General Women's Meeting/General Conference Preparation/Health Update

Hello, all! Just wanted to post today and let all of you know that the transcripts of the talks from the General Women's Meeting (all of which I absolutely loved) are available online now. I post the address below for all who are interested:

Talk Transcripts: General Women's Meeting


It should be noted that my predictions for the General Women's Meeting bombed big-time. As some of you may recall, since we heard from the presidents of each of the female auxiliary organizations (Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society) and from President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, I predicted that for the September 2014 Women's Conference, we would hear from each first counselor in the female auxiliary organizations (Jean A. Stevens, Carol F. McConkie, and Carole M. Stephens) and from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency. We did hear from Sister Stevens and President Uchtdorf, but the other two speakers were Linda K. Burton, Relief Society General President, and Neill F. Marriott, Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency. Since I was only 50% accurate with the Women's Conference Predictions this go-round,  it's going to be extremely difficult to predict who will speak in subsequent Women's Conferences. I will always have the First Presidency member right, I'm sure, but the others will be so unpredictable. Oh, well. That should make it all the more interesting, right?

One of the interesting things that struck me about this meeting is that President Uchtdorf said of it: "I am honored to have this opportunity to be with you as we open another general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the coming week the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles will meet with all the General Authorities and general auxiliary leaders, and the remaining sessions of our worldwide general conference will follow on the coming Saturday and Sunday." This is the first time that I'm aware of that anyone has referred to a meeting outside of the traditional five sessions of general conference as being part of general conference. So it'll be interesting to me to see if they refer to the Saturday Morning Session as "the second general session of the 184th Semiannual General Conference." As a matter of fact, that is an interesting point of discussion that is under debate on Wikipedia currently. I have been trying to convince my fellow editors that the General Women's Meeting is part of general conference. More people are convinced on that point now in light of President Uchtdorf's statement, but some still are stubbornly contending that it would take an official statement during the traditional general conference weekend for the Women's Meeting to be considered a session of general conference. I'm like...um, hello? Isn't President Uchtdorf's statement official enough? After all, he is one of the Church's three "presiding high priests" whose words are considered "scripture, the word of the Lord, the will of the Lord, the mind of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation." So it is a tricky issue. We'll have to see what, if anything, is said about it during the traditional general conference weekend.

In the meantime, I am preparing for General Conference a little differently this year. I usually try and read all the conference talks from the previous conference in the week before general conference weekend. But this year I figured, since I have auditory recall and buy each set of General Conference DVDs when it becomes available, I would rewatch the sessions. I watched the Saturday Morning and Afternoon Sessions on Sunday evening. I didn't get a chance to watch any conference on Monday. But on Tuesday night, I watched the Priesthood and Sunday Morning Sessions. I will try to get the Sunday Afternoon and General Women's Meeting (for both April and October) rewatched before General Conference starts on Saturday Morning. An ambitious project, to be sure, but I have felt an added measure of the spirit of the Lord as I have enjoyed these sessions and sermons and songs anew.

In the meantime, I have not yet been able to acquire my prescription for the new medication. I have been attempting to get hold of my neurologist's assistant with no luck, until this afternoon. He told me he would be seeing my doctor tomorrow to get some issues with her computer resolved and that he would ask her the questions I had asked him about the new medication and get the prescription for the new medication and get it sent to me ASAP. Amy and I have both been severely under the weather lately, so we have just been laying low and doing what absolutely has to be done. My headaches have been been worse lately, so I called my neurosurgeon's nurse's number in the hopes of being able to meet with her soon about whether my shunt needs to be adjusted or possibly (gulp with fear!) replaced. She wasn't available, and I had to leave a message for the lady who was filling in for her. So I don't know when or if we will get these issues resolved. But we forge ahead in faith knowing that the Lord is in control and that His hand is over all things.

I missed my appointment with Irwin today because of how I was feeling, and because of a schedule conflict, he won't be able to meet with me next week, which is just as well, because I see my neurologist that day in Salt Lake, which would have meant we would have gone down to Provo at 1, been there for a little less than an hour, then would have had to make our way to Salt Lake. It's much better this way. I have plenty of jobs to apply for before I see him again. And I will be swallowing my fear and buckling down and going to the Deseret Industries once I apply for all the jobs Irwin has sent me. Hopefully by Monday next week. We'll have to see. It all depends on how I'm feeling and what I'm able to accomplish between now and then.

Sometimes, I can't help being discouraged about our situation when I look around and it seems like no one else has it quite as hard as we do. But then I remember the reality that everyone is dealing with something and that each of us is tailor-made to the loads we are called upon to bear. I also draw strength from the knowledge that "God is faithful: who will not suffer you to be [tested] above that [which] ye are able to bear, but will, with the [trial] also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." I also take comfort in knowing that my situation will never reach the magnitude or intensity of the Savior's suffering, which He willing did not only for my sins, but for my trials and sorrows as well. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have that suffering endures for but a "small moment" and that after it all, joy "cometh in the morning." As Joseph B. Wirthlin put it, "No matter how dark our Fridays, Sunday will come." It is my hope and prayer that our Sunday comes soon, but it is my fervent testimony that even if it doesn't come in this life, whatever we have to endure will be infinitely worth it when we look into the Savior's eyes and (hopefully) hear Him say: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful in a few things. I will make thee a ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. That each of us may merit this salutation from the Savior, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

List of participants in the Ogden Utah Temple Rededication

In the Church News this weekend, there was an article featuring the names of those who participated in the Ogden Utah Temple Rededication. Since that is of historical importance to the Church, I thought that I would post a link to it and also reproduce that list here. Here's the link:

Participants in the Ogden Utah Temple Rededication

10 a.m. session
President Thomas S. Monson presided, spoke and offered the dedicatory prayer.
President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, conducted.
Elder David A. Bednar, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Elder L. Whitney Clayton, Presidency of the Seventy
Sister Rosemary M. Wixom, Primary general president
President Frederick Froerer III, Ogden Utah Temple president
Sister Kathleen Froerer, Ogden Utah Temple matron
Prayers offered by Elder Craig Fisher, an Area Seventy, and President W. Richards Cluny of the Evanston Wyoming South Stake.

1 p.m. session
President Eyring presided, conducted, spoke and offered the dedicatory prayer.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, Presidency of the Seventy
Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women general president
President Parley R. Baldwin, first counselor in the Ogden Utah Temple presidency
Sister Cathy Baldwin, Ogden Utah Temple, assistant to the matron
Prayers offered by Brother David L. Beck, Young Men general president, and President G. Doyle Obray of the North Ogden Utah Ben Lomond Stake.

4 p.m. session
President Eyring presided, conducted and offered the dedicatory prayer.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Elder M. Russell Ballard, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Elder Lynn G. Robbins, Presidency of the Seventy
Sister Linda K. Burton, Relief Society general president
President Reed M. Richards, second counselor in the Ogden Utah Temple presidency
Sister Marsha R. Richards, Ogden Utah Temple, assistant to the matron
Prayers offered by President Adams J. Love of the Layton Utah Layton Hills Stake, and Brother Tad R. Callister, Sunday School general president.

 The only bad thing is that I was not able to ascertain any information I might be missing. Oh, well. I will be content to know what I have. Each session was wonderful, I'm sure. I can't wait for the next temple dedication!

American Fork Police are Awesome!/Pre-Authorization Granted for Needed Medication/Prize from Publisher's Clearing House/Under the Weather and (Possibly) Dragging My Feet

Had an experience today that I just had to blog about. When my wife and I went out shopping, we were extremely bothered to discover that several people were parking illegally (without permit or license plate) in handicapped parking. This bothers me because I need that kind of parking when I go shopping. It bothers Amy because for the last 10+ years of her mother's life, she was wheelchair bound and often had to park elsewhere when someone thoughtlessly parked illegally in handicapped parking. Within the period of half an hour, we saw five people illegally parking. So as we left the last store we needed to go to, I phoned the American Fork Police. I spoke to the dispatcher. She patiently listened to my concerns and promised she'd have an officer contact me soon. Within 5 minutes of that phone call, I got a call from one of the American Fork Police Officers. I explained the situation to him, told him we had left the location but had wanted to make them aware so this problem could be resolved in the future, and that we had little tolerance for these types of people. The man couldn't have been nicer. He responded that he understood my frustrations fully and shared them, that he had no tolerance for people who break the law by parking illegally. He promised me that he would talk to his officers in the near future and have them patrol the business district of American Fork and look for violators a lot more consistently in the future. He also said that if I ever ran into this problem again, I shouldn't hesitate to call the police so they could cite the violators next time. He concluded by adding that it would help if next time we called from the location the violation was taking place and could somehow keep the offending car there until the police arrived to cite them. He then wished me a good day and ended the call. I couldn't have been more pleased with how that interaction turned out. The only thing that would have made it better is if Amy & I had thought to jot down the license plate numbers for the violating cars so they could be issued a citation. We will for sure do that in the future. My admiration for the American Fork Police Department knows no bounds!

In other news, I received a letter on Wednesday from my insurance company granting me the prior authorization I needed to get started taking the new medication my neurologist wants me to try. We are currently trying to iron out how to get the prescription for it (she is located in Salt Lake, and hopefully they can FedEx it to me tomorrow which means I could pick it up and start using it on Saturday) and find out the information I need to be aware of before starting this new medication. But the most important thing is that we got the necessary authorization! The hope is that we might be able to eliminate or back down the dosage on some of the other medications I am taking with this new medication. So I will be anxious to see how it works for me. I almost forgot to mention that no one seems to know what is causing my increased nausea, so we may be making an appointment for me to see my neurosurgeon or his nurse in Salt Lake, just in case my shunt setting got altered somehow. I don't want to, because there's always a chance that seeing them may result in surgery, which we have neither the time nor the money nor the desire to get put through. But we will do whatever we have to.

I almost forgot to mention something kind of exciting. I have signed up with Publisher's Clearing House to win prizes from them. I keep responding to the correspondence they request and doing whatever they tell me to make me eligible for those prizes, but I haven't won anything. Or at least I hadn't won anything until late last night. I was using their search engine, PCH Search, and apparently I came at a time when they were awarding hourly prizes to winners. I don't know how I managed it, but I won a $5 Amazon.com gift card. At first I didn't know what to  use it for. Then I remembered I had a Kindle on my computer and that Kindle books would be far less expensive than regular books. After looking around, I was able to purchase two Kindle books with the gift card, both by Chris Heimerdinger. The first was Muckwhip's Guide to Capturing the Latter-day Soul and is kind of an LDS version of C. S. Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters", though Chris's devil, Muckwhip, apparently uses the faith and practices of a faithful LDS member against him in an effort to bring him down. I look forward to reading that. The second book I bought was one I'd read years ago and wasn't sure I'd ever buy a paperback copy of. It's "Eddie Fantastic" and tells of a boy who one day finds himself endowed with supernatural abilities.  I'm sure I will treasure having both books being part of my Kindle library, and I can recommend both as very good reads, though admittedly I am only basing my recommendation for Muckwhip on other people's reviews and not personal experience. It was good to win something from Publisher's Clearing House. I just wish I'd win one of their more substantially sized prizes. Then all our troubles would be over. I guess I'll keep responding as directed to the messages I'm sent and hope for the best.

Amy and I have been feeling under the weather again and have only felt like doing what absolutely has to be done. I feel kind of bad. We went shopping yesterday, and it was only late last night when I realized I was running low on some of the over the counter medication I have been taking for nausea. If I had known or remembered about that at the store, we could have just gotten it yesterday. As it was, we had to make a special trip today. Amy wasn't happy about that at first, and I don't blame her for that. I felt horrible asking her as sick as she was feeling to take me somewhere when all she wanted to do was use today as a day for complete rest. I will have to make it up to her somehow. Maybe buy her flowers or something. She will protest and say that's not necessary, but I owe her big time for what she did for me today.

And not just today. Amy has been an absolute sweetheart in loving and serving me our entire marriage, but especially lately. In the last two  weeks while I have been at Physical Therapy, she has sneakily used my absence to edit the Sacrament Meeting recording for me. She has watched me stumble through doing that week after week, and so while I was gone, she decided to do it for me. I don't know what I did or how I managed to deserve to get such a wonderful, selfless spouse. In so many ways, I am her complete opposite. And this is no difference. She often has to ask me, sometimes several times, to do things for her, and she does things for me all the time without me asking or saying a word. I feel like the luckiest man alive to have such a woman. At the same time, I am deeply ashamed that I am not responding in kind. As with most things in my life, I need to work on that.

Because of the way I've been feeling, I haven't felt much like applying for jobs or writing. I haven't even taken the initiative to try and go to the Deseret Industries with the recommendation our Bishop wrote for me and see if they have a paid position for me that would allow me to work as much as I can handle, bring in some money, and give me some job experience and on the job training. I don't know why I'm dragging my feet on this one. Every time I think about it, I freeze up, and I get an unsettling feeling. It's hard to tell whether this is the "stupor of thought" signifying a wrong choice or whether it is just my own fear keeping me from doing something the Lord would want me to do. I can't trust my own feelings. Amy's advice is to give the DI a try. She says the worst that can happen is that they turn me away saying they don't have anything that would fit my skills or that they could train me for. I've promised her that as soon as I apply for all the jobs Irwin (my employment counselor) has sent me, I will look into the DI, and I still intend to do so, in spite of my fears and misgivings. But I am still very worried about what my feelings mean and whether I can trust them or not. It's something I definitely need to work through, but I don't have the luxury of lots of time to do so. The longer I drag my feet, the longer we remain in our difficult situation. And Amy makes a valid point: I can't expect the Lord to bless me if I don't act on things for myself. Your prayers would be appreciated as I try to work through this jumble of thoughts. Thanks, friends!

Well, that's about it for this update. I hope you, my readers, are well, and that you are enjoying reading these updates as much as I enjoy writing them. Best wishes until I post again!