Elder Turner Gets Ill, Takes a Spill

This past week has been rough on Elder Turner. First he came down with Malaria which is like a flu with all of those nasty symptoms but it lingers longer than a flu with loss of appetite and energy. He has been on the mend and taking it a little bit easy.

After spending a couple days in bed, we decided to go out. We parked the car near a shop of a lady named Agnus that we had been teaching. We wanted to stop and say hi to her. I wanted to go across the street to see a baby shop. Agnus warned us about the ditch. I was careful to find a spot to cross but I am not sure what Elder Turner did. After I jumped across and was heading across the street, I heard him call to me saying, "I fell in!" All I could see of him was from the waist up! He said, "My feet are stuck and my back hurts!" I just looked at him, wondering what to do next. He had started to jump across this little ditch but because the side was rounded, his foot slipped and went into the muck. His bottom hit the grassy ground, jarring his back.

Before I could even blink, Agnus and another young man were trying to pull him out. I heard him cry out about his back and that his feet were stuck. So they pulled on his legs and then went back to pull him out by his arms but as he stood up again, his feet sank back into the muck. This pulling and tugging went on until each of them grabbed a leg and an arm at the same time and pulled him out!

Agnus immediately got a bucket of water and a bottle of soap and went to work washing the dirt off his hands. Then she slopped the water on his pants and feet to rinse off the muck. This ditch catches rain water, waste water, people water and all kinds of trash. It was truly black muck! Agnus was so sweet and showed such concern for him as did this other man,a stranger, that came to our aid. I have a new found respect and love for Agnus!



(This is the ditch where Elder Turner slipped and also the spot where Agnus cleaned him up. You can see the water and the dirt she washed off of his shoes.)

We went home to really get cleaned up. Elder Turner hopped in the shower while I took his clothes and shoes outside to finish cleaning them off. The sister missionaries were outside and one sister came to my aide and and scrubbed his shoes with soap and water and rinsed out his muddy socks and his pants. She was doing her wash so she just threw his in with hers! She said,"I want to do this for you."

There was nothing broken in Elder Turner's back but he is sure sore and it is hard for him to get in and out of bed and up and down from chairs. Tomorrow will be the third day since he fell and I sure hope that his muscles relax and he starts getting better. We have people to see, places to go, and piano lessons to teach. But he is still hurting...maybe tomorrow.

--Sister Turner