Brief little story

A LOT has happened since my last post, but I wanted to share the most recent experience first, one that I will probably never forget. Yesterday, Emma, Josh and I were hungry and wanted to eat out, but since we were in the village (it was our day off from Shanti Ashram), our options were limited (the village doesn't have restaurants, just little shops that sell light foods). We decided to walk down to the main road (the main road is where we catch the bus everyday, about a mile walk) because we remembered that there was a man who sold PAROTTAS!!! Parottas are like tortillas, but they are fluffier and taste really good! well, we got to parotta man's hut, and ordered our parottas. Since these aren't a balanced dinner meal, we decided to get some, and ask for the curry sauce that came with them. Emma and I had done this before, where we got parottas, the curry, and then walked back to the village to make rice, and have the curry with rice and the parottas. As we headed back, we saw a lady selling mangoes and of course, since Josh doesn't have the heart to say "no", we bought some mangoes from her. "This is awesome! we will have rice, curry and parottas for dinner, and for dessert, we can have delicious mangoes!!" we kept telling ourselves that on our way back to the village. Well, we did just that. Emma started the kirosene stove (I have yet to master how to even start it...) and we made rice. We ate it and it was so delicious! The mangoes were nice and juicy, and we were pretty happy with our meal. Not long after, I started feeling kind of weird... my stomach was hurting so much! But since I always seem to have a stomach-ache, I ignored it. I was certain it was just me and not the food, since Josh and Emma didn't seem to experience any similar symtoms. A few hours later, I started feeling more and more pain, and asked Josh to give me a blessing. It is really great to have the Priesthood here, and especially to have the boys in our group, all three of them such great guys. After the blessing, I just laid down to try to sleep, but I felt worst and worst. After a few hours of tossing and turning, I finally decided to get up and get some fresh air- but as soon as I got up, my stomach flipped, and I ran to the front yard, went to the nearest coconut tree and, you can imagine what happened. I don't wanna be too graphic, but let's just say that parottas and mangoes don't look too appetizing once they have been digested. The next morning, (as in today), Josh and Emma were getting ready to go to the Ashram, but I was feeling pretty tired and weak from the night before. I decided to stay here, and I have been sleeping through out the day. I haven't had much of an appetite, but I managed to eat some oatmeal that Emma made me this morning (she and Josh are the best babysitters). No one was home, since Jeeva and Matthew both work, and the kids are out of town. As night drew near, I began feeling a little lonely. I know that I am ok and not sick enough to need special attention, but I missed my family a lot today. I just felt lonely and wondered if anyone even knew I was home alone. Sis. Jeeva came home from work and checked in on me-- I asked her how she knew I was sick and she said her friend, Salomeni, had told her. Salomeni is in our branch and I have talked to her maybe twice. I didin't think much of it though. Sis. Jeeva then told me that the mangoes and other fruits sold my the women on the streets were dangerous and made people sick... so we figure it was the mangoes. Good thing I learned that lesson. Later on, as I pulled out my scriptures, I began to read in John, about God's love and those who love others, love God. All of the sudden, I heard sis. Jeeva talking to someone that had just come over. Then, the door to my room opened and it was Salomeni! She started speaking in Tamil to me and I just smiled nervously, wondering what on earth she was saying. She kept rubbing her own belly and then looking at me. Sis. Jeeva then said "she wants to know how you are feeling". I told her that I was feeling much better, and she just smiled and smiled at me, while speaking more Tamil. Sis. Jeeva then told me that apparently she has seen me throwing up the night before (when I attacked the coconut tree), and today, she had checked in on me while I was sleeping. I could not believe that I was being taken care of by her, and I didn't even know it. Before leaving, she just grabbed my arm and said something in Tamil again, she held on to my hand, smiled at me and then left. I was so humbled to know that I was being watchd over. It really reminded me of God's love for each one of us, and how he lets us know, through the small tneder mercies of everyday, that he is aware and that we are never alone. By the way, sorry about my horrible grammar and spelling, it's hard to gather all my thoughts, while writing perfect English, but I'll do better next time. oh and just in case any of you were curious, I'm feeling MUCH better!