church.

We went to the hospital on Friday morning for Tom to have a biopsy of his prostate. The security fellow told us that only the person having the procedure was allowed to enter but he could see that we wanted to be together and he would make an exception for us and so I went in too. They took 12 biopsy samples. He took it easy that day and did fairly well recovering from the procedure but his tummy has still been upset and his back has still been causing him a lot of pain. He is now feeling better overall. He has had some good sleeps except for one night.

Tom has completed another puzzle. We are not sure how many he has finished during our isolation time. We have lost count. 

December 15, 2020

 We have worked this week with Erika and Richard Vernon to prepare for and film our ward musical event   SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT. The Vernons were called as our “tech” support and they are wonderful.  We met with them on Tuesday evening at the church to get some of our filming equipment and props set up and we arrived early Saturday morning at the church again to finish our set up and welcome our participants. We had each number scheduled an hour apart to maintain COVID standards and restrictions. Charmaine and Cheyenne arrived at nine to perform and film “Still, Still, Still”. Brian and Brenda Leavitt arrived at ten and read their parts. Duerichens arrived at eleven and sang “O Holy Night” (Alice on piano) and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Charlotte Law, Carol Hur (violin) and Alice Davies (piano) performed “Silent Night” at twelve and at one o’clock Anchor (violin/sing) and Joseph Tsai (piano) filmed “Guard Him, Joseph”. That concluded our musical program but we filmed Sister Senter, a missionary, playing “Joy to the World” on the piano at two, and that number will be shown at sacrament meeting on the 20th. Now it is all in the hands of the Vernons. They are editing all the clips we recorded into one complete program and we are praying for them as we know it is a big undertaking. They are adding Alice’s background music to the Leavitt’s readings. We broadcast this Saturday evening to the ward and others.

Tom talked to Dr. Collingridge on Monday and told him of his upset tummy and back pain and he agreed to let him go off the cholesterol medication for a month and see if that helps. We have decided that his back is hurting as a result of cleaning the shower daily and I have taken that responsibility over and ordered a shower cleaner on a pole to save both our backs. We are prepping for his phone visit with the dermatologist this week and his biopsy at the hospital on Friday, the 18th. His tummy has improved somewhat and his back is feeling better.

We taught Carol again this week. We have started Temple Prep lessons with her now. We took her the sacrament on Sunday and hurried home for me to zoom with the oldest primary children who are preparing to go to the Temple for the first time. I spoke to them about the Temple and the blessings of the Temple. Jack spoke to them about the blessings of the Priesthood. We took Christmas gifts and treats to Roger, Shannon Tsai, and Esther Lai’s home. They are some of our ministering people. We have also taken things to Barrobys and Carol. Esther had major surgery this week, with one of her legs being amputated. She is diabetic and really struggled thru these past years. We are praying for her and have been communicating with her children. Roger was suppose to have surgery this week too but his was cancelled. We have been working with our accountant and financial planners on some things this week too. We get our daily Walker Walk in each day but Sunday and we stay in touch with kids and grandkids.

I made orange rolls this week and more spiced almonds for Christmas. We have bought a small turkey but may cook a rolled turkey breast. We are still deciding. We are trying hard to keep our diet low cholesterol and we both are losing weight. We are trying to cook Christmas but keep it healthy.

December 8, 2020

Christmas preparations have continued as I made and we distributed my Spiced Almonds to neighbors and others. Cards are arriving and the neighbourhood is sparkling with lights. 

Tom met with George Hara again to work on family history this week and we have been working on plans for the ward Christmas musical - “Silent Night, Holy Night”. We will film it this Saturday and broadcast it on the 19th. We are beginning to teach Carol Jones the Temple Prep lessons and she is excited. We watched our Stake Conference on Sunday which was our first conference since covid began. Elder Funk was our visiting general authority who zoomed in from Salt Lake.  Paul gave a good talk and Max received the Melchezidek priesthood which is a blessing and a miracle. Paul conferred the priesthood on him with Ross’ assistance. We zoomed in, as did the Hardys and Jacqui. Very special. 

We took Tom to the Urologist on Friday and he has put Tom’s name in for a biopsy of his prostate which hopefully will occur in the next week or so. The children are wonderful and are praying and concerned. Trevor wanted to pay for us to come to Nashville for Christmas so Tom could get tests done more quickly. Cindy looked into clinics here where we can pay to have tests done more rapidly. We talked to Doctor Collingridge yesterday and he feels we should get the biopsy done and then go from there with further testing. Tom’s tummy and back have been hurting and we felt it may be from the new cholesterol medication he has been taking so we stopped it and Dr. Collingridge agreed with our decision. We are praying. Tom is missing the Temple both spiritually and physically. He has such a connection.

Covid restrictions are not being lifted until the new year here in B.C. so zooming and distancing continue and we will be on our own for Christmas as we were for Thanksgiving. The first vaccines started being given in the UK today. They are starting with people over eighty. They say this is by no means the end and we are all waiting to see if the vaccines seem to be safe.

We walk everyday but every Saturday we do a special walk to the Temple. We want to see the Temple and we  want to see how the new perimeter fence is coming. Tom worked so hard with his presidency to receive approval for this fence to be built and it makes our hearts sing to see it moving forward, as well as the front ditch filled and a new sidewalk in its place.

December 1, 2020

Here we are into the month of December. We had anticipated that this would be a Christmas spent in the mission field at the London Temple but we are home, with no idea as to when or if we will be able to return to England but we are still hopeful. Vaccines for covid will start being given in England this month but Canada is still several months out. Trevor says there should be caution used as the vaccines are being rushed and we are still uncertain of the long term affects. Perhaps it is best that we are not the first country  to receive them. Seniors will be at the head of the list when they do become available.

We are moving forward with plans for our Willoughby Ward Christmas musical. The Abbotsford Stake broadcast their program last Saturday and, though only 19 minutes long, it was lovely. The Bishopric have called Richard and Erika Vernon to help us film and put our program together. We will be filming on Saturday, December 12th and then broadcasting on December 19. We have excellent people performing so hopefully things will go well. We will have people enter into the Chapel only with their performing group, film them and then have them leave before the next group come into the building. We will maintain covid protocol.

We met with Carol again on Thursday for our gospel discussion and took her the sacrament on Sunday. We received permission from the Bishop to teach her the Temple Prep lessons and we are looking forward to doing that. She is very excited to learn as much as she can. We zoomed with the missionaries on Thursday, with Mike Swan interviewing us about being a Temple President and Matron. We just answered Mike’s questions and hoped that the missionaries enjoyed it. Toese gave a zoom fireside on Sunday about Samoa. It was well done and we love her. I have worked on family pictures again for our Family Search site. We returned to Port Coquitlam Costco to pick up our Christmas cards and we have completed and mailed most of them. We also sent money off for our children’s Christmas. We concluded our #GiveThanks week that President Nelson suggested. We really enjoyed considering what things we were grateful for and posting daily, along with reading everyone else’s positive posts. I think it gave everyone a needed lift. So our week has gone with more leaf raking and work being done around our home. We are grateful for each other, for our home and for things to keep us busy. We try to help others as much as we can and often, these days, that is only with our prayers. Our prayer list is very long.

We are grateful for our children and their regular contact with us. Our American children celebrated Thanksgiving this past week. Trevor’s family stayed at home in Nashville and Rissa’s family celebrated in Montana, after they realized they would have to isolate for two weeks when they got back from their planned Utah trip. Justin, JayLynn and Jadyn went down to Enterprise, Utah to be with the Holt family. The government in the USA were pleading with people to forego travel and stay at home in order to limit the spread of covid. We will see what happens in the next few weeks.

We are still awaiting Tom’s visits with two specialists. He has an in office visit with the one doctor on Friday and a phone visit with the other in a couple of weeks. We are praying and fasting that things go well. We are doing our best to eat low cholesterol to help get his cholesterol down and we are losing weight but still eating pretty well. We do love our food.