HOME, OR GOING HOME?

With two missionaries going home early each of the last two weeks, I (Russell) really didn’t think things could get more eventful this week; but they did.  In addition to having three days of zone conferences this week, during which I and some of the senior missionaries dealt with cars in the pouring rain, we once again had two more missionaries return home early.  The first of the two, we were asked to escort to SLC where the missionary was met by parents and other family members.  We had only to wait a few hours after dropping off this missionary before Eileen received a call from Missouri, forecasting the first of this coming week’s challenges.

 

The sister missionary we accompanied home had been taken by ambulance to the hospital just a week before.  Others, far above our paygrade, decided it best that she return home, where she could better access the medical help she required.  Normally, only Eileen would have accompanied the sister missionary.  But since Eileen is having problems with her foot and in a boot, and the sister needed to have someone push her in a wheelchair, I got to go along. Although disappointed at having to go home early, the sister was delightful. By the time we got to SLC she was asking Eileen to come to her wedding someday (no current boyfriend).  As we approached the place where she would meet her family, I asked her if she wanted to continue in the wheelchair or be walking when her parents would first see her.  She said she wanted to try and walk.  Eileen helped her stand up and then the sister locked arms with Eileen, wanting her to be right by her side until she got to her parents.  After hugging her father, the sister sat back down in the wheelchair.

 

The second missionary that went home this week was an elder that we have both grown to greatly respect.  He had been diagnosed several weeks ago with a problem that could require him to go home.  The doctor here felt the problem needed to be addressed soon, while our Area Medical Advisor and another doctor in the Missionary Department thought it could wait until after the elder’s mission was finished.  The decision was made to try and see another local doctor for second opinion.  When we went with the elder for the second opinion appointment, the office couldn’t find his appointment that Eileen had made.  As the elder and his companion had driven an hour and a half to get there, Eileen was not happy.  The office suggested that we see a different doctor the following week at a location in Kansas.  While Eileen was frustrated, the elder said that he felt after praying about it, that he was going to have to go home, and so he was not as much frustrated as resigned to that expected result.  The next week, we and the missionaries made the long trip to the appointment on the other side of town. We were seeking the second opinion from a partner of the doctor who gave the first opinion.  This doctor had a unique specality directly applicable to this Elder’s situation.  He told the elder and Eileen that he disagreed with his partner, that the situation was actually more serious than first diagnosed, and that it did need to be addressed as soon as possible.  The doctor knew that this was a second opinion, and when told where the elder was from said something to the effect of, I know of a doctor at the University of Utah who specializes in this.  With his referral, the elder’s parents have been able to arrange to get the elder in quickly following his return home.  Eileen was commenting how she felt the Lord had led them to the second doctor, which would have only occurred if the first scheduled second opinion appointment had not taken place.  It was as if God was saying, “Good job Eileen in seeking a second opinion, you’re just not seeking it from the right doctor, let me help.”

 

As we were driving away from the SLC airport Thursday evening, Eileen asked me, “Does it feel to you like we are coming home or leaving home (in Independence)?”  It was strange that both of us felt like home was in Missouri.  Even after sleeping in my own bed for a night, I felt like I needed to get back home to deal with problems there.  Yes, there are problems ahead, and no, I still don’t love cars; but it is the concept of “back home” that pleasantly surprises me.

 

We did get to see our son Jon for a few minutes.  He is doing a great job of taking care of the house, for which we are very grateful.   

For our Monday Senior Missionary FHE, we went to the Midwest Genealogy Center. I was told it is the largest public genealogy library in the world. There are mounds of documents and microfiche there. I (Eileen) found it quite fascinating. Russell was not able to attend.

I found this 1955 phone book from Boulder, Colorado. I lived in Boulder from 1964 until marriage

This book is over 100 years old and is one of the books our records preservation missionaries are scanning.

Elder Christiansen, who is one of our missionaries working in this library, showing other senior missionaries a book from 1914.   Elder Christiansen served as a young missionary in Indonesia about the same time that Russell did.

When we first got here, I was dismayed at how many missionaries did not respond to my requests regarding their health. I figured instead of being negative, I would label certain missionaries gold star missionaries. Russell thinks it is like being in primary, but indeed our missionaries are only 6 years out of primary.  When they truly take the effort to be diligent about their health and report back to me when requested, they become a gold star missionary for that transfer period.  I write them a customized note praising their effort and they get to pick out something out of my gold star box.  One missionary grabbed the bottle of Tylenol PM in the box and said excitedly, "I need this so badly."

                                         Our young missionary returning home.