November 19, 2025
Susan Hoover
Dear family and friends,
Greetings again to one and all, in the Name of Jesus, who has redeemed us with His own precious blood. What a sacrifice, what a gift!
Today we are having a real summer day! Temperature is 30 degrees C, not much air stirring outside, although once in awhile a little breeze will spring through.
I suppose all of you will be expecting a post-surgery update on my knee. Well, the fact of the matter is, I did not have surgery yet! I had already been admitted to the hospital on November 10, to prepare for surgery the next day. I had a pre-op appointment with Dr Santacruz and in speaking of my medications I mentioned the low-dose aspirin that I take every day. After the appointment a nurse took me to my room, and soon another nurse came in for blood samples and then another one with an EKG machine to test my heart. In the midst of these things, Dr Santacruz entered the room and said my surgery has been suspended! He had been talking to the surgeon, Dr Wiens, and told him about the aspirin. They had neglected to tell me to quit taking it for at least 5 days before operating. So, they rescheduled me for the 25th, which is next week. And so we waved goodbye to the friendly nurses at the desk, and returned home!
Back to work, back to the usual. We easily slipped back into the everyday life around here. We had some very enjoyable times too, that I'm glad we didn't need to miss!
One day we drove to Coronel Oviedo, which could have been nice but it was pouring rain so hard that it made visibility difficult. And at one point I had to wade through a hefty stream of water beside the street in order to get to the car, and soaked my shoes and socks. So I had wet feet the rest of the day. But we survived, quite well! Had a good meal in a comedor, which literally means dining room. You go through a line of available foods and fill a plate, and you pay by the plateful. Very good, and economical too.
One afternoon Betty Janzen from Tres Palmas stopped in to visit us. She is Hein Hildebrand's oldest sister, and is 93 years old! Still quite spry. It was interesting to hear her talk about incidents in her past and about her husband, who passed away in 2012. Betty came that day with the sister of one of our residents here, who also came to visit.
And, we've also had the flu/cold/grippe bug visit us. Flu season seems extra bad this year, is what the old-timers say. Some have suggested it may be because the temperature fluctuates so much, and so rapidly. It gets pretty chilly yet at night, and daytimes can be hot. Many of our residents here have also been sick, and there are always messes to clean up, floors to wash, and bedding to wash. Heaps of bedding.
So on Friday evening my throat was scratchy and I had an annoying cough. Had a bad night, without much sleep, and on Saturday I was just downright sick all day. Hot one minute, cold the next. Headache, and brain fog, etc etc. Sunday I was still too sick to go to church, so we listened in to our church service, live, online. Otherwise the day passed rather uneventfully. We had a heavy rainstorm in the afternoon, lasting for a couple of hours probably. The electricity went off at around 6:00. What was there to do? We couldn't read because I hardly had any voice. Peter went to help the elderly to bed, then we ourselves went to bed at 7:00. 😉 I slept pretty well solid for 10 hours! And the electricity didn't come back on till 8:00 Monday morning.
Peter got a bit of it too, not quite as bad as I had it. We're still both trying to pull out of it, and are both not doing too bad. We are able to fulfill our normal duties around here. Much to be thankful for!
Bible study/prayer meeting cell group met on Monday evening at the home of Henry and Lucy Neufeld, who live at the far end of Sommerfeld colony. Since this was the last meeting for this year, we didn't want to miss it. I don't enjoy driving after dark, especially not on unfamiliar roads, but I figured I'll do it and we'll make it, because we really wanted to be there. Then Peter got a text from Jason Dueck, a young brother who lives quite close to here, and he offered that we could just drive our car to their house and go the rest of the way to the meeting with him and his wife! (They are part of the same cell group.) It warms my heart that they thought of us, and I'm sure God will bless them for that kindness. Jason and Annie are a very young married couple, and we had a great time going with them to the meeting. I sure appreciated not having to drive the 40 minutes or so it would have taken to get there!
Then on Tuesday evening Peter and I were invited to Henry Friesen's place for supper. They also had invited two elderly ladies -- one was Henry's mother who lives in the Altenheim (home for the elderly) in Sommerfeld, and the other was Henry's aunt. These two ladies are sisters, and they are 94 and 92 years old. They came to Paraguay with their family when they were 16 and 14 years old, on the Volendam, (ship) in 1947 when a large group of Mennonites migrated from Canada to Paraguay. These ladies spoke English very well yet. All their schooling was in Canada, before they moved to Paraguay. They said they hardly ever get a chance to use their English anymore! They had lots of fascinating stories to tell of long ago. It was an extremely interesting evening!
We had a delicious supper, too. Trudy, Henry's wife, is such a gracious hostess. We had chicken noodle soup, roast chicken, potatoes and gravy, mandioca, fermented veggies, corn, and bubbat, which is like dressing or stuffing, baked in a cake pan. A very satisfying meal! Later in the evening we had apple pie and ice cream. A wonderful topper to an amazing evening!
And that brings us to today. Just a regular work day, laundry and all the ordinary things. We have a resident here that seems to be at death's door. Candido, one of the blind men. He had not eaten for several days already, but then this morning he rallied a bit and wanted something to eat. They put him out in the open area, on his bed, and have been feeding him intravenously today. He is responding again but seems to be semi-unconscious. May God have mercy on these helpless ones!
Neka, one of "my ladies" has also gone backwards the last while. She fell on the concrete floor a couple weeks ago and has not been doing well ever since. She's been in a wheelchair ever since that incident. She is in a lot of pain, yet X-rays do not show any break or fracture. She's so sweet and child-like. My heart melts into a puddle when I tuck her in to bed in the evenings. She looks so vulnerable, so dear and innocent. She knows her end is nearing, and has spoken about it. She appreciates that I pray with her and always thanks me over and over. Lord, help us care for their souls as well as their bodies!
Librada has gone to her children for a month -- I think after that she is coming back here. Two of her sons came to pick her up one day. She was so delighted! She often longs for her children. They do pretty good to come and visit her, too. I miss her here!
Must go and wash up some dishes -- and see how things are going over in the main building. Let us faithfully fulfill our responsibilities until Jesus comes! We look forward to new heavens and a new earth where righteousness will dwell!
Because He lives,
Susan for the Hoovers