The Fainting Story, cont.

Before I get to anything else I want to finish the story I started last week.

While I was sitting on the stand trying to get my strength up so that I could get out of the chapel and out of the whole ward's watchful eyes, people began passing food up to the pulpit. We received a bunch of suckers, and some alcohol swabs. I think I scared my companion because at that point she was so worked up she started to cry. Finally I felt like I could get up and leave, so we got up and went into the hallway. We were going to sit on the couches in the foyer, but they were occupied, and Hna. McMurtrey was telling me about how the couches on the other side of the building are usually open. We decided to head that direction when I started getting lightheaded again and immediately went into the classroom we were next to and sat down again. Within minutes a group of about 10 ward members was out of the chapel and in the room with me taking my pulse, asking me if I had eaten breakfast, if I had locked my knees, diagnosing me, etc. etc. One sister gave me a granola bar, another opened a sucker and stuck it in my mouth, another handed me a waterbottle, and the best part was when another member came and handed me a plastic grocery sack from her purse, with something in it. I just took it and thanked her, and she proceeded to tell me that it was a hamburger. Our thoughts at that moment: Hna. Castaneda... why do you have a HAMBURGER in your purse? haha... anyway, eventually someone asked me if I wanted to go and lay down, and suggested the mother's lounge, which sounded great, and a ward member got us some blankets and we headed that way. We ended up spending the rest of the meeting in there.

After sacrament meeting was over a member came and told us the bishop wanted to see us, so we went down there and he just wanted to see how I was, what happened, etc. He and one of his counselors gave me a blessing (which was especially cool because it was in spanish), and then Hna. McMurtrey and I headed home. I went and got in bed, and Hna. called Sister Hansen (mission president's wife), who advised us to cancel the rest of our appointments for the day, rest, and that she'd call back in the morning to try and get a doctor appointment scheduled.

Anyway, conclusion is that we went to the doctor, and while we were there we were analyzing what I had eaten, etc. and we remembered that I had eaten a lot of fruit that morning (which was out of the ordinary... I don't usually like fruit in the morning), AND, right before we went to church, hermana was frosting the valentine's sugar cookies we had made. Everytime one broke, we'd say, "oh man... it broke... guess I've got to eat it!" which led me to eat probably at least five sugar cookies with frosting. That alone would've been enough to spike my sugar WAY up, but we also determined that I had eaten some wheat biscuits with honey for breakfast as well. The doctor said that wheat has been known as well to trigger a spike in blood sugar. SOOOO... basically I unknowingly set myself up for disaster. I've always known I'm sensitive to high amounts of sugar, but I never knew I'd react in that kind of way! I'm glad to report that I went and bought lots of high protein snacks, and other foods, and I'm just generally being more careful to make sure I balance my sugar intake. It's been working well.

Now, on to bigger and better things...

I had my first baptism yesterday! Her name is Jaqueline, and she's nine years old. Her parents have been inactive for quite awhile, but they recently started coming to church again. Since she's over eight, before she could get baptized, she needed to be taught like any other investigator, and so we've been teaching her. She was actually my very first lesson once I got out here to Houston! She's very shy, but was excited to get baptized and the baptism was a grand event. Her dad and brother-in-law had come up from Mexico, and her siblings and nephew were all there all dressed up and everything. Only her mom usually comes to church (with her of course), but it was so great to see them all their supporting her. They really are a great family.

Last Friday, we had our first really hot day. It was 90 degrees! It was definitely hot, and we were sweating, but it was manageable. I'm still worried though, because if it's 90 degrees in February... who knows what it will be like in July!

Finally, we're also teaching a group of three young girls, Jasmin, Carolina, and Morgan. Two of them are younger sisters of a recent convert who was just baptized in January, and the other, Morgan, is a friend of the girls. Carolina is 11 and the other two are 13. They are all scheduled to be baptized on the 7th of March, this coming Saturday, and we are so excited! All three of them are so excited about the church. We've already taught them everything, and we've even given them the For Strength of Youth pamphlet, which they loved and were excited to apply to their lives, but just a couple of days ago we heard of a little trouble on the home front. I guess Morgan's grandma heard that Morgan wants to get baptized, and is upset because she thinks that we aren't christians. Unfortunately we haven't been able to talk to her mom yet because she's always either busy, or we're running to another appointment. We're going to do all we can to smooth things over, but most of all, we need all of you to keep her and her family in your prayers! I have faith that Heavenly Father will help everything to work out, but we definitely need your help.

Thanks again for all your support! I got a letter from my amigas Caitlin and Kimberly this week and it was so fun to hear from them! I'll be sure to write you back soon girls.

Love,

Hermana Austin Hollenbaugh