My Blessing

 

On June 1, 2025 at 2:00 pm I was set apart by the stake president as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I couldn't have been more happy about anything. My whole heart and soul were so happy.  I was fasting and so prepared to receive this blessing.

My blessing. 

Pres Dunkley blessed me to have the spirit to guide me in my duties. He blessed me with the ability to love the missionaries and to form life long relationships with them. He blessed me with health. 

Here's the kicker! He blessed me that my arms and legs function properly. 

I was a little surprised about the last words in the blessing. You see, the night before, Saturday, May 30th, I was in the emergency department at the University of Utah hospital with a terrible pain in my right leg.  President Dunkley did not know about this visit to the hospital. This was all made known to him though the Spirit.  I thought I had a blood clot in my leg and I know how serious this can be.  After blood work and an exam from the attending physician, I was told I have a "baker's cyst."  It is a condition where a cyst forms behind the knee for whatever reason. It can be very painful and it would just have to resolve itself, he said.  In the meantime, it has been very painful, often spending nights with a heating pad and lots of resting my leg. But I can say as of Sept 2025 that it is mostly resolved.   

This reminds me of my mission experience in 1979 when I was in the MTC as a young sister preparing to go to the California Ventura Mission.  I was in the MTC for 5 weeks and had some health problem every single week!  I was bit by a poisonous spider and my arm swelled up.  I sprained my ankle and was in a brace. Just two of the 5 things. Nothing was going to dampen my Spirit, but my physical body took a toll. It feels the same way now as I prepared to serve this new mission.  No worries.  All is well.  I will go on!