Elder Austin Steadman: Sore throat, sad heart

Hello everyone!! So from what I hear my mom has been on top of things (as usual) and informed you all that I am not in Cambodia this week. Unfortunately, since I have been in the MTC I have been battling a sore throat and have been on some medicine to try and get me feeling better. But after the fourth antibiotic they gave me I was still not feeling 100%, so they decided it would be best if I got my tonsils removed so that I do not have throat problems during my entire mission. So Monday I went in for surgery and I was lucky enough to see my amazing parents! They are seriously so awesome! As far as I can remember, the doctor said that the surgery went very well and he basically told me to plan on some really tough days this week, but in 2 weeks I would start to feel normal again. As frustrating as that was to hear, I have so much respect for doctors that are just brutally honest with you! ha He was correct. These past couple days have definitely not been the easiest, but I have learned a lot of valuable lessons of patience and trusting in the Lord.

When I woke up from the anesthesia I was crying, and for those of you that know me, you know that I am just not a crier. So when I found out that I was crying I started to cry even harder haha, and then I saw that my best friend/companion was not in the room with me so I started to cry and tell the nurse that I needed Elder Q! She was nice enough to let him come in and when he came in, that was the first time I remembered my best friend was going to be leaving me the next day… so of course I started crying even harder :) ha This was quite embarrassing because it was the first time he had ever seen my cry, but I was on a ton of medication and there was no stopping the tears haha! Anyways, the first day after surgery was not so bad, but on Tuesday I woke up with a very small throat! We all woke up at 3:30 a.m. because Elder Vu had to be to the travel office at 4:00 so we all walked with him and gave him big hugs and watched him head onto the bus. So that was the first hard goodbye of the day! ha We then went back to bed for a couple hours and then Elder Q and I got dressed up so we could take pictures with our teachers, and then Elder Q dropped me off at the medical center where I could rest and sleep all day. Then 2:30 finally rolled around and it was time for me to say goodbye to the stud who I have come to love and become best friends with over the past 9 weeks. The goodbye was very tough, but I got a big hug and he said that he would see me real soon and that helped! I am so lucky that I am going to a small mission where the chances of seeing him again are super high, and maybe if we work hard enough we can become companions once more :)

Anyways, this week has been a little rough and I am just taking each day one step at a time, but I really can feel the prayers coming from all of the people at home and I appreciate it so very much! :) I'm sorry if this letter does not make any sense. I am on some heavy medication and I forget what I am talking about when I am half way through a sentence so I don't even dare re-read this to know if it makes sense or not ha. But I love you all so much and I know that the Lord is aware of all of us and he is aware of our situations. Even when we think that things happen to us on accident, and that this could not possibly have a purpose, He has His reasons for why things happen when they do. Even though it can be confusing at some times in our lives, I have found that usually later down the road He reveals to us why things turned out the way that they did. Please continue to keep my in your prayers! Thanks so much!

All my love,
Elder Steadman