Well Monday night Elder Bochio started complaining about some pains all over his body. Last week he had a lump under his armpit that he was all worried was cancerous. I had to calm that hypochondriac down and tell him that it's natural when you get sick. What's not natural is the humongous rash that he started to develop all over his body. He said it was itching like crazy. He has already had dengue (I don't really know how to describe dengue....it's a mosquito sickness that is super common here in the Northeast of Brazil and really sucks when you get it) and passed kidney stones on his mission, and he said that this rash was the most pain and discomfort he has felt in his life. We spent a full day inside our apartment. Boy was that rough. I thought it would be kind of nice to have a day where I could do a lot of studying and get organized, but man....I did not enjoy that.There's nothing like being out on the street. The next day, I was able to switch out with another Elder in our Zone, Elder Mussoi (his companion was sick too) and work with him a little bit. He's a good missionary....I'll talk about him a little bit later.
Thursday at 3 in the morning, Elder Bochio woke me up and said that he couldn't endure 10 more seconds in our "cave" apartment, and that he wanted to go to the "UPA", the free government hospital here in Brazil. The mission has a cell phone plan that deactivates all of the mission cell phones from 10:30 at night to 6:30 in the morning, so we didn't have much of a chance to call Pres or Sister Lanius. We went to catch a bus, but almost ironically, every single one ignored us and passed right by us. I was almost laughing at how sad our situation was. Elder Bochio was not feeling the same "cheeriness" that I was. He was more like a Laman/Lemuel in that moment. He started telling me how he wants no more of this suffering and that the Lord was testing his patience beyond his limits. He said that all the patience that I've been praying for (yes, I pray for a lottttt of patience) is being delivered to him, in the form of opportunities to exercise it! It was an ugly scene....we got to the UPA, and luckily, because of the hour, there was hardly anyone there. During the day, the place is packed, and feels more like a zoo. We waited a good 8 hours to get to see a doctor and get taken care of. They didn't offer much help, just prescribed a medication.
The next day, Elder Bochio begged Sister Lanius to let us go to Hospital Portugues in Recife.....let me tell ya....this hospital is like the Rolls Royce of hospitals.She had pity on him and let him go. We went on friday, and boy is there a difference in private and public health care....I won't get into politics here, but I think you can figure out where I stand here. We we treated right away, and they asked Elder Bochio to come back on Monday to confirm the tests they did. They think it'a Rubella (sp?).I have no idea what that is, but apparently it's super contagious. After spending so much time with him, I feel absolutely fine....so there's one blessing to be thankful for. President Lanius asked that I go back to working with Elder Mussoi in Igarassu, and Elder Norberto (his companion) stay with Elder Bochio. So I've been here in Igarassu since Friday. It's a really nice area...we passed by an area with a marvelous view of the beach.....my word...talk about a difficult situation....I was less that 30 feet from the beach, but in reality, I'm 16 months away! Everything in it's proper time though right?
On Thursday, we had interviews with President Lanius. He came to Paulista to give a training to all of us.He talked a lot about he wants to change the focus of the mission to reactivating less active members, and that we can help cause "true growth" in the church here in Pernambuco. So many people get baptized and then never show up in church again. The area presidency here is focusing on increasing numbers like sacrament attendance and young men that are serving missions rather than baptisms. President Lanius also talked a lot about doing the work of the Lord in the Lord's way, not our way. This is sooo important. There are so many missionaries here that think they know it all. Elder Bochio is a bit of an example of this. He's spent 19 months on his mission, and has seen a lot. He gets frustrated every time we get a directive or piece of advice from President Lanius. Luckily, Elder Bochio is already an excellent missionary, but I want (and more importantly the Lord wants) that he is humble and submissive to the word of Lord and his appointed servants.
Anyways, my interview with President Lanius was super short....I was a bit bummed about that. No longer than 2 minutes. He asked about things here in the zone, told me that the zone needs to teach more lesson, and thanked me for my work.It was short, but to the point I guess.
I'm hoping I'll be back in my area and with my companion asap....Health is something very important as a missionary....but your attitude is even more important....that's something I think I learned first hand this last week watching my companion suffer and complain. I seriously find myself amazed at all the different ways the Lord finds and uses to teach me things here....He sure is creative.
Until next time,
-Elder McKinley
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