Lá Thư Thứ Ba

Dear Mom, Dad, my Brothers, and Sisters in Christ,

I pray that everyone is doing fine.  How is the weather in CA at this time?  It is very hot in Guatemala and the people here can´t stand it either.  I have a”day off” today so I can send an email to all of you.

Thanks God that I am still doing fine.  I went to many different remote villages.  Tomorrow, S. Violeta and I will walk for 45 minutes, from the convent to Fr. Ricardo´s place and he will drive (the road here is very bad.  It is very rough) us (both of us and a translator who speaks Kekchi) for 1 1/2 hrs to a jungle (?).  He will find a place to park his car, and then 4 of us will walk or hike for 2 more hrs.  There is no man made road for hiking.  It is all “natural road “for hiking.  S. Violeta warns me a head of time that when we hike for 2 hrs, I will be very tired because I will climb up a lot and it is very hard to climb up.  I will need a walking stick with me so I will not fall and it will help me to climb. I am hiking a little bit better now. We will stay there over night and will be back here the next day.  You could not believe where I slept for the last few days at those villages.  I slept on a table!!!  I prayed that I would not find myself on the ground during the night.

I would like to “BE ONE “of them so I can serve them better; if NOT, I will be APART from them, the people at the villages! Unfortunately, I can NOT become one of them at this time because my body/system needs to be trained first.  I ate their foods and they were very spicy or very hot.  One to 2 hrs after the meals, my stomach “was burned!!!”  I finally took the meds for my stomach.  Every village mostly served the same meals, so whenever they serve the meals, I tried to eat a little bit so they would not feel bad.  I explained to Father Ricardo, S. Violeta, and Santos, a translator, that my stomach could not handle a lot spicy foods.  Whenever they provided us with HOT “coffee”, mostly water, I would drink it.  Whenever they served regular water, I am so sorry that I refused to drink at this time. I try my best to bring enough water for each day.

The people at all the villages that I went to are very simple, nice, and friendly. I have learned so much about their culture and how they worship God. There is no TV, cell phone, etc.  No high technology over there at all.  They used candle at night.  They eat and live very simply.

The people there, especially the children looked at me like I am an alien!!!  So, they wanted me to introduce myself to them.  When I said that I am from the USA, they replied:  “it cannot be because she is not an American!  She looks like a Chinese.”  So, I have to say that I am a Vietnamese, but I live in the USA.  Then, they would agree with me!  They have NO idea where Vietnam is.  It was the first time they saw a Vietnamese.

One day, on the way home, I thought about my “FEET.”  In the USA, to keep me healthy, I use my feet for exercising such as walking, running, and swimming.  In Guatemala, I use my feet for ministry!!!  Without my feet, I can´t do anything at all because my feet is my transportation for my ministries here!!!  Now, I VALUE my FEET in a different way!!!  Thanks God for giving me healthy lower extremities.  This experience reminded me about my last experience when I was in Vietnam.

I learned a profound “lesson” from my last medical mission in Vietnam. I took the medical team to a leprosy village.  While talking to one of the lepers, she asked me to scratch her back.  I paused for a second then I looked at her arms.  She had NO hands and parts of her forearms were amputated.  Therefore, she asked me to scratch her back!  I did it for her.  I asked her what she would do if I were not there, she stated that she would put her back against a wall and moved up and down or side by side.  I took my hands for granted!!!!

Yesterday, I went to visit a few patients with S. Patti.  You could not believe it.  They are sick but they have NOTHING because they are very poor!!  NO medications. NOTHING.  If the people at the villages are sick, they will die.  They will not go to the hospital because they do not have money and a nearest hospital is about 4 hrs away from the villages!!!  Actually, 2 patients at the villages asked me for help when they knew that I am a nurse.  I gave them my medications that I brought with me.  I also gave one IM injection to a very boy. Well, my email is long and S Violeta is going to use it after I am done.  So, I will contact with all of you later on.

I am thinking that when I am back to the USA, I will discuss my situation with one of the infection disease specialists at St. Jude.  I would like to know how to develop my “system” to I can adjust with the water and everything else here.

Thank you very much for all of your prayers and support, especially thank you very much S. Gloria, the Council, Nan, and Anthony to give me 2 months off so I can have “profound” experiences here.

Have a great summer

IN Christ,

Phuong Linh, OP

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