Help Wanted!

After receiving two blessings and the following article from my daughter -in-law I think I finally get it- I am suppose to ask for help. I have always thought that we are suppose to be self sufficient and stand on our own feet so asking for help has been something that I do not do unless I am truly stumped by a problem.
Here is the article that my daughter -in- law sent me.

From Deseret News archives:
Elder Maxwell recounts blessings Battle against cancer brings 'sharper focus'
By Lynn Arave Deseret News staff writer
Published: Sunday, June 6, 1999 12:00 a.m. MDT

Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve appears to be recovering nicely from leukemia.
But contrary to what many people may suspect, he considers his cancerous disease to be more of a blessing than anything else.Speaking at the annual National Cancer Survivors Day for Utah at Hogle Zoo Saturday, he said one of the blessings of cancer is that it can help a person sort out the big things from the little things in life.
"We have a different perspective, a sharper focus," he said about cancer patients. "I've been given by the Lord a delay en route."
Elder Maxwell, 72, said hair is one of those things that doesn't seem as important after suffering from cancer. A loving conversation with your family, however, ends up seeming very critical.
He was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago. It was caught fairly early but was progressing very rapidly. He had multiple chemotherapies and ended up spending 46 days in the hospital.
Elder Maxwell was only able to work part time in his church duties until 10 months ago when he regained his strength and returned to full-time status.
"I feel much better now," he said.
He's still receiving some chemotherapy but remains very hopeful.
"Each of us faces an eventual exit route," he said of life.
Elder Maxwell said quite a number of general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been stricken with cancer, including President Spencer W. Kimball, Elder Bruce R. McConkie and President Howard W. Hunter.
"There's no immunity from suffering," he said of church leaders. "Only variation from suffering. How we handle it is the key."
He's especially thankful for the special care his wife, Colleen, whom he describes as a "Florence Nightingale," provided him.
Elder Maxwell said leukemia also has given him a much greater appreciation of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Another blessing he made reference to from his illness was a better capacity to receive help from others.
"We must learn to receive," he said.
He said he also has a greater respect for the doctors and nurses who deal with cancer patients on a daily basis. He credited the advances of medical science for also helping more cancer patients recover.
"I'm wiser by the experience," he said.
The church leader advised cancer patients against wondering why me and why now? He urged patients not to allow tomorrow to overhang today and to continue to avoid self-pity.
He had told the organizers of the event that he wasn't looking for any special treatment or recognition there. He was just glad to attend such an event where special kinship can be felt.
"I draw from their fellowship," he said.
Indeed, he was not dressed in the usual suit and tie apparel of the general authority, but rather a jacket, T-shirt and casual pants. He even carried and sometimes wore a baseball cap.
Heidi Lindsay, a 19-year-old with Hodgkin's disease, said the toughest thing she's had to learn is letting other people help her.
"A positive attitude will get you through anything" she said.
Doug Bates, another survivor, said he believes cancer is actually harder on the people that care about us than anyone else.
"I know how I feel on a given day. My wife doesn't," said the attorney for the State Office of Education. "She worries. . . . I'd rather be the patient than the caregiver."
Cancer survivors were given a free admission day at the zoo Saturday, plus a picnic lunch and a chance to attend a Salt Lake Buzz baseball game in the evening.
Event organizers also are planning another hike to Kings Peak, plus a tram ride to Hidden Peak in July, as well as a candlelight vigil Sept. 25.
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That being stated it is hard for me to ask for help and I must say that I have to swallow my pride to do so but if that is what Heavenly Father wants me to do I'll do it so I'll let you know more about my winter activities since now is when I'm doing my battle.

First I live on a farm and I am the one who takes care of it. During the winter I prepare for the next season. Ladies, I want you to know that I am a horse of a different color. But this is what I will need your help with.I am not going to ask any men, except Brian, for their help as I feel it would be totally inappropriate for me to do so.I do not want to stir up strife in homes by taking husbands out of their homes,where they belong, to work on my jobs. They have their own work to get done in their own homes and that is where they should be. Helping their families!

One of the first tasks that I do is to prepare the lawn/garden tractor for the next year. This means tearing it down, cleaning it up, and lubricating it as well as replacing worn parts. The deck has to be removed, cleaned and lubricated. The engine housing gets removed and the engine gets cleaned, the oil gets changed, the fuel filter and air filters get changed, the transaxle oil gets checked and will need to be changed. The wheel bearings and the bushings may need to be repacked or changed.
So perhaps one of you has a hidden talent of being able to tear things apart and fix them. That will be a task that needs to get done.
I am also planning on having a garden in the spring and as such I am making plans for one now in the winter. Because of previous injuries to my hip and knee I need to adapt. I am going to do raised bed gardening this year. It will require a lot of heavy work and it will not be an easy task. I will be collecting materials a little bit at a time over the winter so that in the spring I can build the beds, remove the old sod, tear up the ground underneath the sod, and fill the boxes with fertile soils. I have hard clay to deal with and so it is a very difficult task.
Because I spend very little time in the house during the summer any work/ repairs that need doing get done during the winter. This years challenges are ripping up old carpeting and vinyl floor coverings. It involves heavy lifting.I have to move an upright grand piano in the living room to get the carpeting out. In the bathroom, I am going to have to lift the toilet off of its fastening in order to get the old vinyl floor coverings out from under it. It is also heavy work and can be frustrating to get things lined up again properly.
I also have a window that needs to be framed and a door that needs to be framed. Once those tasks are complete I'll have to do more taping, sanding and painting.
These are my winter projects for this year and what I will be doing.

I have not asked people for help with these tasks because many people feel that Brian should be doing them and they get angry with him when he doesn't do them so I don't bother asking. But Heavenly Father wants me to ask so I'll ask for help. I am not in this life to point my finger at people- I simply have work to get done and if I don't get in and do it it doesn't get done. I'm just thankful that it isn't spring or summer yet because then life really gets busy.

One of my other winter tasks has been to shovel out the driveway after it snows. I find that task very relaxing and I enjoy it but it does take about five hours of constant labor to clear it. I use a shovel but Brian recently borrowed a snow blower to clear it as I am still on weight restrictions. unless it snows again, I won't need help with that task. My sister has been good about helping me to keep the barn clean but I hope to be able to do that task again as soon as I am off restrictions. I miss not working with the geese and chickens. I see the doctor on the 18th and perhaps by then he will release me so that I can get busy with things.
If any of you feel like you would like to help with any of these tasks please let me know. Like I said I wouldn't normally ask for your help but Heavenly Father has told me to, so now I've done it.