"These Things Shall Give Thee Experience"

Today is seven weeks since I had my surgery. After spending basically that whole time in bed at home I have started to venture out a little bit. We were invited to a singles dinner on Friday night. That is always fun to eat good food and play chicken foot with dominoes. On Sat. we had our ward Trunk or Treat at the church. It was fun to sit out in the fresh air and watch all the cute little kids walking around. It is still hard for me to get around, so I just sat in a chair for over two hours with a couple of friends handing out candy. Sunday was church and then my sister came over and we watched Spencer's game from London. Even though they lost the game we had a nice time eating lunch and watching the game. Sunday night we went over to Ethan and Jenn's for their annual Halloween party. Jenn always does a good job with the chili and corn bread. We didn't stay long because I needed to get home and feed animals and give out candy. Because it was Sunday we only had about ten kids come to the door so I have tons of candy left over. Yesterday I went to watch Tristyn play her first volleyball tournament game. I haven't felt well enough to go, but yesterday I decided that I needed to support her. She is such a good little player and I was proud of her for getting her serve over the net and winning the game for her team. If she works really hard she should be a really good player going in to high school and college. I have been a little discouraged at how slow I've been progressing with the healing process. I'm trying hard to be able to walk without the use of crutches or a cane. I went to the doctor on Thurs. and he reminded me that the average recovery from hip replacement is four to six months on the early side and up to a year to eighteen months on the late side. I am still hoping to be able to get to the mall to do some Christmas shopping but unless I have a miracle I will be lucky to just drive by the mall and look at the decorations. Someone asked me the other day if I regret having my surgery. It has been one of the hardest things I have been through, but I still have hope and faith that in the long run it will be one of the best decisions I've made. I really had NO other option, the pain was getting too debilitating.

I was reading in the Doctrine and Covenants the other day and it was when the Lord was talking to Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. Section 122:7-8 "And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." I know that all these trials that we go through are to give us the experience we need to return to our Heavenly Father. That doesn't mean I enjoy them, but if they are for "MY GOOD" then I will have to endure them with faith knowing that the experience will be worth it at some time.