Sunday February 7th

I rose at 2:00am Sunday morning to assist the 82nd airborne with a mission to pick up rice and move it to a location where it could be distributed to the people of Haiti. It made for a very long and tiring Sunday. I returned to camp at 7:00am, just in time for the camp Sacrament meeting. It was a wonderful meeting. Many shared their testimonies of the gospel and of God's love for all people. I was then off to the General Hospital to translate and to see what I could to help and be of comfort. It was a very warm day, and even warmer in the hospital tents. I can't even imaging trying to recover from amputations, infections and other sicknesses in these conditions. I spent some time in the ICU tent where a sweet young girl had an infected lung. When she came out of surgery I talked to her. She spoke of her fear of dying because she had not yet had the opportunity to become a mother. Joel walked her to the restroom and she was in great spirits. An hour later she began to decline and really took a turn for the worst. She couldn't breath well. She coded and the team sprang into action and began working on her to get her breathing. She fought very hard and they brought her back twice. After what seemed to be forever, (It was about 1 1/2 hours of working on her) she passed away. It was a very emotional time for all of us. I needed to take a break from the ICU so I went over to the post op tent to see Mana. Mana is the girl I talked about last week who had just had both of her legs amputated. I found her in good spirits. I sat with her for about an hour and we just talked. The most amazing thing about the Haitian people is I have never heard any of them blame God. They only praise Him. When I ask them how they keep going they generally say they only have hope. Once they loose hope they have nothing at all and they will die. There is little hope for a better life...for better conditions here in Haiti, but they do have their faith in Jesus Christ and no one can take that away from them. This life tests them and tries them in such different ways than us, but I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and he is their Savior as well.
Love you all