Still very Busy

Some week seem to be very full and busy and other weeks just seem to be full and busy. This was a very full and busy week. It also was a rewarding week in which we have felt blessed. I can't really put my finger on why it seemed so rewarding, it just was Here are a few of the highlights I'll let you be the judge.

A couple of the Hermanas have an investigator who is 91 years old. He's very bright and very strong. The first few times he went to church he walked by himself which was about 1/2 mile. He gained a testimony of the restored gospel had a baptismal interview and a date for his baptism. But several weeks ago he tripped in his backyard. The Hermanas were told that he broke his hip and that there was nothing anyone could do. They thought he was going to just die. A few weeks later they told us that he had a cast on his leg. I've never heard of a cast for a broken hip but maybe? Last week we went with the Hermanas to visit him and sure enough, he had a cast on to the knee. After questioning him we learned that nothing was broken. All of his pain was in his hip because that is where he landed. I told him in my most humble way that he doesn't need a cast if nothing is broken and that he should start trying to walk. He has a walker that someone let him borrow. I had him stand up and try to walk with his cast on and he couldn't put any pressure on the leg. The cast was on his foot the pain was in his hip?

When we returned this week he no longer had a cast. He had some swelling in his foot so we gave him some ibuprofen from our Walmart collection. (500/bottle). His wife was having some knee pain also we gave her some ibuprofen as well. I gave them enough to last a few days. I helped him walk a few steps with his walker. he could only go 3-4 feet but it was a start. We returned the next day and all the ibuprofen were gone. I gave them two days worth and told a little white lie, that I don't have anymore. However, this time he could walk twice as far. Hermana Borup and I have been visiting him this week and helping him walk. Each time he has walked farther and he is feeling better. His goal is to be able to get to the baptismal font. On one of our visits the neighbor was there and told me she can't sleep. She looked awful, like someone who can't sleep. She asked if I had any pills for her. I guess the word is out that there is a missionary healer in town. If anyone has anything that will help let me know. my reputation is on the line.

We participated in 2 service projects this week. ONe was in Padre Las Casas, where the church through service missionaries is donating some equipment to the hospital. On Saturday there was a project to paint a couple of rooms in preparation for the equipment. There was a service group and branch members there to help. I could see that there were more helpers than there was work. I went to the front of the hospital to give others a chance to serve (I know that was big of me). While I was there I could see that there was an elderly woman (my age) that was just released from the hospital and was trying to get home but she could not go on a motorcycle taxi with all her things. (the hospital does not have things like sheets and fans, she had her own) I asked how far away she lived and when I was told about 8 kilometers I volunteered to give her and her daughter a ride. It had to be the steepest 8 kilometers I have ever been. She lived in a little village at the top of this beautiful mountain. When we arrived her family was waiting. Thye really wanted me to stay and visit and eat but I told them I needed to get back but that I would return with my wife on our bikes. They thought I was crazy. (on the way down the hill I decided that they are right). Before I left they gave me a big bag full of plantains, bananas, and other fruit.

Our other service project was with our Branch and it was to clean the beach. There is a culture here of just leaving your garbage where ever you want. There are plastic and styrofoam containers everywhere at the beach. Some of the plastic comes in from the ocean but most are on the beach and bushes from people just not throwing it away. We announced the activity for several weeks but when Saturday came one young man, the Elders (their chance to go to the beach) and a neighborhood boy came. We picked up Evilin a recent 9-year old convert on the way to the beach. We knew people would be late so I dropped everyone off and went back for round two. THere were two other neighborhood boys and no one else. We cleaned trash for a couple of hours and then went for a swim (minus the Elders. I gave them a ride to a teaching appointment). The young man that came, is 17 years old and is from a poor family where only he and his younger brother are members of the church. We have seen him show up at the church to clean when he is the only one. We have always loved watching this young man serve others with a smile. (he also has a mean bachata dance) At the activity, it was fun to watch him take care of these neighborhood boys. There was one that was about 6 that he just kept his eye on the whole time. By the time we left the beach looked better a=but still needed about 100 bags of garbage to be picked up.

There's still a lot more to talk about but I'm getting tired and you're getting bored. (like we got a new branch president, Hermana Borup got a haircut and more missionary birthdays). I want to end with the miracle of the week. I could tell you about the man who said his name was John (not Juan) and directed them to a family that is now being taught but sometimes it is good to recognize the little miracles. This week the missionaries were going to teach our neighbor (finding her was a miracle) but she was not home. Instead of going home empty handed I went across the street to the other neighbor and invited her to see a video about the church and ask questions. She came with her daughter who is in University in the Capital. AS it turned out she was very close to baptism about 15 years ago. She is very interested to learn more so now the Elders have two more neighbors to teach. I have always felt that she would be someone that could learn about and join the church. Stay tuned! I love how the Lord blesses us with ease. Who knows how long I would have taken to invite her to hear the missionaries if the other investigator was home. He turned a failed lesson into a small miracle of finding.

I wonder how many times we miss the little miracles in our lives, where our Heavenly Father is busy directing the details of our lives, but we just don't take time to see them. We know he loves us all. There is nothing you can do about it. He loves us unconditionally. He directs his work, sometimes in strange and common ways. HE LIVES!

Your friends
Hermana Y Elder Borup