Last Wednesday, a church member offered some small green mangoes to us. Elder Porter accepted three of them, and carried them in his hands up to our apartment. He then ate one of them, which clung to the seed and had to be eaten with one's hands right off the seed. I ate one the next day, and it was very tasty. But on Friday, the skin above and below his eyes was swollen. It seemed to get a bit better during the day, but that night I was concerned enough to check our health insurance recommendations for providers in Medan. For a week, we had been looking out the window and seeing the glowing "Columbia Asia" sign on this building, but no idea what kind of business it was. Now I discovered it was a highly rated hospital, with a walk-in "Family Care Center." Elder Porter has a well documented allergy to poison ivy, and both cashews and mangoes are related. On Saturday, his entire face was very swollen and he could barely open his eyes. We walked across the river to the hospital where they graciously directed us to the correct clinic, gave him a shot and two prescriptions that were filled at checkout. It took less than an hour and he total cost for all treatment and medications: $14.
It was great to get the healing started, because Saturday was a busy day for us: We were meeting with the branch president, and then our mission president was going to arrive. Unfortunately, a big rainstorm came in, and with most people traveling by motorcycle, the branch president had to cancel our meeting. It was great to see our mission president again, and Elder Porter asked the branch president to give him him a blessing, which also helped with the recovery process. We used the car to pick up the mission president's wife in time for dinner. The young elders chose the spot: a steak place with a fun name. The menu looked great, featuring steaks from the U.S. and Australia. But as so often happens here, some of the items that were our first choice were not actually available.
On Sunday, Elder Porter was sustained as second counselor in the branch presidency and we both spoke briefly. I had a sweet experience during the sacrament: As I was sitting pondering, the talk that I had written rolled in front of my eyes, giving me assurance that I would remember it when the time came. In reality, I got very nervous in front of everyone and had to look at the piece of paper to get started. And because the language is different here, I apparently said that Jesus was our big sister. but oh well. Another nice thing was that the Relief Society discussion was about Elder Uchtorf's talk from last fall, and that was the first talk I had understood in Indonesian and subsequently studied several times, so I could actually follow along. I was asked to say the closing prayer, in Indonesian. After the meetings there was a baptism, and this picture was taken while they were waiting for the folks involved were changing into white clothes.
Our district meeting on Tuesday was the last meeting for one of the great elders who are serving here. He shared some of what he learned on his mission, with a bottom line of, "DON'T WORRY, JUST WORK." This was good advice for a missionary of any age. We brought brownies to celebrate his return with honor. Because district meeting is at 10:30 a.m., we take our driver out to lunch before continuing with the day's activities. He is a great local guide and took us to this restaurant that has a salad/fruit bar before our rice dishes came. The hard thing for me was that the fruit was served in a hot red glaze. The veggies were great and I ignored the dish of red sauce there. Elder Porter enjoyed all of it, of course.
Last Wednesday, a church member offered some small green mangoes to us. Elder Porter accepted three of them, and carried them in his hands up to our apartment. He then ate one of them, which clung to the seed and had to be eaten with one's hands right off the seed. I ate one the next day, and it was very tasty. But on Friday, the skin above and below his eyes was swollen. It seemed to get a bit better during the day, but that night I was concerned enough to check our health insurance recommendations for providers in Medan. For a week, we had been looking out the window and seeing the glowing "Columbia Asia" sign on this building, but no idea what kind of business it was. Now I discovered it was a highly rated hospital, with a walk-in "Family Care Center." Elder Porter has a well documented allergy to poison ivy, and both cashews and mangoes are related. On Saturday, his entire face was very swollen and he could barely open his eyes. We walked across the river to the hospital where they graciously directed us to the correct clinic, gave him a shot and two prescriptions that were filled at checkout. It took less than an hour and he total cost for all treatment and medications: $14.
It was great to get the healing started, because Saturday was a busy day for us: We were meeting with the branch president, and then our mission president was going to arrive. Unfortunately, a big rainstorm came in, and with most people traveling by motorcycle, the branch president had to cancel our meeting. It was great to see our mission president again, and Elder Porter asked the branch president to give him him a blessing, which also helped with the recovery process. We used the car to pick up the mission president's wife in time for dinner. The young elders chose the spot: a steak place with a fun name. The menu looked great, featuring steaks from the U.S. and Australia. But as so often happens here, some of the items that were our first choice were not actually available.
On Sunday, Elder Porter was sustained as second counselor in the branch presidency and we both spoke briefly. I had a sweet experience during the sacrament: As I was sitting pondering, the talk that I had written rolled in front of my eyes, giving me assurance that I would remember it when the time came. In reality, I got very nervous in front of everyone and had to look at the piece of paper to get started. And because the language is different here, I apparently said that Jesus was our big sister. but oh well. Another nice thing was that the Relief Society discussion was about Elder Uchtorf's talk from last fall, and that was the first talk I had understood in Indonesian and subsequently studied several times, so I could actually follow along. I was asked to say the closing prayer, in Indonesian. After the meetings there was a baptism, and this picture was taken while they were waiting for the folks involved were changing into white clothes.
Our district meeting on Tuesday was the last meeting for one of the great elders who are serving here. He shared some of what he learned on his mission, with a bottom line of, "DON'T WORRY, JUST WORK." This was good advice for a missionary of any age. We brought brownies to celebrate his return with honor. Because district meeting is at 10:30 a.m., we take our driver out to lunch before continuing with the day's activities. He is a great local guide and took us to this restaurant that has a salad/fruit bar before our rice dishes came. The hard thing for me was that the fruit was served in a hot red glaze. The veggies were great and I ignored the dish of red sauce there. Elder Porter enjoyed all of it, of course.
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