The past week has been a roller coaster of emotions and illness. It has been a difficult time for us in our absence from Ray's funeral. It seems so surreal and not being there has made it impossible to connect with the reality of him being gone. From a distance it sounds like to family has rallied in an effort to fill the void marked by his passing. The next few weeks and months will provide an interesting view into the willingness of the family to pull together and take care of each other as unforeseen issues reveal themselves. There is reason for optimism based on what I have seen so far.
Nina has been sick for much of the past 10 days. It has been really discouraging and very scary for her. She has had some gastro-intestinal issues (if you can imagine). These issues have forced her to stay close to the apartment with little exposure to the outside. Then last Sunday evening, during a bout of vomiting, she came out of the bathroom sobbing like little girl and in extreme pain from a headache. This headache persisted for the entire week with no signs of any improvement until yesterday morning when she arose feeling semi-normal (not all that great when you consider her normal state). She is one of the toughest people that I know for putting up with her "normal" issues and then all of this on top of it. It was definitely the worst health week she has experienced in the 14 months since we have been out. She is feeling better today than yesterday. Hopefully, this is all behind her now.
I have been struggling to remain effective in our current assignment using the young missionaries and some of the temple missionaries that are bored out of their gourd because the Temple has been closed for two weeks and does not open until October 1st. We had four Elders over for dinner last night and four Sisters for dinner tonight. So is back to the real senior missionary life for Nina whether she is ready or not.
The Heath's will be leaving for home on Wednesday. They are a senior couple that served as the mission health advisor. We have gotten really close to them and it will be difficult to see them go. We will take them to the airport at 4:00A with all of their luggage that represents eighteen months in the mission field. They even have a grandbaby that they have not yet seen. They are excited about it all. The Brook's are the couple that got here this week to replace the Heath's. I realized today in church that they have only been here for three days. He is a urgent care doctor. They also have been assigned for 23 months like us. They are nervous about it but we should be able to help them out with our experience and confidence. Like new young missionaries they were asking if the time goes by faster than their first three days. It is pretty cute. The friendships that we have made in the mission field will last for the remainder of our lives. These are good people with expertise and experiences that has truly made an impact on the mission, the lives of young missionaries and on us.
I am not including any photos this week and some of the experiences of the week will need to wait for next week's blog, since the Sisters will be here in a few moments.
We love and appreciate all of you. For your strength and your encouragement. This has been a life experience. It has been made better by you and your constant communication and love.
Thank you
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