Elder Spencer Blanchard is undergoing chemotherapy treatments for metastatic neuroblastoma stage 4 cancer while he is serving as a service missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from his home in the Oregon Salem Mission.
Although some days he cannot leave the house, or even use the stairs without becoming fatigued, he does whatever he can.
“I wanted to serve a mission because I wanted to share the Light of Christ with others,” he said. “I wanted to be able to touch other people’s lives and help in a way that I couldn’t in the position I was in before. I want to make people smile. I want to show them why I love the gospel so much.”
Six years ago, Janalyn Blanchard took her son to the doctor to check an enlarged lymph node on his neck.
The pediatrician called back right after the Blanchards had received word their oldest son had received his mission call.
“So 30 minutes after I was so excited about his oldest brother’s mission call, they used the ‘cancer’ word,” Janalyn Blanchard said.
Soon, then-12-year-old Spencer received a diagnosis of neuroblastoma. Metastatic and stage 4 meant it was in other parts of his body as well.
His mom said: “Neuroblastoma is nothing to mess with because it’s a really aggressive cancer. It’s a very difficult cancer to treat.”
Treatment began at the end of May 2019 and lasted through December 2020, after which Spencer was told there was no evidence of disease — but the family knew neuroblastoma has a high likelihood of relapse.
“Neuroblastoma cells are small and tricky, and they hide. They can hide anywhere,” Janalyn Blanchard said.
The following years included a vaccine trial in New York, a relapse, treatments, another relapse, more treatments and the vaccine trial again — this time in Portland, Oregon, an hour away from his home.
He completed more treatment in August 2024 and filled out his papers for a service mission, knowing he might have to continue treatment. He went back for a scan in March 2025 and found out he had relapsed again, only five days after being set apart as a missionary.
“He had always had the desire and the goal to serve a mission,” his mom said. “We knew that there was a good chance that he would relapse again. We did not expect it as soon as it came.”
Elder Blanchard now has done a couple of rounds of treatment while on his mission but was able to go to April 2025 general conference in Salt Lake City, which was one of his goals.
For the treatments, he goes in every day for a week. His face swells, his skin covers in a rash, and he is quite tired. Sometimes he becomes feverish. He might have one week in every four where he has the energy to leave the house.
But the beauty of a service mission is that he is able to serve as his abilities allow. While Elder Blanchard would like to be at the temple or helping at a local food bank, being immunocompromised right now means his goals are much more tailored to what he can do each day.
“I have a specific goal just to make at least someone smile each day in whatever way I can,” he said. “If I’m feeling well, I’ll take a walk. I could make a post on Facebook, connect to the community, pick up something from around the house, help my mom and compliment someone daily.”
He takes time each day to read the scriptures and joins a video call each Monday with his mission district. He talks to the nurses about the gospel and his mission. He has made YouTube videos to give updates on his health and share the Light of Christ.
His mom said she had to wrestle with her disappointment that Elder Blanchard cannot do all he wanted.
“I had to realign my thoughts to the fact that our Heavenly Father, our Savior, knew exactly what was happening in his body,” she said. “He still got a call, and he was still set apart. Things haven’t looked the way we wanted them to or expected them to, but we’re learning through this.”
Elder Blanchard said he hopes his story can help other people through their own hard trials.
“I don’t worry about the things that I can’t change because I can’t change that I have cancer. I can’t change that treatment is what I need. But what I can change is my attitude about how I look at things,” he said. “I can think about what I can change in my circumstance and I do my best to make it into something that I want. I just try to live in a way that can be a light and an example to others.”
