And it came to pass. . .

What a week we have had.  The highlight has been Ben's kidney stone.  On Monday the 21st he was in such terrible pain that we decided to head to the hospital.  We got there bright and early, about 5:30 am.  We were able to meet with a doctor, who we think was Indian, who was working the night shift and I think he was anxious to be done.  But he was kind and set us up to have a scan done.  We went and had the scan done by a very nice, speaks English very well technician.  We think he was Indian.  Then we met again with another doctor who said he would have to wait for the scans to come to him before he could read them and decide what to do.  They sent us home and said to come back the next day after they read the scans and they would know what better needs to be done.  Ben was still having pain, but not quite so bad.  He didn't get much rest again Monday night.  On Tuesday when we were back in the hospital they said the scan showed that the kidney function which should have been between 50-150 was over 200 so they would need to do a CT scan.  So they set us up for that.  All this time Ben is experiencing terrible pain.  After the CT scan we had to wait for the doctor to read it.  This doctor was a specialist and wouldn't be back to our hospital for about an hour and then he had to see patients which were in front of us before he could see Ben.  Well Ben could hardly do anything by this time because of the pain.  They ordered a shot for him which really knocked him completely out.  At least he was sleeping and not in pain.  When we met with the doctor he said he thought the best thing to do was to get it blasted.  We told him we would have to wait until the next day to do that as we needed to have it pre-approved by our insurance (or so we thought).  Well they sent us home with pain medication which seemed to really help because Ben was able to sleep all night and be pain free.  When we went back on Wednesday morning we met with the actual doctor who would be doing the blasting.  He is a kidney specialist, again from India.  He looked at the scans and the CT and gave us two options: 1.  Blast it or 2.  He would treat it with some medicine which would hopefully open up the urether and let the stone pass.  We asked which he would recommend and he said #2.  Give it some time and see if it will pass on it's own.  So we chose door #2 and they sent us home with some medicine to dilate the urether and more pain pills.  The doctor said if the pain gets so sever that the pain medication doesn't help, to return to the hospital and they will blast it immediately.  So far Ben has been doing quite well on this regime.  He has only had one small episode of pain which the pain pills quickly zapped.  But, he still hasn't passed the stone.  It's just a waiting game.  You wouldn't believe how many remedies are out there.  Everyone we talk to has some "sure way" to get rid of kidney stones.  we may end up trying them all before this is over.
On May 17 we went to the Island of Gaya for a closing ceremony for some humanitarian aid LDS Charities had given the school after they had a fire.  LDS Charities gave them some books, paper, binders, school supplies, etc.  We had the ceremony so the could thank LDS Charities officially.  Here are some pictures:

Riding the boat to Gaya.  Front left clockwise:  Pres. Francis president of KK1 branch, Rosalina (with the KK school board), Sis. Kate RS Pres. KK2, Sis. Audrey RS Pres. KK1, and Elder O'Driscoll.

Stage with LDS Charities Banner prominently displayed.

Ben speaking.

Student receiving some of the supplies.  LtoR  student, Che Rose Bakar, Principal, Ben, and President Ling, district president.

Some of the girl students.  Boys are on the other side.  I felt bad for them because it was hot and they had to sit there for about 2 hours.  I don't know how the girls stand it all covered up like this.

We had a nice lunch after.  LtoR  Elder O'Driscoll, Elder Howell, Sis. Audrey, Sis. Kate and Pres. Faustos.
It was a nice day and gave the church some good publicity.  There were three newspapers there to cover the ceremony.

I thought you might like to see one of the favorite flavors of ice cream here.  Yes, it is corn ice cream with kernels of corn in it.  They love their corn here.  They have stands that will sell you a "Cup of Corn" like in a sno-cone cup and sometimes they will add berries or something to it.
Everyone have a great day.  Hopefully, this too shall pass and we can give a clean report next time.  Love to all.  E/S Read