Emergency Transfer and Betio

Dear Mom, Dad, Taylor and Cami!

WHAT A WEEK. Right now, I am sitting in an internet cafe in Bairiki,
with Elders Farley (my comp - Orem), Sion (Detroit/Honduras),
Ngonevulavula (Fiji), Maisey (North Dakota, our ZL) and Lopez (Mexico,
other ZL). You're probably confused because the town and the Elders
don't sound very familiar, or very much like Christmas Island. Well,
that's because I'm not on Christmas Island anymore!

Starting with last Tuesday: I sent that email in the morning off the
phone just to let you all know I was in bad shape with my arm, but
that I was trying my best to keep it together. Raika and I went out
teaching around 12 that day, and by 4, my arm was swollen bad like
last time, and I could hardly even ride my bike. We came home and I
had Sister Anderson just try and do something for me. Poor Sister
Anderson is too nice, she tried to poke at it and get stuff out with a
needle, but it was too much for her, and even after it got poked it
wasn't bleeding or draining. So she called Sister Cassita, our mission
nurse here on Tarawa. After a little discussion, Sister Anderson hung
up and reluctantly informed me that I would be leaving to Tarawa the
next day, so I could stay under the mission Nurse's supervision. All
told, I ended up with 18 hours notice to pack, say goodbye and
mentally prepare to leave. Moreover, Elder Hamula and President Weir
were both coming in on the morning flight, AND it just so happened to
be my 6 month anniversary. A day to remember for sure!

Wednesday morning, we woke up, and I packed all my bags. Funny to
think everything I own fits in two suitcases and totals under 50
pounds. But it was nice to get everything all clean and ready for a
new area. As I finished packing, Elder Hamula walks right into our
house! He's a TALL man, like 6'6" plus. He's so nice too though. He
just talked to us for a bit, looked around and kindof laughed a little
that we literally lived in a stick house. It was fun to just chat with
him and see that he is a normal person too. Also nice to meet
President Weir. He is so loving, and he felt so sorry that I had this
arm problem, especially that it was repeating and so severe. He was
very very ready to get me back on the mainland. That morning, we had a
one hour training with Elder Hamula, and he talked about how truly
blessed and important the Christmas Island missionaries are. The
reason that he came to visit Christmas was because he was instated a
District of the church, and he talked about how many blessings the
people would receive from the spiritual power of a district, and that
it was a direct result of our efforts. So cool. Mostly he complimented
us, and told us he was proud. It was so nice to feel the genuine love
from him. After that, the district was instated in a huge general
meeting for all the members. The Banana branch bused in, and I think
every member on the whole island was there. The chapel was OVERFLOWING
and Hamula was really surprised how many people were there. He said if
turnout kept up like that, the branches he was just about to split,
would have to be split again in a few months! It was great to see such
progress. Now, there are 4 branches. Two in Tabwakea, 1 in London, and
1 in Banana. So happy for those wonderful people.

That afternoon, I said goodbye to all my investigators, the Andersons,
Sisters Johnson and 'Alafoki, Davis, Toanna, and Raika, and I got on
the plane to Fiji. I was with President and Sister Weir, and Elder and
Sister Hamula. We spent the night in Fiji, and at a resort
nonetheless! I had my own hotel room too. I turned the air
conditioning down to 60, took the first hot shower in 4 and a half
months, and slept like a rock. We left again for the airport at 6, for
an 8am flight to Tarawa.

Upon arrival at Tarawa, I was greeted by: Elder Paora! His area covers
the airport so he picked us up. No one knew I was coming in, since it
was an ET, so he was so surprised and excited to see me. It's great to
see him a little bit more, he goes home the end of July. I also was
greeted by the AP's, Elder Sherman ad Elder Sias, who were waiting for
President. Awesome to see Sherman again. Then, I went straight to
Cassita's house for "evaluation." The "evaluation" took a half second
glance, and then turned in to "operation." I laid down on a couch in
the Senior couple's house at Moroni, with my arm resting on a chair.
My arm was super swollen, and just full. She gave my four shots of
lydacaine to numb the imminent pain. The shots themselves hurt,
because my arm was then even MORE full of random liquids. Then, she
took a SCALPEL to the infection site, and cut it open. Grossness
ensued, so don't read on if you're faint. She started at the edges of
the infection, my wrist and elbow, and SQUEEZED as hard as she could.
The tiny incision in the middle of my forearm became a fountain, and
just all kinds of stuff came out. I cannot express how painful it is
to have your swollen infected arm just squeezed relentlessly. Suffice
it to say I definitely cried. She started from the outside and
continued all the way to the center, a total elapsed time of an
excruciating 7 minutes. She commented it was the worst infection she
had dealt with in either of her missions. However, she was positive
that she had removed the foreign material, and enough of the infection
that the rest could be handled by antibiotics. Grateful to have been
blessed and protected, and that it wasn't any worse.

I just recuperated the rest of the day, spent the night at the Zone
Leaders' house (more air con - I was in heaven!) and then the next
morning we had Zone Conference. All the Elders and Sisters on Tarawa
met at the Tarawa East Stake center, Temwaiku (the newest chapel on
the island), and Elder Hamula gave us training for like 4 hours. It
was crazy, he was an amazing teacher. He taught for so long and I
honestly could have kept listening. He talked about obedience for a
long time, and he was very up front that this mission has missionaries
who have no reason not to be exactly obedient. He talked about how
good we are, and how much this region is exploding. He talked about
how that was amazing, given the fact that a lot of missionaries
disregard the rules. He told us that if we tried our hardest, and
actually decided to be the missionaries he knew we could be, then
Kiribati would without a doubt become the Church headquarters of the
Pacific. He challenged us to re-commit, starting with the study
schedule. It was awesome. Then he talked about the importance of Faith
in relation with our investigators being able to make and keep
commitments. I'll talk more about that in weeks to come, it was earth
shattering. Then, we had lunch and I ate a cheeseburger! It was
delicious. After that, I got to go to my new area!

I'm working Betio. Supposedly, Betio has almost 30,000 people in it,
and the population density rivals Bangladesh. There are just people on
people on people, and sanitation is an obvious issue. I'm glad I have
a terrible nose, because there are always some serious smells going
on. Betio is one district of missionaries, 3 wards, 2 chapels, 3
areas, and 6 missionaries. I work Betio 3rd with Elder Farley. Farley
is from Orem, UT, and went to Timpanogos' HS, right next to where
Kalani went :) He's a lax star, so I feel comfortably east-coast with
him. He's the intake before me, so he's about to hit 9 months on the
mission right as I just hit 6. He is so obedient and happy and
genuinely loves the people. I'm a little better at the language, but I
think that we can both really help each other in a lot of ways. Our
ward is great, but it's a challenge. President told us that this ward
needs help: there are way too many less actives. So he's giving me and
Farley this ward because we're both obedient, and we're both ready to
work hard for the people. 3 weeks ago, sacrament meeting was at 40.
Last week, 70. Yesterday, we had 93! We are very excited to work with
all the members and help them remember the blessings of this church.
It's also a real sign of confidence that President trusts us as young
missionaries with such a big task. Our chapel is the second newest
chapel on island, less than 2 years old. It's so nice. We're planning
on filling it :)

I cannot explain why this week was so crazy. There was so super low
lows but also some super fun things too. I am sad I left Christmas,
but I am so excited to work in Tarawa, especially in Betio 3rd. I
don't know all of our investigators yet, but I know that they're great
people and they're going to grow so much from the lessons and I can't
wait to help them. I'm grateful I was protected and that I'm healthy
now, and I cannot wait to work hard! I love being a missionary, and I
love all of you. I have consistent email now, so I will hear from you
all next week! Thanks for the prayers and emails and support! I really
felt it this week.

Love Dal

(*We are so grateful that President Weir was aware that Dallin needed to be transferred back close to the mission nurse.  He is truly being watched over.  Unfortunately, I have seen infections like these and know that they are quite serious.  If he were here in the states he would have been in the hospital with IV antibiotics - not to mention a more sterile and less painful surgery. I'm trying to have more faith about his circumstances and am grateful he has such a positive attitude.  We fasted and prayed as a family yesterday that he would be able to maintain his health and focus on missionary work.  Now we have to have the faith necessary for that to happen.

He did finally get all his boxes (like 12 or 14!), so he has lots of food and protein powder.  He said that was a nice surprise after so many terrible and painful days.  He will be able to email every week, but too many viruses to send pictures from the place he was yesterday.  He was so excited about his new companion and the desire to work hard.  He just kept saying not to worry and that everything was going to be fine.  Lots of tears were flowing from all the women in his life this week.  It's interesting that experiences in life are never quite what you expect.  I always pictured our family gathered around reading his weekly letters smiling, laughing, and feeling so uplifted.  We do feel the spirit and the importance of what he is doing, but we are working to overcome the worry and fear that creep in with every update.  Doing the Lord's will is not always easy, but as we can see from Dallin's letters it brings joy even in the toughest circumstances.  I'm so proud of him and grateful for those watching over him.

Having these experiences with Dallin has definitely instilled a desire in me to serve as a mission nurse somewhere remote.  I could absolutely help missionaries like Dallin to stay safe and healthy!  Dallin even commented that the poor Anderson's on Christmas were sick with worry and just didn't know how to help him.  He said that I could totally be a remote nurse and "squeeze infected arms".  That part did actually make me laugh. Ed is just going to have to come along for the ride.)