Hives

Ok, so the last couple weeks we have been off on our P-Day schedule because of the holidays the last couple of weeks, this week it is back to normal and all is well, I see no reason to change it again in the coming weeks. I cannot even remember all that has happened!

Sister Edwards and I have a new investigator!!!! YAY!!! Sister Edwards was sitting next to her on a marshrootka and she helped us find our way to where we needed to go. She is 15 and her name is Maria. We had a meeting with her on Friday and she accepted a soft baptismal commitment. It was amazing! The spirit was so strong on lesson it was so great! She said that she just wanted to learn all we had to tell at once. She is the greatest! Unfortunatly she couldn't go to church on Sunday because her family was going out to the village, but we have meetings set up with her for this next week.

Friday night, that is when all the crazy stuff happened! So, remember that one time when I drank juice and ended up in a Ukrainian hospital because I could not breath?! So, funny story.... I don't think that it is juice that I am allergic to. So, I have had hives and I don't know why the last week or so, then Friday night I go to bed and at about 11:00 can't breath and I get to call Elder Jolstead, my district leader, telling him that I cannot breath and away to the hospital I go again! YAY! I hate Ukrainian hospitals, they are freaky! Because all four of the Elders are in the same apartment Elder Jolstead and Elder Lippert, the two "oldest" missionaries came, they can translate for me a lot easier than my companion who has only been in the country a month. They met us at the hospital. Elder Lippert got to be my translator, I got two huge shots and then was fine. They gave me a blessing afterward and all was well.

The next morning we all slept in a bit, we didn't get home until 1 in the morning. It was crazy, I just like to be the problem child. I called the mission doctor and I am now sporting the latest in nerdy fashion by now having an inhaler. It is quite great! I feel just so awesome carrying that thing around. 

Sunday was Elder Mollinet and Elder Peterson's birthday, so we made them lunch and brownies. We brought it to the church for them to take home. It was a "Happy Birthday" slash "Sorry for being such problematic children" gift for four of them.

During sacrement however, I wasn't able to breath again! I used the inhaler and Elder Mollinet had some benadryl and therefore, I survived. After church I went home and slept until 8 at night. It is just taking a lot out of me. My poor companion gets to be my mother. I have told her to stop praying for patients and for the Elders to stop praying for service opportunities because my health just cannot handle it anymore. When I woke up last night though, I couldn't breath again and the inhaler didn't work. Back to the hospital again.

I hate Ukrainian hospitals. It is aweful! This time Elder Jolstead and Elder Mollinet came, that was an adventure. We went to a different one, because we wanted to find out the solution to the problem rather than just getting another shot and calling it good. However, this hospital was pretty much a joke and the scariest experience of my life. We just left it was so ridiculous, they said that I just had a headache and told me to take a tylenol or something. Pretty sure that I didn't just have a headache unless your breathing is affected by pain in your head...? I have a really cool print out of my heart rate though, that is kind of cool and will definately be put in my journal.

The second hospital that we went to was the one we had gone to earlier. The doctors there were mean! Elder Jolstead almost left becuase he was getting so frustrated with one of them, it was kind of funny. I probably would have laughed had I not been trying to breath. Elder Jolstead doesn't say a whole lot and is super just calm and sweet, so to see him get upset with something it was saying how bad it really was. They made me go to all these different rooms and this one doctor was just being so ridiculous, I finally just ended up in tears because I was just so frustrated with everyone and everything.

I hate not being able to tell them what I need done and they have no idea what they are doing. The doctor prescribed camomile tea and told me that I wasn't having problems breathing I was just stressing out....? Pretty sure that I don't just go to hospitals for fun or when I am stressed. Instead of trying to find the solution to the problem I just got the shot and went home. It was already midnight at this point and just getting more ridiculous by the minute. At one point I called Elder Terry and Elder Millard, the assistants to the president and also they happened to be with me when I had to go to the hospital the first time, I got the Uzh doctor's number from them. He speaks english and so we were able to tell him what was going on and he told the doctors at this hospital over the phone. Still didn't solve much. I just took the shot and wanted to go home.

So, now I am on a strict diet, I have to record everything I eat and if it happens again, who knows. I have my district leader living on pins and needles, every 10 minutes checking on my breathing and I am sure he just cringes everytime the phone goes off. Oh, the joys of foreign country living!

So, yeah in about 4 days all of that happened. But now, all is good and we are just living it day by day. Hopefully soon we will be able to get to the bottom of whatever this is! I hope that your week has been great!

Love you!

  Sister Shaughnessy