Everything hinges upon desire.  The Lord blesses us according to our desires.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me, so it shall be unto you.”  (D&C 6:8).

“For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.”  (D&C 137:9).

What are my desires?  I have a short list:

I am praying to be able to outlive Marjorie.  I want to be able to take care of her as she slips into dementia.  I'm the best one to do it.  I understand her best.  She depends upon me and trusts me.  She's most comfortable with me.  Caring for her is my number one desire.  However, if the Lord has other plans for us, each of our children has voiced their willingness to care for their mother, so either way will be OK.

Number two desire is that every one of my grandchildren may grow up with a strong testimony, be married in the temple, be of service in the kingdom of God, and be as happy as Marjorie and I are.  We are very close to being on target for meeting that goal.

I want to be an influence for good in the lives of my grandchildren.  I think the best way for that to happen is through the writings that I will leave behind.  I think that there is great power and inspiration in those writings.  I'm hopeful that they will use them in daily devotionals as they teach their own children.  My children have hard copies of all of my writings, and I think have read them to their children so that they're acquainted with what I've written.  But as they leave home, they don't have access to my books.  Somehow I have to get my writings into their hands.  I either need to gift each married couple a set of books, or have Kevin make digital copies available online.  He is currently too busy to do it.

My major desire and goal in life was to be in the temple with all 10 of my children at the same time.  I achieved that goal when Eli and Allie were married in the Rexburg Temple.  All 10 children were worthy, and all 10 were there.

My next goal and desire is similar.  I want to be in the temple with my living brother and sister as they and our deceased brother and sister are sealed to our parents.  That is currently not possible because of their spouses who are opposed to their interest in the Church.  The realization of this goal is in the hands of God.

Those are my principal desires and goals.  I have others:

I want to continue to be of service.  I will do that through service as a patriarch, and service in the temple.  I desire to do temple work for all of the descendants of my third great grandparents, and for all of the spouses thereof.  That involves locating them and ensuring that the vital statistics of each are accurate and in proper order.  I have completed the work for 10 of my 16 sets of 3^rd great grandparents.  I am working on the 11^th.

I had a goal to be like my eldest son, and to be able to say that I'd read the Book of Mormon once for every year of my life.  I achieved that goal at about the age of 72 by reading the book multiple times per year.  When I reached that goal I couldn't quit reading.  I couldn't shake the habit of reading multiple pages per day.  So now my goal is to finish my 100^th reading of the Book of Mormon on President Russell M. Nelson's 100^th birthday next September 9^th.  I'm on target to reach that goal as I read six pages each evening.  I can read no more nor no less than six pages per day.  In five more days I will complete my 97^th reading.  (I achieved this goal).

Those are my desires.  They are all righteous desires.  I'm sure of their being fulfilled.  I just have to be good, and to keep doing what I'm doing.

I am very, very happy with my life.  I envy no one.  Things are perfect.  I am blessed beyond measure.  Over and over and over again I ask, “Why me?”  I only desire to be able to hang on, endure, and to be faithful.

I love Jesus Christ who has made this all possible.  He has kept His promise to bless me according to my desires.  He dramatically changed my desires when I came to know Him.  They're all being fulfilled, and I am full of joy and gratitude.