For those of you who are in our ward or attended our Sacrament Meeting today, this will not be news to you- but I have to share the happy news with all of my other friends. :)
*CAUTION* Lengthy post ahead. Make yourself comfortable!
Let me start off with a quote from Elder Richard G. Scott.
"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain."
When I was diagnosed with cancer, Mark and I thought that this would be one of those times in our lives of stretching and growing. We were halfway right.
A few weeks ago, we got a call asking if we would be able to meet with our Stake President. Generally this creates a great deal of anxiety among members of the church because most of the time, the Stake President is not just calling you in to say hi and see how things are going.
It means that there could possibly be some big changes in your life.
But, Mark has a calling with the stake and so do I, so there was the possibility that he wanted to release us from those callings. There was also an adult meeting coming up. He could be asking us to speak at that, right?
Wrong.
Neither of those were the right reasons and deep down inside, we both knew it. Although it was unbelievable to think that the other possibility could really happen to us now.
So as part of this stretching and growing period in our lives, Mark has been called- by the Lord- to be the Bishop of our little Heritage Ward. (One of the greatest wards out there for sure.)
Yep- you read that right- Bishop Mark Ogden.
Now I know to some of you out there, your first reaction to this might be...
"How can they do that to their family right now? Did the Stake President not know that his wife has cancer and that they have 4 kids?"
If that is your reaction, then please hear me out as I answer those questions.
The Stake President is very aware of our family's situation and more importantly, so is the Lord and our Father in Heaven. The Stake President did not call Mark to be the Bishop- the Lord did. The Stake President just extended that call to Mark and I.
And we were more than happy to accept.
Are we crazy? Well...sometimes... yes.
But this has nothing to do with being crazy. It has to do with faith.
We have a great deal of faith in a loving Father in Heaven who knows us, loves us, and wants to help us reach our full potential.
We have faith that the church we belong to- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints- is the true church of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He presides over the church and through our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, he gives us instruction on how to live a wonderful life of service.
If you are still reading as I am blabbering on and on, please let me share a scripture with you. It's in the Book of Mormon- 1st Nephi Chapter 9 Verse 6.
"But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words."The Lord knew that I would have cancer, and He also knew that Mark would need to serve as Bishop of our ward at the same time. He knows us, he knows what we are capable of and even though I have doubts and fears, I know that He will not ask us to do anything that we are not capable of doing.
The key is this- we do not have to do this alone.
Our Savior has provided a way for us to accomplish anything we are asked to do.
It is called the Atonement.
Mark and I are not able to do the things we have been asked to do all by ourselves. We need to trust in the Lord, ask Him for guidance and help. And let Him help us to do the things we have been asked to do.
This reminds me of another scripture in the New Testament
Phillipians 4:13- "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Will this new chapter in our lives be hard? Yes.
Will it be worth it? Absolutely.
Would I have it any other way? Not a chance.
My goal is to return to my Father in Heaven someday to live with Him, my Savior, and my family forever. To do this, we are asked to do things...sometimes hard things... to help us reach our full potential. That is what we have signed up for. That is why we say yes when we know it is the Lord's will for us.
I am sorry if I have sounded a bit preachy in this post. I have thought (and prayed) long and hard about how to share this news and the feelings that come along with it. I know that many of you share my faith and religion, but many of you do not. I love you either way and I hope that you will continue to read my blog and leave your comments of love and support. They do strengthen me on the bad days. I like to go back and read the comments that people have left.
And we will need your love and support now more than ever before.
I have said it before and I will say it again...
I have THE best family and friends. I continue to feel an overwhelming sense of love and support. I do not take that for granted. I feel very lucky and blessed to be surrounded by so much love.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
You will never know how much you all mean to me.
*CAUTION* Lengthy post ahead. Make yourself comfortable!
Let me start off with a quote from Elder Richard G. Scott.
"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain."
When I was diagnosed with cancer, Mark and I thought that this would be one of those times in our lives of stretching and growing. We were halfway right.
A few weeks ago, we got a call asking if we would be able to meet with our Stake President. Generally this creates a great deal of anxiety among members of the church because most of the time, the Stake President is not just calling you in to say hi and see how things are going.
It means that there could possibly be some big changes in your life.
But, Mark has a calling with the stake and so do I, so there was the possibility that he wanted to release us from those callings. There was also an adult meeting coming up. He could be asking us to speak at that, right?
Wrong.
Neither of those were the right reasons and deep down inside, we both knew it. Although it was unbelievable to think that the other possibility could really happen to us now.
So as part of this stretching and growing period in our lives, Mark has been called- by the Lord- to be the Bishop of our little Heritage Ward. (One of the greatest wards out there for sure.)
Yep- you read that right- Bishop Mark Ogden.
Now I know to some of you out there, your first reaction to this might be...
"How can they do that to their family right now? Did the Stake President not know that his wife has cancer and that they have 4 kids?"
If that is your reaction, then please hear me out as I answer those questions.
The Stake President is very aware of our family's situation and more importantly, so is the Lord and our Father in Heaven. The Stake President did not call Mark to be the Bishop- the Lord did. The Stake President just extended that call to Mark and I.
And we were more than happy to accept.
Are we crazy? Well...sometimes... yes.
But this has nothing to do with being crazy. It has to do with faith.
We have a great deal of faith in a loving Father in Heaven who knows us, loves us, and wants to help us reach our full potential.
We have faith that the church we belong to- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints- is the true church of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He presides over the church and through our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, he gives us instruction on how to live a wonderful life of service.
If you are still reading as I am blabbering on and on, please let me share a scripture with you. It's in the Book of Mormon- 1st Nephi Chapter 9 Verse 6.
"But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words."The Lord knew that I would have cancer, and He also knew that Mark would need to serve as Bishop of our ward at the same time. He knows us, he knows what we are capable of and even though I have doubts and fears, I know that He will not ask us to do anything that we are not capable of doing.
The key is this- we do not have to do this alone.
Our Savior has provided a way for us to accomplish anything we are asked to do.
It is called the Atonement.
Mark and I are not able to do the things we have been asked to do all by ourselves. We need to trust in the Lord, ask Him for guidance and help. And let Him help us to do the things we have been asked to do.
This reminds me of another scripture in the New Testament
Phillipians 4:13- "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Will this new chapter in our lives be hard? Yes.
Will it be worth it? Absolutely.
Would I have it any other way? Not a chance.
My goal is to return to my Father in Heaven someday to live with Him, my Savior, and my family forever. To do this, we are asked to do things...sometimes hard things... to help us reach our full potential. That is what we have signed up for. That is why we say yes when we know it is the Lord's will for us.
I am sorry if I have sounded a bit preachy in this post. I have thought (and prayed) long and hard about how to share this news and the feelings that come along with it. I know that many of you share my faith and religion, but many of you do not. I love you either way and I hope that you will continue to read my blog and leave your comments of love and support. They do strengthen me on the bad days. I like to go back and read the comments that people have left.
And we will need your love and support now more than ever before.
I have said it before and I will say it again...
I have THE best family and friends. I continue to feel an overwhelming sense of love and support. I do not take that for granted. I feel very lucky and blessed to be surrounded by so much love.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
You will never know how much you all mean to me.
Wow. Des. All I can say is wow. You are amazing. I am not saying this because your husband's new calling and you having cancer at the same time will be hard. It will be. I know you will be amazing at handling both. I say wow because this post was such an amazing reminder to me of the truth. Your testimony is rock solid. You never waver, and I admire you for that. Your ward is lucky to have you and Mark. You can do this.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your testimony of this. I am one of those that would question the call, but reading the quotes and scriptures and feeling your faith are inspirational. It is always a good reminder that our callings come from the Lord, and that He knows us, and knows what we need. You are amazing and I hope that I can someday have a testimony as strong as yours. Lots of love and prayers headed your way!
ReplyDeleteDes & Mark, The Lord does know what he is doing and I can't think of a betterperson to be Bishop and especially right now. You are amazing and will be blessed for it. Love you both!!
ReplyDeleteYou never cease to AMAZE me! WOW... I know that what you said is true, that the Stake President didn't call Mark, but the Lord did. I KNOW for a fact that the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves, and we are given these earthly trials to help us grow and so that we can return to him. Life is hard, and I have learned that no matter how hard it gets you can not do it alone. I am so grateful that I can rely on the Lord through my trials and more grateful that ALL of my family and friends can too! You have the BEST attitude you can have, and with your loving family and friends but mostly our Loving Father and Heaven and his Son Jesus Christ you WILL GET THROUGH ALL OF THIS!!!! Keep strong and keep being such an example to all of us and even people that you don't know. Love you sooo much and am so proud of you and very lucky to call you my friend :)
ReplyDeleteLove,
Dawnett
I have to admit that at first I was pretty upset that this was added to your challenges. But then I realized that Mark has councelors who he can delegate a lot of things to. He doesn't do all of the things on his own. I hope that you are all able to find the right balance for your family during all of this "stretching and growing"
ReplyDeleteI echo all the other comments here. Your testimony and attitude are beautiful and help strengthen other people. I know the Lord will be there with your family through all of this. Your family is amazing and it is so neat to be able to stay in touch a little bit through your blog. Take care of yourself and let others serve you.
ReplyDeleteThank You for sharing your testimony and your love for the gospel! I Love the OGDEN family!!
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to thank you both for your testimonies today. There were several things you both said that I needed to hear. Thank you for being such great examples to me. I know that you can rise to this challenge and that you'll be blessed. Love you both!
ReplyDeleteYou are an inspiration. Thank you for sharing your testimony. I know you and Mark will be given all you need to accomplish the Lord's will in your life. And you will be greatly blessed for your service to Him and the ward.
ReplyDeleteStephanie Mills (11th ward)
Wow! That is amazing for Mark, he will be a great Bishop. Your family is always so busy, but you all handle it so well.
ReplyDeleteLoved being able to share in this great experience with your cute family. You will receive many blessing from your service. I knew Mark would receive this calling someday, and here it is. It is such a growing experience for the whole family. Love ya!!
ReplyDeleteI. LOVE. YOU!!!! You are so amazing and I am so blessed to have you as my older sister! It's funny because a lot of your post is what I've realized a lot lately!! How we are here to learn and grow through experiences good AND bad. We are to reach our full potential and there is no way of doing that with out those hard trials that make us stretch a little bit! The Atonement is THE center of EVERYTHING!! I am so thankful for it in my life! I love you sis and you are BEAUTIFUL!!
ReplyDeleteI had heard about Marks calling and was wondering how you felt about it, of course I should have known...It's Des after all and You. Are. Amazing. I think about you lots...your attitude is such an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteNorm & I are so proud of both you and Mark. We love hearing your testimony and see evidence of your faith. No, it won't be easy but will definitely be worth it. We know blessings have and will pour down and miracles will continue to happen. You are an inspiration to all of our family and friends. We love you more than words can tell!!
ReplyDeleteOk beautiful Des, you have done it again, I am sitting here crying as I read your blog. Thank you so much for sharing this, We have been on a family vacation, so we just barely received your beautiful Christmas card of your family. As I read your newsletter, i was so happy when I saw that Mark was called as Bishop. Congrats!!! For some reason, I couldn't sleep, and a little voice told me to go to your blog at 3:00 a.m. haha It is amazing how the Lord answers prayers. A very similiar thing happened to Fabe and I almost two years ago, a week before Christmas, Fabe was called as Bishop, during his bout with Thyroid Cancer. Having had 2 surgeries prior to being called, I thought we were in the clear. It was not until we were sitting across from the Stake President the my sweet hubby informed me he had to have surgery again. I was sitting there in shock, first, because of the call, and then again to find out that Fabe had to have surgery. For a few minites everything became a blur, But I can't explain the peace that came over me, and even though I was scared, I knew that everything was going to be ok. Fabe's call has been such a blessing and an amazing ride:) He continues to have a few microscopic cancerous cells deeply embeded in his voicebox, that they were unable to get in the last surgery. So I continue to have faith, in the meantime, and I'm so grateful that Fabe is doing well and feeling great!!!! I'm so greatful for a loving Heavenly Father who carries us when we can't walk very steady, until we can stand. I know that as Nephi said "the Lord prepares ways so we can accomplish the things he commands of us. I admire your strength Des. I have been so touched reading your blog tonight. Thank you so much for sharing your incredible journey. You are so amazing!!!! You both are going to be wonderful!!!! love Amy...oh and your voice is so beautiful!!! I remember Karen, She was such a mentor in my first wrd as a newlywed...I always loved her lessons. She was my favorite teacher. So fun to see pictures of her.
ReplyDelete