Mission Nurse for a Weekend

When we received our mission calls, John was called as the Area Medical Advisor for the southern half of the North America Southwest Area, and I was called as a Mission Nurse Specialist for the Texas Houston East Mission. As we were preparing for our mission, we found out that there was a mix up and our mission already had a nurse specialist. I was kind of disappointed, but after we got here and I saw the reality of what John's calling involved and what the mission nurse specialist does, I soon realized that this mix up was a blessing! I have been able to fill in as a nurse in the Houston Mission, and I have taken call for our mission nurse a couple of times when they have been out of town. This weekend was one of those times and it was a busy one! 

We had a missionary get very sick with a stomach virus and they admitted him to the hospital that is here in Kingwood. This photo shows shows his companion and zone leaders that drove him to Kingwood - he is on a bike right now and serving about 45 minutes from here. These young missionaries are so full of love and goodness. It is hard to believe that they are 18 and 19 years old!

Elder Blackburn took this so well! We left the hospital Thursday night at midnight after they came in and said they were going to admit him. We found out the next morning that the hospital was so full that they kept him in the ER in an observation room overnight. At least he had a room - we saw 6 - 8 people on gurneys in the hall. His companion stayed with him because we thought he would have a recliner to sleep in, but instead he slept on the floor in the observation room with a thin blanket and his bag for a pillow! And he is a new missionary - he came to Houston about 10 days ago. 

                                                                             

After 24 hours in the ER, they finally moved him to a room. They initially said that he would be there for 24 to 48 hours while he got IV fluids and antibiotics, but it ended up being 4 nights!! These Elders were so patient, even though we know by the end they were going stir crazy. John and I ran back and forth to check on them multiple times each day and to bring food to the newly arrived missionary, Elder Thacker.

We also went to the doctor Friday morning with this poor elder with a badly sprained ankle. Elder Davis was especially happy that they let him supervise the imaging and so he got to look at this elder's ankle and foot X-rays.

We are really lucky to have an orthopedic doctor living in Florida who is also a physical therapist who is an Orthopedic Medical Advisor the Southeast as well as for 4 missions in our area. She is great resource for MSK problems and injuries; she talk to each missionary by phone and give them detailed written instructions for wearing a boot or brace and for how long. Then she gives them exercises to do and instructs them to wear a brace when they play sports. If they follow her instructions it really helps them not to get re-injured. 

We were running some errands and saw this store - only in Texas!

On Monday, Elder Blackburn was finally released from the hospital. We stopped by the mission office to pick up a car that needed to be delivered to our missionary with the ankle sprain, then headed off in drizzle and fog to deliver the mission car and then the missionaries to their apartment. I was driving the mission car, while John drove the missionaries in our car. I had the address in my phone so they were following me which worked out great until a tunnel that we needed to take was closed because of an accident and it was more that our navigation app could handle! We all got very lost! Finally one of our trusty missionaries used their map to find a way out of the traffic mess we were in and get to the car drop-off. We then went together to get his prescriptions filled shop for a few groceries since they had missed their preparation day. When we finally got them safely to their apartment, the garbage had ripened in their absence....and.....it smelled like rotting meat. (One more trial for them to endure). We were nearly exhausted when we drove home in dense fog - but at least the GPS was working! I have such respect for the mission nurses! They are on call 24/7 and they field a steady stream of calls about everything from stomach aches to headaches to bug bite, dog bites, rashes, sore throats and coughs, car accidents, bike accidents and injuries from having fun on p-day. They are amazing!!

We had another Zone Conference this week and we love getting in on the teaching that the missionaries get from President and Sister Hewlett. President Hewlett talked about a talk given by Elder Bednar - "Becoming a Missionary." He also talked about The Doctrine of Christ and emphasized 2 Nephi 31.  Sister Hewlett talked about Joseph who was sold into Egypt. She asked three questions: 1 - Why didn't he give up?  2 - Why didn't he blame God?  3 - Why was he able to still  trust? The answer is found when you look at what kind of relationship he had with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Then she talked about the parallels between Nephi and Joseph and asked the same three questions. We can also look at Nephi's relationship with his Father in Heaven and the Savior. Then she said, "What do you do when things are hard? Your faith in Jesus Christ will save you!"

These photos are of the missionaries practicing with each other as they talk about their faith and find out about the faith of others. They are so great!

Look at all of this barbecue chicken! There were a lot of hungry missionaries!

The missionaries love gathering and talking and being together - and the senior missionaries enjoy it too! 

While the missionaries are inside being taught, two senior missionaries are outside doing car inspections. They check all of the fluid levels and go through a whole checklist to make sure the cars are safe and that they are clean! 

At the end of the luncheon the missionaries came out to help with the final bit of inspecting headlights and turn signals and just as they did, the skies opened up and the rain came down hard! I think they didn't mind that compared to the heat and humidity of summer.

This morning we had our bi-weekly Spanish class - we love it and learn so much more than Spanish from the teacher, Brother Pomeroy - one of these weeks we'll get his photo! John and I are reading the Book of Mormon aloud in Spanish - it makes our brains hurt, but our stake president promised us that if we would do it, we would become fluent!

We love seeing how much these missionaries enjoy each other - many will be life long friends! 

We have had a hard time finding the right place for John to get a good haircut - but I think the Kingwood Barber Shop is a good one!

Our sweet granddaughter Lizzie turned 9 on Monday! She got to celebrate with her family at Universal Studios and the highlight for her was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter where she was able to buy a wand with her birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa!

Today is this little doll Luna's 1st birthday - we are so excited to see she and her whole family tomorrow when they come for a visit! 

Shauna and family are coming in March for Spring Break, so now we just need to get Kim and the boys and Jessica and Nick on the schedule!

I no longer feel disappointed about the "mix-up" with my calling. I think we are doing just what the Lord wants and needs us to be doing. We love this gospel, we love our Savior and we love our family and the great missionaries we serve with!








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