Sister

[havejoy]

I haven't been on line much lately because I'm in Kentucky with my sister who has ben diagnosed with cancer. She is not a mamber of any religion and is pretty averse to talking about religion at all.

Her cancer has spread all over and they think it's inoperable at this time. By next week we'll know more about the type and treatment, if any, she'll have available to her.

In the meantime I would love to talk to anyone who has been in this position. how do I bring up the church, what do I say, should I just wait it out and do the Temple work later?

Prayers would be helpful too.

Thanks

It may be a week before I'm back on line so please have patience.

[zippy_do46]

Don't know the answer havejoy but my prayers are with you. Zippy

[Hemidakota]

I haven't been on line much lately because I'm in Kentucky with my sister who has ben diagnosed with cancer. She is not a mamber of any religion and is pretty averse to talking about religion at all.

Her cancer has spread all over and they think it's inoperable at this time. By next week we'll know more about the type and treatment, if any, she'll have available to her.

In the meantime I would love to talk to anyone who has been in this position. how do I bring up the church, what do I say, should I just wait it out and do the Temple work later?

Prayers would be helpful too.

Thanks

It may be a week before I'm back on line so please have patience.

Stage 3 cancer?

[ttribe]

I haven't been on line much lately because I'm in Kentucky with my sister who has ben diagnosed with cancer. She is not a mamber of any religion and is pretty averse to talking about religion at all.

Her cancer has spread all over and they think it's inoperable at this time. By next week we'll know more about the type and treatment, if any, she'll have available to her.

In the meantime I would love to talk to anyone who has been in this position. how do I bring up the church, what do I say, should I just wait it out and do the Temple work later?

Prayers would be helpful too.

Thanks

It may be a week before I'm back on line so please have patience.

I'm just going to give you my 2-cents based on my experience with my Dad and I'm doing so assuming your sister's cancer is terminal (like my Dad's was).

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Feb. 2002 and was gone by July; a pretty short time-period. My Dad was never what you would call religious and he and I rarely spoke about spiritual topics. So, when I was spending time with him as he dealt with this phase of his life, I let him take the lead. He brought the topic up from time to time and when he did I would answer his questions and give him my thoughts. But, under no circumstance did I push the issue.

A year after he passed, I did his temple work to make sure I'd done all I could at that point to provide the opportunities.

My suggestion - make sure your sister knows how much you love her. Those feelings will carry over and will matter as you provide her with those ordinances. In the meantime, laugh and love with your sister. It's the best possible treatment for the terminally ill.

Best wishes to you and your sister. I am so sorry you are going through this.

[FifthElement]

I feel you should respect your sister and only discuss religion when she brings it up. I would suggest to just enjoy being with her and talk about things that are important to her. Her work can be done later; what's important now is to be with her and let her know you love and care for her.

[havejoy]

Thanks to all who responded. I've beeen letting her take the lead in all conversations including religious topics. It doesn't seem right to me to try and force feed religion to anyone at anytime. I think I was starting to cave in to pressure from a lot of baptist relitives who are afraid she'll soon be swimming in that 'eternal lake or fire'.

We still don't know the type of cancer but we're supposed to find out this Thursday. So far they have been keeping her comfortable with morphine and holding out a tiny bit of hope depending upon where the cancer started. Thursday is a big day so if you would, please keep us in your prayers. Her name is Scarlett. Thanks.

[Hemidakota]

Thanks for the update.

[havejoy]

My sister died the evening of June 23rd. When I first got to Kentucky she was terrified of dying. Over the next seven weeks we spoke of what might happen and what my beliefs are several times, mostly on a very superficial level. Any serious discussion continued to make her uncomfortable. Scarlett was pretty quiet the last two weeks but 3 days before she passed she had some ideas she wanted to talk about. The beliefs she had developed mostly on her own were essentially LDS doctrine. In the end she didn't seem to be frightened at all, she even looked forward to seeing our parents again. I'm confident she will accept her baptism and other ordinances next year.

Thanks to all those who prayed for us. There were many times I felt enveloped in the arms of Our Savior.

[beefche]

My condolences to you and your family.