Yesterday officially
started the ¨Rainy Season¨ here in Guatemala...they say that they have four
seasons here (winter spring summer and fall) but that´s not really true.
There´s two different ways the weather can be: wet or dry. And after 6 months
of being dry....we got soaked.
I had forgotten how hard
it rains until this last week.
And when it rains, it
pours. (And I´m meaning this in a literal and metaphorical sense...so bear with
me)
How was my week?
Where do I start?
Last Saturday, I didn´t
exactly just ´get better´ after catching the cold that had been wafting in the
office air. In fact, I actually got worse! At the end of the day Elder Gil and
I ended up just staying in the house and eating Taco Bell, and then going to
bed early because I felt so lousy.
Besides the tacos, my
P-Day last week wasn´t so fun.
On Easter Sunday I woke
up feeling significantly better and ready to go to church. It was a really good
service, and also a very interesting program: everyone who gave talks in
Sacrament Meeting spoke Spanish as a second language. A senior missionary
couple spoke, an English Teacher spoke, among others (not me). My heart was
really touched by the spirit as I thought about how powerful Language really
is, words really do in a way, define culture. What we say is a reflection of
who we are, our thoughts, emotions and feelings. Learning Spanish has opened so
many doors for me! A plethora of people that I wouldn´t have been able to
communicate with before have now touched my heart.
Words are powerful.
Although the most powerful words that we have the power to use are our own
proper testimonies.
Elder Richard G. Scott
said in a General Conference address, ¨But a testimony is not emotion. It is
the very essence of character woven from threads born of countless correct
decisions.¨ What power we all have at our disposal! With simple words we can
testify of the things that we know for certain!
Language is power.
Monday was a difficult
day. I was so stressed out in the offices it wasn´t even funny! There were so
many people at the offices, and so much to do! The good part was that the
Lord sent one of my very best friends in the Mission to lighten the mood, Elder
De Carvalho from Brasil! He recently became a Zone Leader and stopped by to
pick up some things for his zone. Being able to talk with a friend put things
into perspective and re-adjusted my mood.
Tuesday was good and
normal!
On Wednesday, the
electric company cut the electricity of about a billion houses in the mission
(like, three) because they weren´t paying their bills. So we had to go and pay
to get it turned back on!
The fun part was that I
got to explore a lot of different banks here in Guatemala, all the fancy
buildings and everything. But I had to learn the hard way that you´re not
allowed to use your cell phone while you´re there....my companion told me that
that´s a worldwide thing...but that´s never happened to me in the states!
Who knows.
On Thursday I reached the
9-month mark of my mission! Woo Hoo! I was talking to Hermana Brown from my MTC
group, she was freaking out because that means that she, and the other sister
missionaries who entered with me, are now half way through!
Craziness!
And well...yesterday was
Interesting.
I´ll explain. In my left
wrist, I got this big bump, a ¨ganglion cyst¨ (look it up on Wikipedia) it
comes from over usage of the hands, or something like that...it had gone away
for about 6 months, until I came to the offices...and then it came back. In two
weeks it got really, really big, and started to hurt badly. So I talked to the
mission nurse to see if we could set up an appointment to go and get it checked
out.
And that´s what we did
yesterday.
The only problem was
that, the treatment for this thing is...painful.
They used a hypodermic
needle and just stabbed it right in, then, instead of injecting fluids, the
intent was to suck out the fluids that had caused this bump.
It hurt REALLY bad.
Except the problem was that the fluids in my wrist were too thick and the
doctor wasn´t able to take out anything.
So he stabbed it in
again. I am so thankful for the mission nurse, Sister Trapnell (she´s from Springville
UT), she said ¨It´s okay Elder Monson, I´ll be your mom for right now.¨ and she
held my hand through the whole thing. But I can honestly say that I haven´t
felt anything else that has ever hurt as bad as that darn needle yesterday.
And the problem was that
it yielded no results. (you already know how bad I am around needles). By the
time he put a band-aid on the wound my face was completely pale and my heart
was racing.
I was so close to passing
out it wasn´t even funny. They elevated my feet and everything to get the color
back in my face and told me to just lie down.
Good old Ganglion
Cysts...causing me pain.
So...that was an
adventure.
And then it rained.
And now I´m here!
So It was an interesting week to say the least....
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