Thumb and along/on the road

For those of you who have been with me since the beginning, you might remember that I had a very sore thumb. Suddenly, quite a few months ago, my thumb began hurting so much that even the touch of the sheet on it, at night, would wake me up. When I complained to Daisy, she said that I probably have trigger thumb. Well, I had never even heard of trigger thumb. So, I finally, after a few weeks, went to the Dr. up in Brussels. He said that I did have trigger thumb, but to be sure we would need to take x-rays. I did that and sure enough, that is what I had. I also had some arthritis in my thumb. Dr. referred me to another Dr. and they both agreed that I would need surgery and physical therapy. Well, I do not want to have another surgery let alone a surgery in France or Belgium. Also, I am busy on a mission. I do not have time for surgery. So, I asked Dh to give me a blessing. The next time we were with the missionaries, Dh and Elder Bertrand gave me a very nice blessing. In the blessing they said that little by little my thumb would get better and to be sure and thank Heavenly Father for every little improvement that I had. I did that, but months passed and there was only little improvement. I did give thanks, but nothing more happened. I finally talked to Dh and asked him why wasn't I getting better. Did I not have enough faith? Was I not doing things right? What was the problem? He asked me if I had been thanking the Lord for my improvements, however small. Yes, I was. Well, I tried to show more faith, to be more prayerful, and to just wait and be patient. Now, after all of this time has passed, I have no more pain. I am fully cured. My thumb does not hurt at all. YAH! I am grateful and I am thankful for the gospel and for the priesthood.

The prophet Joseph Smith taught: "Miracles are the fruits of faith..." "Faith comes by hearing the word of God. If a man has not faith enough to do one thing, he may have faith to do another; if he cannot remove a mountain, he may heal the sick. Where faith is there will be some fruits: all gifts and power which were sent from heaven, were poured out on the heads of those who had faith"(History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5:355)
Elder Bruce R. McConkie in University Speeches of the Year, Oct 1967 commented on this statement and others by the Prophet. He said: "As we... read some of the inspired statements of Joseph Smith, we...discover that repetitiously the Prophet also equates faith with power. He uses the terms interchangeably. Indeed, the possession of power constitutes the test whereby we can measure and determine the quality and the degree of faith we possess. Our faith consists of the degee of power and influence we have with God our Father whereby we work works of righteousness and do many miraculous things."

This is a picture of a hand that has worked very hard for over 60 years. How did the time pass so fast?

As we drive each day, we pass many fields of lovely crops. We saw the fields barren, watched them being plowed and prepared for planting. Saw the baby plants begin to grow and now we see many, many fields almost ready for harvest. First is a corn field.

A wheat field.

More wheat.

Not sure what this crop is.

Wheat in front, corn in back. Almost all of the fields are very well taken care of and everything grows in straight rows. It's a lot of work for the farmers, but it rains here so much that they don't have to water(at least I've never seen them watering).

Yesterday we were driving along and we saw this crazy little trailer attached to the back of a motorcycle. Two people were on the bike and the trailer is probably barely big enough to fit the two of them and their belongings. It actually looks kind of big in the pictures, but it was very little. I think they must have been going on vacation. Almost everyone takes a vacation in France. Actually August is vacation month and people go for several weeks, but many also vacation in July.

A funny story. We were taking to our Mission. Pres. about the fact that so many things shut down in August and how even church attendance goes way low for that month. He said, "Yes that happens all over France and Belgium." He then told of how a General Authority was scheduled to visit the members in France. The Mission Pres. was talking to the Stake President and asked him to get all of the Bishops ready for a meeting with the Gen. Auth. He also wanted the Bishops to prepare the congregations for the visit. The response of the Stake Pres. was, "It's August. We are on vacances. Can't we reschedule the visit?"