February 7

Howdy from Woodville, TX where I'd much rather be than the hospital in Beaumont!

 

As most of you already know, but some may not- this week has been quite adventurous, and those adventures included some time in Baptist hospital having LOTS of tests run to figure out what's wrong w/ me.  Our day started out pretty normal day- we cleaned and emailed and grocery shopped like every Monday.  Then we went to Vidor for a Zone Preparation Day where we played w/ other awesome missionaries and had fun.  Then we went for my follow-up appt. w/ Dr. Stovall.  He promptly determined that I should be admitted to the hospital so they could figure out what's wrong w/ me.  It was past normal admissions hours so we had to go through the ER. 

 

Around Midnight we finally got set-up in the room where we got to live until Thursday afternoon.  Our time there included a whole slew of tests: 3 different ultrasounds, and MRI, an EEG, 3 EKG's, CT scan, X-rays, constant heart monitoring, and lots and lots of drawing my blood for various testing.  Sister Mapa was a great sport about it all.  The first 2 nights, she slept in a recliner, the 3rd some of our visitors asked the nurse if there was a cot or something so she got a chair that folded out into a bed- sounds lame, but she found it to be much more comfortable.  It was weird that we had to be seperated every time I was stolen away for another test or she had to go get a meal from the cafeteria, but we managed.  Hospital food was better than I expected.  We had some great help, support, and visits from the elders and some of our young single sister friends in Beaumont.  I had really nice nurses and medical staff, and was well taken care of.  Naturally we tried to share the gospel as much as possible, and had some pretty cool opportunities to do so.  The end result of my stay was that I have a really healthy heart and brain and such and that they found nothing major wrong w/ me.  All life-threating possibilities have been ruled out.  What causes my episodes?  There's not a conclusive answer on that yet.

 

We were really happy to get back to Woodville and work.  We had further adventures w/ really icy weather conditions and such.  We were able to enjoy stake conference yesterday which was broadcast to several stakes from Salt Lake.  We were addressed by President Monson, his daughter Sis. Ann Dibb, Elder Marlin Jensen, and Elder Ballard.  That was a very cool meeting. 

 

This week has been very eventful in many ways, and I've only been able to share the tip of the iceburg w/ you, but it's time for me to go.  I LOVE being a missionary.  I know that the Lord is truly in control, and I'm learning how to trust Him more each day.  I thank you all so much for your love and support and  prayers!  They are felt! 

 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

 

*~Sister Pilmer~*