Jordan's Most Recent Letter from Tahiti..."HOLY COW, Justin Bieber, and Bugs"

I am just making it known that I,  Jordan's mother,  am NOT a blogger. 

However,  I wish I was that awesome of a Mom. 

If you would like updates on Jordan and her mission,

you can go to her mission website for news on her great missionary adventures in Tahiti...(its the lazy way for mama Harline).

This is the latest letter that we received from Jordan...

new pics from Tahiti coming very soon :)

http://www.missionsite.net/4380SaxtonHollowRoad/viewletter/116426

IN THE FIELD!!!! well....sorta ;)

(Letter from Jordan last Monday  June 27th)

AHHHHHH BONJOUR !!!

can you believe that i am FINALLY out of the MTC??    here's what has gone down today so far....i woke up early early and got ready and packed.  our roomies helped us take our bags down and we were met by a whole bunch of tahitians who wanted to say bye...we left and arrived at the Salt Lake mission office (where i stay until my visa comes...)   it was weird driving in because this area is all so familiar to me.  i live like SO CLOSE to grandma and grandpa it's crazy!  anyway...we met the mission president and he assigned us to our companions.  i am with two sisters, one is from Lehi and the other from Chicago.  and they told me about my area...so much for thinking that there wouldn't be a language barrier...the people in our area are refugees from Burma and they don't know any english...NONE!  the sister's say that we just teach by the spirit and with picture books.  i'm like wow.  this will be hard.  but i am SO EXCITED!!!  i can't believe i am so blessed to serve these humble people! they have been through a lot (they were in camps in thailand for like 15 years) and they are so receptive to the gospel.  what an awesome opportunity this will be!  it will be a challenge...heavenly father loves to place those challenges in front of me doens't He?!  anyway...today is p-day and then tonight we are going to a big group family home evening with these wonderful people in the area we are serving.  i can't wait!

so...this last week was incredible with all the new mission presidents and their wives in the mtc!  i was able to see the first presidency getting into their cars from our building window and i passed and said hi to elder nelson and elder holland!!!  i about died!  so cool!  and then we got the chance to hear elder bednar speak on friday...do i even have to say that it was amazing?!  HE IS SO AWESOME!!  he talked about being "preach my gospel" missionaries.  it made me want to work even harder and to humble myself even more before the lord.  seated on the stand with him were elder holland, elder oaks, elder ballard, elder nelson, elder anderson, and elder scott and their wives.  the spirit in that room was so powerful!  i cried hahah!  the spirit bore witness to me again that they truly are apostles called of god and that they receive revelation on our behalf.  it was awesome :) 

i met my tahiti mission president and his wife.  i was so nervous!  i remember sitting in the room with soeur liufau and we were both just super nervous for them to come in.  but when they did come in, the first thing that my mission president did was come up and give me a huge hug.  it was so funny because his wife was like "um...i think that is against the rules" and he was like "i don't care!"  then his wife was like "okay" and gave us an even bigger hug!  at that moment i knew that i would LOVE them both!  we had the best time getting to know them (in french and tahitian) and it got me even more excited to serve with them.  and i was so surprised at how much french i could understand.  that made me even MORE excited!  anyway...guess what they did...they called the government and asked about our visas!  crazy huh?  anyway, they said that soeur liufaus has been appproved and that mine hasnt.  apparently they had a whole bunch of questions about mine and they sent it to be looked at by the ministers or whatever.  lame.  BUT remember...my mission president's wife was in parlament :)  so she called one of the head ministers...no big deal right?!  anyway she asked her to try to figure it out asap and get me out there haha.  so hopefully it all works out.  if i am here though for a while i know that it is for a reason.  i am happy just to be serving the lord and be out teaching!  this is the best thing ever!  oh but guess what pres sinjoux said....he said that pres smith was going to send me to huahine!  that made me sad...because that would've been such a great place to go!  i would really pick up my tahitian there which is what i need.  apparently though according to my teacher i would go through major culture shock there ha!  i guess that the biggest store is like the size of a 7-11 and it's just different there.  and i would be eating a lot of sea turtle...sad huh???  but i guess it's like the best meat ever!  and it's GREEN!  hopefully i can get sent there sometime in the next 15 months.  that would be quite the experience.

and i so happy to be here.  this morning i woke up and laid there and reflected on how much i have grown and learned in these last couple of months.  i feel so blessed to have had this experience.  not going to lie...i am like scared to death to start teaching real people. but i trust that the lord will help me. he will bless me with his spirit and never leave my side.  i know without a doubt that this gospel is true.  i know that joseph smith restored it to this earth and my testimony keeps growing every single time i teach about it and study about it.  i know that i am a daughter of God.  that knowledge has carried me through all the tough experiences that i have to go through.  it's strange how i just pray to be challenged.  i'm excited and determined to face these challenges and defeat discouragment and temptations.  i love being a missionary!  i know that i will be a missionary for the rest of my life.  this experience is training for my life.  i love love love it!!! 

Je vous aime beaucoup!!!

Jordan

Last of the MTC pictures....

What to do...the visa did NOT come through :(

Jordan has now been in the MTC for 11 weeks. We just received an email from her that stated she will NOT be leaving next Monday, when we thought she would, with one of the two missionaries in her group.... her visa didn't come through....yet!  She loves the MTC but is SOOOO ready to be gone and in Tahiti!  
A Bit from her emails below:
Desire for Mission

"To be honest, I hope that my mission is hard.  I hope that it breaks me time and time again so that I can learn to rely on the Lord to build myself back up.  I hope that I am like the prophets in the Book of Mormon and feel heartbroken and torn when people don’t embrace the gospel.  I don't want to be selfish anymore.  I am aware that I need to be selfless. I feel like my mission is already changing my mindsets and I am realizing what is most important in life."

Oh, MEN! 

"So you know the sister/teacher who has been helping us that won Miss Colorado after she came home from her mission to Tahiti?  Anyway, she pulled me aside after we taught a discussion to her and talked to me a little bit.  She said, "I just have to tell you this, because, when I was in the mtc, I wish that I had a sister as a teacher so that I could have been warned."  And then she proceeded to say that because we are foreigners in the French Polynesia and because we have accents that we will be like “goddesses” to the men and elders in Tahiti.  She said that I will be receiving love letters all the time.  So she gave me some advice.  She said that I should just not respond and she shared some signs of one of them being in love with me.  She also said to look "blah" because "blah" to them is still BEAUTIFUL hahahah! Holy cow, this will be an adventure!"

Prayer

"Mckay, I'M the one who is saying Enos prayers now!   Your prayers were nothing!  And get this...I say Enos prayers in FRENCH!!!  AHHHHHHHH I am SO COOL!!!"  

Singing in the MTC

"I sang in church on Sunday.  Most beautiful arrangement of “I Need Thee Every Hour”...great, great music book!  You should look for it for me.  I forget what it is called but most, if not all of the songs, are written by Tyler Castleton and it is a Kenneth Cope book.  Anyway, Elder Barker who played the piano for me (suuuuper good but not as good as McKay ;)) told me to audition to sing for the whole mtc and I did.  I sang at the senior orientation!  And it went really, really well.  And the whole mission presidency and their wives were so gracious and complimentary :)"

Obedience 

"So Elder Nelson came to speak to us on Tuesday!!!  I love hearing the apostles!  He talked about obedience… it was so good to hear all of the promised blessings we receive when we are obedient!  I will write you more about it, but one of the things that Sister Nelson said that I LOVE is this, "obedience brings blessings, and exact obedience brings miracles."  I love that!  I have been trying so hard to be exactly obedient and I am already seeing some miracles.  For instance, my languages are accelerating again.  I feel so lucky to have this gospel!  I know that this gospel blesses lives and makes us happier."

Bits and Pieces of Missionary Training Center Experience...

Jordan has been in the MTC  7 1/2 weeks now.  Four weeks left until she leaves for Tahiti! 

               After being in the MTC for six weeks and focusing on learning and speaking French,

                             Jordan started learning the Tahitian language. Interesting fact,

it is an indigenous language only spoken in a few remaining islands in French Polynesia. 

 Less than 100,000 in the world speak the language now. 

It has 5 vowels and only 9 consonants.

"So…..Tahitian.  HARD AS!!  Holy cow I can’t remember anything!  Now I know how people feel coming into the MTC with no experience in the language whatsoever.  I was so excited to start learning it, but now I don’t want to learn it anymore!  Haha I’m kidding, but really, its tough.  I just mix things up because there are so many vowels in each word…crazy!!   We started on Saturday and I still can’t tell you how to say “how are you” because I don’t remember how! I think I have memorized how to pray and bare my testimony about 5 times each and 20 minutes after I forget.  It's even more frustrating how my teacher can ask me simple questions but I have no idea what he is saying to me.  I have never had this difficult of a time picking up a language, I always felt it was a strong point for me. But now…..

     TRC was...difficult.  I didn't understand one word the person we were teaching said.  However the woman was extremely nice and GORGEOUS!!!  She won Miss Colorado a few years back!  Crazy huh?  And she is like fluent in Tahitian.  It was cool hearing a white girl speak Tahitian and it made me want to work hard so that I can be cool like her too ha!  We had a few things in common and got to talk about my very short experience running for Miss Colorado.  I told her I wasn’t at all a “pageant girl” type and, after talking to her, I’m soooo glad that I was stubborn and didn't let them talk me into doing it again last year. First and most importantly, I wouldn’t have gone on my mission!  Anyway, I don't think I have prayed more in my life asking for divine intervention on my behalf so I can wrap my brain around the Tahitian language!! And right now,  I feel like I am focusing so much on Tahitian and now I mix it up with French.   It was funny,… in TRC I found myself translating the things I wanted to say into French rather than Tahitian!  Funny.  Oh hippy, hippy days! Haha!

     Fr. Poulson had us start translating the Book of Mormon in Tahitian yesterday.  He said that that is how he learned Tahitian.  So I spent 30 minutes on translating 1 Nephi 3:7, looking up every word in the dictionary.  Weird but you know what? That actually made learning Tahitian more enjoyable for me. So I’m gonna keep that up. Oh! I can pray in Tahitian now….while looking at my notes haha!  It’s a BEAUTIFUL language.  I’m just going to have positive thinking….I CAN DO THIS!"

She continues to speak French as well:

• "E. Temaroherani (the tahitian) holy cow I just adore him!  He has such a big heart and a strong testimony!  He is a seminary teacher in Tahiti and was SUCH a big help to me! He let me practice my French and Tahitian on him!  Speaking of French, I only speak French now to my zone outside of the classroom in an attempt to be fluent hahah!  and I will speak in Tahitian on Wednesdays." 
• "I love speaking French!  The Lord has blessed me and I have been able to pick it up without much struggle.  I still have a difficulty understanding it sometimes but I love speaking the language! 

Jordan's primary assignment in Tahiti is as the medical/mission nurse.  She has used her profession in the MTC already and has received some training on that as well.
"So….let me tell you about my medical training. We learned about diseases we might encounter, how to treat them, and a whole bunch of preventative disease stuff.  It was super helpful and good information that I can bring and use in the islands of my mission.  Mainly it is triage stuff. Pretty much found out that I will be taking care of the missionaries…in fact, that will be ONLY who I take care of. Not gonna lie….I’m freaking out! Going to a foreign country hardly speaking French or Tahitian and trying to diagnose people with maybe weird things going on and having very little nursing experience as of yet. However, the thing that comforts me a little. Dr. Wooley (the one that did the medical training) said that there will be times on my mission that I will get a call at 2am from a sick Elder with some random disease with random side effects…..something that I learned about maybe once in nursing school or maybe not at all….but the answer will come to me “out of a small, hidden corner in my mind.”  He talked about that story that Elder Nelson told when doing a heart surgery he performed.  Do you remember that one? The one where he didn’t know how he was going to fix that man’s heart but went into surgery with faith and a blue print of what to do popped into his head. Soooo cool! So that comforts me." 

     "One night I got woken up by Sister C.  She was like “Sister Harline wake up!  something is wrong with Sister R!”  I jump out of bed to go see what was going on.  She had collapsed in the bathroom.  She was having intense pain in the right side of her face and ear and was weak and numb all down the right side of her body and her muscles were spasming.  I did a neuro check but everything looked fine.  I did vitals and everything was in range.  I had no idea what was going on with her.  I guess the same thing had happened the night before and they took her to the ER but they just said the pain was from a tooth ache and that the numbness was from running around the track?  yeah, crazy doctor.  Sooooo I sat up with her for a while until she fell asleep and said we need to take you in tomorrow.  I wanted her to go to the ER but I was comforted that she would be okay through the night. The next she was doing better but the next night I got woken up at 130 am because she was in so much pain she was almost screaming. She took some pain meds, finally (she is against medicaton hahah) and was able to sleep.  Her roommate woke me up again at 530 am and said she had been having a heavy nose bleed since 4 am.  Only coming out of the right side of her nose. I sat in her room with her for the next hour trying to make that thing stop bleeding (this is on Sunday morning by the way). We tried everything.  She was so anxious….I felt so bad.  All I could do was roll up tissues and scratch her back.  Anyway, I told her we had to go call the doctor asap.  It’s not okay to have a bloody nose for 3 hours.  She finally consented and we went down to the front desk to call.  He told us to go to the ER.  We went to the ER and sat waiting for an hour….nose STILL bleeding.  Finally the doctor came in and diagnosed her with Trigeminal Neuralgia.  I SO wish I had my books with me!   I just think of possible brain tumor or possibly MS.   I have felt so bad the past several days because I can’t answer her questions or tell her what she should do.  It’s so frustrating, but she told me that just having me there has been a real comfort to her.  She asked me to go the ER with her because she feels better when I am with her.   I really think I was meant to be in the room next to her because, even though I'm not sure what’s wrong or what she can do, I care for her.  I comfort her when she is in pain or anxious and I check on her all of the time.  I’m staying on top of her pain meds.  I feel so much love towards her and I want nothing more than for her to get better.  I know it’s a blessing that her visa didn’t come through.  She was supposed to be in the MTC in Brazil by now.  I’m so glad she is here! Anyway, after we came back from the ER (which was at 9am when EVERYONE was just getting out of sacrament meeting….SOOOOO embarrassing because we were in our pajamas…and that would be my lovely capri pj’s that I brought for Tahiti weather. She started getting extremely weak and I told her to go rest.  She had hardly had any sleep the past several days.  But no, she is stubborn like me.  She doesn’t want to put anyone out and she wanted to attend all of the meetings.  We are so much alike it’s crazy.  Anyway, she could hardly walk.  The elders who are with her (she is a solo sister) were so sweet and helpful but they were so worried…really cute!  Many of them came up to me asking what they can do.  They gave her a priesthood blessing that night.  I was amazed at how much concern and love the elders had for her and I really felt the spirit.   I know it must be scary for them because I am sure they haven’t given many blessings.  I believe in the power of the priesthood!  Haha! No but seriously, I walked into her room later that night and she was 100 times better!  Her strength was back and her pain was minimal.  That night I had her set an alarm to take pain meds to keep up on her pain and that was the only time she woke up during the whole night. I have to repent because I have been saying so much about immature 19 year-old boys here, but I’m amazed how much power they have!  I feel so blessed to be surrounded by all these priesthood holders.  I never will take it for granted again.  I definitely need to show more respect for these boys! Haha!

Following week's letter:

"On Wednesday she was diagnosed with mutiple sclerosis and trigeminal neuralgia by the neurologist.  The doc wants to send her home, but the mission pres said that for some reason he thinks she should stay for a while and hold out a bit.  I am heartbroken for her.  I know it is going to be a tough life for her and I don't want her to go through it.  I feel like I have known her for years eventhough it has just been a few short weeks.  I love her so much!  Anyway...her whole entire zone got their visas to brazil, but the pres wants her to stay here for a while.  so guess whose roommate she is going to be....MINE!!!  YAY!!!" 
She is LOVING the MTC...

"This week has been a really humbling week.  I have had some incredible spiritual experiences and have really felt the Lord's awareness of me.  I have turned my heart and my work and effort and everything over to the Lord.  And I couldn't be happier.  And I have just known that the struggles and trials are going to only make me a better person and a harder worker.  I know that the Lord provides miracles and I know that the Lord loves me!  I KNOW He does!  I can't tell you how happy I am that I chose to serve a mission!  Best education. This is the best thing I could have ever done!  I just want to be the best most effective missionary I can be.  I want to have no regrets...EVER!!"

"It's amazing how much I can feel the spirit here.  I feel so sheltered and so close to the Lord.  I can't explain how awesome it feels to have the Spirit teach even during role play.  Last night Elder R. and I were role playing and I was pretending to be Nikki (the investigator) when she was going throught the conversion process. This was the first time that I was role playing and actually felt like I was her!  I felt the concerns and I felt the spirit so strong when Elder R. was teaching me.  I felt like I was going through it for the first time and I just wanted to jump off of my seat and say BAPTIZE ME!!!  It was so incredible!  I crave the spirit everyday....it's kinda like the most wonderful high!  I have been humbled so much here and I pray more fervently than I ever have before.  I love being a missionary!!"

!

Jordan's Missionary Pics that we received today!

Roomies Pic!

from let to right.....Sister White, me, Sister Ovard, Sister Liufau, Sister Bell, Sister Chadburn

J'adore my companion!!

This was taken just this past Sunday on the temple walk...

first day it was actually beautiful here and not raining haha!

Photography by Sister Liufau

(all black and white pictures are by her)

My district on a temple walk...

Far right is Elder Raihauti going to Tahiti with me.

with Sister Bell

I miss her!

HOTT! 

Sister Liufau with her fruit snacks haha!

with Sister White...

yeah I'm wearing my usual temple outfit haha!

Sister Liufau, Sister White, Sister Bell and me

love, love!!

First Two Weeks of My Mission....

So many people have asked about Jordan. Her time is very limited for writing letters in the MTC. So I'm passing on a little update...done by her mama! 

Two weeks in the MTC now!

 (It seems like its been a month to her family L)

"... I am doing great here and although it is hard, I can't help but love it! It's so amazing focusing only on missionary work and the gospel! I have never felt the spirit more!"

Companion:

      “My companion,  Soeur Liufau, is from Hawaii and is Tongan.  We get along great! She is way laid back & accommodating and super happy.  We laugh all the time!  I love her so much!  She comes from a family of 5 and is the only one to serve a mission so far.  Her brothers never went….they kinda struggle.  She hasn’t had the highest standards her whole life either….but she is happy to be here and so loving and humble.  She will do well in Tahiti.”

     “Its funny because I have had to call her out on swearing several times a day haha, but she is getting better.”

     “I’m shorter than my companion if you can believe that!”

      “It is easy to get lazy when working with Elder Raihauti and Soeur Liufau...they are polynesian...waaaaaay laid back and lazy and easily distracted. So this week, while they are socializing, I have my flash cards and my scriptures and preach my gospel out.  It's amazing how much I have learned this week and how much I have picked up from working so hard.  The Lord definitely blesses you for your hard work.  I am so blessed!”

Zone:

    “My zone is awesome….funny story! The missionaries that were in our temple session the Friday before I went into the MTC? when we were with Grandpa and Grandma Harline, well, they were totally all in my zone.  All the Elders remembered me, even though I can’t remember seeing one of them haha!”

Elders:

     “well….some of them are weird. But a lot of them are hysterical and so fun!  One of them I was really hoping to get to know more because I think he is way cute and I wanted him to write Kenzie, but he is leaving tomorrow and I can’t ever talk to him because his companion is weirdly obsessed with me so I’m staying away. So sorry Kenzie! Haha! Guess he can’t be your soul mate!”

       “All the sisters say that after being here for a couple of weeks my missionary goggles will go on and I will find the elders attractive….I haven’t done that yet and I find it hard to believe because they all seem sooo young….like Kenzie’s age haha!”

Physical:

“At the gym...I have been RUNNING!!  My goal is to be able to run the whole gym hour by the time I leave.  It is hard, though, because there are so many people on the track that get in my way... I can't wait until it is warm enough to run outside.  My roomies and I do pilates too.  Soeur Chadburn has a pilates, pilates cardio, and kickboxing workout memorized so we do it together...Let me tell you, it works you OUT!  My abs, butt,  legs and arms are so sore!!!  I have played volleyball a few times, but no one is that good...and i have massive bruises on my knees!”

“I am staying skinny! I refuse to get fat on my mission.”

Language:

     “We taught our first lesson on monday...entirely in French.  We taught Victor Iosepha (Iosepha is "Joseph" in tahitian...pronounced "yo-te-fa".  weird huh?) and it totally bombed...like bad!  I was so embarrassed!  I could not understand one word that our investigator said.  I couldn't communicate back and Elder Raihauti (who used to be fluent in french) had to translate for me... and I didn't know how to answer.  It was awful because he would ask questions and all we knew how to say was what we had planned.  We didn't answer any of his questions.  To make matters worse, I got your dearelders right after the lesson and you all were like "you are doing so great!"  and I just felt like coming home.  On Wednesday, we went to the TRC where a whole bunch of volunteers come in and they pretend to be investigators and we teach them.  THAT was frustrating because when I could pick up things they were saying and asking, I wanted to respond with a story or my testimony about something, but I didn't know how to say it!  It was so frustrating because I had so much in my head to say that would help them but nothing could come out. I pretty much was on the verge of tears the whole entire time. We went to teach Victor again right after....didn't go any better.  But, don't worry, the story gets better.  Yesterday after praying my heart out for the hundredth time, we went in to teach Victor again.  It was the first time that I could begin to understand what was going on without having Elder Raihauti translate for me and I could actually start to form sentences by myself!!!!  I was so happy!  It felt awesome because I was actually contributing!  I immediately, after the lesson, ran to the bathroom and prayed to Heavenly Father and thanked Him for His hand in the lesson and in my missionary work.  i need to conquer doubt and fear...through Heavenly Father all things are possible!   Yeah it's not going to be easy.  It's going to take hard work but i can do hard things!!! 

Testimony:

     “ As hard as this is, I am so glad I made this decision to serve a mission. It’s an incredible opportunity for me to rely completely on the Lord and to grow closer to Him.  J’aime mon Pere celeste et mon Sauveur! L’Evangile de Jesus-Christ est vrai! Je sais que c’est vrai grace au Saint’Esprit et grace aux benedictions que j’ai recues!”

I'm so proud of him...

so this is little snippets of my brother mckay's senior recital earlier this year.

yes, he is amazingly talented.

on piano AND violin.

and on top of it all, he's brilliant.

 he is getting jd/mba after he graduates from byu in piano performance

so what does he NOT do?!

i love him :) 

simply perfect day...

i couldn't have asked for a better day.

really.

perfect weather, my parents, and a few close friends.

a lds temple is a beautiful place.

its sacred and a happy place.

usually a girl goes through for the first time when she is getting married. 

its a privilege to be in the temple.

i, however, have the honor of going through without a partner because i have been

called to serve as a full-time lds missionary and representative of the Lord.

 going through the temple before leaving for tahiti gives me extra strength, commitment, and protection while i am serving my mission.

funny enough, most of the temple workers that day thought i was soon to be married. 

 as i sat by myself for a few minutes in the "celestial room",

i was glad for this time.

i'm excited to have this experience.

my mom, who served a mission in manchester, england many years ago,

 tells me that by serving a mission i am adding an

"extra chapter" to my life story; 

that it will change and alter the next chapters, 

and that it will add depth, excitement and that it will enrich my life story.

I know she is right.

“There exists a righteous unity between the temple and the home. Understanding the eternal nature of the temple will draw you to your family; understanding the eternal nature of the family will draw you to the temple.  President Howard W. Hunter 

 Papeete Tahiti LDS temple.

I am excited to go through this temple very soon :)

Today I don't feel like doing anything....

"I just wanna lay in my bed

Don't feel like picking up my phone

So leave a message at the tone

'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything"

best place for this is a southern california beach,

and a swimming pool with an exceptional comfy lounge chair

add my swimsuit, music, and some good books :)

and then add lots of sleep, and good food

and then some shopping for missionary clothes

oh yes, and my mom

i will miss this for the next while :(

p.s. the weather was perfect

but don't worry california, i'll be back :)

Cinema Paradiso....Love this!!

My brother kept talking about this movie and the music. I must say, I LOVE the music!    It is an Italian romantic film (of course, I’m a sucker for romance!) about a famous Italian film director that flashes back to his childhood where he grew up spending all his time in a local moviehouse. He,  6 year-old Salvatore, develops a really close friendship with the projectionist, Alfredo, and Alfredo lets him watch movies in the projection booth. In several scenes of the movies, there is frequent booing from the audience, during the "censored" sections. The films suddenly jump, skipping all the kissing/love scenes. The local priest has ordered that these sections be cut out. They just lie on Alfredo's floor. At first, Alfredo had seen Toto (Salvatore’s nickname) as a pest, but eventually he teaches Salvatore how to operate the film projector.  The moviehouse catches fire and Salvatore saves Alfredo's life, but not before the film reels explode in Alfredo's face, leaving him permanently blind.

The Cinema Paradiso is rebuilt by a citizen of the town,  and Salvatore, even though he is really young, is hired to be the new projectionist because he is the only one in town who can run the machines.

It jumps a decade later when Salvatore, now in high school, is still the projectionist and his relationship with Alfredo is even stronger. He starts experimenting with filmmaking using a home movie camera, and has met, and captured on film, a new girl, Elena, daughter of a wealthy banker. Salvatore woos her….frankly he could woo me too…soooo handsome! He wins Elena's heart,  but loses her because her father isn’t real happy with the two of them being together. Elena and her family move away, Salvatore leaves town to serve in the military. His tries to write her but fails; his letters are always returned. When he returns from the military, Alfredo pleads with Salvatore to move away permanently, telling him that the town is too small for Salvatore to ever find his dreams. Alfredo tells him that once he leaves, he must pursue his destiny wholeheartedly and never look back and never return — never returning to visit, never to give in to nostalgia, never to even write or think about them.

Back in the present, Salvatore has obeyed Alfredo but is returning home for the first time since he left to attend Alfredo’s funeral. The town has changed and he now understands why Alfredo thought it was so important that he leave. Alfredo's widow tells him that the old man followed Salvatore's successes with pride and has left him something — an unlabeled reel of film and the old stool that Salvatore once stood on to be able to operate the projector.

Salvatore returns to Rome.  He watches Alfredo's reel and discovers that it is a very special montage. It is of all the kiss scenes that the priest ordered to be cut out of the reels. Alfredo has spliced all the sequences together to form a single film. It finally seems that Salvatore has made peace with his past.

Simply amazing....enjoy.

i lost my first patient today...

i wasn’t there when she died and i’m really glad that i wasn’t.  i know that i will have my share of those hard moments in my nursing career, but i’m not wishing them to come soon or in large numbers.

her name was agnes.

i watched her go downhill over the past few weeks. Last week she was able to talk to me but had difficulty spitting out her words and pretty much all i could do was stroke her forehead until she was able to calm down and fall asleep.  The one night I  took care of her this week she was unable to wake up enough to take her medications orally.  Even though she probably didn't know I was there, I still sat there and held her hand.

two things i want to say on this subject:

first, watching someone suffer is really, really hard when you can't take their pain away, even when it is someone i don’t know at all. i administer pain medication all the time but it is only temporary. 

all i can do is simply be there,

take care of their physical maladies the best way that i can with the training i have been given,

have faith in the miracle of healing,
help my patients feel of my hope for them.

and then, i have to accept my limitations in what i can and canNOT do to help. 

this is the hardest part.

second, i’m sooo blessed to have the gospel. it makes all the difference in how i see my trials and challenges (and other people’s trials), and it makes me try to push through hard things and know that I CAN do hard things….i’m not alone.

there is definitely Someone who can give so much more than a stroke on the forehead when life is tough.

and He's ALL about miracles~
i'm ready to share that knowledge when i arrive in tahiti in a few short months!!
I'll simply be there

with my many, many limitations (like not knowing how to speak french or tahitian at all...yet!)
i will do the best i can, given my skills and training as both a nurse and a missionary, to help alleviate suffering.

this is the greatest part.

can life get any better?

i think not....

 i’m the luckiest girl!

this is a story about a beautiful, young boy and his family that deal with a huge amount of suffering.  he receives excellent healthcare. thankfully, i just happen to know, they have the gospel too :)