Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Great News, Wedding, Christmas Activities,

Rosie's eye surgery was successful yesterday!  Not sure yet what vision problems she may still have, but they removed the cataracts and she will be able to see!
Last week we invited our boy's family from up the mountain to eat lunch with us.  It was a special occasion all around, but we were overwhelmed when the mother presented me with a tortilla cloth/dishtowel that she had embroidered herself when she was in the first grade.  It is a great treasure!
District conference in Chulac last weekend and one young man had everything all finished so we were able to complete his Mission file.  One other young lady from Sacsuha district was also completed on Monday.
We helped members here in Senahu Sunday evening learn the new Kekchi Christmas Hymns, with the new Hymnbooks there have been some changes, our members here don't know how to read music, so we are learning together.
We were able to participate in the Polochic Christmas Project and Zone activities last weekend.  Played with children from the Chulac school and then helped hand out school kits to each of them.  Then a yummy dinner and meetings with a lot of our Elders. One of the parents handed me a bag of oranges as the activity was beginning, they are marvelous - fresh grown on the trees of Chulac!
Tuesday we went down to La Tinta and helped the Elders there with the Youth Choir they are working with on the Christmas music.
Today we went to a wedding here, and then afterwards to the Wedding Dinner, it was a traditional Turkey Kakik - Turkey in a spicy broth soup - with tamales.  The family also had a wedding cake, which is not a normal practice here.  The meal fed probably a couple of hundred people, and took many hours of work for the families and neighbors involved.
Traveling up and down the mountain to get to all of the Conference meetings, Zone activities, then the La Tinta choir - we were able to enjoy multiple sunrises and sunsets going up and down the mountains!  In the valley the Sugar Cane fields are in bloom with their large tassels   In the morning they do not look that impressive, but in the afternoon sun it is like a sea of white fluff swaying. The nights have been loud, over the weekend with parades and fireworks most of the night to celebrate the Christmas Season.  Last night though the dogs from most of the town barked and fought, quite often right outside our house.  We had four days of sun in a row, after it having been rainy and cold for several weeks so we really enjoyed it.  Today it rained in the morning, then it stopped just long enough for the wedding and the activities afterwards.  We were glad to be back in our home again before the rain returned.