Melbourne Mission Moments
"...know
thou, my [daughter], that all these things shall give thee experience, and
shall be for thy good." (D&C 122:7). Heavenly Father knows me so well
and gives me experiences that are exactly what I need to help me grow. This
week has been a bit rough because my dear companion has been so sick but
through it all, there's been so many gems and tender mercies. I have learned so
much this week about patience, about charity, about what it means to sacrifice.
I'm so grateful for the mission and these opportunities that I have to change
and to grow. I feel like my whole mission has been a bit of a refiner’s fire
that Heavenly Father is using to shape me into who He needs me to be.
So
on Monday after we emailed, we had a missed call from Sister Maxwell. We talked
to her and told her that Sister B was still not feeling better so she had us go
and see a private doctor to get a second opinion. (Sister Burton has had a
TERRIBLE, dog-bark, relentless cough that has made her whole body sore and
makes it so she can't breathe properly, can't sleep, etc., and the more that we
tried to do, the worse the cough was getting.) Anyway, so we went to the doctor
and he gave her antibiotics and sent us to get some blood work done so that
they could check to make sure it wasn't whooping cough. So we had to go to
another place to have the blood work done. Unfortunately it takes 7 days for
whooping cough to show up on a blood test so we had to make an appointment for
a week’s time to see the doctor again to get the results. After that she was
exhausted so we just went back to the flat so she could rest. I wrote about 15
letters and tried to get some cleaning done around the flat.
Tuesday
morning we went to district meetings hoping that she would be feeling a bit
better. Well, the whole meeting she just coughed and coughed. At one point we
had to just get up and go out because she couldn't stop and she was
hyperventilating. Our zone leaders were at the meeting and they are so great.
They were so concerned and just kept asking if there was anything they could do
to help. They did give her a blessing which was good. After the meeting we went
back home to rest until that night. We went to a sweet sister's home in the
ward for dinner. We had told her about the cough and how bad it was but she
said, "I worked as a nurse for 20 years. Germs don't scare me." It
was good to be able to get out of our flat a little bit. After that we went
back home. We started getting ready for bed. After Sister B's shower she was
having another coughing attack and couldn't stop coughing. Poor thing. She was so
upset because she felt so terrible, both physically and about not being able to
get out and work. During all of this Sister Maxwell called to see how she was
doing. She told us to pack a bag and come to the mission home. So at 10:15 pm
we were leaving our flat and drove to the mission home.
Ever
since Tuesday night we've been staying in the mission home. It really stinks to
not be out and working but it's also been a huge blessing. President and Sister
Maxwell are so wonderful. I can't begin to put into words the love and
admiration and appreciation I have for both of them. It has been so great to
get to know them better this week. I know them both on so much more of a
personal level now. I know that one of the reasons that I was called to the AMM
is because I need to serve with President and Sister Maxwell. They have both
taught me so much and had such a huge influence on my life. Random fact:
President Maxwell eats Captain Crunch for breakfast. Brilliant huh?
Sister
B has spent most of the week in bed just sick as ever. Sister Maxwell and I
have both felt so helpless. We've tried literally everything in the book and
nothing seems to help this stinking cough.
I've
had a lot of time to study this week which has been a huge blessing. I love the
scriptures so much, especially the Book of Mormon. I have learned so much. As
I've been studying this week, I have come across so many times, verses that
talk about patience, and being patient in our afflictions. So I decided to
study patience more. I have learned so much this week. I think sometimes I
struggle with patience. Especially with myself. But I think I've improved a lot
since being here. And I learned this week some things that I want to really
apply to try to increase my patience. With my companion being sick this week,
I've really had to be patient. As I've prayed for Heavenly Father to help me to
increase my patience, He has truly helped me to do that. When I was set apart I
was told that I would have trials of my patience and that as my patience
increased, so too would my faith. I have seen that this week. Maybe it's
because of all the extra study time that I've had but I truly have felt an
increase of faith. At first it felt like Sister B's being sick was a dark cloud
but now I have faith that Heavenly Father knows us and loves us and that He
will take care of everything. Our area is not going to completely fall apart
because we're not there, we're not going to forget how to teach, I'm not going
to feel completely awkward when we have to go out and talk to people again
(these were real concerns earlier in the week). Also, in my study I kept coming
across the phrase "swallowed up in the joy of Christ." I love that
phrase. It is so beautiful.
Wednesday
morning we had to go to the doctor again. That night we went to see a Chinese
medicine doctor who gave us some sort of medicine for her to drink. She has to
drink it three times a day and it looks and smells disgusting and she basically
gags every time she has to drink it. Yuck. And it doesn't seem to be helping
much. Poor thing.
Wednesday
and Thursday night they had missionaries come over for dinner because there
were a few missionaries who were going home. I was able to spend some time in
the kitchen with Sister Maxwell and help get dinner ready. She is such a
wonderful cook. Also, Friday night Sister Maxwell made pancakes for dinner! It
was great!
Another
great thing is that the mission home has a piano. I miss playing. It's been
great to be able to spend some time at the piano this week.
Saturday
night Sister Burton seemed to be doing better so we decided to get up on Sunday
morning and go to church. I'm not sure if that was the best idea because she
just coughed and coughed all the way through it but it was good to see the
members. I feel like we haven't seen anyone in ages! We are starting the 40 day
fast tomorrow and we're hoping that it goes really well!
This
morning we went back to the doctor to get the results from the blood test and
they were all normal. Then this afternoon we had an appointment with a
respiratory specialist. We finally got some answers! He was able to tell us
what is wrong. Basically her throat lining was broken down when she got some
sort of small infection or something which caused an itch and started the
cough. The cough has just perpetuated the cough even further and since she's
been coughing so much, it can't heal. So she has some pretty strong medicine to
keep her pretty doped up for a few days so she can rest and suppress the cough
and he said in 2-3 days she should be much better! So hopefully by Thursday at
the latest we will be back to it!
I
love you all so much. Thank you so much for your love, support and prayers.
Love
ya heaps!
Sister
Baker xxx
Phillip-
Yes, training is hard. It's a lot of responsibility. But it's also the best!
And it sounds like you've already seen the blessings. That is so awesome that
your Spanish has been improving! The gift of tongues. It's real. Keep working
hard and know that I'm praying for you. The fact that your companion is
relatively new to the gospel might be a bit hard at first but you are going to
help him so much and I know he will forever remember the testimony he gains as
a missionary and if you do your job right, he will forever remember you and the
influence you had on him. You're so awesome! Keep up the good work!
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