January and getting rather hot!

During the month of January I stayed very busy. Monday and Friday are usually somewhat light, but the other three days of the week are so packed it is not unusual to be booked solid for 8-10 hours without a break. Luckily the restroom is not far down the hall from my office. Anyway, I am so blessed to have the chance to work with the missionaries and only wish I knew how to be more helpful to some of them. One of the missionaries i worked with this month had been in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan, had his best buddy killed on one of their missions and had also experienced some hard times growing up. I knew I couldn't give him the intense treatment he needed here in the mission so advised the mission president to send him home then got in touch with the VA system and set up treatment for him the day after he arrived home.

It is hot here. All the windows in my apartment face west. Each morning I make certain the windows are open until I leave the apartment then I close all the windows and the rubberized blackout drapes. Some nights when I get home the apartment is filled with the smell of over heated rubber. However, I must say the heat hasn't been nearly as hard to deal with as the cold last winter. At night I open my windows and put a fan on a chair by my bed. The fan is not only cooling, but blocks the sound of the traffic on Pocuro, the busy street on the other side of a large parking lot next to this apartment building. That constant sound of traffic and sirens is something I won't miss when I return home:)

I had a very nice birthday. The day before my birthday, Saturday, one of the senior couples invited me to go to lunch and a movie. They also invited any of the senior missionaries that work in the area offices or the temple to join us if they were free. Altogether,five couples and I went out to lunch, which was really fun. The next day,my actual birthday, Renee Mason, the woman I walk with, invited me to Sunday dinner. She and her husband are also senior missionaries. He is the area auditor. That afternoon and evening I was able to skype with Megan and Maren and their families and got e-mails from Mandy, Bill and other family and friends. About a week later I got an e-mail from Bobby saying he had tried to call on my birthday. What more could I ask for!!

For some reason I am getting a lot of referrals of missionaries with insomnia. Some I can help, but some continue to struggle regardless of what we try. The missionary medical department does not approve the use of Ambien or Lunesta and I try to avoid going through the involved process of seeking approval to use an antidepressant as a sleep aid. Usually it is the missionaries who, for whatever reason, stayed up late and slept during the day before their mission who have the worst insomnia.

When I did the January report, I realized that there was a reason I was feeling overworked and tired. I usually get around fourteen new referrals each month and work with 50-60 missionaries, During the month of January, I had 21 new referrals and worked with 72 missionaries. In addition there were three missionaries who went home early which always involves many phone calls and extra paper work..