David Got Shot

My little brother, David, is on his mission in Queztaltenango, Guatemala. Saturday was his 21st birthday. And I got a phone call Sunday morning from Tyler. Here's how the conversation went:

Tyler: Do you wanna hear some important news about David right now, or do you want to wait till you and Jana are together?
Sarah: No, tell me now.
[Sarah's thinking what the heck happened?]
Tyler: OK, but before I tell you, just know that he's OK. He's laughing, and joking about it...
Sarah: What happened?
[Sarah's a little upset and worried now, thinking why are they sending him home early?]
Tyler: David got shot in the shoulder yesterday. [Yeah, on his birthday]
Sarah: WHAT?!
Tyler: He's OK, he's OK!...

So, here's the story, as far as I know it:

David and his companion, Elder Perry, were on their way to an appointment with some investigators when they saw some kids playing with a football. They both got a bit nostalgic since neither of them had seen a football since they left the States. They stopped to show the kids how to hold it, throw it, catch it. When they continued their walk, they heard three gun shots. David felt like he had been punched in the shoulder/chest and he fell back. Elder Perry turned back when he saw that David wasn't keeping up. When David stood up he asked Elder Perry if he was bleeding, and his companion said "no."

They got to their appointment, and that's when they both realized that David was, in fact, bleeding...a lot. The investigator called an ambulance, which took him to a less than clean hospital. Fortunately, their bishop has a doctor friend who got him into a clean, private hospital very soon after arriving at the dirty one.

The Church has been heavily involved, obviously, even to the point of being willing to fly a specialist to Guatemala. However, this was unnecessary as there was a specialist in Guatemala City, who was sent to where David is and who was able to perform surgery to remove the bullet this morning (Monday).

David got a visit from Elder Christensen, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, on Sunday. Elder Christensen then called my dad to let him know that David was in good spirits, was walking around, and looked very well. He also told Dad that David is "a fine young man." So, not only has our family, friends, and everyone in our home stake (since it was announced as Stake Conference yesterday) been praying for him, but we've even got the General Authorities sending up prayers in his behalf.

All I know is that prayers in behalf of our missionaries are answered. David thinks that the fact that he was wearing his backpack helped to slow the bullet. It hit him from the front, going thru the strap of his backpack (without tearing the strap off). He thinks that the pressure from the backpack and it's strap kept the wound from bleeding too much.

The surgery was successful, as far as we know. We won't know if there was a lot of nerve damage until he can start moving again. The bullet (a 9mm--bigger than the doctors thought, and could have done a LOT more damage than it did) was lodged in his right pectoral muscle, just between his lung and his clavicle. It was far enough in that the doctor went thru his back to pull the bullet out, completing the wound. And, yes, David is keeping the bullet.

He'll be released from the hospital tomorrow, and will stay in the mission home for about a week, and then it's back to the Lord's work! He did not want to come home, and he did not want my parents to go down there. Hopefully, within the next week or so he'll be back to good, only in a sling for a while.

The Church wanted to be sure that this wasn't a targeted event, that people aren't literally gunning for our missionaries, so the mission president woke the Chief of Police in the city to launch a complete investigation. Turns out, it was just a few bolos (drunks) shooting their guns. Apparently, that's not illegal in Guatemala. There aren't any hard or bad feelings being harbored by David, or any of the family, toward the bolo who's bullet was lodged in David's chest. Actually, I kinda feel bad for the guy.

Anyway, so that's the low-down. Kind of an interesting/ surreal/ exciting/ scary weekend for our family. We thank God that David is OK and that he was where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to be doing, and walking/standing in the exact right place. I mean, if he had to be shot, he got it in the perfect place. And thank you all for your love and prayers.