Sentenced to the House

What a week it has been!I spent the majority of the week stuck in the house, but the good news is that I got lots of studying done.:)

It all started last Monday when P-day finished and we left the house at 6 to begin proselyting.  As we started walking to our first appointment I began to notice that my ankle was hurting but I didn't think much of it and we continued walking.  By about 7:00 I realized  how many bug bites I had on my legs and feet that were very red and starting to swell up.  We continued on and by 8:00 I was limping around to get to our last appointment.  We taught our last lesson and when it ended I looked down at my feet to see how they were doing.  They didn't look like they were even my feet anymore.  It looked like someone had inflated them during the course of the lesson.  They were very red and puffed up and swollen.  When the member whose house we were in saw them she gasped and went running to find something to put on them.  She came back with a bottle of green gel which appeared to be something close to aloe vera.  She sat down and told me to put my feet up on her lap so she could put it on me.  After she had finished her and her husband told me I should go home and put my feet in salt water to help with the swelling.  So I slowly limped my way back to the house and my companion warmed up some salt water and put it in a bucket for to soak my feet in,

Everyone here really loves to help.  I have learned that if you tell someone you're sick here, members, investigators or strangers in the street, they love to give all kinds of suggestions and advice as to what you can do or use to get better.  I don't know that the aloe vera gel or the salt water really helped all too well, but the love that was shown and the intentions to help were there just the same.  It helped me feel better just by the fact that they were worried about me because they care about me and wanted to help.

So that was Monday.  Tuesday I woke up and they were even worse.  After personal study, companion study and planning we went to the Dr.  He told me it was an infection from all the bug bites I had and gave me medicine for it.  He sent us home to rest and told me I was to stay in the house until Saturday and walk as little as possible so the infection would clear up.

So I spent the next 4 days in the house.  Though I wanted to go out and work, it was a great opportunity to get some good studying done!  My companion has the Book of Mormon stories in animation on video, so I watched some of those.  My companion was able to do discussions and leave with members to teach because we had lots of appointments to be at.  By Saturday the infection was cleared up and we were able to go back to work.  It was so nice to leave the house again:).  The good news  is that this Saturday 3 of our investigators are going to be baptized.  Noel and Lupita, a married couple in their mid twenties will be baptized along with Victor, a 12 year old.  Victor will be baptized by his older brother, Carlos who is preparing to serve a mission.  They will be the only 2 members in their family after Victor is baptized and are such great examples.  I have learned a lot from them.

One of the awesome things about being a missionary is that I get to work with such great people every day.  Though we are technically the ones teaching our investigators  I often feel like I am the one who is learning from them.  We have so many investigators who have such a desire to learn.  As we teach them and help them learn and progress I feel as though I learn and progress with them.  Being able to see the changes and progression in those we teach is one of the sweetest gifts I could've ever asked for.  We often get asked if we get paid to be missionaries and for our service.  Though we don't get paid in money the opportunity to see the changes in those we teach is irreplacable.  The Lord truly does bless his servants, I am a witness of it everyday!

I sure love yoou guys!  Have a great week.  Also have a Happy Thanksgiving (that day doesn't exist here!:)