Ixtapuluca 5 (MEXICAN HOSPITALIZATION!!)

Before I start, relax. I´m fine. Don´t freak out. I just really really wanted to title this entry that way. Ha ha ha!!

Okay, so explanation. Here we go . . .

So, what happened was Tuesday I woke up with a lot of pain. No idea why, but I took some Ibebroken and went to work. The whole day I felt really weak. Around 12:00 I threw up in a hole that was the investigator´s toilet. Multiple, multiple times, so I grabbed my companion and we head home, puking 12 times in the street on the way home.

We get home, call the mission doctor, I talk to him on the phone a little bit, do some simple tests, (try to jump, press this part of your stomach in, does it hurt? etc.)

And he tells me, Elder McDonald, tell your companion to call the Mission president, you need to go to Mocell Angeles hospital as soon as possible. I think you have appendicitis.

Whew! So, 4 phone calls, 2 taxis, a metro, and 2 hours later we arrive at this Hospital in downtown Mexico City. Which sounds terrible, but it was actually nicer than some hospitals I have been to in the US. Okay, so I get there, they rush me in IV directly into my arm (which I do not like. Needles are bad, but IV´s? ¡No manche!) They pumped 2 liters of water along with a mixture of GREAT drugs, ha ha! directly into my bloodstream. Test after test after test, no appendicitis. Whew! Only one of the worst cases of Gasto-intestinal Infection that they´ve ever seen. Ha ha ha!! I feel like I hold a record now. 

So they gave me a bunch of pills to take, I had two days bed rest (Worst two days ever. I HATE not working, I felt worthless.)

Then back to work! We finished out the week strong with a whole bunch of baptisms, and as you can tell by the picture, we didn´t have enough baptismal clothes, Ha ha! Now that"s what I call freaking awesome!

So yes, this week had some downs, but WHEW!! Look at the ups!

It also reminds me of one of my favorite poems. Unfortunately, I can´t remember all the lyrics, just the last line.The poem speaks of an oak tree which had been battered and beaten continuously by rain and wind ripping at every fiber of its being. It talked of the pain and turmoil that the tree had to endure, however, the last line is the best part, and can be applied to our lives as well.

I know now, Thanks to you... I´m stronger than I ever knew.

I´ve been in a lot of pain, but it has not affected by ability nor my strive to work. As we were on splits yesterday, Elder Wood (he´s got 6 months here) he asked me how I had developed this Fire and Intense desire for the work, so I explained my story. It was a really neat experience to be able to recall every step that´s gotten me here, and I am thoroughly grateful to God for every single part, because I can see his hand in all of it.

There comes a time when all of us must choose what we guard closely, what we shun, what we will stand and fight for, and when we will run.

"Yes, it´s rather difficult for an egg to grow into a bird, but how much more difficult is it for an egg to learn how to fly? There comes a time when we must decide whether to hatch, or to go bad." - C.S. Lewis

Dare to stand up

Dare to stand alone

Dare to have a testimony

Dare to make it known.

Till we meet again...