Hurricane Sandy


Today I took a shower with a bucket of rain water. There were leaves and dirt at the bottom of the bucket. Before I began, I wondered if I would end up dirtier than I started. I am pleased to report that I felt surprisingly refreshed.

The past few days have been hard as the wind and rain pounded our buildings. We found out where all the leaks were, which included over some of the missionaries' beds. Imagine getting rained on in the night. We have been cooped up in the Center with little electricity and no running water. It is a totally different experience for me than when I lived in Florida and we would have hurricane parties, or watch movies, or at least sit safely on our couch while the rain and wind pounded the windows, watching the destruction in other places on the television.

A few of us also made the unfortunate mistake of washing our clothes right before the hurricane hit. We didn’t know it was coming until the day that it arrived. Now, three days later, our clothes are hanging on the line “drying” still . . . which really means that they have been getting wetter and wetter and sometimes flying off the line into the dirt.

We have experienced a lot since being here. The water has gone out twice. Many days we only have power for a few hours. The only internet we have is the 3g (or usually E) on a couple iPhones.  There are many little sufferings: animals and bugs in our rooms, people getting sick, our water filter breaking a little, eating rice and beans every day (although the food is wonderful), having to struggle to understand the people around us. All of it, however, is completely worth it.  Despite the little struggles, I know that I absolutely love our mission and I don’t want to do anything else with my life.

Today we went to a meeting for the dance group that Ti-roro is starting. A girl held my hand while we walked to the classroom we were meeting in, then told me to sit with her. We were all fondly elected into leadership roles for the dance group, mine being “Public Relations.” Ti-roro told the girls that they all have to go to Sunday Mass. I can’t wait to keep journeying with these girls and tell them more about Jesus. Now I have little sweet faces to think of and to remember when I wonder why we have given up our comforts to come and preach the Gospel here. Our little sufferings are made so much easier when I remember the purpose behind them.

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