Russell and Eileen's Church Missions: RELAPSE

Eileen’s recovery from pneumonia took a turn this last week - just not the right direction. Her cough has just persisted and by Tuesday was bad enough she went to the doctor. He proscribed some medications, including another antibiotic, and told her to come back in a week if the cough had not gone away. In church today they read a letter from the Area Presidency over the pulpit. The letter asked members not to attend the temple or other church meetings if the had any flu-like symptoms, including a cough. I (Russell) was glad Eileen had decided to stay home today. She continues to field phone calls from the missionaries about their health and give advice from our apartment.

My activities this past week sound a lot like most other weeks. I have been trying to find and rent apartments, close down old ones, do apartment inspections, and shop for appliances and other apartment items. I think I am the local Ace Hardware and Shop-Wise’s best customer. The novel things this week were: I fixed one sisters apartment’s washing machine; and helped two sisters catch a mouse. If you know me well then you have to admit, my fixing a washing machine that wouldn’t drain is pretty much a miracle.

The mouse on the other hand did not experience a miracle. The sisters had told me they found evidence of a rodent in their kitchen and I advised the sticky-paper/glue type trap. It seems to work well here. However, this time the sisters reported that only hair was found stuck to the glue covered plastic board. So now they had a rodent with a bald spot! Since Eileen was home sick, I took the APs with me and we bought a “live” cage type trap at a hardware store and bait from the local bakery. One of the APs, Elder Ivins, asked me if I was going to tell the sisters what to do with the rodent if they caught it. I told him it would work best if we took it one step at a time. This morning at 6:30 I got a call from the sisters. They had a mouse in the trap and wanted to know what to do with it. I told them to fill a large bucket with water and then put the trap in the bucket. If they had been in the province then perhaps they could have released it “into the wild.” But given where they live in the city, the mouse just got to go cage diving.

This sign was at the door of the hospital. Similar signs (although smaller) are at each mall and store.

View from the front of a jeepney. Russell was sitting in the front giving directions. On one visit he was sitting on a plastic chair which didn't sound very safe to Eileen.