A BUSY SUNDAY

Last week I (Russell) decided to write the blog on Saturday rather than Sunday because after our church meetings in the morning we were planning on taking a car to a location that would take up most of the rest of the day.  While I am glad we did that, neither of us would have guessed that 24 hours later we would have had so much more to write about. 

Last Sunday started for us with Eileen getting a 4:00 am call from a sick elder.  I agreed to go give a blessing to this elder with his companion.  Before I even got back, the elder called with more severe symptoms and Eileen had them head to the ER.  At 6:30 am Eileen got a call from a sister missionary with acute abdominal pains.  This time we were both dressed, so when Eileen sent that sister to the ER, we went so Eileen could be with her.  Watching the sister walking in the waiting room to manage the pain and seeing her with severe nausea symptoms, I told Eileen that it looked like a kidney stone to me.  It was also apparent that Eileen would need to stay with her and that I should look for another person to drive one of the two vehicles to Brookfield.  I ran over to Sacrament meeting, and then called Elder Dennison (a new senior elder) to see if he could both go with me to deliver the car and also drop by the hospital to give a blessing to the young sister who by then had been diagnosed as having a 7 mm kidney stone.  The morning left me grateful for several things: the power of priesthood blessings, access to good medical care, and a wonderful spouse who truly does care about the welfare of the missionaries here.

After dropping off the car, we went and found the site of the accident.  I was curious to see the “bump” in the road that the elders had hit that caused them to go airborne.   Turns out that “bump” was a steep 8–10-foot sudden rise in the road and then a drop just as steep on the other side of an otherwise straight road.  To me it looked like a man-made barrier on either side of the small stream to shelter the fields and distant homes should the stream overflow.  Conveniently, no pictures had been provided to me by the elders of the hill which functioned as their take-off ramp.  The car flew 2-3 car lengths before hitting on its’s nose, flipping and then skidding on its side into another hill which knocked the car back upright.  It is amazing what becomes clear when you see the scene of an accident.

During the two-hour drive back home, I got to know Elder Dennison better.  Perhaps it is because of the shared purpose of our work and the relatively few other adults we meaningfully associate with, that I began to feel comfortable disclosing a few personal things to him.  I also asked if he would be willing to give me a priesthood blessing once we got home.  Before Christmas I has a single episode of frank bleeding.  After seeing two doctors and having multiple tests, I was going in for a more invasive test/scoping the next day.  The test was looking for bladder cancer and Eileen has been quite concerned for the two-and-a-half months we have waited for this more definitive test.  I am grateful for the blessing and the findings the next day that no cancer was evident.

On Sunday, our District Leader, Elder Bradford and his wife spoke in the Riverview Branch sacrament meeting.  The branch is the Church unit in the center of Kansas City, perhaps the least prosperous area of our mission.  The Bradfords are going home this coming week, and this was their farewell to the branch.  During the middle of Elder Bradford’s talk, one of the friends/investigators present decided to stand up and declare that he was Jesus Christ and was called to convert the residents of Missouri.  Having served in the branch for a year, Elder Bradford was not as surprised as I would have been.  He simply thanked the man for attending and then continued with his talk.  Two young missionaries and a member of the branch presidency escorted the man to the foyer to discuss the matter further.  Inner city congregations can be interesting.

Every other Monday evening the senior missionaries gather for a dinner and FHE.  Monday evening, I presented on the humanitarian projects we were involved with in Indonesia.  Eileen helped me gather almost a hundred photos for the presentation.  I think the seniors enjoyed the pictures more than hearing me talk, so I kept it moving and we were done in half an hour.  But then the questions started.  I think it could have gone on for an hour if we had let it. 

Tuesday morning, I drove the truck into the office.  I needed to load it for the zone conferences we would be having Wednesday through Friday.  It was a good thing I didn’t wait to drive with Eileen, as she had 14 calls and text messages by 8 am.  It was a busy morning for her.

Oh, and we had two more wrecks this week.  One was while backing up in a parking lot.  Yes, the companion had been standing, as required, in back of the car; fortunately, a little off to one side. Because while the elder standing in back was distracted by another car, his driving companion couldn’t see in his mirror because of “sun glare.”  The second accident was just another deer encounter, one in which both sides lost.

Sister Campbell with Russell and Elder Dennison after getting a blessing.  She has a big kidney stone, the guy on the other side of the curtain in the ER also had a kidney stone and was moaning and swearing. At one point she called out to him and said "I will pray for you, it sounds like you are in so much pain."  He actually responded with a thank you to her. At that point she was in a significant amount of pain herself, but was quietly suffering. I was very impressed that she would reach out to someone else, even when she was hurting so badly. 

Russell, Eileen and Elder and Sister Bradford. He was our district leader, they both helped with cars every Zone Conference, and they were our eating out buddies. They go home this week. We will miss them!

Elder Albrecht and Elder Karren. Elder Albrecht makes a matching tie for each companion.  The two elders went to Hobby Lobby the night before Zone Conference to buy some fabric. Then Elder Albrecht made them before the next day.  I (Eileen) was very impressed.