Missionary Skills...

Had a great week working in the hospital. I had 2 spanish speaking patients that challenged my rusty spanish skills. The patients absolutely love students because we'll pretty much do anything for them because we have time. I got to sit in a patient's room and chat with her for quite awhile yesterday...she hadn't had any visitors and she was the nicest lady. We have the patient for two days in a row so by the second morning they are so happy to see us. It is a great ego boost for me because I really know little to nothing about being a nurse. But, I can sure shoot the breeze. It has been so amazing for me to realize that many of the skills that are so useful for nursing I learned while serving as a missionary. The Spanish is very helpful. IT's rusty, but it's getting better quickly and the patients are really appreciative that someone speaks their language and after establishing some sort of a repore with them, I can get them to teach me how to say things that I need to know. Perhaps the best skill that I learned though is just how to talk to people. I can take anybody, pretty much, and find something to talk to them about by watching their body language, observing what's important to them, and checking out their surroundings. And...inevitably, the spanish speakers ask where I learned to speak spanish which opens up doors to talk about all kinds of things. Loving it. Missions are fantastic for so many reasons...