Here's a little background: Last week, Aug 3rd, we did not hear from him. There was no internet on the island until Thursday. Dallin had another severe infection in his arm and was running a high fever Tuesday and Wednesday, but was unable to contact the nurse because his phone also doesn't work when the internet is down. As soon as it was up and running, he got online to contact his mission president and the nurse. He sent us a quick message that he was on, but we did not see it.
He is doing much better today and is on antibiotics, but the nurse is baffled as to why he keeps getting infections over and over in his arms. She is calling the doctor in the Marshalls to ask for any suggestions. He is having a good attitude about the whole situation and said having a fever is no big deal since he is always roasting hot anyway :) We will continue to pray that someone will be inspired about what to do to keep him healthy. Apparently it is dangerous to be on too many antibiotics in an area with so much water contamination. Wiping out good bacteria in the gut can allow the bad stuff to take over and really cause problems.
Now on to the work...
He is really enjoying working with Elder Pulufana and they are slowly regaining the trust of the members on Abaiang. They are focused on being exactly obedient (which is hard to do with the cultural norms and expectations) and a few of the members have responded by inviting them over for dinner and expressing gratitude for their work. They have quite a few investigators and are pleased with the amount of lessons they are able to teach. One man they are teaching is named Etuati (the Kiribati version of Edward) and has only one leg. He is unable to come to church right now, but Dallin and his companion are working on trying to make crutches for him so that he will be able to come. Dallin said he was really touched by his faith and desire to attend church when so many do everything they can to avoid it.
Each Sunday they speak in sacrament meeting and then teach most of the lessons for the other meetings; a lot of the lesson materials are only in English so he's relied on to translate it. He's slowly getting used to the island time factor - church always starts 30-60 minutes late; but they are always there on time just to help get things going. He's commented about how much he appreciates all that the leaders do.
His mission president is planning to visit the island in the next few weeks - at least his new trainee won't have to wait 6 months to meet the mission president. He is really excited to get to see him again and hoping he will bring some packages with him. He's only had a few interactions with President Weir but said he could feel a great love from him.
He commented about the many emails he's received from friends/family and really appreciates the support and hearing from everyone.
As much as we worry at times about Dallin's health situation, it's nothing compared to his friend, Elder Brandon Pond, who has been serving in Sierra Leone where the Ebola outbreak occurred. Thankfully, Brandon is now back safely in the US and will finish his mission in Tampa, FL.
We are so grateful to have heard from him. Hopefully the internet will be working next week and we can get another update!
We are so proud of Dallin! He has an amazing attitude. Thank you so much for all of these updates.
ReplyDelete