Nola's Journal: Mothers Day

Mothers day in the United States in on the second Sunday of May and in Mexico it is always on the 19th of May. We helped all the North American's call home on Sunday. There are always a lot of problems getting the calls working just right with headsets and microphones. But in the end everyone did call. I let one Hermana use my private phone and Dennis let one use his CCM phone because they couldn't get the headset to work. There are lots of tears when missionaries call home so I passed out tissues as well. One Hermana didn't use her full 30 minutes and was through faster than the others. When I asked her how her mother was doing she said she was home from the hospital but not breathing well so she didn't want to talk to her long. When this hermana arrived it was a little unusual because we have them all email home and let their parents know they arrived safely at the CCM. She asked if she could call because her parents didn't have email. We let her call. I asked a little more about her situation and she said here mother has a heart condition that put her into the hospital frequently. Her father is an electrician and was electrocuted and also has a heart condition. When she was about 15 or 16 she left Samoa and went to Honolulu to work to help pay for her parents medical bills. She worked at grocery store and her check went into a direct deposit to pay for her mothers hospital bill. He worked other jobs while still going to school and sent her father money for his bills. As a teenager alone in Honolulu she graduated from high school, worked to pay the bills and then started college classes. She said she was not doing real well paying for things on her own so she asked her brother who was still in Samoa to come and live with her. He did and that helped with the money situation. Her brother has conflict with their father so the brother worked and and helped pay the rent and she could still sent money to their parents. She basically grew up on her own but when her brother came he told her how to comb her hair and even braided it for her. She is now on a mission for the next 18 months and will then go back to Hawaii and continue with school and work and paying her family bills. An amazing Hermana!

Mothers Day restaurant for all the senior missionaries. Thanks goodness Sister Tenoria said, "No" the Hermanas will not cook their own dinner to celebrate Mother's Day. We will go to a restaurant!