A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

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Marcus
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Re: A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

Post by Marcus »

Gabriel wrote:
Thu Sep 22, 2022 7:20 am

We will close with the entirety of Russell’s letter. I wonder if it bothered Russell that Spencer only shared a small portion of it at the press conference. After all, it was a labor of love. One can ask for no more. He truly put himself into it. And especially notice how he frontloads it. As I said, Classic Nelson!
”Russell M. Nelson” wrote:My beloved President Kimball,

... Again, it was President Lee (assisted by President Tanner) who so willingly and powerfully responded to my request for special Divine guidance in the performance of that critical operation done April 12, 1972, for I was keenly aware of your apostolic calling, and of my own human frailties, in anticipation of one of the riskiest, most complex operations ever done. As this operation turned out to be technically perfect in every detail, I acknowledge the help of the Lord and the power of the holy priesthood, for rarely does a surgeon have this unique experience. Even more special is the fact that as that operation was nearly completed it was made known to me that one day you would be the President of the Church.

Then last month, for us to have the occasion to hospitalize you again and study your body in depth, seems to be another circumstance not to be provided by chance alone for we thereby secured proof, not only of the success of the artificial valve operation, and of the graft to the coronary artery...

No individual has ever been called to preside over the Church with such a thorough medical preparation and examination prior to his ordination...

Your surgeon wants you to know that ... your heart is better than it has been for years, and that by all of our finite ability to predict, you may consider this new assignment without undue anxiety about your health.
i excerpted what reads as an incredibly arrogant "humble brag," a feature common in lds church leadership.
... Accurate medication, periodic checkups... will be as important to your total productivity as will your work...

Devotedly,
Russell M. Nelson, M.D.
and making sure he stays in the loop with the higher ups.
Marcus
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Re: A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

Post by Marcus »

Gabriel wrote:
Wed Sep 21, 2022 8:53 pm

...In the Journal for the Collegium Aesculapium…an organization for LDS physicians, Sister Dantzel Nelson wrote a very interesting article titled, Stress in the Mormon Medical Marriage: A Wife’s Perspective.
Regrettably, this remarkably candid article is no longer available to the hoi polloi. I regret that I didn't download the pdf when I had the chance. But I do remember Dantzel admitting that she never argued with Russell. What Russell wanted, Russell got. So, rather than engage in direct contradiction, Dantzel preferred the use of "honey" to influence her husband when she wanted something. She also referred to a surgeon's "God Complex" in less blasphemous terms as a "King Complex". That being said, I wonder to what degree it took divine revelation to get her to agree to have "a young man called 'Junior'".
Source: http://ldsdoctor.com/Journals/journals_1985.htm
Given that they had nine girls and at long last a boy in her tenth pregnancy, i'm guessing she was just relieved she could finally stop being pregnant. She would have said yes to any name, including

"how f-ing crazy is it that i have to cater to a man but i've been trained to believe it's a divine necessity because men are more meaningful in the eternities and therefore in this world than ANY women--thanks for nothing, god." oh, right. "Junior."

She first got pregnant around 22 and had her 10th child at age 46. Allowing 3 months for recovery, she spent TEN FULL YEARS out of 24 pregnant or recovering from being pregnant before she could say

'"honey," i don't know what's happening, but i can't seem to get pregnant any more after i finally gave birth to the son you've been waiting for...'
Marcus
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Re: A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

Post by Marcus »

Gabriel wrote:
Wed Sep 21, 2022 8:53 pm
...In the Journal for the Collegium Aesculapium…an organization for LDS physicians, Sister Dantzel Nelson wrote a very interesting article titled, Stress in the Mormon Medical Marriage: A Wife’s Perspective.
Regrettably, this remarkably candid article is no longer available to the hoi polloi. I regret that I didn't download the pdf when I had the chance....
http://ldsdoctor.com/Journals/journals_1985.htm
i noticed the last article in that edition of the journal is written by Dantzel.

The first article is titled:
THE STAR PHYSICIAN

written by... yes, you guessed correctly:
Elder Russell M. Nelson, M.D.
Tom
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Re: A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

Post by Tom »

Gabriel wrote:
Wed Sep 21, 2022 8:53 pm
In the Journal for the Collegium Aesculapium…an organization for LDS physicians, Sister Dantzel Nelson wrote a very interesting article titled, Stress in the Mormon Medical Marriage: A Wife’s Perspective.
Regrettably, this remarkably candid article is no longer available to the hoi polloi. I regret that I didn't download the pdf when I had the chance.
The article is archived here:
“But if you are told by your leader to do a thing, do it. None of your business whether it is right or wrong.” Heber C. Kimball, 8 Nov. 1857
Marcus
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Re: A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

Post by Marcus »

Tom wrote:
Thu Sep 22, 2022 1:53 pm
Gabriel wrote:
Wed Sep 21, 2022 8:53 pm
In the Journal for the Collegium Aesculapium…an organization for LDS physicians, Sister Dantzel Nelson wrote a very interesting article titled, Stress in the Mormon Medical Marriage: A Wife’s Perspective.
Regrettably, this remarkably candid article is no longer available to the hoi polloi. I regret that I didn't download the pdf when I had the chance.
The article is archived here:
thanks for posting that Tom. that is a remarkably sad essay. Heartbreaking.
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Re: A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

Post by Tom »

Nelson's "The Star Physician" is archived here. The resolution is poor (or I need a better monitor).
“But if you are told by your leader to do a thing, do it. None of your business whether it is right or wrong.” Heber C. Kimball, 8 Nov. 1857
Marcus
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Re: A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

Post by Marcus »

Tom wrote:
Thu Sep 22, 2022 2:28 pm
Nelson's "The Star Physician" is archived here. The resolution is poor (or I need a better monitor).
i saw that, not your monitor, that one was just not well uploaded.
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Dr Moore
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Re: A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

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I recall many lessons from a young age regarding priesthood access to revelation. It has been made clear over and over in the church that subordinates are not entitled to revelation about their superiors. It is verboten.

Nelson pretending to have known in advance - prophesied even - regarding Kimball's pending elevation to President only shows pretentiousness. That sort of thing by someone not even a General Authority would have annoyed the hell out of Kimball, I have no doubt. Kimball likely loathed Nelson's slithering demeanor, playing God complex doctor into some kind of spiritual equality card. Ick! But, what other choice would Kimball have than to humor the man? He couldn't very well castigate Nelson after receiving open-heart surgery, could he? And, besides, clearly Nelson's loyalty was unquestioned. Even so, ick.
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Re: A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

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Marcus wrote:
Thu Sep 22, 2022 2:16 pm
Tom wrote:
Thu Sep 22, 2022 1:53 pm

The article is archived here:
thanks for posting that Tom. that is a remarkably sad essay. Heartbreaking.
Dantzel wrote...
It's especially stressful to the wife when she hears colleagues of her husband divorcing the wife and marrying the nurse or the office girl. Have you ever had a close friend confide in you that she was madly in love with her obstetrician? You hear about it all the time. And this can be a stressful situation to a wife.
The amount of time he is away from home can be frustrating at times. His work away from home is interesting, and he is deeply in­ volved with the personal life of others. He is growing in knowledge and is finding fulfillment. He is total­ ly wrapped up in what he is doing, and the time spent in his profession is necessarily great. So the time at home is less.
Their world at the office and operating room is all ster­ile and tidy and well organized. And they're used to having everyone, nurses, office people, and patients follow their instructions. The wife needs to take the "king syndrome'" into account. If he's the king what does that make her? The answer should be the queen, but sometimes that's not true.
I remember that during those training years my husband of­ ten could not even get to Church un­ less complex arrangements involving several people could be made. I went to Church alone or with my babies when he was on duty. When Russell was stationed at Walter Reed Army Hospital in the army during the Korean War, he was called to be in the bishopric. From that time on I sat alone most of the time in Church.
When I came into the marriage partnership, I thought that was just the way life was. When anything would come up in the way of differ­ ent opinions, I handled it with si­ lence and restraint. It was more im­ portant for me to have peace than to have my own way at that very mo­ment.
There is an interesting story I read about David O. McKay. You al­ ways hear how he and his wife had the perfect marriage. Sister McKay said she remembered so well the time when her husband was first sent off to do his Church assignment. It was two weeks after their first baby had been born, and he got up from table, gave her a kiss, and left. She sat at the table and just about started to cry. She wondered how he would dare walk off and leave her. The baby was only two weeks old and the dishes were still on the table, and she said she felt awful. But then she remembered what her parents had taught her. In essence, they said, "Don't cry before you're hurt and don't cry over spilt milk." Sister McKay then asked, "Well if I can't cry before and I can't cry after, when can I cry?" And they said, "Don't." Remember­ ing her parents counsel she just Sighed and went ahead and did what she had to do.
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Dr Moore
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Re: A gem from Russell Nelson's 98th birthday celebration

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Gabriel wrote:
Tue Sep 20, 2022 12:47 am

Here's a snippet from the baby blessing (pg 265-266):
Russell M. Nelson wrote: On March 31, 1972, our son was born! Today, in the Yale Ward chapel, I had the great privilege of giving him a name and a blessing. This is what was said:
...

'My son, as we now share the same name, may we share a desire each to honor the name the other possesses'.
IE. the name that is above every name.
By the way, Nelson Jr. was born on Mar 22nd, not Mar 31.

From the Deseret News, March 22 1972, pages 23 and 26:
DesNews22Mar1972p23.jpg
DesNews22Mar1972p23.jpg (82.43 KiB) Viewed 348 times
DesNews22Mar1972p26.jpg
DesNews22Mar1972p26.jpg (82.97 KiB) Viewed 348 times
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