Thursday, March 20, 2008
WOW !!!
This is a copy, mistakes and all, of the email that we got from McKay this week. It is the follow-up email to the one he wrote to tell us that Randy Pesce had died. It is difficult for me to find the words to tell you just how proud I am proud of this kid, man. He has served his mission with his whole heart and soul, putting everything he had into it, holding nothing back.
"hey family,.This was the most growth i have ever had in my life over such a short period of time. in my e-mail i showed signs of doubt and fear but now i have none i have a unshakable knowledge of the plan of salvation mainly the ressurection and the life after we leave this mortal by. i KNOW that after we leave this place that we go to a place best phrased by alma as a state of happiness of rest of peace, to have no sorrow or care. That we wil stay there there both righteuous and wicked until the time goes for us to be ressurected to our mortal body. i know that this is true. I Know GOD HEARS and ANSWERS prayers of his children here on earth I KNOW. I KNOW that through the direction of the father that all the earths and all creature were made by him and through him and that nothing was made that wasn't made by him. I KNOW that christ died for all man kind saint or sinner, woman or man. I KNOW that he did indeed was hung on the cross of calvary that he told the father forgive them for they know not what they do then he gave up the ghost for they could not kill him, I KNOW that 3 days later that he did indeed rise form the that the first ressurrection did happen that becasue of that unmatchless act that we may all live tho we will died we will live again. I KNOW that we will be restored to our perfect frame. That all who have lived and died without the knowledge of the gospel will have that opportunity to hear the glorious message of the restoration and of baptism and repretance and receiving the holy ghost. and I KNOW that the rightous forces that have been called to preach this gospel from the spirit world , have a special power and authority just as we do here and that the same work is happening there and that grampa and grama and randy and gordan jump and jay plewe, and grampa baldwin are those chosen ones along with many others. I KNOW that the temple ordiances are sacred and that we can INherit all the father has if we live by these concvants we have made. That some day we will have our own eternal families. I KNOW that there is prohet on the earth today his name is THOMAS S. MONSON that he is the high priest on the earth he holds the keys to preside over this earth. And I KNOW that the preisthood of god, The sealing power that peter talks about are again on the earth I KNOW that the boy Josphe saw GOD the FATHER and JESUS the rise lord in the grove of trees that he has restore his gospel to the earth never to be be taken away again. that families can be together forever, literally bound together, depneding on our works and our intents of our heart here on earth. AND I KNOW that we are placed in certain places and experinces to grow and to learn and to have our own spirit remmber what we have learned in the pre motral life. that we will receive that knowldge one very small piece at a time, according to our faith in GOD the ETERNAL FATHER. and that we are placed in our families for a prupose , hand picked to be in these families, that we are sent to far off places to meet certain people, to share the gospel with a specific somone, to comfort a grieving brother or sister. when they are in doubt or fear, i KNOW that the people we are close with that we had a personal relationship before this life and that is why it is so hard to say goodbye when one leaves but the thing we need to remmber is that it is never goodbye it is see you later. goodbye was done away with when jesus christ the rise lord came forth that easter morining. And final I KNOW that GOD LIVES, that he loves us we are his children we loves us. HE KNOWS all and that he is the master planner. that he will give us what we are in need of at the very time we need it. that we will never get anything more than we can handle . I KNOW. I KNOW that you can KNOW also if you read stude and pray with a fervent heart with the most sincerity that you have, that you will to KNOW. i love you all so mcuh you are an inspiration to me. thank you for you prayers.
I love you all.
elder SKEEN
"hey family,.This was the most growth i have ever had in my life over such a short period of time. in my e-mail i showed signs of doubt and fear but now i have none i have a unshakable knowledge of the plan of salvation mainly the ressurection and the life after we leave this mortal by. i KNOW that after we leave this place that we go to a place best phrased by alma as a state of happiness of rest of peace, to have no sorrow or care. That we wil stay there there both righteuous and wicked until the time goes for us to be ressurected to our mortal body. i know that this is true. I Know GOD HEARS and ANSWERS prayers of his children here on earth I KNOW. I KNOW that through the direction of the father that all the earths and all creature were made by him and through him and that nothing was made that wasn't made by him. I KNOW that christ died for all man kind saint or sinner, woman or man. I KNOW that he did indeed was hung on the cross of calvary that he told the father forgive them for they know not what they do then he gave up the ghost for they could not kill him, I KNOW that 3 days later that he did indeed rise form the that the first ressurrection did happen that becasue of that unmatchless act that we may all live tho we will died we will live again. I KNOW that we will be restored to our perfect frame. That all who have lived and died without the knowledge of the gospel will have that opportunity to hear the glorious message of the restoration and of baptism and repretance and receiving the holy ghost. and I KNOW that the rightous forces that have been called to preach this gospel from the spirit world , have a special power and authority just as we do here and that the same work is happening there and that grampa and grama and randy and gordan jump and jay plewe, and grampa baldwin are those chosen ones along with many others. I KNOW that the temple ordiances are sacred and that we can INherit all the father has if we live by these concvants we have made. That some day we will have our own eternal families. I KNOW that there is prohet on the earth today his name is THOMAS S. MONSON that he is the high priest on the earth he holds the keys to preside over this earth. And I KNOW that the preisthood of god, The sealing power that peter talks about are again on the earth I KNOW that the boy Josphe saw GOD the FATHER and JESUS the rise lord in the grove of trees that he has restore his gospel to the earth never to be be taken away again. that families can be together forever, literally bound together, depneding on our works and our intents of our heart here on earth. AND I KNOW that we are placed in certain places and experinces to grow and to learn and to have our own spirit remmber what we have learned in the pre motral life. that we will receive that knowldge one very small piece at a time, according to our faith in GOD the ETERNAL FATHER. and that we are placed in our families for a prupose , hand picked to be in these families, that we are sent to far off places to meet certain people, to share the gospel with a specific somone, to comfort a grieving brother or sister. when they are in doubt or fear, i KNOW that the people we are close with that we had a personal relationship before this life and that is why it is so hard to say goodbye when one leaves but the thing we need to remmber is that it is never goodbye it is see you later. goodbye was done away with when jesus christ the rise lord came forth that easter morining. And final I KNOW that GOD LIVES, that he loves us we are his children we loves us. HE KNOWS all and that he is the master planner. that he will give us what we are in need of at the very time we need it. that we will never get anything more than we can handle . I KNOW. I KNOW that you can KNOW also if you read stude and pray with a fervent heart with the most sincerity that you have, that you will to KNOW. i love you all so mcuh you are an inspiration to me. thank you for you prayers.
I love you all.
elder SKEEN
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
WHISKERS ARE BACK !!
No, this isn't the name of my favorite cat. Ordinarily this would be one of those "I can tell you but then I will have to kill you" kind of circumstances but these are not ordinary times. This morning when I was getting ready for "AA", no I haven't started drinking, this stands for Attitude Adjustment. I was penciling on my eyebrows, that is another blog. Hide all the sharpy markers!! I looked down at my chin and I thought I saw some little whiskers growing. Of course I grabbed the "lighted high powered magnifying mirror" and sure enough there they were just as big as life (not without the magnifying mirror). My heart started leaping for joy, which is incidentally about the only kind of leaping I am doing these days. This you might think is a strange reaction. It does conjure up images of the "Bearded Lady in the Circus," maybe something to think about when Doug retires if they have benefits. I moved the mirror up to the top of my head, after all if there was hair growing on my chin maybe also on my head. To my joy I think those little stubbies just might be growing!! I have decided to include some pictures with this blog. There are two of the room where I do Chemo, including one of the chair in the corner with the plant for decoration that I previously blogged about. Three that document my G.I Jane Coiffeur, the little hair soldiers who managed to hang on in spite of overwhelming odds, and if you look very, very, carefully at the horizon you can see some possible growth. The three of me are not for the faint of heart. Close your eyes, have a friend read the blog and share it with you, take anti nausea medication or just "let your hair down" (chemo joke) and simply go for it!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
THE PASSING OF A WONDERFUL FRIEND....
Today we received our Tuesday missionary email as usual, but this letter wasn't so usual. I have written in the past about a wonderful lady, Randy Pesce, who lived in Columbus, Indiana. She has been battling cancer for several years and Saturday she lost that battle. She was in her mid 50's, with a married son, a daughter about 20 named Jenna, and two younger children Dallin 11 and Olivia 12. As parents we pray for those special people and experiences that can touch the lives of our children for good leaving them forever changed and this lady was one of those people for McKay. We were fortunate enough to meet her when she came to California for her son's wedding. They came to church with us and then we spent the rest of the day visiting. What a wonderful family, Randy and I felt an immediate connection and it was clear to me why McKay loved this family so much. The news of her passing was very upsetting to me today and I will miss her email's and our phone conversations. However, like McKay I am glad that she is no longer suffering. I would like to share his letter with you. While you can clearly see that this is a very difficult time for him, I'm sure that she would be jumping for joy to read this letter.
"Hey guys on Saturday Randy passed away. President Corey let me and Elder Winburn drive down to Columbus for the funeral. I was happy that he let us do that because it is pretty far. I was fine all the way down there but as soon as I saw all the family I started to cry. I never remember crying that much in one day except for when Grandma passed away. The service was very good. Though I am struggling big time right now, I know that she is in a better place. All my prayers have been answered. I wanted her to be at peace, I wanted her not to be in pain anymore, I wanted the best for her and I wanted Heavenly Father's will. I feel like a huge piece of me is gone and I cried the whole way home.
.....It feel like I had 2 Moms and now one is gone but it is just for a short while. I am trying to be positive like Randy. I have rededicated myself to be the best priesthood holder for my wife and my kids, she always used to tell me that, "Be the best priesthood holder you can be," and there were so many more things. I am so grateful for my decision to serve a mission. I have been able to baptize people into The Lord's church and I had the opportunity to meet the best lady in the world. I'm sure that she would be mad at me for crying.
....I was able to be Randy's mom's escort at the burial grounds and I gave Olivia my jacket because she was cold - it was a very good day. I really wish that I could have said good bye to her but I know she would have said, "It will all be okay, it will all be okay." Please pray for me to have the strength to focus on what I need to do right now. This is what I need and want to do. Randy would want me to work my head off for the next 4 months and finish my mission strong so I will honor her by doing this now and for the rest of my life. Jenna said, "just because this happened to my Mom doesn't mean it will happen to yours, have faith!! She is such an awesome and her testimony of the gospel is very very strong. I want to have a wife with a testimony like that.
....Mom, everyone kept asking about you. That was very touching to me. Jenna said that they always include you in their prayers. That family is so awesome.
Mom, call Jenna tonight if you can and tell her how much we care about them and that if they need anything, we are the people. I'm sorry I didn't even get to read emails today, maybe you could mail them. I need to close but I want you to know that I am so grateful for The Plan of Salvation. I can't even imagine how I would feel right now if we didn't have it. I am so grateful for eternal families - remember that okay! I love you all so much. Please pray for Jenna and the kids and their whole family. I love you all !!!
Elder Skeen
"Hey guys on Saturday Randy passed away. President Corey let me and Elder Winburn drive down to Columbus for the funeral. I was happy that he let us do that because it is pretty far. I was fine all the way down there but as soon as I saw all the family I started to cry. I never remember crying that much in one day except for when Grandma passed away. The service was very good. Though I am struggling big time right now, I know that she is in a better place. All my prayers have been answered. I wanted her to be at peace, I wanted her not to be in pain anymore, I wanted the best for her and I wanted Heavenly Father's will. I feel like a huge piece of me is gone and I cried the whole way home.
.....It feel like I had 2 Moms and now one is gone but it is just for a short while. I am trying to be positive like Randy. I have rededicated myself to be the best priesthood holder for my wife and my kids, she always used to tell me that, "Be the best priesthood holder you can be," and there were so many more things. I am so grateful for my decision to serve a mission. I have been able to baptize people into The Lord's church and I had the opportunity to meet the best lady in the world. I'm sure that she would be mad at me for crying.
....I was able to be Randy's mom's escort at the burial grounds and I gave Olivia my jacket because she was cold - it was a very good day. I really wish that I could have said good bye to her but I know she would have said, "It will all be okay, it will all be okay." Please pray for me to have the strength to focus on what I need to do right now. This is what I need and want to do. Randy would want me to work my head off for the next 4 months and finish my mission strong so I will honor her by doing this now and for the rest of my life. Jenna said, "just because this happened to my Mom doesn't mean it will happen to yours, have faith!! She is such an awesome and her testimony of the gospel is very very strong. I want to have a wife with a testimony like that.
....Mom, everyone kept asking about you. That was very touching to me. Jenna said that they always include you in their prayers. That family is so awesome.
Mom, call Jenna tonight if you can and tell her how much we care about them and that if they need anything, we are the people. I'm sorry I didn't even get to read emails today, maybe you could mail them. I need to close but I want you to know that I am so grateful for The Plan of Salvation. I can't even imagine how I would feel right now if we didn't have it. I am so grateful for eternal families - remember that okay! I love you all so much. Please pray for Jenna and the kids and their whole family. I love you all !!!
Elder Skeen
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