On April 15th, at 9:30 in the morning, Alvin will be checking into the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah for a kidney transplant. He will be in the hospital for 5 to 7 days, on the tenth floor. Any of you who would like to be here, please let me know and I'll do what I can to find accommodations for you.

As many of you may or may not know, it is a beautiful woman who was a Laurel when I was the Young Women President who is giving Alvin her kidney. Her generosity and gift of life is tremendous and Alvin and I pray daily that the windows of heaven have opened and blessings and protections poured out upon her and her sweet family. Tara's husband Billy returns from Baghdad at the end of May. She wants, and indeed needs, to be completely healed by then and so it is necessary this surgery take place this month. That is why April 15th was chosen.

Alvin and I have been working out, and are very grateful to Gold's Gym for making things work for us so that Alvin could work out when he was feeling good, no matter what time of the day or night. Because of this we've been getting in a minimum of 4 workouts a week. Sometimes we can go for 45 minutes to an hour, sometimes just 20 or 30 minutes. It truly depends what Alvin has had to do the day before. He's cut out the pop and sweets and is eating very healthy now, within the limits of his kidney dictated diet. He has continued to lose weight and I am so proud of him. But because of time constraints he has not been able to lose everything he needed to. (He's lost 20 pounds in the last four weeks, but now they want another 30 gone before the surgery.)

We are very excited about the upcoming transplant, and it is indeed the prayers offered by many of you which have brought this about. When Alvin and I spoke to our social worker (Mark) and the transplant team we were assured everything was covered by Alvin's insurance and Medicare. We learned we would not have to pay a dime for the transplant. Which is really good, because the $250,000 price put me into sticker shock that took a couple of days to come out of. Since that time, some added expenses have shown, most of which we've been able to take care of--thank heavens.

This is probably the most difficult email I will ever write. When the new kidney is put in Alvin it will be placed right behind the abdominal wall. Any excess weight on the stomach can cause damage to the new kidney, which is why Alvin and I have been working so hard to get that last 50 pounds off him. As many of you know, he was at 425 when we began working out. He is now at 290. I am so incredibly proud of him! He's worked so hard to get himself in the position where he could get the transplant.

He still has 50 pounds to go, he's lost weight from everywhere and all that's left is the trunk of his body, which has also reduced in size, drastically. But not enough. The transplant team is insisting that they perform a tummy tuck to remove the remaining weight before they implant the new kidney. They will be doing both at the same time. Or rather, tummy tuck and then they will immediately put the new kidney in before they close up. This part is not covered by the insurance, although we have tried. They have reduced the cost to $2,500, which, as I understand it, is a screaming deal. Had we had a little more time we could have worked things out so that we would have these funds. But we do not have the time.

As I said, this is the most difficult thing I have ever had to ask. I have set up a Paypal Account specifically for this effort to raise the rest of the funds. Some of you have been very generous already and Alvin and I are eternally in your debt. I know times are tight right now and so if donating anything is beyond your means at this time, please know that we are still grateful for the great love you have for Alvin and the prayers you offer on his behalf. But if you are able to donate $5, $10, $15, $25 or more, we will be grateful for every dollar.

You may donate via www.paypal.com using the email address for these donations (candace.salima@gmail.com.) The funds will be downloaded from the Paypal account and into the bank account set up specifically for this purpose. You will be able to use your checking account, debit card or credit card to make the donation. This was the easiest way I could come up with.

Again, this is a very difficult thing to ask but I do appreciate anything anyone can do to help. Alvin and I pray that all is going well in each of your lives and hope that the time will come soon when life makes a change for the better for all of us.

May God bless each one of you,
Alofa Tele

I was tagged by Keeley over at Wanderer in a Strange Land and Jen over at Lords of the Manor. I'm supposed to write seven things about me, and I assume they are supposed to be interesting.

Hmmmm. I'm not sure I really have anything interesting, but I'll give it a shot.

1. I'm a serious chocoholic. I mean really, if I could have a hot fudge (really, really, really LOVE hot fudge) brownie sundae, with moosetracks ice cream and drowning in hot fudge and caramel, every single day of my life . . . it's possible I'd be a fulfilled woman. Well yeah, I'd weigh 600 pounds and be unable to do anything but eat hot fudge brownie sundaes which is a sad statement in and of itself, come to think of it. See, that's my idea of heaven. A hot fudge brownie sundae every day of eternity and not a single health problem in sight! Slim, trim and a hot fudge brownie sundae every day and toss in a good sirloin . . . yeah, that's heaven.




2. My great-great-great-great grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He is reputed to have been one of George Washington's bodyguards, although I don't know if we can verify that. One day, he and a friend decided they'd had enough of the Revolution and decided to head home. Just a mile or two into the journey, Grandpa decided it wasn't an honorable thing to do and turned around and headed back. Later, he learned that his friend had been struck by lightning. Had Grandpa not turned back . . . my ancestry might have been very different. It is possible this fierce love I have of my country comes from my ancestors who have fought in every war since the beginning of the founding of this country. I actually do take it as a personal affront when people try to destroy what my ancestors shed their blood to provide for their posterity, me.




3. I had my 15 minutes on the world stage when I appeared on The Phil Donahue Show in defense of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the priesthood and the righteous men of the Church.

A woman named Deborah Laake had written a book called Secret Ceremonies: Diary of a Mormon Woman. It was a betrayal of all things good and righteous. I had nothing but disgust for her until I read the book and then I pitied her beyond all imagination.

It was a serious of events that took me to the Donahue stage in 1993. But once I arrived I knew that I'd placed myself in somewhat of a precarious position. It suddenly occurred to me that although I considered myself Candace Sluyter (maiden name) Mormon woman, the world would consider me Candace Sluyter Mormon Church. I suddenly realized I hadn't even told my bishop I was doing this. I think panic might be too mild of a word for what coursed through my body.

High in a room in the Drake Hotel in downtown Manhattan, I knelt next to my bed and began to pray. I prayed more fervently than I have ever prayed, begging and pleading with my Father in Heaven to forgive my arrogance and grant me peace and the knowledge that that someone, anyone from heaven, would be with me. I begged Him to not let me lose my temper. I begged Him for my brain to not go blank.

A peace, warm and light pervaded my soul that touched me to the center of my being. I knew, more than at any other time in my life, that there was a God, I felt Him that day in that hotel room in New York City. This changed me, for I became more focused on the gospel and on sharing it with as many people as I possibly could. I began doing firesides, speaking anywhere I was invited and I continue to do so today.

It was a unique experience that bolstered my testimony to monumental proportions. Many more miracles occurred that day, from the desert sands of New Mexico, to a corporation in the beautiful Utah Valley . . . people prayed for my efforts and were touched in unspeakably beautiful ways. It was a blessing and an honor to play a part in something that touched so many lives, including my own.

1. I know this will come as a shock, but I like to read. I'd love to have a library like this one day, except . . .




2. without the old people sitting around pontificating.




3. warmer surroundings with one of those great ladders I've seen in old British movies.




4. room for long tables which will hold all my research without me having to put it away or stack it every night.




5. warm, beautiful tones that compliment the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of books I will own.




6. warm comfortable couches surrounding the fireplace in this incredible library.

Big sigh . . . instead, I have my cramped little office with the shelves my husband lovingly built me covered with my paperbacks. But I actually have the blueprints for the type of library I want, including a source to buy one of those cool ladders that are anchored to rail that allows it to slide around the library. Then I can have shelves to the very top of the vaulted ceilings I plan on having.

1. When I was a little girl we moved every six months until I was almost thirteen years old. My mother began raising goats when she found out we were all allergic to cows milk. When I was seven-years-old my best friend was a French Alpine kid goat, named Buffy. I don't have a picture of her, but this is very similar to what she looked like, except she was a doe.

Every day, when I came home from school, Buffy would come racing around the corner of the house to greet me. She was the cutest little goat and I adored her. We'd jump and run and play all over the property.

There are many aspects of farm living I really miss, the animals being the largest part.

1. Everyone knows that I'm the author of three books and two booklets. But did you know that I have also written five screenplays? I actually wrote screenplays before I ever wrote a book.

The interesting part? Well, after a short stint of trying to sell my scripts to Hollywood I've had to walk away from three potential investors because of the following:

a) turned out the investors' funds were extremely suspect, as in Soprano suspect.

b) turned out the film production company interested in making one of my screenplays into a movie was a producer of porn films!

c) turned out the monies my investor was controlling were Saudi Arabian funds. Probably don't need to go into anymore details on that one.

I still have hopes that I'll be able to have my scripts made into movies one day. I may give up on the owning of my own production company and turn the whole headache over to someone else. Of course, when I was doing that a porn company almost got one of my scripts! I don't really want to know what changes they were going to make. Ugh!

1. I think I'm going to skip Number 7 and just give an update on Alvin. He's still in IMC, they are having some difficulty getting his calcium stabilized. Of course, my husband is unnaturally strong and so we roam the halls of the 2nd floor, pop on out to the balcony and catch some fall sun and generally do everything we can to keep Alvin occupied. His sick enough to be here, but still strong enough to be ancy about the continued confinement. So we have Quiddler, which is the coolest game ever. Sete stops by every night, of course he'll be on lockdown Friday night because of the game, but Alvin and I so much enjoy his visits. Heather and Aaron brought the kids by to let us see them in their costumes and we spent a half hour visiting with them in waiting room. So all in all, we're hanging in there and trying do everything we can to get Alvin stabilized.

That's it for today, their just finishing up Alvin's dialysis session and we're going for another walk.

Everyone have an absolutely fantastic day.

One of my favorite dinners when I was little was Mom's homemade chili beans and flapjacks (or frybread as others like to call it.)

I swear, the very best way to eat this chili is up in the mountains, a cool fall evening and the scent of pine trees in the air.

This is the most delicious chili in the world. I kid you not!

So if you live in the city, get a pine scented candle, mix up some killer chili beans and treat your family to a little bit of my childhood memories.

Each of my mother's children has taken this recipe and carried the tradition onward, as my mother did with the recipe from her mother.

Mama Micki's Chili

Soak 4½ pounds of Pinto Beans in water, overnight.

Rinse beans and fill pan with water again.

Put in on the stove on low to medium and let it cook until beans are tender. (This will take two or three hours, depending.) Once the beans are tender, add ingredients and seasonings as follows:

5 lbs. of Browned Hamburger
3 oz. Gebhardt’s Chili Powder (The brand really does make a difference.)
1 t. Sweet Basil
½ t. Cumin
1 T. Oregano
1 to 3 Hunts Tomato Sauce (8 oz. Cans (Again, the brand really does make a difference.))
1 can Peeled Tomatoes
3 Cloves Garlic
1 Medium Onion
Salt to taste.
Pepper to taste.

Simmer for several hours, stirring intermittently. With a couple hours of cooking to go, season to taste. If you want it a little hotter, add more chili powder and pepper. Top each bowl or cup of chili with delicious shredded cheddar cheese. Serve with hot homemade bread, scones or cornbread.

Check back next Monday for a screamin' homemade bread recipe that you can mix up right in your breadmaker. It's a wonderful addition to this chili.

To make flapjacks, take the bread dough I'll be giving you a recipe for next week and pinch off medium size balls of dough. Flatten and pull them into flat round pieces of dough and fry in hot oil, both sides. Then it's great for dipping in the chili beans.

By the way . . . great for breakfast! Scrambled eggs topped with chili and cheese.

You can’t go wrong there.

Happy Eating. everyone. I love to cook so much. Right now, with the hospital food being my main sustenance every day . . . all day . . . I'm longing for my kitchen and all the great food I whip up.

I am now officially blogging for a fantastic new website called LDSBlogs.com. I am so excited about this opportunity to share my knowledge of the gospel. I am blogging in two different categories: Leaders in the Church and Learning More About the Church. I couldn't have asked for a more tailor-made job.

Today, as I wrote my very first posts I felt a light-filled joy sweep through me. There is really nothing I love more than sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. It brings untold amounts of happiness. If I could just travel around and do firesides, of course be independently wealthy so that I could afford it, I would be the happiest person on the face of the earth. Testifying of Christ across the globe? Are you kidding me? That would be incredible.

I prayed so hard for a job that would bring the needed amount of income and allow me to still stay home and manage my husband's care and illness. Working out of the home was something that simply was not an option. This job was an answer to prayer. Pure and simple, there is no denying that fact.

So I'm going to be very bold, even bodacious and I'm going ask all of you a HUGE favor. Would you please add these to your daily trip through Blogland. Please, please, please make comments when you do drop by. The more traffic I pull in the greater my bonuses. So if you drop by, please make a comment. See you there! And please spread the news, if you will? http://ldsblogs.com.

Attention! Spread the word far and wide everyone, here are the six finalists in the Best Husband in the World contest. They were chosen by committee, but the winner will be decided by you. You are welcome to leave as many comments as you'd like, but your vote will only count if you check the poll to the right and vote for your top three candidates.

Each of the husband's nominated were truly amazing men who proved my point that they do exist! This contest is a celebration of men who have lived up to the promises, delivered on the hopes and stood by us every step of the way. Thank you to each of you, all of your stories touched my heart. Drop by my blogspot (http://candacesalima.blogspot.com) and read about the finalists and cast your vote!

Okay, I'll admit it. Anne Bradshaw over at Not Entirely British did a really good thing and I am shamelessly borrowing from her idea of spotlighting the most amazing youth in the world. I think it is incredible what she has done and the youth that are the finalists in her contest are truly amazing. If you haven't gone to her blog yet, read about them and vote, you're going to want to do that as soon as you're done reading mine, submitting a nomination and generally recognizing that I'm the greatest blogger to ever walk the earth . . . all right, all right, you don't have to do that last part. As long as it exists in my mind I'm okay with that.

Announcing the Best Husband in the World Contest

I want to celebrate the most amazing husband in the world. Each of us married the man of our dreams, I certainly married mine. Alvin and I met at BYU in the hallway outside of Greek and Roman Mythology Class in 1983. There was no turning back, although it did take us being friends, then dating, then getting engaged, then breaking up and being apart for eight years, me being on national television which precipitated contact again, two more years and an intriguing three days which culminated in yet another engagement and finally marriage on May 4, 1995. There is SO much more to that story but you'll have to click here to get that, there's just not enough room in this blog, nor is it the purpose. (Let me just momentarily digress and say, man I loved that hair of mine.)

Since that day, I have been married to the most wonderfully attentive man who pays attention to my moods, my wishes, my hopes and my dreams. He comes home every day and calls my name the second he walks in the house. He greets me with a hug and a kiss and tells me he loves me. Through eight miscarriages he held me, cried with me, loved me and cherished me. Through six years of kidney failure we have walked that frightening path hand in hand, my husband never faltering as he suffered through multiple hospital stays, dialysis (3x a week, 5 hrs/day) and the subsequent financial difficulties. Hard to believe we've only been married twelve years when it feels as if we have been together a lifetime.

Through it all he has remained strong, worthy and is truly a man among men. I would not trade him for any other man in the world and count myself blessed every single day that we have another day on earth together. I count myself blessed that he was worthy to go the temple and we were sealed for all time and eternity and that we have lived up to those covenants.

My husband is a good man who loves his family, friends, neighbors, coworkers . . . pretty much all he comes into contact with. He has a God-given gift of reaching into the hearts of the troubled and reminding them of who they are and what they can accomplish. He loves music, oh he loves music (let's not get into the Temptations vs. the Osmonds thing.) But he makes sure that we see the movies I want, I have the books I enjoy and lovingly pushes me out the door to have lunch with friends. He simply ROCKS! I love him more than I can say.

Because I know there are other husbands just as wonderful out there, from now until midnight November 30, 2007 I will be taking nominations via this email address ces@candacesalima.com. The six finalists will be posted, please send a picture with the nomination, on December 1, 2007 when voting will commence and the winner will be chosen by you. Sadly, because it would just be skewed, my husband cannot win although I think he'd be a shoe in. On December 15, 2007 the winner will be announced.

I'll spend the next two months finding some great prizes for the finalists as well as the Grand Prize. As each prize is added, I will post them in the right hand column. Of course, certificates will be awarded that will be suitable for framing. So start nominating! Tell me about your husband and why you think he is the Best Husband in the World!