A Day in the Life of the Mission Nurse

We have an awesome missionary medical couple - Elder and Hermana Balden. They take care of most of the medical issues in our mission and in the Chile Concepcion South Mission. I can't imagine doing this without them. I went to the hospital yesterday to visit one of our Elders. He had a big tumor removed from his heel. While I was there I ran into the Baldens. They got a phone call at 5:00 a.m. from one of our Hermanas. She thought she had appendicitis (it was actually kidney stones). They got ready and picked her up to take her to the emergency room. On the way into the hospital Hna Balden tripped and fell flat on her face. She was bleeding pretty bad so the doctor insisted on taking her in for an X-ray to see if she had broken her nose. She kept telling them to hurry because she had missionaries to take care of. Her nose wasn't broken but she had a fat lip and the beginnings of two black eyes. She also skinned her knees and scratched her glasses. As soon as they finished the X-ray she was back making her rounds at the hospital. While she was waiting for the Hermana with the kidney stones to get a scan we checked on the Elder with the tumor, and on an Hermana from the South Mission who broke her back during a service project. She took six phone calls from sick missionaries and ran to the pharmacy to pick up some medicine for one of the missionaries. Meanwhile, Elder Balden was at the bus station picking up an Elder who came into town to go to the Doctor. I was exhausted just watching them and it was only noon! They are usually at the office until at least 7:00 p.m. and are on call 24/7. We love them and are so grateful for them!