April 27, 2021

 We gave Cindy and Paul our little BBQ when we left on our mission and not knowing if we were returning to our mission or not, we didn’t replace it last summer. This summer we decided it was time to purchase a new one. We have been shopping online and out in the stores and finally decided on a Cuisinart brand at Walmart. We also purchased some plants for the deck and the yard. Paul and Max picked the BBQ up and brought to us on Saturday and we have slowly managed to put it together and get it out on the back deck all by ourselves. We partially assembled it in our garage and carried the pieces around to the back deck and thru Tom’s determination we did it. We are trying to keep Tom’s bones safe by not allowing him to fall or to over exert but he is hard to hold down. I got the plants planted and set in place. We may be stiff  and sore but we are still independent.

Tom has had a couple of phone appointments with Dr. Bahl and Dr. Collingridge this week and we went to Abbotsford to have an office appointment on Monday with Dr. Collingridge. Tom had been concerned about some bowel problems he has experienced but things seem to be okay and that is good. We are doing longer walks and Tom is walking faster and even though he still has some pain in his upper leg area, it is much better than it was. Dr. Collingridge said radiation will continue to work long after it is administered so maybe things will continue to improve and perhaps the swelling and pain he is experiencing will continue to improve with the xtandi treatments over time as well. We pray and pray and are always hopeful. The prayers and concern of our family others continues to bless us and we truly do feel lifted. Maureen Fairbairn brought us dinner last week, the Komm’s called, we talked to Marianne McCall and others have been in touch with us. We love our Sunday meetings with our children and they keep in touch with us thru the week too.

Rolfsons are getting over covid and our friend Sister Monza is still recuperating from covid in the hospital. Glenn Collingridge told Tom of a pregnant patient with covid that he fears may not make it. He says this is not a joke as so many people considerate it to be. Cindy received her covid shot and we are hoping Paul will be able to receive his shot soon. Scott and Rissa’s blood work indicates they have had covid and Trevor, Tammie, Liza, Brendon, Justin and JayLynn have all had their vaccinations. Jadyn has had covid along with all her roommates. I am ready for all the grandchildren to be vaccinated now. The disease or the new variants of it are running rampant and India is in a terrible state. Even eastern Canada has flared up again due to variants. What a year it has been!

President Nealson has asked us to consider what we have learned during this past difficult year. I have thought about that question a good deal. I have learned that we are resilient and adaptive as a people and as a church. I have learned of new ways to study the gospel. I have an added appreciation for my husband and our family. I love them so. I have learned of the peace the gospel brings in truly difficult times. I have learned of the love of others for us and the importance of extending our love and prayers to others. I have learned how very blessed I am.

April 20, 2021

 We were startled last evening while we were quietly watching TV and suddenly heard loud knocking at our front door. We hurried to see who was there and found our next door neighbor Anne in a destressed condition. She hurriedly announced that there was a terrible fire nearby and that the fire was showering burning embers all over our neighborhood. Once out the front door we could see the situation for ourselves. We hadn’t even heard sirens but a fire was definitely raging close by and a cloud of smoke carrying hot embers was right overhead and those embers were raining down onto our street and houses. Some neighbors had hoses and were spraying water on their houses. I ran next door to alert Gene and Marie and then across the street to notify Jean and Cheyenne while Tom pulled our side hose out and started wetting our roof. I called Paul and Cindy and they said they were coming over. We soon received information that an apartment building three blocks away was on fire. The building is still under construction. Luckily there was no wind or that may have fanned the flames even more and perhaps even the embers too. Cindy and Paul drove by the fire and then finally made their way to our neighborhood having first acquired footage of the flames. We stayed outside with our neighbors talking and evaluating the situation until we were all certain that the fire seemed to be under control and the ember cloud ceased to rain down on us. Cindy and Paul’s pictures showed that the six story building had indeed burned right to the ground and only the cement elevator towers remained. Everyone checked around their homes for start up fires and we finally went inside feeling a little chilly and little shaken. There had been some electric explosions during the fire and sure enough we too lost power before getting into bed. The power came on a few hours later but quickly went out again leaving our home fire alarms beeping for most of the night despite my attempts to silence them. 

This morning we got a better look at things and could see the fields behind covered in ash and debris. Some dear woman went out with a garbage bag and started trying to pick up larger pieces. The lawn mower tracker came and went over the fields which helped the situation. The school children were kept inside and off the fields today. I hosed off our driveway and front yard and Tom used a long pull to knock a large piece of debris off our roof. We walked over to the fire site and found the area around blocked off by police. The fire is still smoking and they are still pouring water onto it. The building next to it was partially burned as well and there were flames on the top floor that firemen were still working on. Beautiful day though and dear sweet Maureen Fairbairn is bringing us dinner. We are a little tired.

Tom’s pain seems to be doing better since the completion of radiation and he is walking farther and doing more. We are always hopeful and prayerful. It has been a lovely sunny week and we have both been doing some yard work and Tom has hosed off the back deck and washed the windows facing the deck. We have the outdoor furniture set up and we have been enjoying our time using that area. We have been listening to audio books together and doing our regular “Come Follow Me” activities. We watch or listen to five podcasts each week and really enjoy them. We listen to a conference talk during supper and then the podcasts right after we cleanup the dishes and before watching our movies and programs. We have no more medicinal appointments until May which makes for a nice break. We love zooming with our family each Sunday and we are still taking Carol the sacrament on Sundays.

We are very grateful that our home and our neighborhood was kept safe during the firestorm last night. It really could have turned out much differently.

 

April 13, 2021

 This past week Tom has had five radiation treatments at the Abbotsford hospital Cancer Clinic for the pain he has been experiencing in his left leg. The pain seemed to improve just before the treatments began but grew a bit worse as they proceeded. We are told that increased pain initially is normal. He had also been experiencing pain in his upper rib area but only when he coughed or moved in certain ways. That pain seemed to improve after a few days of topical analgesic. Right now he is on no pain killers and feeling quite well. He does get tired but is trying to walk more and do more around the house. His last radiation treatment was on Monday and we met with a young female oncologist before the treatment. We also had a zometa treatment last week amidst his five day radiation regime. We received a second delivery of the xtandi hormones last Friday. Each day we seem to get phone calls or messages of support from our family and others. It means so much and carries us along.

We have been working on getting the summer tires on the car. We took the car and tires to Costco for the change to be made but one tire is needing replacement before things can move forward so Tom has been phoning around and working on the purchase of a new tire. We have been listening to an audio book on Covenants together and that has been interesting. I also reread the Ridges book on Temple Symbols which is also very good. I have been communicating with Val Meyer regarding our health and well being along with paint colors for their new home in Saskatchewan. It is hard to choose colors two provinces away. Carol is busy with their move to Saskatchewan and didn’t want to meet on Thursday this week but we did the sacrament for her on Sunday.

Marilyn and Cordell Rolfson both have covid. So many of our friends, family members and associates have health problems or other serious concerns and, as we are unable to to do much else for them, we pray and our prayer list is very long. It seems that the world is going thru a very trying time personally for many individuals and collectively with covid.

The weather has improved this week and it is nice to feel the sun and a little warmth. It makes Tom feel good and that makes me happy. The trees are blossoming and the leaves popping out on the trees. Nature has it’s own way of blessing our lives.

April 6, 2021

 March 12th, 2020 President Irwin of the London Temple announced to the American missionaries that they were being sent home due to the covid virus concerns. We wondered why they had not included the Australian and Canadian missionaries but by the time we found President Irwin at our apartment door later that evening, we had already obtained the information from the Church website and we knew he was there to announce our departure as well. He almost apologetically told us that we would have to isolate for two weeks after arriving home to insure that we hadn’t brought the virus with us. We were fine with two quiet weeks alone settling back into home. Well, we are now in April 2021 and in the second YEAR of isolation. We go for groceries, medical appointments, hair appointments but little else and we are still isolated. We have had our church services at home by zoom and we communicate with our family via zoom, messaging, FaceTime and phone or we talk in the yard. We were a little bit freer last spring and could see our children but things have clamped down since and today, when we went for Tom’s first radiation treatment at the hospital, they told me I could not go in with him as covid numbers had gone up. I am certain there will be an end to this but when we left England just over a year ago, we could have never imagined that we would still be spending most of our time in our home the following April 2021.  We love each other and enjoy being together so that has been a bonus in this situation. 

Miracles are a part of our everyday lives but our everyday eyes often fail to take note of them as they cross our paths. On my birthday Tom started to develop an angry looking rash on a large part of his body. Tom’s own doctor was worried that it was being caused by the main hormone he is taking for his cancer treatment. We contacted 4 pharmacists and all of them felt it would more likely be caused by the painkillers he was on for the pain he has been experiencing in his leg. The doctor replaced that painkiller with another and slowly the rash started to disappear. That was a blessing and a miracle. The painkillers however, started to create sever problems for his bowels and this past weekend as the rash was coming to an end he stopped taking the painkillers to help his bowels. Whenever he has tried to go without painkillers the last few months he has been unable to do so. He stopped taking them this time on Good Friday and didn’t tell me until Saturday. His pain was greatly diminished. He had now developed a pain in his upper back rib area but his leg pain is much better. With the pain killers gone the bowel problem cleared up too. All miracles and we felt very blessed and grateful. He just started a five day course of radiation today to help the leg pain and hopefully that will decrease the pain even further. His hormone treatments seem to helping and onward we go - challenged but trying to not miss the miracles. He even mowed and edged the lawn yesterday.

We enjoyed a wonderful General Conference weekend and celebrated Easter, which was a lovely sunny day, with our regular family zoom, our little turkey breast dinner on our own and our precious Savior and His Atonement - what more could we ask for.