Personal Life Journal — February 2025
- February 2025 — The speakers at one of our Sacrament meetings this month were a husband and wife who had been serving as the Bishop and Bishop’s wife in a Young Single Adult ward in our area. They had served for three years, and thoroughly loved their sweet opportunity. During the brother’s talk (the former bishop), he shared an incredible experience. This experience is a testimony to the changing and challenging times we live in. Shortly after they had been called to this service, the YSA ward Relief Society held a ‘pool party’ at the home of the parents of a member of their ward. The bishop had not been formally invited, but he felt it would be a great time for him to get to know the sisters in the ward better and to socialize with them in an informal setting. Thus he accompanied his wife to the pool party. Shortly after they arrived, the wife came up to the bishop in a state of panic. She forcefully said to her husband, “You have to leave!” “What?” the bishop responded. Again she urgently said, “You have to leave!” “Why do I have to leave?” he questioned, not understanding the need to leave. His wife explained, “I just found out that the sisters in the ward were not expecting you to come to this party, and several of them have worn swim suits that they definitely would not have worn had they known their bishop was coming. You need to leave to avoid embarrassment to these girls in our ward!” The bishop followed his wife’s request and left the party. In his talk, he then went on to say, “In the next few days and weeks I made it clear to the ward members that my love for them was not based on the presence or absence of tattoos, piercings, gauges, clothing styles, swimsuit styles, or any other outward expression of who they were. I made it clear that I loved them all equally, as children of God and disciples of Christ.” I will leave further contemplation of this event and the surrounding circumstances to whoever reads this account.
- February 2025: The first week of February was a RED-LETTER WEEK for me! I have mentioned that I struggled with a non-healing foot wound for most of 2023 and 2024, and during that entire time I was unable to wear normal shoes on my right foot. I had ‘tailor-made’ a shoe I could wear by cutting out the lateral side of a gym shoe, and I wore stretchy paper shoe covers over this contraption for all those months. I could not stand even the slightest pressure or touch on the wound — even a normal sock was intolerable. By January of this year I had worn out all my various medical options, and I was scheduled to see an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in the foot, Dr. Robert Faux. He saw me, examined my foot, and told me that surgical removal of all the necrotic and scarred tissue was an option, but he was very hesitant due to the fact that the ensuring surgical wound might not heal. He advised me to try one more option before considering surgery. He referred me to a shoe store in Lehi called Astra Shoes. They specialize in very wide shoes that put no pressure on the sides of feet. Susan and I went there, and I was incredulous at how comfortable my foot felt with these large shoes on, and I was also so grateful that they carried shoes in my extra-large size 15 foot. We bought two pair, and I have been on Cloud Nine ever since. I can now wear these shoes all day without discomfort. I have a dark pair for church apparel, a white pair for temple service, and an athletic-looking pair for work and casual wear. I am so happy. What a game-changer! Thank you, Dr. Faux! An answer to 1000’s of prayers. I am now praying that sometime in the near future I might be able to jog and hike again.
- February 2025: I have mentioned before what a blessing it has been to live near my wonderful Aunt Margaret during our years here on the Grandview Hill. She has been such a blessing for us. We sit by here every Sunday in Sacrament Meeting and the other meetings, and we interact with her on a regular basis. This has been a very challenging for weeks for her, as she has dealt with terrible ringing in her ears and a crushing, roaring sensation throughout her head. I took her to the nearby emergency center this past week and spent several hours with her there as they tried to deal with her symptoms. She was prescribed a steroid and given an appointment with a neurological ENT physician. I helped her get her prescription the following morning and have stayed in close touch with her. I received a very sweet card from my cousin, Diana, who is Margaret’s second daughter. It read, “Dear Michael, Just a word of thanks for all you do for our mother, Margaret. It is frustrating for us up here in Idaho to be unable to get to her in Provo quickly to help her. You are an answer to our pleadings in prayer. Please know how much we appreciate yours and Susan’s trips to the ER and countless other trips. Thank you for helping with her computer and prescriptions and on and on. We just can’t thank you enough for your love for Mom and all you do to serve her. Very warmly, Diana and Doug.”
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