Sunday July 9, 2023

Hermana Chappell spends so much time communicating with the missionaries day and night.  I took this picture the other day in the afternoon while she was trying to keep up with everything.  She usually just communicates with them through messages, once in a while by video phone call, and quite often by regular phone calls.  We were awakened this morning at 5:45  by a sick Elder.  If the missionary has to go the the Hospital or to see a Dr.  she has to get all the information about what is going on with him or her and put it all in a file and send it to the insurance company which is in Texas.  Then around an hour later the insurance company  sends her an email with a letter of promise of payment which the sick elder or hermana takes with them as an email on their phone to see the Dr or to visit the ER.   Then after the Dr visit, the missionary is supposed to take a picture of all the information they receive, any prescriptions and lab work results and send it to Hermana Chappell.  That is where it all falls apart.  Some will get all the information back to her and others no matter how many times she asks it never shows up.  They get feeling better, so why send anything to Hermana Chappell?   When she receives the information she then puts it in the missionaries personal medical file which is in a program on her computer. This medical file is available to be viewed by the mission President, his wife, and the Area Medical Advisor,  the AMA, which for us is Elder Wade who is currently serving in this calling from his home near Logan UT.  He and his wife served in Guatemala as the AMA for two years, then they called him to continue serving as the AMA after they got home.  He continues to help out not only our mission but a total of 6 missions in Central America.  He is the one who provides direction, and guidance for hermana Chappell in helping the missionaries here.  They talk on the phone regularly as well as text and email.  Colleen also has to provide a weekly summary report that she has to send in to the AMA once per week, she sends this information either Saturday or Sunday of every week.  Hermana Ostler the mission president's wife also receives a copy of the report and provides feedback and support.  Hermana Chappell talks regularly with Hermana Ostler about everything that is going on with the missionaries as well.  Mostly physical issues, but at times dental  issues, as well as any eye issues.  There are mental issues as well that are addressed by other mental health workers that are available for the missionaries.   It takes a lot of time for Colleen to take care of her responsibilities as the mission health advisor.  

Here is a picture of our Zone.  We had Zone council this week in Progreso about an hour and a half away normally.  This week it took us three hours to get there.  The road was a parking lot for so much of the way.  And there is only one road, so one option.  We got there right at the end and had lunch with them then came back home, the roads were fine then.  We have zone council on the first Wednesday of every month.  We also have District council every Wednesday, except for the Wednesday when we go to the zone council.  Our District is two Elders, two Hermanas and us two.   Our District council is here at the church in Tela.   Here we are today at our house for lunch.  It was Elder Valenzuela's birthday yesterday so Colleen baked a cake and they all came over for lunch today.  

Elder Valenzuela is from Argentina and has been here in Honduras a total of 3 weeks,  He has been a bit homesick but I think that being together today helped him.   Hermana Chappell is always thinking of others.  

Every six weeks there are transfers.  Which is when there are changes made throughout the mission with Elders and Hermana's being transferred from one area to another area.  It seems to me that the Hermana's are usually with their companion on average one or maybe two transfers.  Then the one that has been in the area the longest moves to another area and the newer one becomes the one to show the newer one around the area and to introduce them to the ward or branch members.  The Elders may stay with their companions about the same time, or at times they are together longer.  There are a lot more Elders than Hermana's in the mission plus they are here for a total of two years whereas there are fewer Hermana's and they are only here for eighteen months.  Once between transfers there are zone conferences held usually with multiple zones attending.  There the Mission President and his wife talk and teach, as well as the two assistants to the president which are two of the more mature missionaries that have been out for a long time, teach procedures and ways to be more effective missionaries.  It is a great ongoing training experience that we all are able to participate during the time we are on the mission.  So this past week it was time to have the Zone conference in Olanchito.  The area most distant from the mission central office.  We traveled out there to be with the missionaries.  It is around four and a half hour drive from here in Tela.  Within the next two weeks they will have the other zone conferences in La Ceiba, Progreso, and La Lima, which we will be attending.   It is always a treat to be with the missionaries.  

Every month or so we see these big ships that come here and are there for 3-4 days then they are gone again.  So we asked a longtime resident of Tela, German Madrid,  and he explained that that is where all the petroleum products come from for this part of Honduras.  

 All the gas and diesel is pumped off the ship through a massive pipeline up to these storage tanks which are on the south end of Tela, where it is stored and loaded onto tanker trucks and distributed throughout the area.   I didn't get a very good picture but there are a quite a few of these huge storage tanks together in this one main distribution point.  So that solves the question of why these ships come in and stay for a few days.  It is fun to see the big ships out there.  The other big question I have had is why there are so many palm tree .... orchards is probably not the best word but maybe plantations

So somehow they harvest the seeds or something in the palm trees, there are always big trucks full of the seed pods things, then they take them to processing plants where they get the oil out of them as palm oil or palm kernel oil, I don't know which but it is a big industry here.  There are big fields full of the palm trees, then later down the road there are big banana tree fields, then a ways down the road there are the big pineapple fields.  I think I have shared pictures of both the pineapple and banana orchards/fields.  Just driving down the road there was this banana tree so we stopped and got a picture.  They are all around, but I don't see bananas on them very often, not sure why.