Some Good News

3 February 2018

We are having unseasonably warm weather here — with temperatures in the 40s and 50s. While we’re enjoying the balminess, this area could use the moisture from a couple of good snowfalls — or we’ll be in drought conditions come summer.

We learned an interesting tidbit this week. Did you know that it costs $20,000 to exhume a body? How do I know this? A brother in our zone, Elder Barry, told us that a distant cousin of his decided, a few years ago, to dig up an ancient relative (who died sometime in the 1600s) so they could do DNA testing on him. His cousin got all the right authorizations from the various government entities in Ireland, and then paid for the exhumation and testing. The family was, then, able to prove a direct match – and confirm that the lineage they have in their charts is accurate. (Talk about avid genealogists! Even if I had an extra $20,000 laying around, it would never have occurred to me to do that.)

We were excited to have a former church-service missionary return to us this week. Elder Loftus left the mission almost a year ago and has come back. Since he does Russian translations and way-pointing, we are delighted to have him back. His skills are hard to come by!

It was great to hear that Mary Cooper and her husband, Barry, have received their mission call and they're coming to our mission!! Woohoo!! I served with Mary in the Raleigh Temple office before we came on our mission. It will be fun to see them. They'll be here in one month.

I noticed in an article on the Church website that the new mission president for the North Carolina Raleigh Mission will be Matthew Holland, Elder Jeffery R. Holland's son. I believe that assignment begins in July.

Tonight, a bunch of people in our mission are going to see the Disney animated movie, Coco. The mission has reserved the whole theater and are treating the young elders. The senior missionaries get a discount. Plus, they’re providing popcorn and soft drinks for everyone. Should be fun. (Also, we’ve heard that this film will be featured in part of the RootsTech Conference next month – because of its ancestor-oriented theme.)

I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Bob started the stem cell treatment on his right knee. They told him it will be a couple of months before he really starts to feel the benefit of it. He also has an appointment next week to move forward with having cataract surgery. We should find out before long when those will be scheduled since they'll do one eye at a time.

I found out Thursday that my brother, Jim, had surgery on Wednesday. His daughter, Tonya, emailed an update (Feb 1) and said:

"He had an elective surgery to remove blockage from an artery in his right leg yesterday. They also did an angioplasty on an artery in his pelvis. Surgically, everything went fine. Dad was in tremendous pain yesterday, but it seems as of this morning, his pain is being effectively managed. There are a few tests we are waiting on the results for, but the pulse in his legs is strong and I am very encouraged by how he looked and his spirit today.

He will be in the hospital until at least Saturday. After that, he'll be transferred to a rehabilitation facility or to my house, depending on how the doctor thinks he is doing. He has an approximate six week recovery period for this surgery.

He is at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St Louis at 1 Barnes Jewish Hospital Plz, Saint Louis, MO 63110 in room # 7569."

I'll send a card c/o Tonya (at her Chesterfield, MO address) since I couldn't get anything to him by today.

Postscript: My brother ended up going to his daughter's home (not to a rehab facility) and is doing remarkably well!