We have had our heartstrings pulled this week. We had a lady from Venezuela come in that could not speak a word of English.  She crossed into the US legally and had her green card and social security number. It took her and her husband and children almost 4 years to walk from Venezuela to the US. They had to stop multiple times to work for awhile to be able to get enough money to buy food for their family. When they finally got close to the border, they were kidnapped by the cartel and had to come up with $4000 to get released. They had a friend in the US that was willing to help them, but they have to pay the money back. Her husband started to work as a welder when they arrived in Houston, but after a few months he had such severe problems with his hip that he had to have surgery. It turns out that he walked all the way from Venezuela with the head of his femur missing. One leg is about 3 inches shorter than the other. The surgical site became infected and he had to be on intravenous antibiotics for 2 months. They have to pay the medical bills that they have incurred. The surgery was a temporary fix, and her husband needs to have a new femoral head inserted into his femur. They can't do it now because they don't have the money to pay for it. Needless to say, they are in dire straits. She came into the employment center to see if we could help her find a job. We are hoping to be able to get her a job at Deseret Industries. It is so hard to see how much she struggled just to get the opportunity to come to the US to have an opportunity for her family to be able to live a decent life. 

Another hispanic sister came to talk to me at the English connect classes. She had just been in a car accident and her car cannot be driven. She came to class by riding the bus. Her husband was hurt and can't work so she needs to get a job as soon as she can. They have to pay the medical bills and get another car, plus all their other bills. She broke down crying, not knowing what to do. We are working with her as well, hoping to find her a good job as soon as possible. 

I received a call from another hispanic sister asking if we could help her fill out her application form for dental hygiene school. She spoke fairly good English, but had not had any formal training in the grammar or writing English. She was originally from Honduras. Her parents were divorced when she was about 12. Her father had a severe drinking problem so she lived with her mother. However, her mother was very verbally abusive and she ended up going back and forth between her father and mother. She witnessed her older brother drown when she was younger, and that is pretty much what caused her parents to divorce. When she turned 18 she came to the US on a visa program to be a nanny for someone in Chicago. While being there, she started to learn some English. A female bus driver befriended her and helped her a lot. She was a member of the church and that is how she became familiar with the church and was baptized. She met someone and got married but it didn't turn out well. They were divorced about 2 years later.  She joined the US Army and learned how to be a dental assistant there. After two years in the Army she got a job as a dental assistant in Houston. She still has to spend 1 weekend a month for National Guard duty. Anyway, we had the opportunity to help her with her application. We spent 7 hours with her on Saturday but still did not get it completely done, so we will help her finish it this coming Saturday. It is amazing to me to see how hard she has struggled, but has persevered and has the desire to keep improving herself. Following is a picture of Velyn helping her work on her application:

 

The temperature was perfect this afternoon for us to take a walk around the pond at the apartments. Here is a picture of us by a Live Oak Tree that is green all year round. You can see that the limbs actually grow back into the ground and become more of a source of water and nutrients for the tree.

I think I mentioned before that we have a german shepherd that is on the balcony below us and barks all the time.  Now we have 2 pair of different breeds of ducks that can make their quacking noise for about 10 minutes without stopping. I took a picture of one and looked it up on the internet. It said it was a Muscovy Duck. Since it was on the internet, it has to be true. So here is a picture of the Muscovy Duck. It isn't the least bit afraid of us and even followed us for a short while.

After seeing so many people with hardships, and making such huge sacrifices just to be able to be in a country where they can enjoy their freedom, it really makes me appreciate all the blessings we enjoy. Many of these people don't know where the next meal is coming from, and a lot of the kids now days think it is a severe hardship when the internet is slow. The health issues that I have seem so small in comparison to the things that these people suffer from every day. I have been humbled to see how these people remain happy and grateful for what little they have, in spite of all the hardships they have endured.