Monday chaos at the MTC clinic

Well this is not for the world to know just my own personal journal.  We determined today after seeing so many missionaries that this must be a norovirus.  Between yesterday and today Dennis saw officially 30 plus and Dr. Gill saw 55 today.  However there is the unofficial count that we don't know about.  I would see a missionary on the campus and ask how he is doing and he would say he was sick but didn't want to come it.  There must be dozens of those situations.  At one point today all the exam rooms, treatment rooms and counseling rooms were full and the waiting room was full also.  I had missionaries coming in for non virus  needs and we simply couldn't see them because we had such sick missionaries to take care of.  This virus causes dehydration and at one point there were 4 missionaries with IV's.  We did have to take one sister to the emergency room because she was so sick that we wanted her to have cultures.  If we sent specimens to the labs it would take 2 or 3 days whereas if we sent her to the ER she could come back in 8 hours and hopefully give us some information about what the rest had also.  It is not over yet but I do hope the second wave will not hit as hard. Since I am not a nurse or a doctor I had the golf cart driving duty to go to the homes of these missionaries and pick them up because they are too sick to walk into the clinic.  I would pick up a sick missionary and their companion and then took home the ones that had just been seen.  This went on all morning for hours. We have about 385 North American's and at least 90 or so of them have been sick so far.  It is interesting that the Latino missionaries are not getting this virus at all.  Maybe one had a little nausea but nothing to speak of.

I am so impressed with the charity and love the companions and other roommates have for the sick ones.  Both elders and hermanas are amazing and compassionate when it comes to taking care of their companions.  They stay up all night with them and hold their hair when they are throwing  up, they wrap them in blankets when they are chilled, they support them as the sick companion walks back to the golf cart and into their casa.  They teach them the lessons they are missing in class because they are too sick to be there.  They sacrifice going to eat at the comodor because they need to stay with their companion.  It is truly a Christ like service offered by the companions.  I hope tonight will be more quiet and everyone here can get some sleep.  Dr. and Sister Gill will not be going to the temple clinic tomorrow because they feel like they need to stay and help here at the CCM.

sick

Well it is almost 11:00 pm and Dennis and I just came home.  There is a virus going around here at the CCM and it is not pretty.  He has seen about 20+ missionaries today and Elder Gill has seen about 6.  Dennis is the primary doctor right now so he is taking the calls and Elder Gill just sees what Dennis can't.  Someone of the 100 North Americans who came in last Wednesday may be the culprit or it is just  a virus that we don't know where it came from but it seems to be spreading fast.  We are making house calls using the golf cart because  we seem to go from house to house.  We were at one house and we get a call from reception at 10:15 at night that someone else is too sick to walk to the clinic so we go and visit them.  At one point Dr Gill was seeing a sister at her house and Dennis was getting a call to go see another missionary but at the same time he was seeing missionaries in the clinic one right after another, plus a couple of missionaries walked into the clinic and said an elder in their district was laying on the floor shaking from chills and fever in his class room and could we go and see him.  They all seem to have raised temperatures some as high as 104, vomiting (one sister threw up on cue as we were making a house call) and they have diarrhea plus just plain head aches and body aches. I hope we get some sleep tonight.  The President has asked that we limit our handshaking if we are sick and everyone else please wash there hands often.  I hope my spinach smoothies and efforts to eat healthy will give me some ability to face this virus.

There was no celebrating of the 24th of July here although we did go out for a P-day to Pachuca on the 25th.  I'm counting that as our celebration.

Real del Monte

After meeting Carlos and Sylvia at their charming home in Pachuca we drove to the town of Real  Del Monte or Mineral Del Monte. It is a mining town which mined silver and gold.

Dennis' dinner

Neal's dinner

My pastes which are famous in Real Del Monte.  The mining industry was dying out and since it was an English colony at the time the Cornish people or people of Cornwell, England came to Mexico and began mining.  They brought with them the pastes which could be held in one hand and eaten and then the end of the paste which was dirty from the miners hand was thrown away.   

There are more paste shops and restaurants in Real Del Monte that in Cornwell

I love the plates we were served with.  The restaurants here serve delicious bread before the meal.

This was the inside of the restaurant.

Since Real Del Monte is a sister city to Cornwell England and since Prince Charles has ancestors buried in the English Cemetery there he and his wife Camilla made a trip to Mexico in 2014. 

We were at this same English cemetery today.

Dennis outside the English Cemetery

As we walked around Real Del Monte we stepped into a church where the priest was baptizing babies.  The mother would hold the baby and the priest said a prayer (or something) and sprinkled water on the babies head.  This was one of the most insightful things of the day because just before that we had met 2 Latino sister missionaries who were serving in Real Del Monte.  The junior companion had just been out 3 months and recognized Sister Torres from the CCM.  It was apparent to me that these good people who are having their babies baptized as infants need the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They need to be baptized themselves and have their children baptized at age 8.  It is obvious that these parents love their children.  I am delighted to see families together.  They just need to be sealed together for eternity in the temple of God.

Carlos paid a walking band to sing and play for us.

We walked up these steep stone steps.  The town of Real Del Monte is in the mountains and so there are a lot of hills and mountains and steps.

An old Spanish church built and used in the 1700's

A cute little girl and her grandfather on the stone steps.

A fun washroom at the restaurant.

Back in Pachuca from Real Del Monte Carlos stopped at a bakery and we all bought some pastes.  Some were filled with meat or veggies and others with apple pie filling.

A delightful women that Sylvia bought plants from.  Her house was just off the stone steps 

The miners hospital now make into a museum.  It treated the sick miners.

mining equipment brought from England

The market and large green parrots.  We have green parrots at the CCM also just not that large.

another picture of the church

Rock walls, rock houses, rock steps and rock streets in Real (which means Royal also) Del Monte

These are pomegranate trees.  They are harvested in August or September.

The Zapatas

We drove to Pachuca today with Elder and Sister Torres.  Neal and Jack Beecher also went. Carlos and Sylvia Zapata invited us to come up.  He works here at the CCM.  They both attended school here and he was the principle at one time.  There house is in a private gated community in Pachuca.  Sylvia has decorated it to be absolutely charming.  The loft upstairs had three beds in it for grandchildren.  

Sylvia loves to quilt and had a quilting shop where she teaches ladies to quilt.  

This is a quilt she has made.  She cuts out the pieces and the women sew them and quilt them.  

This was a banner Sylvia made.  It says, "Charity never Faileth"

I love this quilt Sylvia made.  She buys most of her fabric in the US when they take the car there and drive back.  Carlos said she fills the van with fabric.  

Nice mountain quilt. She made it also as everything that is in her shop.

Sister Torres (the Mental Health worker a psychologists) at the CCM

A small wall piece.

Sylvia doesn't use quilting frames to quilt her tops.  She just puts in large basting stitches and quilts it by hand.  

Carlos tutors, Math, Physics, and Chemistry on the lower lever.  Sylvia's shop is on the top floor up the stairs.

Presa El Cedral

Presa El Cedral.  This is the Lake Carlos and Sylvia took us to today.  It was high in the mountains.  They offered a zip line, for $3.00 or riding horses for about the same price.  They also had canoes and paddle boats for rent.  We all bought a drink.  I had a mango and then Neal Beecher and I took a zip line ride across the lake. No one else wanted to do it.  It was a delightful surprise to see such a beautiful lake with families camping and enjoying each others company.

You could go horse riding

people hiking around the lake

I loved seeing families together

This woman was making tortillas and then cooking food, including a cactus to go inside the tortillas

Carlos is showing us the small tender cactus they eat.  They take off the spines and then boil it or bake it or fry it or prepare it in any number of other ways.  He was the principle of the high school at Benemerito for a while and he said they harvested two pickup truck beds full of cactus and took them to the lunch ladies to prepare for the students.   

this is the cactus that dots the land and that people eat.  I like the flower blooming on the cactus.

We got our zip line equipment and they helped us put it on

The zip line platform was a little shaky

101 new missionaries from North America

Dennis was helping bring in the luggage from 2 bus loads of missionaries coming from the airport.  The direct flight came from Salt Lake City with about 90 missionaries and another from Atlanta with about 10 missionaries.  

It is very exciting to fell the energy  as these new missionaries arrive at the CCM and begin their service and preparation. .

This was just some of the luggage.  There were other piles.

I so admire these young missionaries who have just committed to make a major change in their lives.  They go from high school or for some with a year or so of college behind them to putting on a suit and tie and coming here to learn to speak Spanish and then go and teach people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

I gave my little welcome orientation speech to 4 different groups.  The 100+ new missionaries were separated into four groups in order to facilitate the large group.  They went to dinner at the new comodor.  I ate there myself for the first time today.  I am sure administration was really pushing to get the comodor ready for this large group.

It didn't start raining until they had all gotten off the bus and then it poured.  Some rain fell while they walked back and forth from the comodor.

new suit at Sears -- traffic-- comedor

Today Dennis and I drove to the Temple where there is a clinic on the property.  The missionaries who are in that area can come to see a doctor.  We saw a few patients/missionaries and then left at 2:00 PM.  It takes about an hour to get there because traffic is so crazy.  On the way home Dennis wanted to stop at Sears to buy a suit.  He came with two but one tore and could not be mended well.  The one he bought today took 1.5 hours for alterations so we went to get some dinner at "Wings".  It was sort of a family restaurant in the mall.  I ordered pasta because I am a little afraid to eat salad outside the CCM.  Last time Dr. Gill ate salad at a restaurant (last week when he went to the clinic) he came home sick.  He lost 5 pounds and was out for a couple of days.  I didn't want to chance that. The traffic coming home around the Basilica was very scary for me.  There must have been something going on because there were dozens of buses and booths set up as well.  The road was blocked off at certain intersections and we watched a car in front of us collide with a bus, then lost part of his car (part of a bumper or something and just keep going.  There is no stopping to pick up the pieces at a time of total congestion.  Our prayers were answered and we came home safe.  They check our CCM car that we drive as we go out of the locked gate and as we come back in again.  I can only imagine that damage to the church vehicles is easily obtained in just one traffic jam.  Everyone crowds into the intersection with no following of lines on the roads or rules in the book...just horns honking and nerves frayed.   Dennis did get a Mexican drivers license the other day.  It only required that he pay money and get his picture taken, but if an accident occurs the church insurance will cover you if the driver is licensed.

We had a great devotional speaker tonight.  All the missionaries including the 121 new Latinos who came on Monday and today were there.  I am in charge of getting people to pray, lead us in the missionary theme, play the piano and lead the music.  I always worry about that a little, but it is amazing to see the talent and willingness of these young 18 and 19 year old missionaries to volunteer to help out.

The newly remodeled comodor opened today.  I saw the missionaries streaming in there for breakfast this morning (since it is relatively close to our dormitory).  I had my spinach smoothie for breakfast and then we ate veggies and fruit for lunch.  We ate at the mall (while waiting for the suit) for dinner so I will go tomorrow and see what the new cafeteria is like.  Dennis did eat French toast for breakfast and then went to the clinic which is next door.    So nice to have it close.  I have only cooked vegetable bean soup a couple of times and we eat at the comodor the rest of the time.