We're Going On A Mission

We have planned on serving a mission for a long time and things have come together to make it a reality. We filled out all the required papers, got the physical exams and had interviews with our Bishop and Stake President

 

We were recruited by a friend and business acquaintance, Stephen Mecham, who is the President of the Micronesia Guam Mission, so we weren't surprised when the call came to serve there.  Or perhaps we could say we recruited him.

 

We received our call on Friday, June 29th.We will be serving for 18 months, working primarily in the Mission Office taking care of finances, vehicles, housing, travel, records and correspondence.

 

We have a lot to do to get ready such as immunizations, photos, shopping for clothing and supplies and getting the house and farm closed up.

 

We are really excited for this opportunity to serve our Heavenly Father and the people of Micronesia.Our responsibilities in the Mission Office will be our primary focus, and we look forward to doing all we can to make the work run smoothly for the President, his staff and all the missionaries.We also hope we have the opportunity to work in a local ward and get to know the people on a personal level.

 

Of course before leaving we had to have a few family gatherings.  the hard part was it seemed like we had to say goodbye every time we saw them.

Prostate Cancer III

I had my three month and six month cancer check-up and so far everything seems okay.  My PSA at there months was down to 1.6 and at six months it was down to 1.5.  We would all like to see it lower, and it may continue to decrease but maybe not.

I was not the least bit impressed with my urologist and the three month check-up.  He couldn't find the results of the PSA test so he asked me what it was.  I had been on the website so I knew and told him and that was about it.  He didn't examine anything, ask me how I was feeling or anything.  He did ask if I had any questions so I asked him if some of the conditions I was experiencing were permanent.  His reply was "well, they pretty much fried your prostate so you have to expect that".  I can't help but think he is a little put off that we didn't accept his offer to surgically remove it.

I was cleared to procedde with submitting papers to serve a mission, so we made appointments to have our mission physicals and begin that process.

At six months I saw Dr. Richards, the radiation oncologist.  He was very concerned, friendly and I really felt like I had been to the doctor when we were finished.  We told him we had a mission call and he was happy for us and gave me the paper work I would need to get PSA tests done in Guam.

I guess there is not any way to know if your cancer is cured other than the test of time.  If the PSA remains low then the cancer is in remission.  If it starts to climb then they didn't get it all.  You just have to monitor that level fairly closely for a while and see what happens.  Dr. richards seens quite confident that the treatments have done their job and I can only hope he is right.