Near the end of April Elder Belshe assumed the Mission Nurse duties from Sister Shumway. It was time for her to go home. She was a great nurse and the missionaries loved her. But now they are stuck with Elder Belshe until September when the new nurse and her husband arrives. And man have we been busy. The flu season was a long one here on the island and on the outer islands. We have had other illnesses and injuries coupled with the flu that has kept us busy from sun up to late at night many times. Skin rashes, heat rashes, muscle cramps, headaches, body aches, diarrhea, nausea, boils of all sorts, cuts, and bruises. We have had to send 2 missionaries to Hawaii for treatment. One came back and the other finished his mission in Hawaii. We had one missionary go home for treatment and ended up staying. We have had 3 other missionaries go to the Marshall Islands for treatment and return back. We had one missionary in the hospital here in Tarawa for 6 days. We had a Senior missionary go home to Australia to deal with some infections and other skin issues. We have dealt with dental issues with 2 missionaries. We have put over 4500 kilometers on the car going from one end of Tarawa to the other, sometimes twice or 3 times in one day. All this plus our school assignment and other mission duties. Elder Belshe has been exposed to all types of illnesses continually and yet has not been sick one day. He has kept his energy level high except for today. Today he has felt tired and plans on getting to bed early and getting a good nights rest. Through it all we have felt the Lord by our side and the promptings of the Spirit continually. Many times it has been through the guidance of the Spirit that we have been able to know what to do for these missionaries. Elder Belshe has given more Priesthood blessings in the past 3 months than he did in the past 10 years before the mission. We have seen the power of prayer and faith, coupled with the Priesthood result in many miracles, tender mercies from the Lord. We are so grateful to the Lord for his continued love, support and guidance.
Here are some selected pictures from the last 3 months.
The shop teacher found this lab coat and told me since I am the nurse"doc" I should wear it. I posed for the picture but it is the only time I've worn it.
Elder in the hospital for 6 days. Yes this was his "room", an outside area with a bed. This is why we try not to admit missionaries into the hospital here
This missionary stepped on a can and cut his foot but didn't tell me about it until it was infected.
Sister Belshe's finger has been bothering her. We think it may be a fungal infection.
During all this time there has been a couple of times when we have gone with the school on training retreats to North Tarawa to a retreat type resort. When I say resort don't think of it in terms of resorts in other places in the world. But they were nice to go to and relax. The only way to get there is by boat.
We have loved our mission every day we have spent here. We love serving the people of Kiribati and serving our missionaries. The time is flying by and we still have so much to do. But we do look forward to seeing all of our family and friends when the time comes. Until then we will continue to apply those healing balms to both body and spirit and pray for the Lords guidance in all that we do.
With love,
Elder and Sister Belshe
