july 16th, 2006

July 16th, 2006
"We left at 10 to drive the half hour in through town and to the other side to go to the nice church in Beira. The building is amazing! It is new and everything inside is so nice and well kept... Sacrament was just like sacrament at home - babies standing on chairs, facing backwards with snacks in their hands. Men and women laughing at the bland jokes that are always offered during the meeting. Old men coughing. Babies crying. It felt like home, just painted a different color.*** "After church, our group loaded up into the Landrover and drove to the beach. The beach was absolutely gorgeous! There was an old lighthouse that looked so... awesome! Behind the lighthouse, in the sand, there was a ship washed ashore. The ship must have been pretty old - it was corroded and not much remained. The shipwreck has to be one of the neatest things I have ever seen!... I started to venture off a little down the beach to check out another hunk of the ship. I was able to actually crawl in this area to look around. While standing inside, I found the perfect picture opportunity for the rest of the group... After I snapped the picture, I stepped out of the ship-piece to get closer for another shot when I felt something scratch me. I looked down to see that it wasn't a scratch, it was a gash... The first two things to pop into my head were "tetanus" and "depth". The wound was deep enough to be white - no blood for a while. The shock was more terrifying than the pain. I looked up and the first word to come to my mouth was "Jody". I couldn't say anything else other than, "Jody, come here now!". Nikki ran over and was getting worked up. That is when the blood began to rise. Jody was at my side in almost no time. She helped me sit down and the first thing she said was, "You're going to be okay... That needs stitches". I just started crying... Linda and Jody were both on the phone with people, trying to figure out what to do with me while Jenna poured fresh water on the wound to clean it. Jody bandaged me up with a wipe and a sock. The best part was that by this point, I was laughing. I think it was the fact that Cuca was laughing that made me laugh. I assured everyone that I did NOT need stitches. Jody and Linda said that it was time to go so we could tend to me, but I was snapping more shots of the beach!... We drove over to a couple missionary's home, the Coxs. Another missionary couple, the Kenneys, and the new mission president, the Packards, were all there... Sister Packard, Sister Cox, and Jody were all rushing to get stuff to fix me up. A small tub-dish thing was brought in to put my foot in. Colloidal silver was poured onto the cut, as well as fresh, cool water. It stung a bit, but I just looked away. It was funny, I was looking away while everyone crowded in the hallway trying to look in! Next, Sister Packard squeezed the 1/4 in. wide gash shut while Sister Cox dabbed super-glue down the 2 in. length of the cut... I hobbled back into the living room to get a blessing. Elder Cox looked down at my foot after the blessing and said, "That's it?". Everyone laughed. I felt kinda dumb, but you have to be so very safe here."

Quick "it's such a small world" story. The Sister Packard talked about in this entry was actually my mother-in-law's midwife for when Robert was born. No joke. Birthing babies and super-gluing injuries one day at a time.
Ps. Best. Scar. Ever.