Malo Lava everyone!
OK, so this was by far the wettest week in Samoa since we've been here. It rained Every Single Day! Elder Godderidge sent a WhatsApp video to the family on Monday where several downtown streets were completely flooded! That happened more than once this week. Flooding all over the island. Luckily, the church property has some pretty good drainage systems in place so we don't have it too bad here in the complex. But driving around this week has been a nightmare! When people drive through flooded streets, they move even slower! Elder Godderidge gets a little impatient sometimes. Today, Sunday, was the first day that it hasn't rained this week. We got rained on every morning when we went out for our exercise. The only plus side, it was a little cooler with the clouds and rainstorms.
It was a crazy week on the medical side of things, I had lots of calls, lots of sick missionaries ( I think some of them just didn't want to go out in the rain), and a few too many visits to our lovely hospital this week.
On Monday night we had our Zone leaders stay overnight at our place because it was MLC again. Of course Elder G. had to make a late-night run to McDonalds for them again--this time through the flooded downtown! I don't know how these Elders can eat so much! Elder Ale and Elder Reupena are pretty entertaining to talk to and mainly listen to, but there's a point where we just have to say "we're going to bed cause us old people need our sleep." HAHA
On Wednesday, I had two missionaries going to the hospital for doctor visits so while I was there in the morning, I got word that one of our senior missionaries was having some heart problems and was coming to the hospital for an EKG and to be seen at the cardiology clinic. Turns out she was in level 2 AV block, meaning her heart wasn't beating properly and her pulse was running around 30-40 beats per minute. She needed a pacemaker, and there is no one here that does those, not even temporary external pacemakers. So the wheels started turning to get her out of here. And I spent most of the afternoon and evening on emails and phone calls getting instructions for what information I needed to gather to get the process going. Then on top of that, I get a call from our ZL's that they are bringing one of our Elders to the emergency room because he hurt his back playing volleyball and couldn't move! They loaded him onto the van and put a folding banquet table on top of the seats and he laid on that while they drove him in. I should have taken a picture of it! So Elder Godderidge and I were going back and forth between the ER and the unit where Sister Hainer was. The Elder got an X-ray and nothing was broken, so they gave him a pain shot and a prescription for anti-inflammatory and he was suddenly able to walk out of there after that. As for Sister Hainer, they were hoping that her heart would convert on its own back to a normal sinus rhythm so they could fly her commercially, but it didn't so she was med-evacuated out on Saturday morning . The church missionary medical team works with the church's insurance company to arrange all that--racking up a $100,000.00 tab for the church.
On Saturday afternoon we drove to our Zone for a baptism that got rescheduled for Sunday morning and nobody told us. That was fun--so we drove all the way back and got home around 8:30--fixed bacon and egg sandwiches and went to bed!
I'm sure glad Elder Godderidge is my companion on this mission! When crazy things happen, he is right by my side helping me figure things out and do whatever I need him to do to support me. I'm not nearly as helpful to him, but I try. At least he usually gets one home-cooked meal a day out of me.
Here's a picture of a rat trap that Elder Godderidge asked Sister Johnson and Sister Jensen to put peanut butter on for him so he could set it under their MQ. Notice where they put the peanut butter!
I wanted to share an email that Elder Hainer sent after they arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii:
"We arrived in Hawaii at about 6:00 pm. Got to the hospital at about 6:30. A good flight, the med-evac team was outstanding.
After the turnover, the Queens hospital staff got her situated and hooked up to the monitors. There was at least one staff member with her at all times. About a half hour after arriving I was talking to her and she said, 'What's happening?' I looked at her bpm and it was 0. It stayed there for about 30 seconds. The staff jumped in and started doing their thing and got her stabilized. They did not have to shock her. Afterwards I heard one nurse say 'I thought she was going to code'.
Instead of waiting for Monday, they called in the duty cardiologist and they put a temporary pacemaker on. She is stable and alert. The plan is to put in the permanent pacemaker on Monday. Looking back you can see the tender mercy of the Lord. You all saved her. If she had been in Samoa, I think she would have died. If we had been delayed an hour I believe she would have died. We were in a top trauma center only one half hour before everything came undone. I am grateful to all of you for listening to the Spirit!!!!
They said that once she has the pacemaker they will keep her overnight for observation and then discharge her. How do flight arrangements get made for the final leg to Seattle?"
Elder Hainer
There were alot of prayers being said for Sister Hainer, and I believe God heard them!
Love you all, have a great week!
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