This is the head of surgery and I at end of the last surgery that I was able to attend. We took out half of 2 ribs that had a tumor attached to them... that´s right I said we. I scrubbed in and got to stick my hands in. The surgeon used a hammer and chisel to cut the ribs in order to take them out and you could see right into where the boy´s lungs were working. Also, if you look close, you can see that our scrubs are wet from sweat. It is hard work to pry open and hold open a hole in someone. The boy is recovering fine, but since this is his 3rd relapse, his prognosis isn´t too good...
Finally, Jill got here! And we kissed! She also brought me the new Harry Potter and we have been reading it out loud together.
This is the Lopez family that got baptized when I was a missionary here. The first night that Jill was here we went to the temple with them. Since my mission they have a new son in law, a new daughter in law, and two new grandchildren. They have all been sealed in the temple.
Osvaldo Lopez and I worked to get this group organized at the hospital. Osvaldo is the young adult leader of the church in his city and asked the girl to my left in this photo, Irene, to be a representative of the church in the hospital. She is a nursing student and wanted to volunteer, so now she comes twice a week to the hospital and coordinates projects between the youth of the church and the kids at the hospital. I also got around 120 beanie baby stuffed animals donated for them to hand out on Children´s Day last week.
This is the start of our vacation. We snuck across the border to go to Iguaçu Falls in Brasil. Technically you have to pay for a $100 visa, but we didn´t. The part that we are standing on is a platform that is on the edge of another waterfall, as in, you could look over the guardrail and down 150 feet or so. Iguaçu Falls is more of a complex of waterfalls than just one waterfall. It was very cool.
This is the church in Saltos del Guaira, an area on the border with Brazil where I was a missionary for 6 months. The man standing next to Jill is Felix, who is now the leader of the church in that area; he and his family have really been changed by their baptism.
The girl under the blanket is named Liz, Felix´s daughter; all of the girls were in love with Jill.
A friend lent us their little motorcycle to show Saltos del Guaira to Jill.We have a change in the itenerary... tomorrow we will fly to Cochabamba, Bolivia, instead of riding the bus there. It will cut at least 40 hours of travel time and give us those precious hours to instead focus on Machu Picchu. We will also gain a little wiggle room for any situations in Peru. We are loving life! Once again, sorry about the last two weeks without any entries. We love you all very much.
