Tuesday February 13th, 2018

Today brought the lowest and highest points of our mission so far.  Yesterday we received a message that Jaron and Bonnie's 12-year-old daughter Ella has a cancerous mass on her kidney.  It was hard to pretend to have fun at the Valentine's party while we were so concerned with our family back home.  Our thoughts and prayers were with them as Bonnie drove Ella to the Mayo Clinic and she had testing done there.

Thursday Jaron sent this update: "Surgery today went about as well as we could hope. The pediatric surgeon biopsied 3 metastatic tumors from her right lung for diagnosing what kind of kidney cancer this is, and more testing. They also put in an access port for chemotherapy, and did an additional procedure in her abdomen so she's pretty sore. We'll spend 1-2 nights in the hospital. Probably chemo starting next week to shrink the tumor, but pathology - tissue testing - will determine what chemo agents are best and if chemo will precede the big tumor excision surgery (by the pediatric urologist) or vice versa. Chemo may be Fargo but prob not Grand Forks [their home town]. Glad to hear it wouldn't be back at Mayo. She will need radiation for it some point (I think 5 days per week for 4 weeks) at which may be back at Mayo.

It will be a long road. We appreciate all the thoughts, love, and prayers!"

We have cried many tears and prayed fervently.  We are so proud of our children for their support and love for Ella and her family.  It's hard for me not to be able to go help out, so it was a relief when Bethany and Ben arranged their lives so that Bethany could go stay with the kids in Grand Forks.  She was able to stay with Adam, Ryan, Renna, and Levi so Jaron could go be with Bonnie and Ella. We pray that our Heavenly Father will giver them all increased faith and hope, courage and strength.  

Last September (2017) we visited Jaron and Bonnie's family in North Dakota.  We were thrilled to be able to go to the temple in Bismarck with their family.  This was Ella's first opportunity to go to the temple, since her 12th birthday was that week.  There Ella and Adam were baptized on behalf of some of our deceased relatives who did not have temple blessings in their lifetime.  We believe that our loving Heavenly Father wants to give all of His children access to all of the growth and joy possible, which is what the temple is all about.  We believe that God has given  us the opportunity to do temple work for those who have passed on so they can progress in the life hereafter. 
 I cherish this picture of her; she's almost glowing!