Nov.8 2010

From: Searle McDede Vincent

Date: November 8, 2010 4:44:11 PM MST

To: Joanne Vincent

Subject: Re: Nov. 7, 2010

Dear Mom and Family,

First off i want to thank everyone for all their fasts and prayers on my behalf. I am extremely grateful for the family and friends that I have. It really really has meant a lot to me. I Especially appreciate Essence's fast for me :)

So how are you all doing??? It was good but weird talking to you this week. I bet it was kind of weird to find out that i have malaria. It was kind of weird for me too especially because I was almost never getting bit by mosquitoes but my companions were. I guess its just the way things fall sometimes though, i just got to keep my head up and enjoy all the beauty around me. I'm not going to lie though its been a hard too weeks.

Right now they changed my assignment for the rest of the change. Elder Clifford will go back to Gualan with a new companion and I will be finishing the remainder of this change in the office and in the mission home. They´re putting me in charge of the references in the mission so hopefully i can get that running more efficiently in the mission I think mostly im just going to be running errands and stuff but I'll try and do my best. I think the most important part of these three weeks will be keeping my attitude high and staying motivated.

So I you're probably wanting to know all what happened so i'll try and give you the basic story. So the 23rd of Oct (a saturday) i woke up really really tired then the next day i got a bad headache. Then Monday we I didnt feel good so I mostly rested but we were still able to get 3 awesome lessons with member but then in the night at dinner i started to shake. Then we went back to the house and i got hit with a fever but i felt ok and felt like i would just sleep it off. I thought i did b.c the next morning i woke up and my bed was completely wet from sweat and i felt pretty good. I still rested most of the day Tuesday hoping it would help me get my strength back and then we worked in the night but then the same thing happened that night as well.

I just then started spending all my time sleeping and trying to get better but every day about the time the sun went down (i know im kind of a ware-wolf) i would start shaking and my temperature would drop very very low and then about a half hour later i would get a really high fever. The fever would eventually go away but it would leave me completely worn out from trying to fight the shaking and partly nauseous. That cycle kept happening every night until i called my branch president to give me a blessing a he took me to the hospital in Gualan (b.c i wasnt doing very well). They gave me two IV's there and with the blessing i felt alot better. They also did blood tests and told me that i had a bacterial infection. I told that to the mission doctor though and he told me that that was impossible and the next day the same thing happened and the symptoms just continued so Sunday night the Branch president came to see me again and i was in bad shape again, with weakness and fever and lots of pain, so he called to mission nurse and told her that he was going to bring me to the Capital the next day (Monday) so that i could get the attention and treatment i really needed (the branch president there in Gualan is really one of the best people that i have ever met. I am very grateful for all that he's done for me).

So monday i came to the capital and the office but in the night when i had my shaking then fever attack i had been drug out on office work so the nurse wasnt able to see me. However tuesday night when it happend we called her and she took me to the hospital. The Hospital was really really nice and very well run and the Doctor that treated me was very very good and very kind. I was very impressed. So i was in the hospital from tuesday night until saturday morning when i was released. (i got to say its pretty boring when you cant watch tv and reading made me kind of nauseous) I fell worse for the people who had to wait there with me though b.c i mostly just slept. I feel the worst for elder Clifford b.c I think it kind of scared him every time i started shaking and he had to put up with it for so long. Luckily when we got to the Capital we could do some companion rotating so he could get out and do some stuff.

But i finally got out of the Hospital and im doing good. Im still really tired but i am gaining my strength quickly. I learned from mono though that i have to be patient and not push it to hard so that i dont have a relapse of what happened. Im going to be very smart. I think the part right now is more difficult emotionally then anything though. Im starting to feel better i can just kind of feel it starting to take its toll on my mind a little but luckily i've learned how to cope with that from before and can go to the scriptures, prayer and the savior when im struggling. I know that my whole life before my mission has prepared me for these two years. Whether it be sickness, trials or successes to help me or help someone else the Lord has prepared my path well.

Ok to finish i'll answer your questions I'm still not sure what i want for Christmas maybe just letters and yes i have vivax strand of malaria.

I know that the church is true and even when times are hard if we will go to Christ we will find strength and we will be able to support all of what life throws at us. I love my family, aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins children and friends. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and your support. It means more then i can even express with words.

Love,

Elder Vincent

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