VIDES at the Provincial House

I arrived safely at my destination on Thursday, albeit at around 11:30pm. Fortunately I haven't totally lost my Spanish because that is all that the lady at the gate spoke, and it turns out that this is a very bilingual hoI am so enjoying being here with the sisters, because this house is just full of joy. The Holy Spirit is so present here; everyone is just so in love with Jesus-I love it!

It is especially precious to be here because I am working as a secretary for a sister who is trained as an occupational therapist and oversees most of the treatment, medication, and care of our elderly sisters. Because this is the Provincial House, it is essentially where the sisters go to retire, so most of our sisters here are elderly. My own sister is in school right now for occupational therapy and she Loves to speak in therapy language and talk about what she is learning, so every time I see a door handle that has a tab-pull rather than a knob, or a stiff seat cushion, or the easy-push foam soap dispenser, I think of all of her "positive environmental adaptations" and I smile. I feel like I'm getting to live in her world for a little bit.

The meal situation has proved to be not a problem, since we eat a lot of beans, rice and otherwise tex-mex food here. It's delicious, usually pretty nutritionally balanced and gluten-free!

Right now I'm working on putting together mental engagement activities for some of the sisters so that we can have a sort of mental exercise program here too. Sister Vuogn had a book with lots of suggestions, most of which sound really fun and can be adapted to a group setting fairly easily, and I will start doing those on Thursday. Right now I am spending a lot of time with Sister Gloria, who is the director of VIDES, because she came here after her surgery (the reason I am not in Austin right now helping her) to convalesce. I am so excited she is here! She of course is so concerned about all of the missioners and wants to help them even though she is in a lot of pain. I am sort of serving as her secretary already, as well as a part-time nurse and secretary for Sister Vuogn. It is really good because it keeps me busy, by which I mean that in between our scheduled 2.5-3 hours of prayer and meals and recreation and free time, I am busy. Am I in heaven? It is like a perfect schedule.

God is good, my heart is with Jesus and I know he will order all things to his glory! Praise be to God!