WE CHOOSE TO TRUST GOD AND BELIEVE IN GOOD THINGS TO COME!!

                                                             RONALD UPDATE

I am so sorry we have not posted lately... The reason we haven't is actually do to the great news that
Ronald was finally able to leave Huntsman and move into his temporary apartment (which we feel sooo unbelievably blessed to have been given the opportunity to have - we have been sooo incredible blessed and know the Lord is so aware of our every need and has truly inspired hearts to provide for us in a multiplicity of ways).  He will have to wait out the remainder of the 100 days near the hospital while  he is very immune compromised!!... the apartment we are is not able to receive internet at this time and so we may not post quite as often but if there is anything overly exciting or concerning arrises we will get the news out ASAP!
For now.... Ronald is on the right train going down the right track... is how it is being put! He had difficulty eating, takes around 40 pills a day to keep system in a good enough balance and is weaker and tired much more than he would normally be... BUT with that said we are sooo grateful that all of that is 100% expected and on course, in other words... right train...right track!! His superhero strengths continues to include.... taking those 40+ pills a day, daily infusions and blood draws, listening and talking with me through all my thoughts, helping me plan my seminary lessons, eating as much as he possible can (every bite counts)and he walks about 1/4 of a mile every day which include a VERY steep hill and he is such an inspiration to me every time I see his commitment to reach the top each day!! We are so grateful for General Conference this weekend as is NEVER EVER EVER fails to bring us EXACTLY what we are in need of to move us forward and rehydrate our spirits!! We love you and love to hear from you by email, text, phone anytime!! Happy OCTOBER!!


                                                     EXTRA GREAT NEWS!!!
Ronald's mother received her Mission Call to serve in the Nauvoo, Illinois Mission and she leaves
in March!!! What a wonderful call to such a wonderful woman! She is going to be so amazing!!

                                                                      DAILY DEVO
Just a thought today that I was reminded of during the General Womans Meeting  this past Saturday.... I think I can say this can apply to all of us:

       “Don’t give up,- Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.’”

I deeply believe this!! GREAT THINGS TO COME... we've just got to give the best we can.... somedays we have more to give than others right?! But all that is required is that we do not quit, do not give up.... JUST KEEP TRYING!!!



                                                                                   DAILY CHUCKLE

                                                    What do you call a crushed angle?
                                                                      A RECTangle
                What happened to the wooden car with wooden wheels and wooden engine?
                                                                 It Wooden Go!!!

A TIME TO CELEBRATE GLORIOUS RESTORATION!

                                                             RONALD UPDATE!

SO.... Ronald has had some pretty rough days this week with a bit of a cranky temperature and
 some vicious mucositis ( the painful inflammation and ulceration of the mucous membranes lining the mouth, throat and often times digestive tract, usually as an adverse effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment for cancer.)but at this point appears to be staying pretty confined to his throat YEA!) His energy is pretty down and obviously not eating too great because of the throat ulcers as well but...........

Looks like a bright RESTORATION of some health and strength is beginning as his ANC has taken a huge jump to 500 and his platelets to 200!!!!... This is significant for a few reasons:
1. This is wonderful timing as this means his body is now regaining the function of fighting off this painful inflammation and doctors are thrilled that his levels are restoring earlier than expected and in time to hopefully not allow the mucositis to spread throughout his digestive tract!!!
2. This is a marvelous and strong sign that the bone marrow stem cells are engrafting 
which is exactly what we have hoped for!!

So in Summary... Ronald has been truly living the principle that "Their must needs be that there is opposition in all things".. For Ronald...the great pain of mucositis  yet the glorious joy of restoring priceless immune system to fight off the pain!! Thank you for your constant prayers, concern and unbelievable support and love!! OHHHH his feels it and truly, truly feels so grateful and magnified by it all !

                                                                DAILY DEVO

For today just wanted to let you all know that the PRIESTHOOD RESTORATION SITE and VISITOR CENTER in Pennsylvania will be dedicated this Saturday!! Many of you may already know that our darling
missionary, Sister Selleka Simmons, has currently been called to serve at this site as part of her mission. She already has had some extraordinary experiences while serving there and will be able to personally take part in the events this weekend. For all interested the dedication will be aired live on LDS.ORG at 9:00am MST and 11:00am EST... I am posting a link to that information as well as the information and history behind this glorious restoration site. 
I know for  myself that the power and authority of God has been restored and given to man to serve and perform the Lord's purposes on the earth today. I know that is only in and through this power available through Jesus Christ. that Ronald is sustained and is capable of having his physical health restored at this time. It is only through this power that our family is united eternally through sacred covenants that we made with the Lord in His Holy temple, and because such, our love and relationship with our sweet son, Rylan, is not only alive and well, but we can also look forward to being reunited with him again!! .... and, it is only through the priesthood power of the Lord,  that the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has absolutely been restored  on this earth and continues to allow us to progress and ultimately realize Eternal Life with our Father in Heaven! The priesthood power governed by our Savior IS REAL and has been restored to this earth, I bear personal testimony of this!

https://www.lds.org/church/events/priesthood-restoration-site-dedication?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

https://history.lds.org/subsection/priesthood-restoration-site?lang=eng

I LOVE THIS!!  https://youtu.be/8233mUFFYB0

                                                DAILY CHUCKLE
 (just want to thank my Uncle David again for never forgetting to send these opportunity for laughter our way... every day... seems like a small thing but has meant more than he knows!! Sure love you David and Bonnie!)

            Did you hear about the astronaut who stepped in chewing gum?
                                               He got stuck in ORBIT

                      What do you call a musician with problems?
                                                  A TREBLED man

MAN DOWN....SWEET INSPIRE SOLDIERS OF HONOR TO THE RESCUE!

                                                             RONALD  UPDATE:

So Ronald on his 13th day post transplant, is a man down on all his numbers, his strength, his
calories, his ability to eat without throwing its up, his ability to walk very much with out getting pretty tired or even watching another absolutely GREAT BYU game without napping throughout it :-) BUT he is a man still up in spirit, prayers, faith, desire, hope, endurance and through the rooooooof up in friends and family willing to see this through with him/us all the way... and that is not only obvious but proving to be even more powerful that any downs he is confronting!!

Although Ronald has and is working through some real physical weakness and now a bit of a rising temperature issue (reason not identified quite yet) the medical staff here continue to be very pleasantly surprised at how well he is pushing through this and the "no show" of many multiple common complications and discomforts that often accompany this type of transplant.  We feel extraordinarily blessed to be allowed this time of sustaining (not knowing what may be in store the coming days and weeks) and truly find great sweetness and gratitude in these powerful tender mercies from the Lord. We know it is only in and through our Savior that such respite and comfort is even available and we are limitless in our gratitude for His compassion and mercy as well as all of the unmeasurable amount of love, fasting, faith filled prayers and support that is consistently expressed in a multiplicity of ways on Ronald's/our families behalf!! It is with that deep gratitude in my heart that I have drawn my thought for the day from...

                                                             DAILY DEVO:
    (taken from the talk "Man Down" by President Henry B. Erying,  A true Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ)

Almost all of us have seen a battlefield portrayed in a film or read the description in a story. Over the resonating  of explosions and the shouts of soldiers, there comes a cry, “Man down!”

When that cry sounds, faithful fellow soldiers will move toward the sound. Another soldier or a medic will ignore danger and move to the injured comrade. And the man down will know that help will come. Whatever the risk, someone will run low or crawl to get there in time to protect and give aid. That is true in every band of men joined in a difficult and dangerous mission which they are determined to fulfill at any sacrifice. The histories of such groups are full of stories of those loyal men who were determined that no man would be left behind. Out of loyalty they felt a duty to stand by their fellow soldiers, whatever the cost. The courage to act and their selfless service and sacrifice. came from feeling that they were responsible for the lives, the happiness, and the safety of comrades. Some of these such soldiers are given the "Congressional Medal of Honor"- Medal of Honor is the United States highest military's high honor , awarded for personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty whom have truly deserved such a powerful award.

Ohhhh my dear friends and family... it is exactly this level of rescue effort that we have been the the daily recipients of! Although in the context of this talk, President Eyring made great reference to our fellow SPIRITUALLY fallen soldiers during our consistent and real battle with the adversary, we have witnessed some of thee most stunning "rescue mission" responses as we have had 'our man down" battling daily a more PHYSICAL war!  We continued to have countless fellow soldiers sacrifice , in extraordinary ways, willing to run and/or crawl to get something, or someone to us to bring aid, stand by our fellow soldier, (and his grateful family) and have truly felt the love, responsibility, happiness and safety of a fellow comrade that is "down".  These past few weeks again. we have been so emotional as well as empowered by such unexpected and unbelievable sacrifice in our behalf as the Lord continues to inspire and lead such soldiers desiring to come to our aid. Some of these such fellow soldiers are literally unidentified soldiers that we may never  have the privilege in this life (with overflowing hearts and tears ) express our gratitude, but for now our truly humbled and tender hearted family wish that we could  award our own Medal of Honor to you all!  On the military service medal of honor, the citation reads that what they did was “above and beyond the call of duty.” We place that same resonating citation on our's as well as the Lord has deeply blessed us in battling  our war with some of thee most stunning, inspired and selfless soldiers, rather fellow comrades, that continue to go astoundingly ABOVE THE CALL OF DUTY!! Please know that we pray daily that the Lord will magnify the blessings of all such soldiers and their own families throughout the world who continue to serve and sacrifice for the  safety, freedom and security of others as well as those on the front lines succoring the week, lifting up the arms that hang down, strengthening the feeble knees and infusing heavy heart with genuine love and joy. You deserve something more valuable than a medal, and we pray daily that you are blessed with exactly it is that you and your family may stand in need of.

                                         Ohhhhhhhh, we deeply love and appreciate all of you!!

                                                     DAILY CHUCKLE

                        What do you call and elephant that doesn't matter?
                                                 An Irrelephant!
                       What do you call the new girl at the bank?
                                                   The Nutella!

                       HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL,SAFE AND HEALTHY WEEK!!

***For those interested I've posted the link to President Eryings origional address of "MAN DOWN" as given in the April 2009 General Conference: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/man-down?lang=eng#watch=video

5 days down, 95 to go.... and a AWESOME BYU finale!!

                                                                   Ronald Update:

                 5 days post transplant and Ronald is holdin up well ... some nausea and tired but
                 still able to eat a bit, exercise a bit and spirits up!! The transplant mile markers state
                 that the first 100 days are the most fragile so..... 95 more ahead but for now we're 
                 committed to valuing each new day and excited to see the Lord's will unfold!!
                According to the doctors next week should start a pretty rough road for Ronald as his
                numbers bottom out and we wait for the new cells to engraph ! This should last about
                between 10-14 days and then if all goes well , and the new marrow and cells engraph 
                properly, he will be able to spend the next 2-3 months building back up his body and
                strength. Sounds like a long time, but we welcome every day of it together!... also it 
                really is a small price to pay for new life! Meawhile, we have enjoyed a few visits 
                from family and so much kindness an support from friends and family!

                                                                     Daily Devo

              WARNING: This thought may leave some of YOU a bit nauseas as it was spurred by 
              the extraordinarily awesome, magical, and even some saying miraculous BYU season 
              opening game! For those who didn't see it... I've posted a link to the last play of the game!    
               But before you watch it, or re-watch it you need to know that throughout this game BYU 
              lost their nose guard, cornerback, safety and first string quarterback(twice) due to injury. With 28 seconds left it truly appeared that the game was over and as the next few plays over the count down of 27 of those seconds carried out without any real success, they were left on the 42 yard line 
             with 1 second left in the game...ONE SECOND !!...Might as well just call the game and 
              accept the defeat...What could ever possibly be accomplished with just one second left in
             the game? Not much right?? WRONG!! Watch what these guys were able to pull off together, led now by their second string quarterback just freshly off his LDS mission.... when they were 
            willing to "leave it ALL on the field" and endure to the very end of this game!..
         
                               http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:13592243&startTime=00:14

             Why is this so inspiring to me? Well for me it serves as a sweet reminder of a much 
             more meaningful and important "game" we are all in the middle of... and NO DOUBT we
            have moments, maybe even full quarters of this game that appear full of discouragement,
            and injury placing the odds against us and our success. Thankfully, I have learned for myself
            that the Lords arithmetic is NOT the same as ours and the Lord's timing is NOT the same
            as ours.... and when we appear to be down to even the last seconds with all pointing towards
            our inevidible defeat-if we stay committed to that one second and give all we have left....somehow in a way and with power only our Savior, Jesus Christ can provide that second multiplies exponentially and becomes so much more and so often even explodes into the seemingly impossible .... becoming OH SOOO POSSIBLE!! IN SHORT.... I've learned that you cannot underestimate what is possible within what appears to be "the last second" nor afford to give up with
even just one second left on the board! TRUE MIRACLES are found in pushing through those last
seconds... those miracles don't alway look like we thought we wanted or expect but glorious miracle none the less!!
           
                                                              Daily Laughs

                                          What did the Alien say to the garden?
                                                    "Take me to your WEEDER."

                              What do you call having your grandma on speed dial?
                                                            INSTAGRAM

                Oh, We love you all soo much and truly appreciate all the love and
                       support we continue to receive in unbeleivable ways!!!!

**ALSO... we would like to continue to ask for you to include my angel sister michelle in your
fasting and prayers. Her blog is up and running for the up to the day adventures:
                                      www.somuchlightandlove.blogspot.com






Ronald enjoyng some yummy
 fruit given to him by some 
extraordinary friends!

        Ronald doing a bit of walking to get a bit of exercise while  he can!              

Uncle Michael and Julia spend Friday 

night game night with us at the hospital!! Just love them!!

     Ronald received such a fun and uplifting 
  package from our good friends and his best buddy Pyke!

                                             Celebrating BYU's Splendid Season opener!!!!

NO GREATER LOVE...

Transplant began 4:18pm and ended at 4:58pm ......SO.... transplant is COMPLETE!! 

Really pretty unbelieveable isn't it!

To think that justover an hour ago the POISON in Ronald body was and would continue to kill him if 

A perfect matched Power did not enter his body too overcome it!! 

I have felt so tenderly how many aspects of this transplant have served as an sweet analogy of the Atonement of Jesus Christ!

A MOST PRICELESS MOMENT!!

JUST THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN TO JUST DOCUMENT THE 3 MINUTES BEFORE "NEW LIFE" IS INTRODUCED INTO OUR MAN!!
What a tender moment is about to be gifted to us! Amidst the unknown, I Just wanted to express
our deepest gratitude to be able to even have this moment of opportunity as well as for the enormous amount of fasting and prayers that are empowerng this very stunning moment in our lives!!... .
 A TRULY MOST PRICELESS MOMENT, NO DOUBT!!.... Will enter more after the transplant is over!

THE COMPENSATORY POWERS OF THE SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

                                      Ronald's Update
Doing well... appetite diminished, stomach upset, nausea so unable to keep any food down YET... with all that said looking and feeling pretty well! All labs are right on point and perfectly ready for his big day!!!



                                                           DAILY THOUGHTS:

Well, here we sit on the eve of the day which hold the greatest promise of  re-birth for my good husband, carrying with it some of the most pain yet, the most hope and healing available !! I would have never dreamt up this scenario just a short 18 months ago.... so much SERIOUS MORTALITY merging with so much SERIOUS ETERNITY has seemed to penetrate each and every day- since 3:15 February 27, 2015... the way I view this life has seemed to evolve into something so much more tender, fragile and absolutely priceless.  Those feelings have once again magnified not only because of my Ronald's upcoming  opportunity for deep cleansing , but I have also had some especially extraordinarily emotional and tender feeling these past several days!....
....For those who haven't heard , the night  before Ronald was to return to Huntsman to begin the next phase of his adventures and begin his abliterating chemo before transplant,  I was told by my sister, Michelle, that after months of not feeling very well, she had just been unexpectedly diagnosed with
ovarian cancer, stage 3C/4 !!! My first thoughts were... REALLY... there is NO WAY the Lord  is going to allow this to be true!!... and then within minutes my thoughts were... WHY NOT??? The Lord has effectively taught me and my family the last several months how creative He can be in molding and refining us and getting us to understand  and truly rely upon Him, His teaching, and His infinite atonement! Words cannot express how deep I have hurt for Michelle having a knowledge of how difficult the road ahead may be for her. Between what we  have been told is ahead of Ronald and now Michelle's painful road ahead.... I have once again come to the solid conclusion that we CANNOT do this... It will be absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to experience all the pain and  discomfort... all he inconveniences, weakness, ...all the pressure and support and all the unknown and fragility of life!!..... Absolutely physically, mentally, and spiritually  impossible...WITHOUT the compensatory power provided through the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ! A dear friend of mine led me to a recent talk by Elder Neil A. Andersen that helped put these feeling of mine into better worlds.
 what we have pretty much lived and relied on the past several months and will put to the test to an ever greater extent in the several months ahead:
“As [difficulties] increases in the world, there is a compensatory power, an additional spiritual endowment, a revelatory gift for the righteous,” he said. “This added blessing of spiritual power does not settle upon us just because we are part of this generation. It is willingly offered to us; it is eagerly put before us. But as with all spiritual gifts, it requires our desiring it, pursuing it, and living worthy of receiving it.”

In short, we are certain that the Lord will most certainly provide us with all the need powers and abilities that are needed to compensate for all are unequipped and what strength and means we have to offer is just not enough!!

Thank  you to all of you for your faith filled thoughts and prayers and unbelievable support!!
We invite you to join other friends, family and ward members for a special fast tomorrow as Ronald receives his bone marrow transplant, for his sister Rhonda who has so selflesslessly donated much time and emotional and physical sacrifice as she is the donor of Ronalds bone marrow/stem cells, and especially my sister michelle as she begins her difficult days ahead. We feel certain the Lord is in every whit of every detail in each of their lives as well of all of us who love them so dearly!!
                                                  WE TRULY LOVE YOU ALL !!

NOTE: for all those who would like to follow my sisters unexpected adventure she has a blog set up: www.somuchllghtandlove.blogspot.com