Deciding

Within 2 days working at the Dental Clinic I decided two things.  Number 1.  I wanted to work there as my first choice and give my loyalty to that department. Number 2 . I would be at the Clinic whenever the Stewarts were there.

I realized within a week that the Lord had sent me to be of assistance and help to Sister Stewart in organizing her time, thought and efforts.

I watched her run from one crisis to another, often forgetting where and what she was working on earlier in the day.  The weight of making sure the dental clinic is a viable concern and then proving or “selling” the idea to unknown persons who are in charge was heavy for her. The opposition to the clinic is that:  it is a requirement to have your dental work already done before going on mission; it takes precious time away from the MTC activities, and is it a viable cost of Church tithing money and other’s donations?

When working on the front lines, seeing the condition of rotted teeth stumps and mouths full of cavities over and over - the knowledge that this work is vital is clear. How do you convey that to a person reading a report far away?

I really don’t know the true reasons why so many of the children from the Philippines are in trouble dentally – they just are.

So I threw myself into the work and found out quickly that the Stewarts have a hard time saying no to anyone who calls with an “emergency”. Time after time Elder Stewart will, “have a look”, to see what a problem is during his allotted lunch hour. Often the procedures take more than the hour allotted and any ‘break’ time gets eaten up in finishing up a root canal or extraction.

Sister Stewart has a few stories about being thrust into a dental clinic with no experience or idea of how a dental clinic is suppose to work. In an American office there is typically one person assigned to each category or maybe two: Assisting the dentist, a hygienist, someone to schedule appointments, someone to work dentrix (a system of keeping track of procedures and fees), someone to do the insurance and billing, Someone to do the x-rays, and someone to clean up the rooms, trays, and instruments. 

Sister Stewart would run from one task to another and asked for help from the Area and prayed to the Lord when she was in trouble. A few women would volunteer some time and one missionary from the temple came every day when the temple closed for three months. A girl named Jonah volunteers to assist the dentist and comes from 6 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday. The unique hours I work makes sure on Saturdays, late and early hours that Sister Stewart can stay on one task and not run to answer phones, assist her husband, and open the front door at the same time, while struggling to record all the procedures whenever the patients are gone.

One aspect of volunteers is that they come when it is convenient for them so all the hours that need assisting are not covered. In October two of us were assigned to help out in the Dental Clinic and in the MRC. I quickly decided that the Dental Clinic had my first loyalty, as the help needed at the MRC is inconsistent depending on who is injured or ill in a mission or MTC.  Sister Hoem’s husband works as a mental doctor for the area and has regular hours, so she works Monday through Friday at the dental clinic and takes the weekends off to be with her husband. She also goes on whatever trips he goes on.

I chose my mission and hours.

I keep being told over and over, “You don’t need to work so many hours, it is not required.” No but it is necessary and I choose to be of maximum help.