Tuesday, June 21, 2011                                                                                 Few clouds, quite warm

The couple of days I’ve been in a fog. I have been quite sick and was right in bed. Aches, chills, temperature and low blood pressure were some of my symptoms. The only thing I can think of was eating a touch of salad at Nina and Hager’s on Thursday. Gene had some too. It really was just enough for a garnish, but I really think that must have been the culprit. And that, after Nina had guaranteed Sister Deppong: ‘you won’t get sick on my salads.’ Anyway, its been a rough couple of days. Gene hasn’t been nearly as sick as I was. I’m grateful for that.

Sunday, Elder and Sister Deppong came over. She is a nurse and she checked me over. She said my blood pressure was low; something like 70 over 50 and my temperature was up. I was very disoriented and had a hard time saying what I wanted to say. And I was pretty wobbly as I got up to go to the bathroom, not steady on my feet at all. I guess the low blood pressure explains that. So I slept all day, didn’t eat anything and although I knew I needed to eat and drink, it was a chore. Nothing tasted good. Gene and Elder Deppong gave me a blessing and I know that helped.

Monday I woke up feeling nauseated and was just really uncomfortable. I felt better lying down so most of the day was again spend on the bed. Last night Jessica came in. She’s in nursing school. She took my temperature and blood pressure. The temp was normal and the blood pressure was up a bit. 100 over 70. Not quite where it should be, but much better than it was.

We did talk to the kids their Sunday night, wishing Gene a Happy Father’s Day. Paul is leaving Monday morning for Scout camp. Also Chad is going with the Young Men from his ward, Porter included, to Scout Camp in Moab. Wow! That sounds like a good time. I’m sure they will have fun.

Missionary work went on and Gene took care of things.  Sunday about 11:00 am, a representative from the Peace Corp and a representative from the Embassy came. Elder and Sister Deppong were here too. They wanted to know how secure we felt in Nepal. Gene told them some of the precautions we take, like always traveling  in a taxi, being home before dark, avoiding crowds, the usual kinds of stuff. The Peace Corps is looking to again establish a presence in Nepal and were checking things out. Neither of them were members of the church but said they like to meet with missionaries  because they usually have a sense of what the security risks are.

Sunday, Mr Koirala, Team Leader for the Final Evaluation, sent the Final Evaluation Report for our review and comments. Gene said it was about 46 pages long and for the most part it was a favorable review although there were some things we didn’t include in the information given to him. Gosh, if he would have asked, we would have given him all the information he wanted. And there are some things we should be doing that we aren’t.  They don’t give us a list of guidelines – so how are we supposed to know? And we are volunteers – working to serve the country of Nepal.

Gene sent the report to Elder Ko and Jaymi in Hong Kong. We can’t make any changes, but can only comment. It’s a long ways from being signed. This morning Gene said (I’m not sure he was joking or not) that we will be lucky to have this all signed and filed before we leave Nepal. Some goes for the new Two Year Agreement. We did get the okay to go ahead and submit it, knowing that ti will go back and forth from Nepal to Hong Kong a few times. It has been quite an endeavor.

Saturday, June 18, 2011                                                    Rain most of the night, few sprinkles today

Knowing it was the Sabbath day, I thought it would be nice to sleep in and I tried but wasn’t very successful. I woke about 5:15 and read my scriptures. I’m in the 25^th chapter of 2 Nephi. I wish I was a little more knowledgeable about Isaiah.  There’s a lot I need to learn. I’m also in the 35 chapter of the Doctrine and Covenants. I’m never read it all the way through and that is one of my goals while we are on our mission.

We enjoy church here in the branch. They are wonderful people and the light of the Gospel shines in their eyes. They are planning a temple trip and had a short meeting after the church block for those wanting to go to the Manila Temple. There’s about seven or eight who are interested. Laxmi is one of them. We hope things work out and we can also go. What a thrill that would be. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I don’t want to pass it up.

Pushpa Tamang came home with us. He is the young man who really wants to be baptized. Usha had set up an email account for him, but he had never been in it. We showed him how to do that and also set up a Facebook account for him.  What a great young man. He has a strong testimony and will make a great missionary someday. If only his parents would give him permission for him to be baptized. He is such a caring, gently, humble young man. We are really impressed with him and his desire to do the right things.

Gene and I went up and read for a little bit. As I was laying on the bed, I suddenly felt chilled and mentioned it to Gene. He said it is cooler. Finally, I got up and put on a fleece jacket. I came back downstairs and asked Gene is he was cool and he said now he was sweating. That’s not good news. I feel achy all over. I sure hope I’m not getting something. We’ve got a busy, busy week.

Thursday, June 16, 2011                                                        Rain early AM. Then partly cloudy, rain pm

It rained a lot during the night. This morning was clear, with just a few clouds along the mountains. We went up on the balcony….I love Kathmandu and being here. What a choice experience. Today is our four month anniversary of being here. We are at the quarter point. It’s going by pretty quickly.

This morning, I spent time updating my journal and the blog. That does take quite a bit of time. I’ve also read a bit. This afternoon we took a taxi and went to the bank and then the Social Welfare Council. This was to sign papers amending the Hattikor project. They asked that we be there at 2:15 pm. We were there by then, but waited in an office for a while and then ushered upstairs to Dr. Lama’s office where we waited again. We shouldn’t be surprised – We are in Nepal.

Gene and Dr. Lama Member Secretary of SWC sign papers

They had a photographer there and everything......

Finally we were taken into Dr. Lama’s office and things were quite official. Mr. Rimal, the director of the SWC was also there. Dr. Lama and Gene signed the papers and other people stamped them all. They had a photographer there and I asked if I could also take a photo and they said yes. Oh, happy day. Now, if it would have been the Two Year Agreement, we could really celebrate.

As we were leaving, Gene asked Mr. Rimal if we hand the Two Year Agreement to him and he said ‘no,’ to hand in to Nettie Sherpa, Dr. lama’s secretary and that there had been some new guidelines put out by the government for Agreements. We won’t know what they are until after we submit the agreement, they look at it and then tell us what the new guidelines are.  For some reason, we feel this is going to be a long drawn out process.

We stopped at Nina and Hager’s for a sandwich. We bought some chicken and surprise; they had some white and chocolate chips. We bought a small supply, knowing they would be good in cookies and muffins.  When we got home there were three emails from Hong Kong. One was from Floyd Ko saying that Elder Perkins of the Area Presidency will be making a trip to Kathmandu on November 10 and 11^th. He would like to meet Rakesh Hamal, and Choice. He would also like to visit a Humanitarian Project. That will be nice. November is shaping up to be a busy month, along with October.

Today is Jaxton's birthday. He has been attending the Aggie Basketball Camp and having a great time. It's hard to believe that he's 11 years old. What a wonderful young man with many talents and abilities. We love you, Jaxton! Happy Birthday.

Friday, June 17, 2011                                                                    Partly cloudy, rain in the evening

Today is Derik’s birthday. He’s 16 years old and I’m sure anxious to get his driver’s license. We sent him an email and hope he has a good day.

We sent a lot of emails today. One to a guy connected to the Peace Corp. He wanted some contact info so we sent out phone numbers. They called and will be coming to our home to visit on Sunday at 11:00 am. That should be interesting as they said there could be eight people coming.

We walked over to Bhat Bhateni’s. They even had some peanut M & M’s. We bought a couple of packages. I told Gene we could put some in the granola. They were about $3 for about 6 ounces. Kind of pricey, but once in a while you just have to do it. Comfort food.  I try and go with a list, but we always bring home a load. It seems you are a little more careful, knowing you have to carry home everything you buy.

Elder Lawton called and talked with Gene. And Horray! He said he would send the Agreement to us today. Late afternoon we did get it. There were a few changes to make, but now we can print it off and submit it to SWC. We know it will go back and forth a few times before we will sign it, but at least, once it’s submitted, Deppongs can start their visa process.

Tonight we watched the first The Work and the Glory movie. We had seen it before, but it’s been a while. We enjoyed it. Alison called and we also visited with her for a bit. They got their piano and it looks pretty nice. Hannah is excited and will begin lessons when school starts.