Perspective

The many experiences I have had over the past few days have given me a completely new perspective on life. Not only do these people live in some of the worst conditions, but they are happy and thankful for life and the small wonders that we all see every day. Today was one of the best days I have ever had in my 22 years of life experience. Yesterday Abby and I visited a that has a 16 year old girl that no one can diagnose. She has been bed ridden since she was 11 months old and is unable to speak or even really move. Her family is unable to move her because there is a single mom and four children under the age of 12. We took some pictures of the family and we able to get her a wheelchair. Today we got to take the chair to the family, and it was amazing to see how happy they were about it. It was doubly cool for us because the wheelchair had actually been donated by LDS humanitarian services. There was a sticker on the side of the chair that said it was given by La Iglesia de Jesus Christo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias. It was really a cool experience. I think we were all a little emotional during the experience, especially her mom. Unfortunately we still do not know what is wrong with her and even if we did I don't know if there is much that can be done at this point. It makes me very sad that there isn't more that we could do for this family.
It is amazing but the more I get to know these wonderful people the more it seems like maybe they have the better lot in life. Although, it really makes me grateful for everything that we have. n order to get the the areas that we have been working in they have to load us all in the back of the Land Rover that serves as the ambulance and drive us over roads that should not be passable in any situation. The car is really amazing. If you have ever been on the Indiana Jones ride at Disney world this is about 10 times more intense and lasts for about 2 hours a day. In addition, all of us nursing students who spend so much time promoting staying hydrated are purposefully dehydrating ourselves because we don't want to have to use the bathroom why we are out in the community because they don't exist. It is a funny situation. The kids in the community make up for everything that may be lacking. They are all adorable and it has been so much fun to talk with them. My Spanish is about at the same level as the kids learning to speak, so we get along pretty well. Our joke is now that Abby talks to the mothers and I talk to the kids in every house that we visit. Abby was saying that it felt just like she was back on her mission because we are in pairs going through the community and knocking on doors to give a message. Ours just happens to be about physical health instead of spiritual. We also had the opportunity to go to the temple today as a group. It was a great experience to do everything in a different language. I must admit it was quite different from the "normal" experiences of our days (getting stuck in protests, forgotten in the middle of nowhere by the ambulance, having to remember passwords to get through the guards with their big guns, and no air conditioning!) What a blessing to know that no matter where we go the church is true and will always be the same!