Scott's Week (with many tender mercies and the Lord's hand)

Monday, June 27th was crazy! Scott had to get a lot of things in order before he left to go to the Wind Rivers again in Wyoming with the YM for a 50 mile canoe trip.  Right before he came home from work, his brother Brent called to see if Scott could come by and give him a blessing. I told him that Scott was leaving in the morning and that he had someone in the Ward pass away. I told Brent Scott would call when he got home (I didn't want to promise anything when I knew Scott had a ton on his plate already. I asked Brent if he was alright (he had pneumonia and was in the hospital for a week and had a long recovery plus he had kidney stones on Father's Day when we saw him). Anyway, he said it was worse than that. I didn't ask anymore since it wasn't my place. When Scott got home about 15 minutes later, he called Brent (Larry had told Scott at work he would be calling). Scott felt strongly that he needed to go with Larry to Brent's but luckily no one else had things going that night. Scott ran with his counsellors to Sister Olsen's to help plan the funeral and then Scott headed to Brent's around 8:30 pm. Brent just found out he has cancer-- an incurable one that starts with an "m". Scott was really glad he went down. Brent doesn't ever call his brothers for anything because he usually calls his in-laws (Ralph and Sharon Miles) so it was big that he called Scott, Larry and his dad. Scott didn't get home until 10:15.

Right before Scott got home, his nephew, Justin, stopped by to give him some cinnamon rolls (a little tender mercy).  Scott had told Justin everything that was going on so his wife, Natalie, made him a treat--Scott's favorite treat. Scott was up until 1:30 writing emails to his counselors with everything they could do to help him line things up for the funeral while he was gone. Scott hadn't done one stitch of packing. He went to bed and woke up at 4:30 to start packing. The YM were supposed to leave at 5 but they didn't end up leaving until 6:15 while they waited for Scott. 

They had a great time! There was a lightning storm on Friday night so Scott couldn't get back across the lake to get home. Luckily it was nice Saturday morning at 5:30 am for him to make it home by 10:30 a.m. in time for the funeral things to start at 11:30.

Scott made it home for the funeral. I went with him and the girls stayed home. We didn't quite know what to do during the viewing part. Scott was really nervous and was pacing around. He would stand in one place and then move 3-4 feet and then motion for me to come and stand by him. He just wanted me to follow where he was pacing. It was kind of funny. Scott did a great job conducting the funeral and he spoke at the end. I didn't write anything down but the spirit was strong and he said just what needed to be said. He had a few experiences with the YM that he said were wonderful teaching opportunities that he shared during the funeral. They were able to capture this awesome picture of a full rainbow (taken with CJ's cell phone-- I can't image what it would have looked like with a better camera), he felt was A sign of God's love for him and for Brother Olsen (I can't remember exactly how he said it but it was profound).