The nurse with the long blond hair

 

The nurse with the long blond hair

While I was in the hospital after surgery a nurse came in to take care of my dressings and surgical sites. The hair was down past her waist and draped over my abdomen. As a doctor I was concerned about cross contamination. We would not have allowed that to take place in the Lander hospital. She would have had to wear a snood to keep her hair from draping onto the patient’s area.

I asked her how long it took her to grow the hair that long. She reached up and pulled the wig back to reveal some dark hair beneath. The blond, long hair was false. It was a wig.

She also had piercings and tattoos.

I cannot change what other people do with their bodies. My concern is for you, my grandchildren.

One day you will stand before the Lord and He will do what I call a stewardship interview. Among other things He may ask you this question. What have you done with the body that I gave you? Can you answer, I have respected it and not defiled it?

We are surrounded with the ways of the world. We can choose to be influenced by the people in the great and spacious building or give them no heed.

A number of years ago while I was serving as stake president some of the Aaronic priesthood holders were piercing their ears. The bishops were receiving complaints from members objecting to the young men administering or passing the sacrament. A few bishops were of the opinion that these young men should not bless or pass the sacrament with rings in their ears.

The prophet Joseph Smith said he taught correct principles and let the people govern themselves. One approach would be to interview each boy with earrings and present them with the bishop’s concerns and let them make their own decision.

At the next stake conference I gave a talk using the scriptures in Exodus. (Exodus 21:1-6) I explained that this was an analogy. If the slave wanted to stay with the master, that the master would take an awl and pierce the ear to the doorpost, and he would then be a slave for life. By piercing the ear for a male it would be a sign that he would be a slave to the worldly ways. Of course, the law of Moses was abolished with Christ and He instituted a higher and holier law.

A few years later a friend of our son came to live with us. He had pierced his ears and was wearing earrings. I do not believe we ever mentioned that to him, but after a while he removed them and later served an honorable mission.

When I was in medical school, we were taught to test ever person who had a tattoo for Syphilis. The reason being that many of those doing the procedure did not adequately sterilize the dyes or needles. They transmitted the disease from an infected individual to one who did not have the disease.

My cousin Joann has alopecia areata totalis. She has worn a wig for all of her adult life. There are valid reasons to wear false hair.

In order to place the x-rays properly for my radiation treatment they placed 4 tattoo dots on my chest to line up the machine. I don’t think anyone can see them. I can’t.

The point of this post is that we don’t alter our bodies to follow the ways or the fashions of the world.

I think it was President McKay who said that we need to have our own fashions and not those of the world.

 

My dear grandchildren, please consider your appearance and how you would like to appear before your Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ. 

 

Love,

 

Grandpa

 

 

Contemplating the sacrament.

 

Contemplating the sacrament.

Each Sunday we are given the opportunity to partake of the sacrament. It consists of a small piece of bread and a small cup of water. When the church was first organized there was only one vessel of wine, and the congregation drank out of the same container. The bread was homemade and there was one plate. The prophet Joseph Smith received instructions to use water instead of wine. Eventually individual small cups of glass were used for the water and multiple trays for the bread. I remember helping my parents wash and dry the glass cups and trays after Sunday school and sacrament meetings when we were living in Cheyenne. We even supplied my mother’s bread.

The next change came when they introduced paper or plastic cups for the water.

When they went to the block schedule for Sunday meetings the sacrament was only administered once every Sunday with the exception of stake and general conference Sundays. Because of governmental regulations in the United States all bread must be from a commercial source.

On each of these Sundays I listen to the prayers and repeat in my mind the words in German or English. I think of Christ and his atonement and those things that we have promised to do.

I have recently reviewed my life and found that I have often partaken of the sacrament unworthily. It is not that I have committed some great sin, but been light-minded or lost my temper and not sought forgiveness. We do not go to the confession booth and talk to the bishop. We have direct access to the Lord. Especially during the time before the priest offers the prayer.

If we have not paid our tithing should we partake of the sacrament? If we have used foul language, should we partake of the sacrament? If we have lied, should we partake of the sacrament? If we have committed adultery should we partake of the sacrament? If we have not prayed, should we partake of the sacrament? If we have been dishonest, should we partake of the sacrament?

 

There is a misunderstanding being circulated in the church that the sacrament is connected with baptism and by partaking of it we are cleansed from out sins.  A careful reading of the prayer found in the 20^th section of the Doctrine and Covenants should dispel that notion.

 

You may ask, who then is worthy to partake? The answer is clear. He who has a broken heart and a contrite spirit and contemplates his life and asks the Lord for forgiveness. The Lord knows your heart. Those who do partake unworthily are impeded in their progress toward Eternal Life until they repent and always remember Him and keep His comandments.

We often take this ordinance for granted as something that is common, instead of a blessing to be cherished.

My dear grandchildren please do not bring upon you the judgement of your Heavenly Father by partaking of the sacrament unworthily.

Love,

Grandpa

19 years of service as a volunteer

 19 years of service as a volunteer I recently received a letter from Elder Jackson of the missionary medical services notifying me that I was being released as a church service missionary. I did not start out as such. When we moved from Lander to North Salt Lake, I contacted Dr. Harris at the Missionary Department and said I was available to volunteer to screen missionary applications. I started one day a week in an office on the second floor of the church office building. The applications were submitted on paper forms. They contained all the information that we now use. There was the doctor’s form, the dental form, the bishop’s recommendation and the stake president’s recommendation. Once these were screened, they went to the weekly meeting of the missionary committee for assignment. Then the assignment went to the first presidency for their signature and then the letter of assignment was mailed to the missionary for them to sign that they accepted the call and mail back to the committee. I would screen senior and junior missionary applications. 

    We had a monthly meeting of all the members of the missionary health services committee. There were sub committees and I elected to be on the electronics committee We had a computer based web supported program developed by Homer Warner and Mike Leffler called Medlog. This program requires Microsoft
Access on the computer to work. The area medical advisor (AMA) would keep track of the calls and encounters with missionaries and their presidents. 

    Once a month the new area medical advisors would come in for training. We asked them to have Microsoft Access on their laptops and we would then load Medlog on their computers and teach them how to use the program. Then once a month they would send their files to DMBA (Deseret Mutual Benefit Association) and then a week later they would download the updated version with all the new missionaries for that mission or missions so that they would not have to manually enter their information. Mike Leffler at DMBA worked with Homer Warner to develop a website so that all the information was stored on the server at DMBA. Each AMA was given access to only their missions. This program was called eMED. It replaced the computer based Medlog.

    We then met with the new medical advisors and taught them how to use the program. Sometime later they switched the training from the church office building to a motel and I gave them the training on the new program. Eventually the trainers decided I was no longer needed, and I was replaced by higher authority. 

    I continued to screen applications and they called a couple of full-time missionaries to screen senior candidates. They moved us from the second floor to the third floor in the Missionary Department and gave us our private office. It was shortly after this that we were asked to answer medical questions on the doctor’s phone. They added in-field representatives (IFR) to the floor and moved the doctors to desks in the hall. I went in on Monday and Thursday for a while and then they added more doctors. We usually had two doctors on the floor each day of the week. I would screen applicants. The other doctor was an orthopedic specialist and would handle calls relating to his specialty. I then worked on Tuesday afternoon. They held a quarterly correlation meeting where all the subcommittees would report. The electronics committee eventually dwindled down to just me and they chose not to replace anyone. I continued to communicate with Mike Leffler until he retired. The replacement did not communicate with me and so I was left to manage the medical data. 

    The in-field representatives would bring questions to the doctors and if a missionary were to be sent home for treatment the IFR would get approval from the doctor, and this would then be submitted for approval to the general authority for approval and church travel would arrange for the missionary to come home for treatment. When the missionary was ready to return the stake president would contact the AMA and he would get approval from the doctor and general authority and travel would arrange for transport back to the original mission or in some cases a mission in the United States. 

    In 2020 things changed. The church office building closed down and I began to work remotely from home. I still continued to screen applications and answer the doctor’s phone on Tuesday. The calls became more numerous, and some were hostile about immunizations for COVID. 

    About this time, I received a call to be a church service missionary and was set apart by a member of the stake presidency. They put in a virtual private network to get access to the screening website. Then they asked me to go through a training exercise online. I completed only one leg and then my wife got some medical complications and I later had some problems of my own.
In July of 2022 was the last month that I was scheduled to answer the doctor’s phone. I was recovering from surgery and preparing to get chemotherapy and radiation. 

    In the church, as a missionary, we do not asked to be released. We serve until the presiding authority extends the release. Unfortunately, I was not able to perform as I hitherto had done. 

    I have deemed it a privilege to have served in this capacity.

My Wife Alice

 

My Wife Alice

What I like about my wife.

We often take our spouse for granted. We tell each other that we love them,but often don’t give them deserved specific praise. Then Satan comes in and whispers that they are inferior and this especially when they see others who have exceptional talents.

Without the loving support of a spouse the seeds of self-doubt creep in.

We were in our first year of marriage. My wife sacrificed finishing her college education to go to work and support me in medical school. She has since had regrets that she did not graduate from college. She will be rewarded in eternity for her sacrifice. She was selfless and I can never repay her.

We immediately started a family. Because I was in school, she cooked the meals and washed the clothes and went through pregnancies and labor and delivery to bring seven children into the world. She taught them to pray and taught them her love of God and Jesus Christ. She will yet receive her crown of glory and my eternal praise for her selfless service to these children.

She loved the gospel and the restored church. She served in a number of callings in the primary and Relief Society with dedication. There are many who were blessed by her service, and she gained lasting friendships as a result.

She found time to take a painting class and went to travel school and used those skills in working at the travel agency. When we were on our mission in Germany, she went to the volkshochschule and took instruction in the German language. When we were in Moscow, we took Russian lessons twice weekly. She was always learning no matter how difficult it was.

Although she did not serve a mission as a youth, she served with me for a little over four- and one-half years in Germany and Russia during which she cooked meals and cared for sick missionaries as well as doing work in the area office. I could not have served in my calling without her companionship and support Each week she wrote detailed emails to my parents and children while we were on our missions.

She cooked meals for my aged parents in Lander and made sure that their needs were met when they were in the assisted living facility in Bountiful. Hers has been a life of service.

We served together as ordinance workers in the Bountiful temple for over six years. Our window of opportunity closed as sight and health issues precluded our further service in the Lord’s holy house.

She was an ardent traveler. I enjoyed being her traveling companion.

She was an accomplished cook and passed on this love to her children. We often have conversations with our children which inevitably turns to food.

 

She was an avid genealogist and collected family histories and when FamilySearch came out, she entered names and dates and memories and photos until macular degeneration and cataracts made this more difficult. She saw that temple ordinations were performed for relatives which individuals have her to thank for making the eternal saving ordinances available for them to accept.

 

She has always dressed appropriately for each occasion and always looked nice in spite of some people thinking that skirts were no longer in fashion. She is always appropriately dressed and makes me a better person.

 

When I first found out that she could play the piano I was really impressed, and she has accompanied me when I would sing some solos. She led the choir and participated in a women's chorus.

 

These are just a few things that I admire about my eternal sweetheart.