Hello everyone,
So this week I did not get bit by anything like a snake or monkey, or any animal for that fact, but rather I got a really bad bacterial infection somewhere high up there in the chest... Last week while emailing I had made mention that I was a bit sick and that was just the beginning of my sickness. The worst thing about being sick right now is there are still tons of precautions for Ebola and the symptoms relate to tons of other illnesses so you sit there thinking... "Well maybe this is Ebola..." You keep a keen eye out for blood in mucus and bodily fluids because if it’s absent then your okay.
The remainder of the week consisted of remaining in the flat so that I could rest and heal. It was the suggestion of the mission nurse (the Mission President’s Wife). Tuesday I was sweating profusely and had extreme chills, so that really wasn’t fun at all, my companion was sick of it because at night I guess I would make a whole ton of noise and cough and blow my nose.. If only he had known how horrible it feels to feel as though your freezing and shivering uncontrollably yet wrapped in the thickest blanket available haha. Great blessing though throughout the week is that we had the Busia Elders with us. We were supposed to do exchanges, but with my condition it still allowed one companionship to go out and proselyte, so it didn’t really destroy the week.
On Wednesday, I was taken to the hospital to get things checked out. This was my first time ever going to a hospital while here in Kenya. The closest other time was going to the hospital in Eldoret each week to play with the children and do service. I’m glad this hospital wasn’t like that one though, this was a private hospital and it felt very clean and the service was top notch. Cool thing as missionaries is we get these nifty little insurance cards that when at approved hospitals, everything is covered in full! Upon my first visit with the doctor she told me to go get a blood test and be tested for Malaria, well after the blood test and 1.5hrs of waiting for the results, it showed that I in fact did not have Malaria, but rather I had a bacterial Infection. So I was given some hardcore Flu Syrup and Anti-Malarial pills to keep the fever down.
Thursday was another sick day. I felt improvement, but my companion didn’t think that I was fit to go out and proselyte because I still had a very high fever and little energy. Being sick however does give a lot of time for self reflection and getting your thoughts straight, that I was thankful for.
Friday I was feeling much better and felt ready to proselyte, but we had to take Elder Ntsele to the dentist to get his teeth checked. His teeth have really been rotting and are getting really bad. He will have to have a couple pulled and a few filled.. Then in the evening we sent the Busia Elders back on their way to Busia.
Saturday, back up on my feet! I haven’t fully gotten over the sickness, but it has reduced to just a cough so I got to proselyte. It’s really no fun at all to remain in the flat and do nothing all day... It’s my least favorite thing on mission. I just want to be out the working, but then sickness grabs me and pulls me down. However I am very blessed because I rarely have gotten sick here on mission, but when I do, it’s bad. So on Saturday, we did splits, we went and visited brother Cyprian in the morning. His home is looking good, he is finishing the mudding on his own, but has to rely on the good favor of neighbors giving him a few shillings here and there so that he can buy water and make mud, or he must wait for the rain, and when possible does all the work he can do with the resources available. We shared a small spiritual thought with him, then began splits.
On Wednesday, I was taken to the hospital to get things checked out. This was my first time ever going to a hospital while here in Kenya. The closest other time was going to the hospital in Eldoret each week to play with the children and do service. I’m glad this hospital wasn’t like that one though, this was a private hospital and it felt very clean and the service was top notch. Cool thing as missionaries is we get these nifty little insurance cards that when at approved hospitals, everything is covered in full! Upon my first visit with the doctor she told me to go get a blood test and be tested for Malaria, well after the blood test and 1.5hrs of waiting for the results, it showed that I in fact did not have Malaria, but rather I had a bacterial Infection. So I was given some hardcore Flu Syrup and Anti-Malarial pills to keep the fever down.
Thursday was another sick day. I felt improvement, but my companion didn’t think that I was fit to go out and proselyte because I still had a very high fever and little energy. Being sick however does give a lot of time for self reflection and getting your thoughts straight, that I was thankful for.
Friday I was feeling much better and felt ready to proselyte, but we had to take Elder Ntsele to the dentist to get his teeth checked. His teeth have really been rotting and are getting really bad. He will have to have a couple pulled and a few filled.. Then in the evening we sent the Busia Elders back on their way to Busia.
Saturday, back up on my feet! I haven’t fully gotten over the sickness, but it has reduced to just a cough so I got to proselyte. It’s really no fun at all to remain in the flat and do nothing all day... It’s my least favorite thing on mission. I just want to be out the working, but then sickness grabs me and pulls me down. However I am very blessed because I rarely have gotten sick here on mission, but when I do, it’s bad. So on Saturday, we did splits, we went and visited brother Cyprian in the morning. His home is looking good, he is finishing the mudding on his own, but has to rely on the good favor of neighbors giving him a few shillings here and there so that he can buy water and make mud, or he must wait for the rain, and when possible does all the work he can do with the resources available. We shared a small spiritual thought with him, then began splits.
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| Brother Cyprian's House |
I was with Stephen, and my comp was with an RM from our branch. Steve and I taught Walter. It’s been a long time since teaching him, but he is still progressing well.. Afterwards we waited for the sisters to arrive. It gave Steve the opportunity to attend some of the institute class while waiting, then when they arrived, we took them to visit Lynette, Janet, and Beverly who we have handed over to the sisters. Afterwards we set out to see Steve Beako. I wasn’t entirely sure of what Matatu to take because there is a junction and I forgot which side to drop on, so we took one and it ended up taking a really round about way, but it dropped us literally right next to the house we were trying to get to. God really does answer prayers, and answers them in mysterious ways! We had a really good lesson with Steve, he is such a smart kid, really holds his composure and soaks in the message we share with him!
Sunday was a great Fast Sunday, the couples were in PEC (Priesthood Executive Committee Meeting), so we had to help and make sure that everything at church ran smoothly. Everything went really well and we had some of the Less Actives that we have really been working with a lot come to church so that was really awesome!! These next coming weeks we have really go to work a lot on building our teaching pool because it is quite low. We are going to implement new finding techniques, so that really should help us out. I feel bad for our sisters because everyday they are tracting just trying to build some sort of teaching pool, and everyone knows there are better ways than tracting.
Well there we have it for the week, not so eventful due to being sick, but I‘m feeling better now, so don’t worry! Thank you all for your love and prayers, I
The church is true, and God really does answer prayers, that’s what got me through this week!
Love always,
Elder Rushton Jay Hiltbrand
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