Dengue Fever, the Voice of the Spirit, and Lessons Learned

 

In late March I had an Elder diagnosed with Dengue Fever.  Dengue is a viral infection spread by mosquitos and found throughout our Area.  Most people who get the infection have only mild symptoms.  Some get quite ill, and of those, some progress to Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever that untreated is deadly.  I had first encounter with Dengue in March. 

Each week we send a report to Elder William Jackson of the Seventy in which we report on the missionaries we are following and helping the mission leaders manage.  Elder Jackson is over Missionary Health and every week he reads and responds to over 40 reports from area medical advisors from all over the work.  As part of that report, he asks us to share a spiritual experience we've had that week.  The following is my spiritual experience for the week:  

This past week we have been very involved with helping Elder R. with his Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. I had been in daily contact with his mission president and Elder R. as we kept abreast of his progress or lack thereof.  He was serving in Chimpote, a smaller city a couple of hours south of Trujillo.  On Monday morning I awakened with the distinct impression that we should send him to Trujillo. Later that morning I did a video call with Elder R and he stated he was feeling better. Reassured, I dismissed the impression and instead recommended he be seen in the local clinic later that day. As it turned out, over the next two days we were unable to get him into clinic in Chimbote and ultimately we had him travel to Trujillo late Tuesday.  By the time he was seen in Trujillo on Wednesday morning the illness had progressed to a dangerous point and he was in trouble. Happily he is responding well to treatments and we expect a full recovery.  The Lord knew Elder R. was not going to get the care he needed in Chimbote. The Lord directed me, but when my own reasoning didn’t align with the impression, I leaned on my own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 comes to my mind, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding”.  The lesson is clear. Trust in the Lord. Trust the impressions. This is His work, and if we will follow, He will lead. I’m grateful for His tender mercies, forgiveness, guidance and love!

Elder John Olson, the AMA who's position I took over in February, would regularly say this is more than medicine, this is a spiritual work. I have found that to be true.  God loves His missionaries and I feel His guiding hand in this work.