I can do hard things

How are you all? I'm doing excellent, considering what is going on lately. As I say everytime, I LOVE serving at the temple. Last week, I talked with a brother about 65/70 years old for a little bit. He told me that he had gotten baptized about 15 years ago, and guess what his first calling as a member was? 1st counselor in the Bishopric. That's right! He said that he got called in for an interview with the stake president, and was asked "would you be willing to shave your beard for a calling?" He agreed. Then he was asked "okay, would you be willing to cut your hair for a calling too?" (he had a ponytail, his hair was down to his back) and he was like "whoa!" But agreed. He told me that he was willing to give up something for his calling, for a greater cause, for what the Lord wanted. How awesome! And it turns out he actually was in Gma and Gpa's ward, and lived in the same apt complex as them when he moved to St George.

So now the big news... Long story short, I am starting chemo and radiation next Monday. In CEDAR! I had a surgery about two months ago, in which they didn't get everything.... they have been able to come up with a plan to do radiation a 2nd time (I had it almost 5 years ago). The chemo will help the radiation, my mom compared it to scrubbing a pan. It's easier to scrub it if you let it soak in water. That's essentially the purpose of the chemo. I will do 30 radiation treatments, 5 days/week for 6 weeks. The chemo (which is not too high of a dose) will be through an IV once a week for 6 weeks. Here we go again, but honestly, I'm doing a-okay. I feel at peace with everything and am totally relying on the Lord. I'm so glad that Heavenly Father has a great plan for all of us. And each hardship will, hopefully, allow us to grow. We are going to kick this cancer in the butt. Hard. And get this crap over with!

I CAN DO HARD THINGS! We all can.

I'm still working out the details of serving throughout this, but I do know that I probably will take off some time. The best thing about a service mission is that I can serve and still attend to my health.

Here we go! Thanks for all you do for me. I wouldn't be where I'm at today without all the love, support and friendship I've had throughout my life. :)

Elder Gray