1/1/13 – HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Between Christmas and New Year’s we made
three trips to the emergency room – an experience in and of itself. Friday the 28th we took Elder
Hansen (our eye doctor’s nephew) to be treated for a fungal infection on his
neck. Because of the humidity, if the
elders don’t use after-shave, sometimes the skin becomes irritated from
perspiration and a fungus develops. It
looks like hives or Chicken Pox before they fester, and if it gets really bad
the only way to get rid of it is with an antibiotic. We got to the hospital in late afternoon, got
his medical number and waited to see the doctor. By the time we got through the pharmacy
(remember there is only one on the island that can dispense prescriptions) was
closed, so we had to go back the next day to get his prescription.. Then on New Year’s Eve we went back with
another elder who had a boil on his inner thigh. It had come to a head and popped, but he
needed an antibiotic to treat the infection. That little trip took most of the
day. We spent a quiet evening at home doing paper
work and just relaxing. We usually got
to bed around midnight, but we were in bed by 10:30 – so we didn’t even ring in
the New Year! Go figure…
New Year’s Day started out with another trip
to the emergency room with an elder who had strep throat. We got all the way over to the hospital
(about 40 minutes away) and I realized that I had neglected to get his passport
– which he needed because he had misplaced his medical number (you have to have
a medical number before you can be seen by a doctor or get medication), so we
had to go all the way back home to get it.
By the time we got back to the hospital, get his new card, saw the
doctor and picked up his prescription it was late in the afternoon.
However, we ended the day doing something
so fun. There was a young adult dance
all the way over on the East end of the island.
Some of our institute students told us about it a couple of days before,
and they said they really wanted to go, but had no way to get there. The buses don’t run after 6:00 and none of
them had cars. So of course my awesome
companion offered to take them. We were planning on going over there the next
day anyway to hang the new curtains I had made for one of the missionary houses
for that area, so we decided to kill two chickens with one stone (you would
have to be here to understand chickens
are everywhere) and hang the curtains during the dance. We enjoyed ourselves so
much. Watching them dance brought back
memories of chaperoning youth dances. We
felt right at home. We even danced a few
dances ourselves. Everyone stopped to
watch when we danced a fast dance – Dennis still has the moves he had when we
first met… We stayed until the dance
ended, and by the time we drove back and dropped everyone off, it was 1:30
AM. So even though we didn’t stay up to
welcome in the New Year, we made up for it the next night!
The first couple of weeks of January kept
us busy with transfers. We had 5
missionaries transferred to other areas off island, and 3 go home. We had only 2 come – the others that are
being transferred to our island are waiting for their visas and they won’t be
here for 2 weeks. So needless to say,
our missionaries are doing double duty. We
are in the RAINY season so that adds to the challenge, but the elders (and 2
sisters) don’t let it stop them. The
just “put their shoulder to the wheel and push along”. They are such a great example to us! Only three of the eleven companionships have
vans, and two of them are in for repairs, so we are spending lots of time in
our van shuttling them where they need to go when the busses are not available,
or don’t go to areas they need to be to.
Sometimes I don’t know if we are coming or going, but we always seem to
find our way home. We did find time to
take down the Christmas tree and the outside lights in the middle of all the
chaos.
Friday the mission president is coming
over for Zone Leaders Conference. We
look forward to those meetings every month.
It is such a blessing to be able to attend.
We missed being home for Jessica’s,
McKenna’s and Rhythm’s birthday, but were able to talk to them either by email
or phone, so we felt like we were a part of their special day!
1/8/13 - We attended a baptism today for
the nephew of Elder Jessop, the Area Seventy for the Pacific Islands. What a wonderful experience baptisms are. We never cease to get a thrill out of seeing
someone baptized. After the baptism we
were invited to join the family for refreshments. What a blessing to us to be in such close
contact with one of the Lord’s chosen servants.
His granddaughter, Lauren, has been attending our institute class, but
we never thought we would have the privilege of meeting her grandfather –
another great blessing for us….
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