Elder Ballard has had such an eventful week. With all the events happening in the country and the world, we were anxious to see what he knew and how he was doing. Missionaries often aren’t privy to news and current events so we weren’t sure how he much he knew of what was going on. Happily, he welcomed any news and was competely faithful and unafraid. He loves his companion from Springville and they do so well together. The heat is still going strong and he thinks that’s why the coronavirus isn’t heavily present there because it would never survive the heat! So far they are not on lock down (like the South Bogota Mission) and were going to have a conference call with their Mission President this evening to talk about what is coming up next for them. Alot of missionaries that are from countries in South America were getting sent home because their borders were closing. He has been sick for a few weeks and we were worried he was getting too dehydrated. We don’t know much because he never wants us to worry, but he told us this today: “Oh ya mom, get this, I had to go to the doctor and they put me to sleep and gave me a scope and I have bacterial infection. But I got alot of medicine and I am feeling alot better now.” Then we see his letter and it says he was at the hosptial for 3 days! What the heck! We do know he has been pretty sick even though he doesn’t talk much about it, so we are so grateful that he was able to get good care while there. The funny part was, all the nurses made sure they dressed in complete coverage before helping him, he thinks because they were so worried he had the virus. He said they were covered head to toe in white suits and had big masks on. Better safe than sorry and we are so grateful to them! We also encouraged him to go stock up on food and water and be prepared just in case things change quick. Stay tuned on for more details and things continually change for the missionaries. Here is his letter:
Hey guys! This week turned out to be a crazy one. We started thinking it would be a normal week, then ended up having to go to the hospital for 3 days due to a bacterial stomach infection, the COVID19 started to be a thing in colombia, missionaries got sent home early to get inside their country before it shut the doors to the outside world, church got canceled, emergency food storages started being made, etc. Geez seems to me like the whole world flipped upside down in a few days! I hope you all are doing well despite the rage of this new virus contaminating our earth. I do know and find comfurt in knowing that we are children of God, que Él está pendiente de nosotros, nos conoce, nos ama, y Él sabe que hace.This week that is all that happened. My last companion Elder Lucaila was notified saturday that he would be leaving the mission sunday to be in his country before they canceled all immigrant flights. It shook me to see how quickly life can change. I feel strongly that if we are not prepared now, or if we dont get prepared quickly, spiritually and temporally, it will be a difficult future.I hope you all have a great week! Keep up the great work!
One Elders Journey 