Support from the Lord

We are taught that in some cases, in spite of our prayers, the Lord does not take away our burdens but rather increases our capacity to deal with them.  We experienced that very blessing this past two weeks.  We just completed the inherently difficult process of sending missionaries completing their missions home, receiving new missionaries and the accompanying transfers, along with 4 zone conferences the following week.  The process was complicated with the change of assignments discussed previously, the loss a seasoned senior office couple, the Taylors, who are going home, a very large group of new missionaries and a large transfer.  Additionally, we had our missionary with cancer constantly on our minds and in our prayers.  Numerous visits to the hospital along with helping to accommodate his mom, who came from England to be with him.  At one point there was a serious discussion and difficult decision as to whether to have him start chemotherapy here or send him home first.  There was concerns that he may have complications on the plane trip home before stating treatment, on the other hand, if he started treatment here, he may never make it home because of the aggressive nature of the tumor, which was aggressively growing in a matter of days.  Ultimately, it was decided to start chemo here.  His first treatment was with some very powerful drugs with the prospect of serious side effects.  We then saw miracles occur.  Body scans showed no sign of metastasis.  He left the hospital the day after his first treatment with only minor nausea and he felt well enough to go back to missionary work in his area.  We visited him the day after treatment and the swelling of his eye was noticeably better.  He has continued to do exceedingly well.  The plan is for him to have 2 more treatments here, then head back to England for additional treatments. 
Another tender mercy of the Lord was how we coped with the stress of the past few weeks.   As I suggested at the first, the Lord increases our abilities when we strive to do our best.  We were able to maintain a high level of energy throughout the time and even though at the end of the week we were exhausted, this weekend we have rejuvenated and are ready to go at it again tomorrow.
We are grateful to be serving the Lord in New Zealand.  We feel His love and power as He helps expand our abilities and raises us up to the tasks put before us.

Love to all of you,
Elder and Sister Folland

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