But the hearing in my right ear did not return, leaving me deaf in that ear. With treatment, my balance gradually improved. I was sure I had sufficient faith for a miracle. Believing I had done God’s will in accepting callings and trying to do what was right, I pleaded with Him to make me well. While I believed my husband and I had been called of God, I wondered, “How can I assist the Lord in this great work if I cannot hear or even walk?” With no other family members or close friends to turn to for help, I felt completely alone. Medical tests indicated a probable inner ear blood clot and the possibility of never regaining my balance or the hearing in my right ear. Soon I had completely lost my sense of balance and could no longer hear in one ear. Every bump in the road and motion of the car worsened the queasiness and vertigo I felt. What an awful introduction! Becoming sicker by the minute, I received a priesthood blessing from my husband and a faithful missionary and was then taken to the mission home. He quickly summoned two missionaries to help me out of the meeting and into a classroom. My husband, an ear doctor, noticed an abnormal jerking in my eyes. I turned to my husband and told him I was sick. July 11 found us on the stand in the Maidstone stake center chapel for a conference with 75 missionaries.Īs we sang the opening hymn, I was suddenly overcome with nausea and dizziness. Embarking on our first round of zone conferences, I hoped to get to know our missionaries, and I hoped they would get to know me. In 1997 my husband was called to preside over the England London South Mission we began our missionary service in July. Do we recognize opportunities in our affliction? Few of us have been sold into slavery, but all of us have experienced affliction. Joseph was a great man partly because he could recognize opportunity in affliction. After Joseph identified himself to his brothers, his sensitivity to their concerns revealed his understanding of the purpose of his affliction: “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life” ( Gen. Much later, when Joseph’s opportunity for revenge arrived, those years of affliction had given him perspective on what mattered most. If my siblings had sold me into slavery, I’m absolutely certain I would feel more than a little angry and a lot betrayed! Yet this didn’t seem to be the case with Joseph of old, whose brothers did sell him into slavery.
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