May 1 Monday Gracias de todo Corazon

This morning we left some money and a Book of Mormon for the woman who cleans our room and this is the note she left us.   Maybe she will install the hot tub and massage chair in our room as requested.  ha.  The Hondurans that we have met are so humble and friendly.

Our first patient of the day - Marco. He awoke at 1 AM this morning to travel to the clinic.  It was 9 AM when we saw him. He was a good young man and the course of our day was set by his good nature.  Today is the 'Labor Day' of Honduras so the streets were empty except for some planned protesting which our drivers avoided and we did not get to see.   They are very concerned about our security and we will miss the speedy police escorts and armed guards around the building.

A small group of us got on a bus and spent some of the afternoon visiting some families in the area that were having a hard time financially.  We took some princess dresses and the little girls of the family - who were shy at first - immediately became our best friends.  It was touching to hear and feel of the strength of the parents in Gospel despite the challenges they had faced.  The daughter on the right is undergoing treatment for leukemia.

A picture of the Villalabos family. 

Susan and one of the daughters.  Susan did not keep the lollipop.

The neighborhood kids looking out the windows as we were leaving.  We had extra candy bags so we invited them down and they came down in a hurry.

This cute little girl did not even wait to put a shirt on but came running as fast as she could down the stairs to get a treat.

We visited another family that lives up on one of the mountains surrounding the city and there was a cool breeze blowing with a great view.   Their last son was at the clinic this morning and is preparing to leave for his mission soon.  He is in his third year of high school and is leaving school to serve the Lord.  His words - "High school will always be there.  Serving the Lord is what I am supposed to do right now." 

Walking the trail to one of the homes of the members.  The father of the family was called to be YM president eight days after his baptism and he has been in that calling ever since.  Eight years.

A picture of the family overlooking the city.  We took them several blankets, a plastic bin full of grains and food ( about 60 pounds ) and clothing and many other donated items.   The mother stated she  had prayed two weeks ago for the Lord to provide for them as they were struggling financially and she gave Susan a 10 minute hug ( 'very tight' in Susan's words )  and they both wept at the kindness of the Lord to allow us to serve and them to be served.

If you look closely, you will see the airport runway above the stadium in the center of the photo.  The aircraft come in from the right side of the picture and make a hard left turn to land.

Axel - one of our favorite patients today.  He is the only member of his family and is so dedicated to the Lord.  He will be a great missionary - but is already a great person.

Osman was so scared coming into the clinic, but afterwards said that he shouldn't have been scared and that the experience was divertiendo ( fun ).  He is trying to smile but his lip is numb and we did quite a few restorations, so .....

Denilson our last patient of the day close to 10 PM.  Not really used to working that late ( okay, not at all ) but we managed to keep our attitudes just above crankiness but remembering why we are here and to look up and not around.  We had many neat experiences today and although we will most likely forget the details ( like right now ), we will not forget how we felt and we have felt a deep love for these people in Central America.