Mother's Day Phone Call

We loved being able to gather together as a family and talk to Eric on Mother's Day. It was so wonderful to hear his voice and his laugh, and he said that he loved hearing all of us, too. Here is a brief synopsis of some of the things we learned:

Eric is enjoying the Feliciano area, although he preferred his first area a little more, partly because there were real stores there and they did not have to rely on the kioskos for groceries. (Many kioskos are very small and sell only candy and sodas, along with beer and cigarettes.)

They have been getting quite a bit of rain lately. The area gets very muddy, but there are two pairs of big boots that stay with the apartment there for the current missionaries to use, so they are able to continue working despite the weather. Their apartment roof leaks in several places, but since the leaks are not directly over their beds, and it doesn't actually cause a flood in their apartment, they don't worry about it.

Eric and his companion are busy teaching lessons and working with a number of investigators. He said sometimes in the middle of teaching a spiritual lesson, the cars with loudspeakers advertising things drive by and are a real distraction, along with dogs and kids and things always wandering in and out. Nevertheless, they are making good progress and hoping for some baptisms in the future.

We asked Eric if they had beds or cots for when they stay overnight in La Paz once or twice each week. The answer is no, they just lie down on the tile floor and go to sleep. Eric said there is one blanket they could use, but it is so dirty and gross that he prefers to just sleep on the floor without it. When we sounded concerned, he reassured us that sometimes he stacks up a few books to use as a pillow. He also said that when he was in his first area of Venado Tuerto, San Martin, occasionally other missionaries would stay at their pench overnight, and the guest missionaries just slept on the bare floor, as well, so we guess that is just "how it is done" in their mission.

Eric had gotten sick later in the day last Wednesday, coughing and having some trouble breathing, and ended up having to go see a doctor. He was not too impressed with the country doctor, but he was given some medication and he said it is helping, so hopefully the doctor knew what he was doing. One of the medications that he told me the name of is a decongestant and fever reducer. (Quraplus.) The doctor also gave instructions that Eric was not allowed out of the pench through the weekend. We could still hear that Eric was quite congested as he spoke to us, but it didn't seem to bother him.

We asked Eric if he has eaten anything strange there, and he told us that he had some cow intestine recently. The family whose "barn" they live in had made too much cow intestine one day, so they brought the extra to Eric and his companion. Eric didn't know what it was, and said it was covered in some kind of goo, but he was hungry so he went ahead and ate it. He said it tasted like some kind of fishy chicken, but it was okay. He only found out what he had eaten when he was through eating it. But he also said that if he was hungry, he'd be willing to eat it again someday.

The P-days for the mission are going to change to Mondays. The change will start the following week, on May 17.

Eric seems to be loving his mission and doing very well, and he sounded very upbeat and positive the whole time. He said he has really learned the value of education, having seen what it is like in a country where so many of the people are poorly educated. He said he is going to continue to work hard, be obedient to the mission rules, and hopefully reach many people to teach them the gospel and the way to find joy and happiness with their families.

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