I Have Learned So Much

     This week we have cambios so I'll have a chance to write again on Wednesday I think. As far as whether or not my companion or I will have transfers is all dependent on an interview with President this afternoon. My companion may have to go home.

     It's been a rough transfer for her as old health problems have resurfaced. It's actually been a little scary. About halfway into the transfer when she had her break down week and packed her bags she admitted that she was bulemic before the mission and in the MTC but when she got here she had mostly been able to contain it and was over it. When she told me I didn't worry too much because she sounded confident that she really was over it, but what really happened was that she is just good at hiding the situation until it gets to an explosive point and she can't hide it anymore. After she told me everything got progressively worse for her until she was to the point of not only throwing up every once in a while, but every time she ate. She didn't want anyone to know because President told her that if she went back to throwing everything up or not eating she would have to go home for recovery and treatment.

     Finally on Friday she confessed to the sister training leaders that her problem had resurfaced. Hna. Hill made a deal with her that she had 2 days. If she didn't eat or threw up at any point in the next 2 days Hna. Hill was going to tell President. Hna. M_____ did very well eating and really only threw up once during the two days, but as a result of being very weak the rest of the transfer she was congested with a headache and dehydrated.

     All of Saturday she didn't feel well and in the evening got worse. Her headache increased dramatically and I was not sure what to do to help her. The sister training leaders showed up just in the nick of time and Hna. Morales got even worse. She got to the point that she was having a hard time breathing. Gratefully Hna. Davis was able to help her relax and take some juice, we called and talked with President, and in the end Hna. M_____ finally was able to fall asleep. It was by far one of the scariest nights of my mission. After las hermanas left I turned off my fan to listen every half hour or so to make sure my companion was still doing all right.

     Sunday she woke up and was doing a lot better really weak, still with a headache, but better. We stayed the whole day in the casa and made her drink lots of water, Powerade, and juice, and helped her keep down the food she ate by distracting her. In the evening after she had already fallen asleep President called and asked if today we could come to his office in San Pedro, so after we finish here in internet we are headed there.

     Today my companion woke up doing even better. Still weak and still with a headache, but leaps and bounds better than Saturday night. This transfer has been wild, and watching my companion struggle with this weakness has been one the hardest things. It's one thing to hear about people who have eating disorders and hear the stories, but it is a completely different thing to live with someone who is struggling with it. It is hard, but it's been amazing to be able to see the progress she has made in just the last few days, and to see the Atonement working in her life.

     Elder Ochoa when he came to visit challenged us to study the Atonement every day for the next month. I think that has helped me the most in dealing with this and helping Hna. M______ overcome this than any other thing I could have done or could be doing.

     So that's the ''This is what's really been happening'' email. Love you!

 Love,
Hna. Thacker

Part 2

      Well, in the end my companion is going to stay in the mission. President sat her down and told her that she's at a crossroads of two paths... One direction is with her family and worrying about the perfect body. The other is here in the mission focused and trusting in the Savior. ''She can't be in both!'' he told me. ''It is literally tearing her apart!'' It's true. I learned watching her that to be trying to worry about fixing every problem that comes up at home and to try staying focused in the mission tears you apart. It wears you down emotionally really fast. And a missionary who is far beyond emotionally exhausted can't function.

     Because she stayed she also got transfered. At first I was opposed. I was having a hard time seeing how adding the stress of a change of area to an already stressed, recovering missionary was going to help. However as she told me where, who was her companion, that she'd be with the senior couple too, and that President was going to tell them all about her struggle, I felt at peace about it. It was a good example of ''My ways are higher than your ways.''

     After his long interview with her, he called me in and talked to me too. He said, ''This transfer was a rescue mission to change a girl's life. And you did it.'' He looked up at the picture of the Savior to the side of his desk and back at me and said, ''Together you did it.'' I mostly just cried. I'm sure that's surprising.

     This transfer has been hard, but it has been worth it. I have learned so much in this transfer alone! My testimony is stronger that through the Atonement, lives can be changed. I know that prayers are answered and that Heavenly Father really does love us and has a plan. It's amazing what He can do when we let Him.

Love you!