Sister P here. Some of
you know that I’ve been plagued off and on through the past year with sciatic
pain, chiefly on my left side radiating from my hip down my leg. It’s that sciatic nerve that is irritated by
a deteriorating disc in my back. After
several months of constant discomfort, often sleepless nights, I discovered
some Pilates stretches that have helped a ton.
Along with a small pillow behind my back in the car. I’ve even started taking a little pad to
church to put behind my back on the hard benches. Sitting aggravates it the most. Walking and stretching help.
For many
months of our mission, going up and down stairs has been incredibly difficult,
painful and slow-going. I can see the
wisdom in the new directive to have senior couples in apartments with elevators
whenever possible. Ours in on the 3rd
floor with no elevator but we love it anyway.
I couldn’t give up my awesome windows letting in so much wonderful light...
nor the view of the ball park across the street!
After
months of stretching and exercising and walking, my sciatic pain was finally
alleviated. In fact, just last week I
reminded Bill of how slow I used to be going up and down the stairs, using the same foot on each step...and carrying groceries…well…you get the
picture. (It wasn’t pretty!) But it’s been a long time since I had to do
that and waking up at night in pain has become a thing of the past….
Until
this last week. All of sudden, out of
the blue, I got sciatic pain again, this time in my right leg! ERG!
It came fast and hard. I could
hardly walk at all. I was baffled about
what had caused it. Why now? Why the right leg? All my exercises and stretches are for both
legs. Anyway, Thursday the 3rd
I was in a lot of pain. I couldn’t do my
normal walking or exercises or Pilates at all.
Sleeping was bad. I couldn’t lie
on either side and my back ached from being on my back all night. Sorry about all this whining but the
background is necessary…
Friday we
needed to teach and then help Breton with refreshments for his 32 Seminary
teachers coming for In-Service Training at the Institute. I was
hobbling pretty badly when we arrived.
He wanted to know what was happening.
I told him it was sciatic pain.
He knew what that was because he suffers from it occasionally, too. Bill asked if he would help give me a
blessing. Breton anointed me in Spanish
and Bill gave me a sweet blessing (in English…thank you!) and promised that I
would get better quickly and that I would know how to take care of my body and
be able to resume my duties soon. I
really felt during the prayer that I would have a miracle. I thought about
Jesus healing the man at the pool of Bethesda and that I would be able to “take
up my bed and walk.” Breton was ready to send us home and make do without us
but I insisted on staying. I sat in my
corner of the office for a while and did final preparation for our class. When I stood up, I felt almost no pain and
when we left at lunch-time to buy stuff for sandwiches, I was feeling so much
better. I lay down after lunch with a
heated corn bag and thought about my mother. J Corn bags were her best friends!
We taught
that night . I felt so much gratitude
that I could stand and share our message and I testified to our little class of
the reality of Heavenly Father loving us and watching over each of us and when
we sang “I’ll go where you want me to go” for the closing song, I knew Heavenly
Father knew that I wanted to serve him here, today and He blessed me that I
could. We prepared the food and then came
home a little early. I used heat and
rest for the next 3 days. Thankfully we
had wonderful General Conference to watch when our internet was fast enough and we could listen loud and clear when it wasn't. It was glorious! I modified my exercises, walked a little Saturday morning and this morning and today I feel so good. Up and down the stairs with alternating feet! What a blessing! I’m so grateful for the power of the
Priesthood and faith and for the love of so many who continue to pray for our
well-being. We feel your prayers!
Bless you all!
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