Feeling better!!!! Yeah!

Hello!

So everything is still going just dandy with my kidney. The doctor told me to drink like crazy, so I have been. And pretty painful is an understatement....it was nasty. But, it's all over now. But I'm a little worried. Everyone kept on asking me if it had happened before....so now I'm expecting more to eventually come. We'll see. I finish up my antibiotics tomorrow and I go up to Zagreb again on Friday for another urine culture. 7 hours on a bus to "go" in a cup...it bites. oh well....

That's crazy! 2 feet of snow? [Referring to "Sandy"]  Zagreb and Karlovac got some snow yesterday. It didn't stick though. It's still a bit too warm here for snow. It's around the mid 40's. But it rains a lot and it's pretty windy here, so it still feels pretty cold.

That's funny about the kitten with the other animals. I'm surprised JoJo is afraid of it. I would have though that the black demon mists would project forth from her mouth and envelop/devour the little guy. I guess I guessed wrong.

That's pretty cool about the middle school presentation. You're moving up in the community! Bring on the money! 

So I'll answer some questions and then talk about my week a little:

 1.  Anything else you need/want to be included in the package?  If you want Cheetos, speak now or forever hold your peace.

Ummm....I can't really think of anything. I'm doing alright.  I got new insoles, so I'm good in the shoe department as well.

2.  How are you and your companion getting along?

We get along well. I haven't had any companionship issues with anybody so far. I don't know if that's because (by miracle) I've become easy to live with, I have the gift of patience somehow, or if I've just lucked out.....Maybe all of the difficult companions will be in the next half of my mission. Hope not. 

3.  Any investigators?

Eh...we're looking. All of our potentials are dropping like flies. It's starting to get a little old. But hopefully things will change sometime soon. 

4.  What is your weather like now? We are in the 60s-80s.  Yeah!!!

I think I answered it above. It's not bad. 40's...be jealous. 

5.  Are you still happy?

Yup. All is well here in Zadar. I wish more people would talk to us and meet with us, but you can't have everything I guess. 

So we had English sign-ups this week. Luckily the Sisters did a super good job with flyer hand outs and postings because we were stuck in Zagreb. We had about 25 people show up and only one crazy guy (we're still deciding if we're going to call him and tell him when class is)...so we'll see what happens. It's a little nerve wracking. I hope we can deliver the type of course that these people are expecting. It's kind of funny. People here have no concept of something being free. We had a couple dozen phone calls from people asking if the class really was free, and if it was, why? It got kind of annoying. They just don't believe you when you say "completely free."

So we were in Zagreb from Sunday to Wednesday night. It was pretty cool. We got some good kebap sandwiches on p-day and just tooled around the center of Zagreb. We stopped by the Apple store and checked out all the new stuff. That was cool. We got to eat at Mcdonalds while we were there. Who would of ever thought that would be something worth reporting about? We don't have one here in Zadar. When I wasn't hurting, it was an enjoyable experience. We got to help out the senior missionaries in the office with computer things, I slept a ton, Sis. Rowe is a good cook, the mission home is super nice (we slept in the basement, in a room across from the indoor pool...and there's a full size tennis court in the back yard), we got to ride in a car everywhere we went, and it was kind of cool to semi-live in a family environment again. The Rowe kids are all super cool.  I got to help out on 2nd grade homework, and she told me I was smart because I knew how to spell words...it was funny. We also got to ride back with the Tanners, who are probably the coolest senior couple in the mission! So, I guess it was worth it.

It was pretty uneventful once we got back here. We had sign ups and that was probably the most exciting part. Other than that, it was pretty routine. Pres. P***** was finally at church...it had been 4 weeks. So it was kind of nice not having to conduct. A funny story...someone was speaking last week in church when I got the really bad kidney pains and had to leave the meeting. Well, I wasn't paying attention to her talk because of the pain, but I guess to everyone in the audience, I was sitting up at the front with an angry look on my face (I guess I look angry when I'm in pain), and then I suddenly got up and quickly walked to the back of the church. So how it looked to a couple of people: They thought I was angry and got up to go call President P****** to see what I should do about the situation. Kind of funny how things get misunderstood. That was kind of a funny thing about the whole ordeal as well. Since it happened at church, all of the branch members knew I was sick.

I think that's about it for this week. Sorry that it was a little uneventful! Something cool this week: We're doing a branch Halloween party...even though it doesn't exist here...And All Saints' day is on Thursday, so everyone goes to the cemetery and lights candles and stuff. It should be cool. I'll take pictures.

Love you all a ton!

P.J.

One last thing! This last week, for the first time, I conquered the Rubix cube! I'm now to the point where I can solve it in under 15 minutes! The Asian inside of me is raging! Ya....I don't know what an Asian is doing inside of me either...oh well.

Pssssh....Why would a mom worry???

So just so you know what’s going on....The doctor thinks that I had a kidney stone that blocked something, urine went back to the kidney and infected it, and then I passed the stone...so I just have a kidney infection now. I've been on antibiotics for a few days now, and it doesn't hurt anymore. So I got back to Zadar last night (Wednesday)....I’m just glad it's over. I hope you haven't been worrying or anything. I'm going back to Zagreb a week from tomorrow...next Friday. The doctor wants to do a checkup to make sure that everything is fine. It will be. I was able to buy some new Ecco insoles at the store in Zagreb, so I should be set for the next while. 

Love you a bunch!

P.J.

He is sick....(NOT what a mom wants to hear from her son on his mission)....

Hey everyone....Sorry I haven't been posting as regular as I should.  I will try to do better!  I held off posting this one because I wanted to find out the verdict before I posted anything.  Phew!  All is well, so here it is.....  ~Dore

Hey Family!

So you asked how I'm doing....my answer....right now, I'm doing alright, but I have another doctors appointment at 1 today....Yesterday in the hospital was pretty miserable though....

If I really wanted to torture you, I would leave it at this, but I'll go into more detail...well as much as I can...They still don't really know what it is, but they are working on it....Gotta love Croatian health care...

So to start from the beginning: So Elder A*****  and I were at church yesterday morning and everything was fine. I was conducting because Pres. P  still isn't 100%, so we got there early, prepared the sacrament, and I picked out the hymns. Afterwards, I was sitting at the keyboard, just messing around with it, when the left side of my back started cramping. I thought it was just the way I was sitting, but I moved and got up and walked around, but it just got worse. I just dealt with it and it lessened, and then it went away completely, and I thought that it was just my back spazzing. So we carried on with the meeting, and during the final talk, it came back even harder than before. I started sweating a ton and turned super white. I asked Elder A****** to finish up for me and I ran into the bathroom and just lost it and threw up my breakfast. I still didn't know what was wrong, but I guess B*****(Pres. P******'s wife) called him and told him that there was something wrong with me, because he called me and said, "I heard you're sick. Sunday School is taken care of. Just go home right now and don't worry about church." We were also going to take him the sacrament, but he told us to just forget it. So we started walking home and the pain went away. So we managed to get a hold of Sister T  (the mission nurse) and I told her what was going on, and she said, "Well, sounds like kidney stones...." And she said that she would call the church Doctor in Germany and that he would then call me. So Dr. Swinson called me and asked all of the questions (does anyone in your family have this problem, have you had it before, what's the pain like?...I got asked this like 50 times yesterday). He then asked where I was living and I said Zadar. He said, "Hmmmm....Zadar....they don't have much there for medical. We got to get you up to Zagreb." He said that Sis. T would work out a way for me to get there and that what I needed to do was go to the Zadar hospital and pretty much beg for whatever painkiller they would give me. So after a few more phone calls, we got Z**** (a member) to drive us to the ER....I don't want to freak you out more than I already have, but I think I've seen pictures of a more equipped ER in freakin' Ghana....Well, we had to walk around until we found someone there, and then they brought me in, asked me what I wanted and I explained my story. They then tried to convince me to stay in Zadar and find a specialist there. I told them that we have a doctor in Zagreb and I just needed the painkillers. They tried to talk me out of the idea of traveling, so Elder A****** and I had to get a little pushy with a lady and demand the meds. So I got them....Got stabbed in the top of my right cheek.

It was a little funny. They only asked for i.d., so I gave them my driver’s license and they wrote my name in a book, stabbed me, and sent me on my way...Nothing more than that. No documentation...nothing. So then we went home to wait for Sister T. I threw up a couple of more times...just from the pain. The pain shot didn't do a thing. I don't know exactly what they stuck me with, but it didn't do much. So around 5 last night, we got to Zagreb and went straight to the hospital. The whole time, my back was still hurting. So we sign in and the wait game starts. They finally called my name and took me into a room where they took some blood and left the little IV thing in in case they needed to take more. So then I waited some more. Then they called my name and I got a flat plate x-ray done.... then I waited again. Then they called my name and did an ultrasound. It freakin' hurt so much. He would poke my stomach and asked if it hurt and then jab it with the ultrasound and get mad when I flinched. It wasn't too fun. I was so tired, but it hurt to do anything but stand and walk around. So I then went back to the waiting room and waited some more....Oh ya...another test was in here too.  So then finally after a few hours, they called me back, took the iv thing out of my hand and gave me my paperwork. All they had to say is, well, from the ultrasound, it looks like he was really backed up in the intestines....try going home and taking a laxative. I was ticked. I knew that wasn't it. I told the nurse that I was still hurting, so she stabbed me in the behind and it burned like crazy...turns out that there was some sort of antibiotic in there.

So we talked to Dr. Swinson, and he said that he had heard of people having kidney problems and they get misdiagnosed because they can't see the kidneys behind the intestine. So he wanted me to go to a private practice today to get looked at by a doctor that the mission uses all the time. Supposedly he's pretty good. So that's whom I have an appt. with today. So after the hospital, we went to the mission home to spend the night. It was going great until the painkiller wore off around 2. I didn't get back to sleep. It hurts too much to lie down. It's basically fine if I stand, and it's okay when I sit, but lying down is terrible.

So latest developments....Sis T  was looking at my blood lab work and she saw that my white blood cell count is way high. So she figured that I have some sort of infection. So she called Dr. Swinson, and they came to the conclusion that I have a kidney infection, and possibly the stone still, but we don't know. So if I do have the infection, I'll just be on antibiotics for a few days, and then I should be fine. So we're going to the doctor, and they might do a CT scan just to be sure all is fine, but I know everything will be fine. We also figured out that because of the infection, my kidney is spazzing...whatever that means, and that's where the pain is coming from. So, everything will be fine in a couple of days. Seriously...I'm in good hands...so stop your worrying.

 Another funny thing....So Sis. T was talking to Dr. Swinson last night and he was explaining why he couldn't say too much earlier....So he lives in Munich and guess who was visiting Munich yesterday? President Thomas S. Monson. So ya...he was standing right next to him while I was explaining my kidney problems. So ya...The prophet got to hear all about my issues. How awkward weird is that?

So ya... That's my big news for the week. We also found a Thai food restaurant in Zadar. It was okay. I realized I'm not too much of a fan of Thai food...curry is funky. But it was still all right. A little expensive too. The funny part is that it's a massage parlor/ restaurant...sounds sketchy huh?  

The Shutterfly pictures looked great. The kitten looks pretty awesome. Dexter is a good name for him. Wish I could play with him. The truck is sweet too.

~This is Dexter...new resident at our house~

I better get going. I gotta get to the clinic...the taxi will be here in 5 minutes. I love you all, and I'll be fine. I'll email you again, when I find out what the whole deal is! Sorry that I couldn't individually respond this week! Have awesome weeks! Cool about the papers, Bri! President Rowe says that the mission department is expecting 97,000 missionaries by May. Isn't that crazy?

Love,

P.J.

hey! I just went to the doctor....they still aren't completely sure what it is, but we are treating it as a kidney infection and they are giving antibiotics and painkillers and I have to go back tomorrow to look at the urine culture. So I'm in Zagreb for another day. It's great though. The mission home is super nice and the Rowe family is so cool. They have an indoor pool in the basement and a sauna...and Sis. Rowe is a good cook.  It'll be fine. The painkillers will be nice. I hope you’re not worrying. Based off of what the doctor said, it's not super serious. So all is fine for now.

I love you a bunch and hope all is fine at home!

Love,

P.J.

Random picture found on the internet... :)

Dear Family!

This email might be a little lame....I know I’ve been saying this for the last few weeks, but I think this one will take the boring cake. Elder A  was sick for the last half of this week, so not a whole lot happened.....I got a lot of personal study in....a lot..... So, I'm doing all right. It's been a super long week, but everyone is feeling better at the moment, so here's to a better week.

So ya, we were watching the Saturday morning session live at 6 pm here. It was pretty intense. I thought it was cool about the two new temples and then the news about the missionaries came. It was pretty awesome. Things at BYU are going to change a ton. We were talking about it a little bit. Like freshman housing is over....What 20 year old freshman is going to live on campus? I heard from a missionary that he's excited for this because maybe it will make Helaman Halls with the Cannon Center a cool place for R.M. upperclass men and "he's totally cool with that." But we also mentioned how freshman Book of Mormon class is going to get so intense when all of the sections are made up of return missionaries. And BYU is going to be loosing a lot of freshman next semester.... It's going to be interesting to see how much this changes things. The 19 to 18 isn't too huge of a deal in general because it's just a year and people from 48 countries could already go when they were 18, but the sisters going at 19 is crazy. I think the weirdest part is thinking that if I had left when I was 18, I would have just gotten back. That's nuts. But I'm glad that I was able to get a year of college before hand. I don't think that leaving at 18 would have been the best idea. I think it's still going to be that way for a lot of people. They even said in the news conference thing that they aren't encouraging everyone to go at 18, they are just making it a general option across the board for those who are ready. It's gonna surge the numbers like crazy for the first little bit. I hope we can get some more people out here....  I don't think that it's gonna be a huge deal with girls being gone from BYU. There might be more sister missionaries for a little bit, but I think things will even out. If girls don't want to go at 21, are things gonna change if they can go at 19? I guess probably not for a lot of them, but who knows? 

That's so random with that picture. That's when President Teixeira, Europe area president, was here back in June. His wife made us get up and stretch  Which senior couple was it that took the picture? 

~I accidentally found this picture by happenstance!!  How cool is that?~ 

Holy Cow! B*** is freakin' huge! Just looking at the hair, I thought that she looked like L****, but the face looks like I*****. 

Gag....the stuff about the teeth is nasty. It brings back bad memories. But “How I Met Your Mother” is such a funny show....I was going to say "good", but I don't think that I can officially call it that as a missionary.  

That's good that work is picking up....I'm gonna be needing a new suit soon ;). That Cricutt sounds kind of funky. I guess normal scissors are for poor people..... so we have to buy computerized electric scissors. 

That news about Grandpa is freaking crazy! I'm glad that he's doing all right. But seriously, that is some scary stuff. I feel terrible. I think I jinxed him. I asked dad in my email last week how he was doing because I hadn't heard about him for a while....Well I heard about him now, and I'm glad he's doing alright now. Tell him that I hope the best for him!

Man, I bet you had some beef at that Brazilian restaurant. I'm jealous. We are going to Risckys in 15 months when I get back. Guess what! In 3 days, you could have gotten pregnant and had a baby without me even knowing! Isn't that crazy? 9 months...dang.

This morning was pretty cool. But lately, the weather has still been a little warm. Probably around the mid 70's. What the heck? How are you guys cooler than here. It's just not fair....haha....that's what Mollie was thinking too.....get it? Fair????

This last week was all right. We didn't do too much. I accidentally made a pretty good pasta sauce from scratch. I didn't know what I was doing. I mixed butter, flour, stuff that's called cooking cream (like half and half, but tastes better), milk, chopped up garlic, salt, and pepper. I pan-fried some marinated chicken skewers that I chopped up and added it to the sauce. It was good...well the taste was. It was a little thick...almost like a gravy. But I think I got the hardest part (the taste) down. 

Conference was pretty good. We got to watch 3 sessions. One was in English, and the other 2 were in Croatian. It was all right. I don't like watching in Croatian, but I can understand more now than I could last time back in April. Which is a good thing, because that's 7 months with the language versus 2 and half weeks. 

I'm trying to think of other things that happened this last week. I've been studying the New Testament for a while now. I'm almost finished with it. I still have to read Revelation. I've found a New Testament student manual...maybe that will make it understandable when I read it. 

I'm really scrambling to find things to say. There's just not really a whole lot. I really apologize... I just thought of one last thing. We get to go to Zagreb on Friday for zone conference, so 7 hours by bus again. They were trying to get us to Serbia,  but they don't have a plane that goes to Beograd from here.  

I hope all is well with you this week. Things are going pretty well here. Tell grandpa that I send my well wishing. Best of luck with everything! Love you all a ton!

~P.J.