The Phone Call

On Thursday, December 2, 2010, I got the most amazing phone call. The caller id said "Mont Ringer". He is an oral surgeon who took out Deric's wisdom teeth almost 2 years ago. I didn't think much of it so I answered. The woman's voice said, "Sister Larkin, you probably don't know me but I have just returned from Honduras where I met your son." I nearly burst into tears. Even now, as I am reliving the experience, my eyes are tearing up. We visited on the phone for a few minutes then Sister Ringer told me that she had some photos and a note from Deric. She asked if she could bring them right over. Deric had given her our address and I gave her the directions.

As I was waiting for her, I hear the garage open and Conrad came in. He isn't usually home until 6:30, but a conference near the convention center was over early and he was home just after 5:00pm. Sister Ringer arrived and came in and we visited for about 30 minutes. She had a picture of her and Deric and another one with Dr. Ringer, his twin boys (seniors), and Deric. Sister Ringer told us that Deric looked healthy and happy and his Spanish is great. The Ringers were part of the medical brigade in my last post. They said that the whole experience was absolutely amazing for them. She said that she had a glimpse of Deric's badge and saw Larkin so she tracked him down and asked him if he was from Las Vegas. He was surprised until she introduced herself. The Ringers are in the Lakes Stake where Todd (Richard's cousin) had been the Stake President until about a year ago. That's why she knew the name.

Sister Ringer told us about a fireside where the area authority spoke of the miracles in Central America because of the medical brigades. The number of missionaries serving from those countries has nearly doubled since the brigades started. I thought that maybe Deric would come home from his mission and want to go into medicine instead of engineering, but Sister Ringer said that as he carried a dental chair out to the truck, he told her that the closest he would get to the medical field would be designing the equipment as an engineer. That's my son... Sister Ringer said that all of the missionaries who helped with the translation and such were amazing. They worked so hard moving equipment and assisting and working with the young people. She said that there is no way they could have done it without the Elders.

Deric told Sister Ringer to assure me that he is healthy and well. I've told him that he looked thin in the last photo we got. The ones from Sister Ringer have him still thinner than he was but looking good (except for that haircut). Sandra would die... I'll make sure to set up an appointment for the day after he gets home.