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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Kidney Stones Again (from 12/3/12)


Well most of you already know, but Sunday morning I went to the hospital with kidney stones again. I woke up at about five in the morning and didnt know what it was yet so I just showered and got ready to go to church, then around 6 45 the pain got really bad and I knew what it was so I asked the missionaries in the apartment to give me a blessing and then I took a taxi over to the hospital. I actually wound up going to the Adventist Hospital run by the Seventh Day Adventists church.
 
In the taxi I just kept praying really hard that I wouldnt throw up all over the inside of the car. Finally we arrived and I made it into the ER where they injected some pain medicine into me and that helped a little bit, but I was still shaking really bad and in a ton of pain. They took me up into a room and put an IV in. Eventually President Hawks and his wife came in and sat in my room with me. We sat there waiting for hours until they took me to get an x ray and some ct scans. They injected the weird dye stuff into my veins and dad is right, it does make you feel like you pee your pants haha.
 
More hours later, they came in with the results and told me I have a kidney stone (not too much of a surprise to me). The doctor came up and said I should stay in the hospital overnight. I didnt really want to, and President Hawks didnt really think I needed to either because he kept questioning the doctor about it. But then he said that I should stay overnight, and so I did. It was really weird because Presidend Hawks left with my companion and so I didnt have a companion for the rest of the day until today in the afternoon. Well when all this was happening, there was a boy and his family in the next room over because he had hurt his knee playing basketball and needed to get surgery. They didnt really say anything to us ever but I saw them walk by a few times. I was really impressed that they went out of their way to bring dinner to the hospital and eat as a family, and in the morning they ate breakfast as a family as well.
I had a lot of time that I didnt know what to do with because I wasnt goign to watch tv, and my phone was dead so I couldnt call investigators. So I had some time to write a note to the family on a flyer I had and to put my information on it.
 
This morning before President Hawks came to pick me up, I was trying to find a way to give it to the family. Finally I just got up and changed into my missionary clothes and walked over and started talking to them. They were very friendly and interested in why I could speak Cantonese so well. I talked to them for about twenty minutes and then right when I was giving them the note, President Hawks and his wife as well as the mission doctor walked in looking for me. President Hawks made his way over to the family and started talking to them with me. We got their contact info, and although they dont live in my area's boundaries, it felt really good to make the best out of the situation I was in and still accomplish my missionary purpose.
 
While I was there, I talked to multiple nurses and different people about the church and my job as a missionary. It must have eventually spread all around the hospital because every time a new nurse came or someone came to check on me, they would only speak Cantonese to me right away, instead of trying to speak English. I was happy that I understood everything and was able to use some medical words and terms I have learned lately.
 
As we were leaving the hospital, I saw the mission doctor out in the hall talking to a white man in a suit. When he saw me he walked up and introduced himself. He told me he was the head minister chaplain person there at the hospital and went on to talk about how he grew up in Chile because his dad was a missionary for the Seventh Day Adventists and that they came into contact with missionaries there a lot and worked together a lot on different projects and service. He said he really respected all of those missionaries and was grateful for their work. Then he told me that he was just on his way up to my room because word had gotten around about me and he wanted to come thank me for the work I was doing in Hong Kong. He was very nice and sincere. He rode the elevator down with us and just continued to express his gratitude to me and President Hawks.
 
As we were driving home, President Hawks told me that last night when he was talking to the doctor about whether I should stay or not, he suddently felt that I needed to stay and he feels that it was so I could have a chance to go talk to that family in the next place over.
 
It made me realize that I had that kidney stone for a reason, and I can honestly say that I am grateful for the opportunity I had to help others come into contact with the gospel. Even though this time it was a lot more painful than in times past haha.
 
Well anyways, I have pain medication now just in case it starts hurting again, and I am going back on Friday to get another X ray done. I think they may be billing our insurance for it all, so if our insurance gets billed all the way from hong kong, thats what it is from.
 
Other than that, I am doing GREAT! I guess I dont have too much else time and I still need to write my report to president hawks.
 
But thank you all for everything!!
 
Love you!
 
Love, Jordan

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