Week 35 - Mar 26, 2018 (Planeta Rica - Week 5)

Well we were in Medellin for about a week and returned Friday night. My companion is doing better, but he still has to take it easy. The doctor told us for him to rest during the day and only to work at night. So that is what we are going to try and do. So my poor companion, we went to the hospital to go get his incision cleaned, and while we were there in the waiting room we got up to go talk to a nurse for like less than 5 minutes, when we went to sit back down, his wallet was stolen out of his backpack. The bad thing is that we had just got reimbursed for a bunch of the medical stuff and so he had more money than he normally does. We searched all over the hospital for it, but we couldn't find it. So that was the not a good thing, and so now we are back here in Planeta Rica and my companion doesn't have any money.

So my highlight of the week was going to pricesmart (Costco) with the mission credit card and restocking the kitchen in the office. Other then that I just helped out at the office, going through all of the apartment contracts and organizing and helping renew them. Went on the splits in the evenings with the office elders. Medellin is huge and has lots of hills. It has all of the American fast food places, so I had Burger King, it was so good!

One thing that I have really realized out here is how much you (my parents) truly do love me. As I have had a lot of time to read, and think, I have realized that you really do care so much for me and JT and that you both want the best for us. That you love us so much. You have always sacrificed a ton for us and have set a great example for us. I am so grateful that I was born into this family, I am very proud to have you as parents.

So we are able to go back to teaching and we taught a really good lesson to our neighbor. We went to church on Sunday and there wasn't a lot of people there. We need to get back to getting them out to church both members and investigators. We went out that night and found some really good new investigators.

So to add to all of our problems, our phones stopped working. The water hasn't worked in our house in the last few days, and it looks like the whole town is without electricity. So it is great being here in Planeta Rica, but at least the people here are super awesome and are great to teach.


Love all of you,

Ciao,

Elder Moore

E. Harbertson's incision 

It was a little infected

Week 34 - Mar 19, 2018 - Planeta Rica - Week 4

So we didn't receive much from E. Moore this week. His companion continued to have pain from the surgery, so his Mission President decided it would be best to fly them into Medellin and have them go to the doctor/hospital there in Medellin. So they flew in and he didn't have any connections for his camera or audio recorder. He did say that Medellin is super big, that he has been working/helping the office Elders. They stayed at the office elders place and they ate really well. The doctors said his companion had a little infection so they opened him up and cleaned his incision. He said they will probably stay about a week so they can go to the hospital a few times to have it checked out.

Week 33 - Mar 12, 2018 - Planeta Rica - Week 3

Well after a few days in the hospital, they let my companion leave Wednesday afternoon. However, he is still not to do any work for at least a week. So let me tell you what has gone on. When we got to the hospital one of our members that speaks English and Spanish was there and helped us out a ton. Then Sister Calderon (Presidents wife) arrived and everything went well with the surgery. I got to stay with my companion here at the Hospital, and lets just say they didn't like us sleeping, because every 15 minutes it felt as if someone would come into our room and turn on the light, not really do anything, and then leave, leaving the light on and the door open. It wakes up my companion all the time and he needs to rest. The first few days was pretty stressful in the hospital, I slept on the couch, and was able to travel with the zone leader to the house to shower and pick up things for me and my comp and return. Also with us in the hospital was Sister Fernanda, who is like our mother here in Planeta Rica, both her and President's wife made sure they took good care of us. We also have a member in the ward that just had his appendix taken out here so he has helped us out a bunch. I love the members here so much, they are awesome and have helped us out so much! The only down side of being in the hospital was everyone was either calling or coming by to check in on us. Like literally every 15 minutes we were talking to someone. Our dueno of our apartment is such a good guy, he came by a few times and made sure we were alright, and told us to call him if we needed anything. So most of our time in the hospital we spent watching church movies, so it was OK, but we were so glad to finally be able to leave and head home. I lost track of what day it was, but we finally got home and continued to watch church movies. Thursday I went with a member while his son stayed with my comp, and I bought a lot of stuff to clean and sterilize the house. I have been cleaning everything, I didn't realize how much stuff there is to clean and sterilize. I have learned a lot. I really have learned to appreciate everything that my mom did for me. She always had the house clean, and always went above and beyond when we were sick. I sure do wish she was here now! Staying in the house is difficult because we keep losing electricity in the whole city, and occasionally the water doesn't work. After spending the last few days in the hospital and now here in the house, I really miss going out and talking to the people and teaching lessons. At first we thought it was going to be 21 days, but my companion said we can start preaching in 7 days.

We can't really leave the house for the next few days, so the members have been great and have brought us a ton of food over. We have ate really well, and have had a lot of chicken. My companion is getting better, but it still hurts for him to walk around a lot, so he stays in bed for most of the time. I got to read the Book of Mormon and that was awesome to just sit and read and study the scriptures for a long time. The one good thing about us having to stay inside is that it has been raining a lot and we were already in the apartment so we didn't get wet. So we just have been reading, studying and chilling on the balcony.

Not a lot has happened, but my companion is recovering which is the most important thing.

Love all of you,

Ciao,

Elder Moore

The baptism right before E. Harbertson went to the hospital

The baptism right before E. Harbertson went to the hospital

The scar they left on my companion, I have been cleaning it really well!

Week 32 - Mar 05, 2018 (Planeta Rica Week 2)

So we didn't get any emails this week from Elder Moore, however we did get to talk to him this morning briefly.

The reason why we didn't get any emails and why he called is because he was in the hospital. Here is the backstory. Saturday was a normal work day and all went well. His companion wasn't feeling that good that night. They didn't get much sleep that night because he companion wasn't feeling good, however they had a baptism the next day so his companion wanted to be at the baptism and would trudge on and worry about how he felt afterwards. They had the baptism at the pool next to the church, then went home. When they got home his companion E. Harbertson decided it was time they go to the doctor. Before they could leave his companion started to pass out. Elder Moore, said he was really scared, and was really starting to worry about his companion. He said he prayed so much and asked Heavenly Father to watch over them and to bless his companion. Luckily right near their house is a health clinic, so he was able to take his companion to the clinic. Once at the clinic, the doctors there said he needed to get his companion to the hospital as soon as possible. Again the Lord was watching over them, as soon as they stepped out of the clinic, their apartment owner was outside with his car and told them to get in and he would drive them to the hospital. Upon arriving at the hospital there was already a branch member waiting for them to arrive. He said they had to fill out a bunch of paperwork before they would even look at his companion. After they took his companion back to do tests on him, he called his mission President's wife, and she was hoping that they could make it back to Medellin to get to a larger hospital. However, the doctors at the hospital decided that they needed to remove his appendix quickly before it burst. So his companion went into surgery and they removed his appendix. The mission presidents wife caught a flight and arrived later that evening. The branch president was there as well as the zone leaders. Everything went well in surgery, and his companion and him get to spend the next few days in the hospital making sure there are no infections. So looks like he will be sleeping on the couch in the hospital room for a few days. Elder Moore did say that he saw the Lord watching over them continuously. The day was very eventful, it went from an early morning Baptism to an afternoon appendectomy. It was definitely a day that he won't ever forget. We are so thankful for his "Missionary Mom" that came and watched over them and sent us the pictures and gave us updates and let Elder Moore call us. Our missionaries are in great hands. He also said the branch is awesome and most of the members have come and have checked up on them.

Zone leaders and Branch President

E. Harbertson

E. Harbertson on the road to recovery