Life is awesome!
I had a great time calling you guys and seeing the whole
family! Thanks for trying to use skype to see me and sorry if it didn’t work very
well. Mom I hope that you had a wonderful mother’s day!!!!!! I love you!
I got a call on Tuesday right as we were about to leave and
it was the office elders asking me if I could donate blood at the hospital. So I
said yes and we went. Even though we had
a lot of people to teach, we went. We
rescheduled our appointments as we went into the city. I was
so, so nervous because I’ve never donated blood before and you know me and
blood and guts! But all in all, I’m glad
we went.
When we arrived, there were three other people in line to
donate for the same person, but they didn’t qualify because they had been
drinking the day before, imagine that! Haha. How would that be to get a transfusion of 1% or
higher alcohol? Wow! So they chose me!
I didn’t know the process of giving blood. Was this some nightmare of exsanguination where I would watch my life empty
from me into a series of little bags?! ! Haha.
Well I guess in reality they didn’t suck that much out of me! Anyway, even though I didn’t know what to
expect, I just did what I was told. I lay
down on this contraption and they hooked me up to a machine that separates my
blood into red cells, platelets,
plasma and cryoprecipitate. I was
told that for every pint of my blood 3 people could be saved. I laid there with two needles in my arm watching
blood go in and out of my body for about an hour and a half ( I don’t remember being
very happy about it, haha). Anyway, the
lady that needed the plasma from my
blood came in and sat next to me and thanked me so much for what I was doing (
that was immediate gratification seeing the person that I was helping).
After they finished sucking my blood and (I determined that
I was still alive and had not become a zombie, haha), as we were leaving
another lady stopped me to say thanks. I was a little unsure about why so I
asked her and she told me to follow her. She led us to where her daughter was. There were 10 other kids lying in beds alongside
her daughter, all with the same sickness.
It is some incurable disease that doesn’t allow them to produce their
own blood. So every day they have to buy
blood to have transfused. I found out
that my donation saved them about 100 dollars, and it helped a little girl
named Scarlet to be a little bit happier in her life.
But, after we walked into that room with the kids, I didn’t
want to leave, so we stayed there with
the kids and their Moms for about 3 hours; coloring, talking and playing with
them. I absolutely loved it! I realized that
sometimes we don’t think about (or even know) all that we can do for other
people. We stay within the same limits
that we use to define us (our comfort zone) and we don’t stretch ourselves or
progress much by doing something so scary but benign as giving blood. I guess what I’m saying is that we look out for
our own benefit, our own interests, time, etc ., when without too much effort , we can do
relatively simple things that will help others.
I can honestly say that when they were taking the blood out I felt so uncomfortable
(you know me) and said to myself that I wasn’t going to do this ever again. But “my eyes of understanding were opened”, and
I realized what a difference this “sacrifice” made. I’ll do it again, whenever they need it! I
love living! haha
Service with a smile (albeit an apprehensive one) is so, so
rewarding. I learned a ton externally
and internally about something I would never have considered doing before.
I love yall so, so much.
Thanks for being examples in my life and for helping me all the time!!!
--
ELDER MATT GRINER
ELDER MATT GRINER
misión santiago RD
Elders being Elders in Navarette
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