Heading Home

The last of the bread was toasted up and eaten with honey. Licuado's made with the last of the bananas and pineapple we had kept frozen. We shared our last meal in Senau with two of our favorite young girls and Bro. Benjamin, one of our amazing brothers who showed up to invite us to a farewell in his home. He did not realize we were leaving in just a couple of hours, for our journey stateside. It was difficult leaving our beloved Polochic and our many friends and family here.

Last week we had a surprise birthday party for Elder Spradlin on Monday with all of the Elders and a few young people. He was so surprised when he came in from going up to the pueblo and they all came out from their hiding places. I had gotten up early and made a cake while he slept, before I fixed him a Birthday Breakfast. It was great having our Elders in the home.

On our way to one of our family's homes on Friday evening the children from another family across the path came out and were singing “I am like a Star Shining Brightly” in Kekchi that we had taught them a few weeks ago. It made our day! Later we sang with them from the Children's songbook and felt supremely blessed.

We were able to spend our last weekend listening to General Conference over satellite and visiting with members. Saturday noon Caldo and farewells, then Sunday we had all of the missionaries over for lunch, ate up the last of ingredients in the house! Starting with one package of tomato paste and 3 packages of spaghetti and turning it all into a feast for 20. Spaghetti sauce had all sorts of crazy ingredie thrown into it, first the normal stuff like spices, a few tomatoes and an onion we had left, then came the remains of a little cheese sauce, ground pumpkin seeds, Incaparina, chicken boullion, ketchup, vinegar. The final shock is that it tasted great and there was exactly enough for all!, but I prayed a lot while making it, then while serving it because it definitely did not look like enough! One Elder brought cucumbers, one brought apples, all were sliced and shared. One of the Elders was supposed to bring rolls, but hadn't had a chance to get them on Saturday, so I got brave. The garlic butter was already all made up waiting, we got to the house before the elders and mixed up rolls, used yeast and 2 teaspoons of baking powder, made up the dough and rolled them in the melted butter. Stuck them in to bake and they turned out wonderful which was also a small miracle, since my rolls take a few hours to rise normally.

Monday when we left the Polochic we stopped in Coban to spend the evening and have dinner with our Mission President and Sister Curtiss and the Kirks- our other Senior Couple in Coban. Tonight we will be able to be with President and Sister Watts here in the capitol after we turn in our car. Not every couple has the opportunity to come to know and work with two great mission presidents and their wives during their mission. We have been blessed to learn from great leaders during our time here in Guatemala. We are also extremely excited that a new couple will be coming to take our place in the Polochic the end of the month. The last senior missionaries to serve in the Polochic before us was 25 years ago!

We have grown and gained so much from the privilege we have had serving a mission. We had no idea when we started this journey the places it would take us, nor the people we would come to love. A little nervous about going back to the real world and wondering how we will apply the lessons we have learned here. Not knowing where we will live, what job I will be able to get, what ways we will continue to serve makes this another great adventure, one that we will continue to walk in faith and With the Lord's Help.

filled to the brim

Wow what an amazing weekend! The views off of the mountain as we went up and down working with the Missionaries and Members were unforgettable as so was the work. Friday we participated in a multiple wedding at the church, 3 couples were married, followed by a Caldo (traditional dinner of a soup that is spicy broth and chicken) then a baptism for four of those who were married. Friday evening I got to give a short message at the Missionary night and share 3 more plant starts with the Branch. That means that I have given house plant starts to members in each of the four Branches here in the Senahu/Seamay area, along with the challenge to nurture testimonies and then share them with others.

Saturday we carried baptismal clothes up to Chulac on our way to do inspections and the Choir performances up there. Shared a few recipes with one of the sets of Elders, hopefully will give a little variety in taste to the food they are able to make. So far out, they don't have a lot of choice in ingredients – but a little soy sauce may help! We went to the baptisms for the branch of Corral Pek that they held down at Seacoc (means they don't have their own baptismal font and they all had to come down by truck to the District chapel) When I was taking pictures of those being baptized two young men asked me to take one of them. After I took the pictures I asked how old they were, both 20 years old, both can speak fairly good Spanish. I asked if they are single, and they both are. I then asked if they had thought about or wanted to serve a mission. They said yes, so I told them that the first step is to be reading the Book of Mormon every day in Spanish (helps with testimony and also language ability) and that I would talk to their Branch President about helping with the paperwork. After the baptism I was waiting to talk to the branch President, but he was very busy and I spoke instead with two other brethren who had been helping with the baptisms. They turned out to be brothers, and uncles to the two young men. I told them that the two young men wanted to go on missions, they asked what they needed to do – so I began explaining the process with interviews, passports and exams. They were listening intently, when one of them asked, “but sister, do they need to get baptized first?” Oh my! We have now given the information to the Elders that work in that area!

The Choir was amazing. They did the two concerts in Chulac district on Saturday, having gone over and back on the back of a truck. About a 2-3 hour ride each way for them. On the way back they got rained on, but when I talked to one of the youth Sunday, asking “how was the trip?” he told me everyone had really loved it and how great it had been! Before the first Concert on Sunday we got to go to La Tinta and deliver a mission call to our sister there, she will be going to Argentina in January! Her brother just left a couple of weeks ago to serve in Honduras. So exciting!! On Sunday afternoon the first concert in Teleman filled up completely with members coming from three branches. Over 100 in attendance filling every seat, sitting on the floor around the chapel, standing till it was full. Then the one in Sacsuha, with a bigger room filled all the chairs and were at least 200 in attendance. We left after the choir's truck took off and caught up with them coming up the mountain. Awesome feeling to hear them still singing the songs as they drove up the mountain. The Children's songbook in Q'eqchi' is now part of their world. One more concert to go here in Senahu this Friday evening in the Municipal Salon. I know that about 900 people can fit in the room, so we shall see how many come!

This morning was able to surprise Elder Spradlin with chocolate cake and an apartment filled with our amazing Elders all in for Pday! So blessed to be serving here!

What legacy do we leave?

Our Airline tickets have been confirmed and with only two weeks left to go we turn to reviewing the last two years, asking ourselves questions, like “what have we accomplished?” “have we fulfilled what the Lord sent us here to do?” “What legacy will we leave behind?”

As a youth and adult I have always practiced the tradition used among many women of our community, of sharing my plants. When a plant gets sufficiently large I break off small branches and root them, these I share with friends and neighbors. Here in Senahu where there is such an abundance of foliage outside you never see indoor plants, so I asked one of the Senior Missionaries in the capitol for some starts off of her houseplants. I then brought them home and rooted them and am using them to give away among the sisters in the Branches here. I explain to them that as they begin to grow they need to break off and root other pieces that they then give away to others who do not have one. I explain also that the plants are like our testimony, we have to ake great care and support it so it will grow, through prayer, scripture study, obedience and serving Heavenly Father, then as our testimonies grow we share them with others and slowly the Gospel will spread into all of the homes. Hopefully this love and testimony that we have shared here will continue to grow and enrich the lives of the people here in the areas we have worked.

Suggestions I would make to those coming to serve in the Polochic: PLEASE remember that this is mainly a Poverty economy, it affects people's outlook. You always have to think whether what you do will make people more independent or dependent on outside help. The lack of literacy is the root of many of the problems here, but is beginning to change with more schooling becoming available. There are still many though who do not value the importance of education, especially for young women.

Many times people here do not understand how to save for the future, we are working on it. They will ask you for money, we just say no. Luckily it is a rule that mission can't loan money or give it to them, but sometimes we can provide other solutions- like advice to help fix a problem. It helps us to realize that due to past “handouts” they can't help but ask for money, because they do not see another solution. The environment of dependence affects their growth in literacy and understanding of the Gospel. They need to learn to do their own study and research, not just wait for others to come in and give them answers. Many groups who have come in, have done "handouts" which really only make the people here more dependent on an outside rescue, instead of thinking what they can do to make a change to resolve their situations.

Anything done to help improve diversification of crops, and planning for future success will be a magnificent help. The importance of planting a garden and saving for the future need to be a priority. It is sometimes a slow repetitive process, with little steps to change, change does not always come rapidly. This community has been very hard hit in recent years because of dependence on their Cardamom crop exportation, and then that crop got a fungus and the value dropped drastically. There was no diversification nor savings, so the people have suffered not knowing a solution.

Many of our wonderful members who would love to stay here cannot because there is no employment. Hopefully with the road improvement across the valley it will begin to increase the development of the economy and job market here.

Loud and Offkey

Truly love our neighbors and the people from the church across the street, but their tradition of having loudspeakers loud enough that it is still loud inside our home makes it difficult to appreciate them sometimes – especially when the person with the mike is singing really badly offkey!

Our church let out early this morning because of all of the Independence Day festivities, so we are in the house having scripture study and eating a late breakfast. The church across the street is inspiring us to want to go out and do some visiting!

Saturday was a great day with different people visiting us in the morning, then making visits with one of the Branch Presidents, followed by a baptism in Senahu II, and one in Senahu I. True independence, the privilege of worshiping our Heavenly Father. After the baptisms we went back to Seamay to join with the branch there in their activities celebrating Independence Day. It was raining some and the activities were all outside, so we greeted everyone, then decided to return home. Great decision by Elder Spradlin because the rains continued to increase and pound on our tin roof!

Elder Spradlin says, “as we near the end of our mission and I think about the things we have done, being called as member, leadership support – I wonder sometimes if we have really helped the Leaders very much. However, the thing that touches my heart the most is our relationship with the children. We hope that we have touched their hearts. When they touch me with their little hands and look at me with their dear little eyes, I can feel their sweet spirits and I know that they have touched my heart.”

We are so grateful for the privilege we have had of serving here in Guatemala and with only three weeks to go, it is filled with sadness at leaving, and joy at the thoughts of holding our own grandchildren in our arms.

Yup! It's a rooster!

What an amazing week as we had our daughter Erica here with us. Fantastic sharing with her some of the friends and places we have grown to love here on our mission. The hard part was as heading back to Guatemala to drop her off and realizing all of the things we would have still liked to share, but we had run out of time! We played with children, worked with the choir, visited members, ate Caldo.

Funniest event of the week was visiting the family in La Tinta where I had promised to teach them how to make a meal using cardamom, especially since he deals, dries, and sells cardamom. No one here knows how to use it, only thing they do is grow and export it. We arrived at their home and visited, telling them we wanted to go see the swinging bridges and would then return, the wife was going to kill and clean the chicken while we were gone. Went to the swinging bridges and some of the family accompanied us on a lovely walk there as we crossed the huge swinging bridges and then walked on the other side. When we returned to their home, the chicken was ready to go- they had just started it on to boil, so after explaining it should not be boiled and taking it off the heat I helped with chopping the herbs and vegetables. Next step was outside to the waiting fire to put it all on to cook. First we sauteed the herbs and vegetables and were ready to add the chicken - they then held up the chicken head to put in, very evident still that it was a rooster. Oh My!!!! I was glad it had already been cleaned and cooked a little. They thought it was very funny when I reacted, because to them it was all quite normal. The food turned out great and so did the visit!

In the capitol they changed out our tires to more rugged ones, we thought it humorous, since we are now at the end of our mission! Hopefully our replacements get our car! They also put on new brakes and a new battery. This is starting on our 3^rd set of brake pads, and since we don't drive that much it seems crazy, but the roads and hills and turns and children and animals on the road put a lot of wear on the car! Very grateful for the new battery, since the car didn't want to start this last week once when we were in Teleman, not a good thought, luckily the Branch President had the number for a member who is a mechanic and he brought jumper cables (riding on his motorcycle) and a transport driver gave us a jump start. Neither one of them accepted any payment for their kindness and help. I love the goodness of the people here!

We are hitting our one month mark this week which feels very strange. How much can we accomplish in one month? We are headed back out to Senahu today excited to fill our days with this wonderful work. Having to plan also for our return home makes it a little interesting, so it is definitely mixed feelings we are enjoying. We love the people here, but also very excited to be with our family back home.

A good week

Zone conference weeks are some of the best when serving as Senior Missionaries. This week we had two, one for the Polochic, which included the valley Elders and Chulac. Then the one for Senahu, which included the rest of the “mountain elders”. Love being around the missionaries! Working with and seeing their dedication and love of the Gospel is amazing. We try to make sure we visit as much as possible with each of them individually “checking in” making sure if they have a problem or need something we can help them with. Sometimes it may mean they are out of insecticide, or they are dealing with stress or strain and need some exercises, or they are sick and we need to find out how to help them. It becomes a lot

We were also able to spend time with President and Sister Curtiss and share with them some of our concerns for the members and missionaries in our areas. Refocused a little our direction for these last remaining weeks, so hopefully we will be of more service. We even got to have the Curtiss's and the Kirks for a pancake breakfast at our home! The Kirks are the other Senior Missionaries that are working with us in the mission now. They live in Coban and help with Alta Vera Paz, Coban, Peten and in the office. Still great hopes that a couple will come in to take our place when we leave in October.

After the conferences we headed down to the capitol, turned in the car to get some repairs done then got to spend the evening with other Sernior Missionaries. Every missionary working as a Senior has such a different type of experience in their mission, with what they are doing and the challenges they face. It is novel for us to hear.

Super excited to get to spend some time with the Watt's tonight! We have missed them a lot, but tonight we will go play together. Tomorrow morning we pick up our daughter Erica at the airport and she is going to spend a whirlwind week with us. So excited to introduce her to all our friends and share with her our mission!  I forgot the camera cable so will post Zone Pictures when we get back to Senahu.

Frustration

 Even though we live here I am sure we only see “the tip of the iceburg” So when we see the problems we do, it is truly heartbreaking.

Another young baby died this week, 2 months old. We took pictures of this healthy, beautiful baby boy when he was 3 days old.  When we went by to visit the family this week we found out he had died 2 weeks ago from "a fever" .

  Another family we work with has a 10year old daughter who has a deep cut on her foot,
her little Brother, about 6 years old, was playing with a dull machete hitting in the dirt -then
decided to hit her foot.  We helped the family clean it some and gave them antibiotic ointment.  Since it was late in the evening and starting to rain we told them they needed to get her to the Centro de Salud the next morning early to get shots, for tetanus for sure!  We went back yesterday afternoon, 2 days after the accident, and they told us they had not taken her to the clinic.  The child's foot is
starting to swell and is very painful.  When we asked why they had not gone, again explaining the danger of the infection they told us the little girl  didn't want to go!  I don't usually get strong with people in what I say, but told them they were the parents and it was their decision, not hers.  If they wanted her to live they needed to go.

We accompanied the family of the daughter who had seizures to the Medical Clinic on Monday and she was seen by the Doctor. They can't do all the testing here, but because of the explanation of symptoms have put her on anti-seizure medicine. I spoke with the Church Area Doctor about her and he told me what had caused the seizures and epilepsy is caused by a parasite in the brain from eating undercooked pork. Sure glad we were told not to eat any pork here!
 Hearing a baby cry in the daytime now stresses me, is it a baby that maybe won't survive, or just an angry child.  

The District choir tour is starting to shape up, the members are working to raise money to pay for the trip. We have the songs picked out and the program planned. Dates fixed for 5 concerts, one here, two down in the valley and two up in Chulac. We are also helping plan for a huge activity day on 14 of September which is Independence Day, so they can use it to help raise the rest of the funds.

 This is the Lord's work.
Sometimes we get frustrated because of the problems we see, the unnecessary pain that goes on and it takes us a minute to back up again and remember that this is His work and His time table and some things we just don't understand.

Always Be Prepared

I just realized that I needed to change our logo to the Guatemala, Coban Mission. Two missions in one for us!

We never can tell when we show up for a meeting if we will be called on to speak or not. We were asked to go to an activity in a family's home on Friday evening, we didn't realize from how they were describing it that it was the weekly Missionary night, but they did ask if I would play for it. We took the keyboard and the hymnbooks, so that was expected. I didn't know I was one of the speakers though till they made the announcement, Elder Spradlin didn't know either till after I spoke and they looked at him expecting him to speak. One of our English speaking missionaries was there though and translated from English to K'ekchi for him. After having that happen I was prepared on Sunday to speak, because we went to the new little group at Searanx – there were 44 of us in the meeting. Was grateful when the member who was presiding leaned over and asked one of the other Elders to speak. He said afterwards it was his first full talk in K'ekchi' and he was prepared. It was so much fun in Primary teaching the children “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” We did it first in English, and then we used the new Children's Songbook in K'ekchi. Laughing and playing they slowly lost their shyness and sang with us. Since all of these families have only been baptized for two weeks it was lovely working and teaching these children, We used the song “I am a Child of God” to talk about who we are and where we came from. Then we talked about prayer, and the importance of talking to our Heavenly Father, just as we talk with our earthly parents each day, we want to communicate with Him.

Saturday morning we met the other Senior missionary couple down in the valley and picked up mosquito nets and medical kits for our missionaries out here in the Polochic. They have now all been distributed and our missionaries are getting them up today. Trying to keep them protected from mosquitos, and any other creatures that are too friendly at night when we are trying to sleep! The only solution for Dengue fever is prevention, or lots of water to drink once you get it! From the descriptions we have had, not a fun thing to go through. The mosquito repellant sold here is only 15 level, and very expensive. We are trying to figure out how to get the repellent on a regular basis from the states, so hopefully there will be a solution for that soon!

They missionaries also brought out a mission call for Chulac that we were able to deliver on Sunday. Expecting one more in this week for a sister in La Tinta. Then we just have three others that we have worked with that are still waiting on their Call.

We met a man from La Tinta a couple of weeks ago who invited us to his home, he works with Cardamom, has trucks and a drying building for it. He wanted me to show his wife how to cook with the cardamom, since people here grow and export it, but don't know how to use it. We visited their home on Saturday afternoon and had so much fun! He is starting to run for Mayor, and his family was delightful. He showed us his home, then we sat outside in the shade where it was cooler and all of his family gathered round, children, children-in-law. I explained a recipe for rice, one for chicken, one for cookies all using Cardamom, so they can try them while Elder Spradlin showed them pictures of our family back home on the computer. We needed to leave then, and the family was saying, “but you must stay and we will kill a chicken together and cook and eat it.” We explained we couldn't but planned to go back and visit them in two weeks. We told them that then we will have the day to stay longer. The man is saying, “oh good, I will buy a bed and you can spend the night with us” I explained that we would have to go home to spend the night, but it felt amazing their friendliness. Elder Spradlin gave the dad a Book of Mormon in Spanish and we explained that it is a second witness of Jesus Christ, that it testifies of the truthfulness of the Bible and that Heavenly Father loves all of his children. The man was so thankful, then I pulled out the one I had brought in K'ekchi for his wife, she speaks only limited Spanish, and they were very happy. They asked how much for them, and when we said it was a gift their response was so sweet. She got up, came over and gave me a hug.

In two weeks, it looks like we may get to help kill a chicken!   

We were told yesterday of a family with an 18 year old daughter who is very sick, so we went to visit the family. When we got there the daughter was in the middle of a convulsive seizure, arching her back, arm going stiff, then slumping, then going back into arched position and thrashing. The family was all around holding onto her and praying/screaming, and trying to put scriptures on her chest. She mainly appeared unconscious during the episode, which continued several minutes after we got there. The room was hot with all the people surrounding her, I asked for a small bowl of cool water and began bathing her face and arms, that helped them back up a little and quit grabbing at her. The convulsion passed, she came to and then after speaking laid down to sleep. They told us she had started having the convulsions earlier in the week and when they took her to the Medical Clinic after the first one the Doctor said there was nothing wrong with her. I think that may be because of how they explained it, and she appears perfectly normal in between the seizures. They decided that since the Doctor didn't find anything wrong with her, that an evil spirit is trying to possess her. I can see after having been there why they might tag it that way, looked kind of like an epileptic seizure, and scary to watch.

We came straight home and I got on the computer to do some research on what some of the causes are for seizures and what you need to do to diagnose. There is no diagnostic equipment here, like MRI or EEG, but Coban has it about 4 hours away. We called their Branch President and told him what we had found and he went over to meet us there to talk to them. We wanted to make sure they understand because some of the family don't understand Spanish very well and we were fighting against tradition, to try and help them realize she needed medical attention. She was fine as we were sitting there and we discussed it, with her sweet little one year old girl laughing and playing. They said they will think about it and decide by Monday, but you could tell they were doubtful. We left and went to visit another family, when we passed down the trail close to their home about an hour later we heard them all yelling again and I guess praying, it sounded like someone had died- or something. I was pretty sure she was in the middle of another seizure, but with nothing more we could do we walked on by, and I felt horrid. Hoping strongly that today they get her some help and that they can find a solution, it is hard to feel so helpless.

On the other hand we had an amazing caldo with one family yesterday and another family we visited just found out the wife is pregnant. We went to Poptun District earlier in the week and were able to do a training with the District Leadership there focused on missionary work, and the importance of the members doing missionary work, with the full-time missionaries helping them. We also got to work with a lot of the missionaries on a variety of issues like housing and English. Very grateful that none of them called this week due to sickness, and those that had been ill are all doing better.   

Highlights

When you wake up at three in the morning and can't sleep there is always something that needs to be done.  Luckily with this happening this morning I also found that the Internet was working, we had difficulty all week long to get signal for using it to communicate.  

Some Days are highlights of your lifetime and this week we participated in the Highlights of many people's lives. We helped set up, play for, then helped serve the food after the wedding of one of our young returned missionaries on Wednesday.  We took the youth from the group of Americans to sing and play with children, then one day to learn how to make tortillas.  Saturday though is one of those days that needs a special star. We delivered a Mission Call to a future missionary on our way to a baptismal service in Sajonte. This baptism was unique in many ways, but mainly because it was the beginning baptisms for a community and 32 people were baptized. To accommodate so many people Baptisms were held inside the church and outside in a portable font on the Basketball/Soccer court. The new members are from Saranch, a community about two hours by foot trail, or 45 minutes in truck - away from the nearest LDS chapel in Sajonte. where a Pastor and his congregation in a community about 2 hours from the church in Sajonte became unhappy with the doctrines and workings of the church there, a member of his congregation is LDS, but because of distance was only able to get to the church in Sajonte about once a month, the rest of the time attending this other group. He suggested they learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and then passed on a referral to the Elders and they began teaching the families, walking over to the community with other members three times a week. There are several other families in the community waiting to hear the discussions, but Saturday there were 32 prepared for baptism which is definitely a momentous occasion.

Earlier in the week, in order to level out perhaps the joys and difficulties of the week I had the opportunity to scream like a girl. The slug on the couch I easily dealt with, but then I saw a snake rapidly leaving the kitchen in front of me, I actually let out what Harold called a real "Girl Scream" The snake was bigger than the last one we found and wasn't poisonous, but we waited until it was dead to try and find that out.  

The joy of little things

There is a humanitarian group in this week that we are helping out with some and that is always a lot of fun. Took a group of their youth out to visit in the neighborhoods to sing and play with the children. It is so much fun watching them interact with all of our “kids”! There is such a special feeling as we walk down the streets or trails here and people call out to us, or those passing greet and hug us. They have all become such a part of our lives as we talk, joke, laugh and share together. We stopped by one home to visit last week and the kids were in front rolling down the lawn and playing like we did as kids, we got them doing wheelbarrow races together and then they tried doing 3-legged races while we all applauded their amazing feats. Another member told us they had some beans for us from their harvest and so we went and sat together in front of their home shelling beans together and visiting. Sometimes being Senior Missionaries is a completely different type of mission as the younger missionaries as we work supporting and loving our members.

This morning we get to work with the missionaries on their English, plus one of the Branch Presidents called us last night and asked us to help with a wedding at the church today. The Gringos are still here, so we may work with them some also this afternoon in between helping prepare for the wedding and the real wedding time this evening.

Father blesses us in so many many ways, it is hard to imagine or even explain sometimes.  We went to a branch Sunday that, when we first came to our mission, the mission President didn’t realize there was still a group there, even though they had a lovely Church Building.  We found out there were about 5 members still somewhat active and that it had once been a very strong branch.  There are missionaries working there now, and Sunday when we visited them they hit a new high for the year of 58 members in the Sacrament Meeting!

 I love days that are full, I love having this privilege of serving here in Guatemala.

CHOCOLATE

Brownie mix, Cocoa Powder and Hot Chocolate mix all in the cabinet. New batch of Chocolate No Bake Cookies in the jar, so why this feeling of trepidation knowing we just ate the last piece of American chocolate in the house? Made whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes trying to kick it, but knowing the next planned trip out of the valley is 34 days away, when our daughter Erica comes to visit, makes the silly chocoholic in me cringe.  This morning we are still in a cloud and it is almost 8am, but it is dissipating and we are about to head to the market for fresh veggies and fruits, we missed it on Tuesday because we were busy working with all of our missionaries.  Love market days and seeing all of our members!  When we get back we are having a little birthday get together here in the house for one of our young sisters who is living with her brother, her Mom is deceased and her Father lives elsewhere. This afternoon we are going out into some of the communities to play with the children and a baptism this evening.  Yes, there are many things even better than Chocolate!

Nap Time Please

We earned a nap time today, getting up at 5am to take full advantage before the water quit again. Celebrated having running water this morning by washing clothes, scrubbing down the bathroom, taking showers and washing all the dishes! Yes we had been washing dishes, but the sponge baths and bucket baths were happily replaced by a real shower, after a week of no running water! It inspired us to get up early, at 5am to make sure we got the showers before the water all quit. Some of the laundry had to be filled by hand, but the majority we had water for, it was even strong enough to refill the storage tank, which means we can probably each have another shower. The neighbors told us that either the lines themselves had probably been damaged, or clogged by the heavy rains we have been having and so they finally got them repaired.

Finished all of our inspections this week and were so grateful to work with all of the missionaries. Quite a few flu/virus/sicknesses going around, so keeping things clean and drinking lots of water become very important.

Monday morning we surprised one of the Elders in the Zone up here with a birthday cake, made it a nice Pday for everyone.

Our whole mission has been hit a little hard this week with the death of one of our Elders in Coban. He was injured last Saturday when the truck they were riding on rolled off of an embankment. Several crushed vertebrae and head injuries. He did well in the surgeries, but then died Monday night from the trauma. He left an example of dedication, work and commitment for all of us in the mission.

The children, five this time, came over on Monday to make flour tortillas with me but the 6 year old was running a high fever. Checked her at 103.5, started hydrating her and sponging her off trying to get it down a little bit before I sent them home! Sent some ibuprofen with them for her mom to use, I didn't think I should give her any myself, and told them no one could come back till they were all well. They all came back on Wednesday afternoon and told me the Vitamin C drink I had given her had made her well. Sure glad to see all of them happy and well!  

Called to Serve

Four future missionaries received their mission calls this week! Six have had their interviews with the Mission President here and are finishing up or just waiting now on their Mission call, and there are a few more who are waiting on paperwork or interviews, while several others have recently received their calls and are just waiting to leave. Calls have come in for Bolivia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Southern Guatemala, Argentina, Mexico and more in the last few months. It is so exciting to watch these young people as they start the process, and the changes we see in their lives as they become committed to serving Heavenly Father

The Children's Songbook has been printed now in Q'eqchi', although we don't have copies of it here yet for everyone and are waiting with great hope for them. We have one copy and have been sharing it with the members. The Senahu District Choir, with about 120 members, is learning two of the new songs to use in District Conference. As we have gone to different Districts, Branches, and homes, members that see it only want to know how to get a copy. There is one small area in Seamay where we walk through and play with the children of about seven homes – all of them related in some way we think, anyway we sing and play with the children and go from house to house with them. We promised them that this coming week we will be teaching them one of the new songs in Q'eqchi' and they were all very excited!

We went to Chijolom on Sunday, it is one of our furthest areas, about an hour and a half by transport, then a 20 minute hike in to the church. The members there struggle, they do not currently have any of the “extra” programs like Primary, Youth, Relief Society, because the members supposedly won't accept the callings. One of the problems is illiteracy among the adults, a lack of understanding of how the Church works, a lack of understanding about what being a member of the church means and the need to serve as members. During the Sunday School meeting, that everyone sat through I tore out paper from my agenda and made little books for each of the kids, by folding and tearing – then I wrote little messages in each one for them. Telling them they are a loved child of Heavenly Father and the importance of living his commandments. I also tore out the little strings of paper dolls for some of the girls. I was so impressed with their reverence and patience as they sat quietly through two hours of meetings and wanted to leave them with some sort of personal message. We are working with the District, hoping that soon they will have all of the blessings on the Church. I was also called on during the meeting there to give a talk, I had focused at the house on doing the inspections so had not remembered the possibility, had not prepared for Primary because supposedly the District was only staying for Sacrament meeting, (should have known better, since all things here are subject to change) anyway I  had no prepared message. I borrowed the Q'eqchi Book of Mormon from the girl sitting next to me and spoke on the importance of parents teaching in the home, by example, by using the scriptures and teaching children to pray and trust in the Lord. I gave the talk in Q'eqchi, because very few of the members in Chijolom understand Spanish, hoping the members understood, but not sure. When I talked to the Elders later this week and asked them they said they had and I was so grateful!

We have been doing interviews with President and Sister Curtiss, this week and also throwing in some housing inspections along the way as we passed through the Polochic and Chulac. Plan on finishing up the inspections this coming week. Sister Curtiss is concerned with the nutrition level of our missionaries that live up in the mountains and have limited access to foods to purchase, mainly just the basics except on Pday when they come down to shop. Since whatever they buy they have to take it back out on Transport they are  also limited in their purchases.I'm going to try and develop some ideas this weekend for them and get it down on paper for how to improve their nutrition, things they can buy locally that they may not be thinking of, like pumpkin seed. Incaparina, is a corn drink that has protein and vitamins added to it that I am going to try and find more uses for. It is a lot like a corn flour and I have used it added tosoup to thicken it. I am going to try making crepes using it this weekend and thinking it may work in pancakes!

We have been asking each of our missionaries what their favorite verse is in The Book of Mormon and having them either read or quote it to us in English. Many had one memorized, the others are now working on memorizing their favorite. As they read their verse or verses to us it is a huge blessing to listen and feel the power of the Spirit in the Scriptures teaching us to pray, to be diligent to trust in the Lord and hearing the promises he gives us.

Snakes and wet humor

Our young girl who helps in the house once a week came this morning and was sweeping when she called me into the room. She had encountered a small snake on the floor and informed us it was poisonous. Sure glad she saw it, because we would have not known! We tried killing it and finally Elder Spradlin ended up getting the hammer to finish the job – this guy did not want to die!
We have now moved every piece of furniture in that room and swept behind everything, of course killing a few more bugs on the way.  It is not that I like killing bugs, but don't like having them visit us.  

If we talk about how humid it is, I had a box of salt some Americans left here last month up on the shelf, it is so humid that the box kind of started to just collapse and the salt inside was getting wet. I took the whole thing and put it in a large zip-lock bag with rice. We shall see.

It was just raining nights, but in the last couple of days the weather has started changing and we are having rainy cloudy during the day and continued rain storms at night. No lack of water this week!

Do NOT spit on the floor!

Sunday we went up the mountain to Yalijux on the truck with the district leaders, on the way back they picked up some people carrying their chickens and turkeys, so Elder Spradlin had a little extra company. They always make me sit up front with the driver and miss all the fun. I had prepared a small message to share for Primary, in case I got called on, during Sacrament meeting I changed my message. In Primary the President/Teacher had forgotten to bring her books and only had a very short lesson using a scripture from the Doctrine and Covenants, so I had the opportunity to teach. My new phrase in Q'eqchi' that I got to use in the lesson is “Mat ch'ub'ak chiru li tza'k sa' li Iglees” I taught about how the church is the house of Jesus and Heavenly Father so that we need to take care of it. Then we learned my new phrase. It means “don't spit on the floor in the church.” Now you might think, “why on earth would they???” but they all live in houses with dirt floors, so spitting on the floor doesn't mean anything. They do keep their floors very neat though with brooms, but the chickens walk through also... We also learned together how to sing Called to Serve in Q'eqchi'. They all sang with such enthusiasm and joy it was amazing!

We met with President Curtiss in Coban for the first time on Monday afternoon, along with the Kirks who are the new missionary couple, so we could plan and divide responsibilities in order to be more effective throughout the mission. We still will be doing the Polochic, Senahu, Chulac and Poptun, they will be doing Coban, Vera Paz and Peten. We did a couple of apartment inspections and worked on English on the way in, got some shopping down while we were there, then did more inspections and dropped off stuff for missionaries on the way back home. No peanut butter in Coban, but a little store in Teleman on the way back home had some so Elder Spradlin is very happy, he ran out last week. One little one, almost 2 years old here in Seamay had been in the hospital with severe diarrhea and wasn't eating again, so he had given them the last of his peanut butter mixed with honey for them to try. She liked it a lot, and was willing to eat it. Hopefully she will start eating other things also now!

We stopped to do the inspections in Sacsuha, and just so happened to pass through at the same time as one of our Future Missionaries was catching a transport to leave for his Mission. We had two white shirts for him, and found out he only had two of his own. We were so happy to know he would be leaving with at least four white shirts!

I should also add that for the fourth of July I made an amazing lattice work Apple Pie with the daughters from our next door neighbor. It was beautiful and delicious!

Running Water, and the bigger challenges

We now have what is called a Tinako, a large water tank out beside our house. That means that we get showers and running water not a lot, but sufficient – anytime we want! It was a little difficult before, since the water only comes and goes for the community connection at random times, sometimes every night, sometimes one evening in the week. Terrible thing to plan a shower in the morning and get stuck with a sponge bath. The good part though was if you heated water on the stove for a sponge bath, at least it was going to be warm – and you knew how much you had, so you wouldn't just have it stop in the middle of showering! Elder Spradlin also created us a new toilet paper holder to celebrate and it is quite impressive!

Our wonderful neighbors have now had the first discussion with the elders and we are so excited for them. They have a pastry cookbook and so we are going to make an apple pie together from it, funny when that was what they chose, and that we are doing it on the 4^th of July!

When we worked with the missionaries last week on English we noticed there was a problem with some of them making it to their meetings on time, so this week I took a dessert with me and anyone that was there on time got some. Inspiration! I challenged them to memorize a verse in English and be there on time for next week, and told them I would again have treats. We will see if our Elders who were late today decide to get there earlier next week. We stopped on the way back home for a haircut for Elder Spradlin, about 75 cents, the barber asked about English lessons and we invited him to attend the class next week for the missionaries. He says he will be there, so maybe it will not be just English, but introducing this great guy to our missionaries.

We went out and spent one afternoon playing with the children from Seamay, stopped in a couple of homes that had a lot of children outside, and then on the streets, stringing beads and making necklaces, singing and playing games. Probably one of the funnest parts of serving a mission here is playing with children and families! The hardest part is when we feel totally incapable of helping make a change or a difference for their future. Ideas are needed here for how to rise above the poverty, how to improve living standards for the people in a permanent way. There is too much acceptance by people of things, just being the way they are, no vision of a different tomorrow, so no idea on how to create a better life. Once they have the ideas they need to watch them in action and we need people who make a long-term commitment to progress. We have met some people here who have that vision, I just hope many others will join them and they will find success and a willingness to open their minds to new ideas and progress.

My friend who works at the Centro de Salud, kind of like a small hospital for the community here, is now working in the kitchen. For the last two days she told me she has had nothing to do, they ran out of gas for cooking because the municipality did not pay for the gas, so they have been telling all of the patients they would have to get their food elsewhere. So she goes to work and sits there. The laundry there has a washing machine, but their dryer burned out. Since it is very rainy and cloudy now it is hard for them to do patients bedding, but then they do not have enough to start with. I can't imagine a small clinic in the US with some of these problems. Our heart has broken for the 5 year old little boy in one of the outlying communities that was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma by the American Doctors who were here. It is a treatable form of cancer but he will most likely die from it, due to the runaround given by the doctors and administrators here. The treatment in the capitol would be free, but he and someone from his family would have to get to the capitol, and then have a place to stay and food. Issues that are insurmountable here in the Polochic Too many children die here from lack of proper medical care.

Lots of rain and cloudy skies this season, makes the internet connections very slow – so if you don't hear from us, we are still alive and doing well. There is a much brighter future, it is just playing peek-a-boo still!

puzzles and fun

Elder Spradlin has been working jigsaw puzzles, or as said in Spanish, rompe cabezas. We were doing little ones with children, then we got a large one and he started it. The fun is that now we have a couple of young girls and their families who have showed up at the house to help him work on it, they have also each taken home larger puzzles and are working on them in their homes. It has become such a fun activity and something they can't get here. We are spending more and more time with our neighbor family behind us, they came over for dinner along with the Elders the night before last and I made everyone biscuits and gravy. We are going to meet with them with the Elders on Saturday morning so they can learn more about the church. The mom and I have gone walking a couple of times and she has shown me new trails, introduced me to new families, showed me a cinnamon tree and keeps pointing out the edible plants around us as we walk. She also has shown me a couple to steer clear of!

Yesterday morning we visited a clinic here for undernourished children sponsored by Charity Anywhere. They teach the moms, weigh the children and help with formula and a drink called Incaparina. One of the worker's daughters was there, a lovely girl aged 13 and we visited with her, she was working on her English and wanted us to help her remember the song “Row, Row, Row your Boat” that the Kekchi Choir had taught at her school when they were here. We went back up later in the day and took her one of the 100 piece puzzles to try!

This morning we get to help some of the missionaries in the area with their English, I started doing a short class with them before their District meetings once a week. It gives us a chance to check in with them and make sure everyone is doing alright. One of our Elders had an eye infection yesterday, luckily I had drops already here at the house I could give him, from when I had one a couple of weeks ago.

Rainy season is in full swing, hard rains most nights causing some landslides on the roads. Usually they are able to clear them out pretty quickly, but does make us a little nervous. The internet is also running a little slow because of the cloud cover, but will try and see how many pictures I can get to load! Finishing up a few missionary file submissions this week, before the mission divides this Sunday. Making sure they are all the way through the Mission level and up to the Area Office. Kind of fun, these missionaries who submit from one mission and by the time they go out will be leaving from a different one because of the division.

Zone conferences

Love Zone Conferences! Will also admit that I loved the hot showers at the hotel in Coban while we were there! One of the classes was on how we teach with questions and an Elder presented a good question: “What would we have Christ help us with in our life?” Then of course since prayer is not just about asking, but about change and growth - what are we willing to do to change? The conferences were a much needed lift after having experienced a death and a funeral, and knowing of at least three more in the same weekend.

Our District here in Senahu sang for one of the conferences and I played for them and helped the sisters, since there are only two sisters here plus me and 8 elders. My throat was bothering me the day of the practice and I was a little bit concerned. Felt it a miracle that my voice did fine, but within an hour of leaving the conference I started coughing and lost my voice! The conferences were wonderful and also hard, knowing that it was the last conferences with President and Sister Watts. Our mission divides next weekend and we will be in the new Coban mission with President and Sister Curtiss. The Gospel is spreading and it is a marvelous privilege to be part of the Lord's work.

I am now learning the gift of silence due to my laryngitis. My wonderful neighbor brought me up lemons today from her tree when she found I didn't have any. I love the friendships we are making here and the hugs and joy we share with these amazing people.

We were very blessed to get back up the mountain on the way back from Coban, there was a mud slide across the road that they had just gotten moved enough for us to get through. We heard this evening that another one had happened last night and closed the road back up again. Guess it is okay we stayed here today with me not having any voice!   

The harder moment

Tears of sorrow we know will someday be replaced by tears of joy. Last Thursday we met a family who had a 5 year old daughter that was suffering from malnutrition, not sure why she was malnourished, had been suffering from some illness that the Doctors could not place. Charity Anywhere was here and helped get the family the vitamins the Doctor had prescribed, plus Incaparina (a protein drink) and powdered milk to help the little one. We went to check on how the family was doing this afternoon only to find out the little girl died Sunday morning. Our heart breaks for this sweet family and the mother's arms who are empty. Our hearts break for all of the other mothers here whose children are sick or die and they do not know how to help them.  This is one of the harder parts of our mission.

Anyone want a baby?

On our way back from Poptun Sunday we were able to stop and see some waterfalls called los Conchos de Chahal and they were amazing! I love the beautiful little breaks we get - and the inspiring view right out the window of our house.

There was a group of Americans here this week doing service work that we got to work with. It was very hectic, but amazing seeing all that was accomplished. We were able to work quite a bit with the Physical Therapist and Rosie gained some much needed tools from her – she should be crawling soon. We are still hoping and praying that her eye surgery goes through the end of this month when they are supposed to be putting in lens implants.

A very funny conversation happened in the market, the Sister we were working with from the US was looking for a toy to take back to her one year old, I asked one of our K'eqchi' sisters where she should look, she understood me to be saying the sister was looking for a baby – and told me her cousin had one! Nothing like giving away your relatives!

 This was a week so busy it is hard to even cut it down to report size! Walking through the market one afternoon Elder Spradlin saw one of our brothers with a cut finger and brought my attention to it. I called to him and took him over to the side and started pulling out my med kit- then we realized how bad it really was and convinced him to go to the medical clinic! Was NOT a minor cut, but his finger split open from a chair falling and mashing it! We went to take our little neighbor to the dental /vision clinic the Americans were doing- flouride treatments and handing out glasses, Planning on helping but we were running late and when we got there and walked in they had only one Flouride Treatment left -and were able to use it on her. While there for the clinic the Branch Pres. Asked me about an undernourished little girl in his branch, so we were able to help get her in contact with the leader of the group who also sponsors a program here for malnourished children here in Senahu.

We hit our 19 month mark today, means we head stateside in only 4 months. Time goes so fast sometimes!

Challenges and Blessings

I shall list the blessings first so you know that I am not complaining, because the challenges this past week were definitely at times challenging!

1. We were able to hand out ties to many brethren at District conference in Chulac and visit also with President and Sister Watts and Elder Lopez and his wife from the Seventy. Just so happens that the Lopez's daughter will be going to the same mission as Amber this fall!
2. When I entered the Sister's meeting of District conference, I was surprised, by the District President, to be given the opportunity to do a Primary for all of the children -while the adult Priesthood and Relief Society meetings went on. We had about 50 children with me and all in K'ekchi'. Elder Spradlin was busy working crowd control in the hallways!
3. Helped a family fill out their paperwork to go and be sealed together in the temple this week.
4. Helped two future missionaries with their mission files.
5. Played with amazing children as we walked through a very poor neighborhood, sang a song and played a game at each home, the children there then followed us on to the next home … By the end we had 20 children with us singing I am a Child of God in Kekchi, and their parents participating and encouraging them on.
6. Had visits from leaders from two different Branches in our home and gave them ties and shirts
7. The Senahu District missionaries all came to lunch yesterday, there were 8 of them, plus two little neighborhood girls helped me fix the meal and they enjoyed the spaghetti also. One of the Elder's family had sent a cake mix and a brownie mix for his birthday – so strawberry cake was the dessert!
8. We are still healthy and fine and grateful to be a part of Heavenly Father's work here in the Polochic!

Now for the challenges...

We came home from the states to a huge bug invasion. But we have battled ferociously, took everything out of the cabinets in the kitchen and sprayed down every feasible piece of furniture. Washed everything in the kitchen down with disinfectant. Again our new neighborhood girlfriend came to help us in the battle! We also made cookies to share .

Rainy season has started and when we got home from the church finally on Sunday evening our house was flooded. Water standing in the majority of the rooms, some places about 3 inches deep. Again our sweet neighborhood girl and her cousin showed up right as we started with our brooms. They ran for more brooms and helped us sweep out all the water. We finally reached our Landlord and he came as we were finishing, looks like there is a drain system around the house, the tubes though that take the water away had been clogged with leaves- so the only place the water had to go was over and into the house. Funny blessings in it though, we had the computer with us so it was dry. The desk was soaked – everything on it EXCEPT my journal. The spare bed that belongs to our landlord was soaked, but the bed we sleep on was dry. Sure glad we don't have carpet.

Last night after a super busy day with the missionaries we were able to eat a romantic dinner – cheese, crackers and apple slices, by candlelight, even watched a movie on the compute using the batteries. Oh yes, the electricity did finally come back on about the end of supper. Glad I bought cheese and apples in the capitol!

There was no ground beef available in the market, but I still had three pounds saved in the freezer so the spaghetti for the Elders was a big hit. Food storage is always important!

After being almost convinced that we had conquered the bugs I reached in my bag yesterday morning to bring out the present we were taking to Rosie for her One Year birthday, pulling it out, there was a huge spider on it! I jumped. Last night though as we were in the front room having scripture study Elder Spradlin noticed a few bugs on the wall near the ceiling, next to the front door. Went for the bug spray and sprayed them. This morning we discovered more than a hundred dead and dying wasps and bugs on the floor inside and outside the front door. Apparently he hit an unseen nest. Sure glad he did!

We are still laughing at the challenges, grateful for the adventure. Blessed to be Here, Now and feeling the protection and guidance of our loving Heavenly Father.

Back in Guatemala

I think sometimes time acts like an accordion, it expands and shrinks with each moment. It seemed like such a short and long time at the same time while we were gone. It feels like we have been gone forever, but only a moment. We flew in overnight from the states, something I will never advise to other people! We were very grateful for one of the Senior couples in the capitol who rescued us at the airport and let us stay with them to shop, sleep and visit! We would definitely not have been able to drive back out here without that interlude. We are grateful to be back at work, checking on families, filling out future missionary paperwork, helping prepare for District conference. We are having a battle with the bugs though at the moment, I hope they are NOT enjoying it as much as I am! That part is not fun, but the trade off of being here is amazing. One of the best parts today was when two of our sweet neighborhood girls showed up and went to market with me this morning and then helped bake a cake. It is so much fun to play with them. While we were at the market we checked on Rosie and she had on her glasses, sitting up by herself, playing with her toys and even stood up for a few minutes for me!

Now I need to unpack and get things cleaned and back in order. Our landlady had come in while we were gone and cleaned the pila, and the back room because she didn't want it to be dirty when we got back home. They have open windows and due to the rain and wind had had debris blow in. We are well cared for by our wonderful members.    

Family

My debate this morning was the name, because the thought "running children and hot running water, two of the things I am enjoying tons here on our trip home!"  Looking out from the condo window this morning at the snow here on the mountains in Salt Lake and enjoying my few minutes before everyone starts waking up and our day begins.  We have had so much fun being with children and grandchildren!   Being at our son's sealing in the Memphis Temple with his family was priceless, because Family and being together is what this is all about.  Then we got to attend and participate in our grandson's baptism and were so grateful for his parents loving and teaching him and his sister. Then playing in the Zoo with all those amazing people!  We were even able to visit my aunt.
Now we are in Salt Lake City and visiting with more children and grandchildren.  Yesterday we went to an aquarium, the park, swimming for a little, walking some around downtown and today we will see even more of our children who are coming in.
The most wonderful part is not the places we are seeing nor the things we are doing, but the visiting, talking and sharing with these amazing people called "family".  It is wonderful to celebrate with all of them the joys in their lives. One of the hard things though about having adult children is watching their struggles and wishing you could "fix things" for them, make it better, and knowing that you can't.  The adult struggles can't always be fixed with a band-aid and a kiss.  This love I feel for my family is sometimes overwhelming to me, and the pain I feel at their suffering is so hard.  I know our Heavenly Father loves us and knows our struggles,  but the challenges we face help us to learn and grow.  I am sure that  some of the problems I have caused myself have also caused Him great pain.

Waiting at the airport...

This week has been so full!  Monday with an inspiring Zone Conference.  President Martino reminding us that we need to smile more - why else would someone want to hear what we have to share, if it didn't make us so happy!  Sister Watts share the quote, "obedience brings blessings, Strict obedience brings miracles."  Sure want those miracles in our lives!  Our new neighbor sister came up to the house right after we got home on Tuesday, she and her daughter had made me a lovely Mother's Day gift.  It was an apron, little bag and hair band.  I was so surprised and overjoyed with their compassion for us, every time the daughter comes up to see me, or to work on English she brings me flowers, I feel so very blessed.
We made it to the capitol, dropped off a fan on the way down.  Picked up our passports and worked with the office elder's a little on their English.  All the wonderful little things we get to fit into the time here add up to great blessings in our lives.  One of our future missionaries emailed us his letter of acceptance for his upcoming mission in the Dominican Republic, 2 of our futures paperwork just made it to Salt Lake City.  We have others already on our list to work with in finishing when we get back from stateside, helps us remember we have work here to do.
So we are now at the airport, safe and sound with a few minutes before boarding.  Such excitement to think that tomorrow we will be in Memphis to witness our son, his wife and their beautiful little one's sealing in the temple.  Getting to meet their little one for the first time!  Sunday a grandson's baptism in Arkansas, then get together's with children and grandchildren in Arkansas, seeing my Aunt. Meeting our two grandsons who have been born while we have been here.  Then off to Utah to see other children and grandchildren and be with our daughter for her wedding.  I am so grateful for our children and the time we will have to share with them.  My 5am time for writing may end up being spent with grandchildren, something that only brings more joy!

Peten and Happy Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day in Guatemala, which means that starting about 3am there were fireworks and people on trucks with sound systems driving around to wish all Mothers a Happy Day. So glad I have no babies at home here, as soon as it would get quiet, they would come back again. The birds are now in concert also, much more enjoyable.

We went to Peten this past week and did all of our Inspections there and had our interviews with the Elders working on their English. We are making sure all of their apartments have a picture of the Savior and a Temple in them, plus of course the normal things. We helped a couple sets of Elders get some fans. In one apartment I set down on a bed, oh my! We went and got that apartment some new beds. Trying to help the Elders get excited about English in the interviews, but brings up other topics – like Obedience, and loving your companion. We also try to give out tips on how to study, and how to prepare for their English Exam. On Tuesday we were with President and Sister Watts during the interviews so that is always a highlight. Finished the trip back down a different direction as we went through La Libertad and Sayaxche, Chisec and Coban. It amazes us sometimes how different the landscape is in the different areas.

We took a short break and stopped at a place called El Ceibal outside of Sayaxche, it has some ruins, but mainly just beautiful trails through jungle. The howler monkeys were in abundance, and very loud! Must have been several families of them. Last stop on the way home was in La Tinta where we helped a Dad write his daughter who just began her mission, an email – then we set him up an email account and showed him how he can write him herself if he goes to an internet cafe. We also stopped by and saw another young sister there who is preparing for her mission. She was so excited as she told us that she has just earned her Young Women's Medallion and wants us to be there when she receives it.

We will only be home today (Friday) to get things cleaned and in order so we can head back up to Peten on Saturday to help the Elders prepare for Zone Conference on Monday. We are so excited because Pres. Martino, our Area President will be presiding at the conference, he is going through the whole mission for the Zone Conferences this week. Tuesday morning early we will head back again to Senahu and finish packing to head Stateside for ten days to attend a baptism, sealing and a wedding.

We also get to pick up some more pictures of temples and the Savior, plus some ties and shirts for the Brethren that our amazing members in the states are sending back with us. Glad we are so busy here, but very excited to see all of our children and grandchildren!

Important side note – the Elders called and told us the baby (5 or 6 months old now) in Santo Domingo is now up to 8 pounds! Slow but sure progress.

whirlwind week

Love busy weeks!  We got to work Monday and Tuesday with a Medical group in from the states.  They did surgeries from morning until night 3 days in a row here.  Amazing to watch their dedication and the lives touched.  Wednesday we were off to Coban and worked with our Elders there doing interviews for English, handing out antibiotic ointment to carry in their backpacks, and pictures of the Savior and Temples for the walls of their apartments.  One of our current goals is to get a picture of the Savior and of a Temple in each missionary apartment throughout the mission.  Members from stateside have sent down old calendars that we are able to take the pictures from and they go great on the walls!  It has been a whirlwind through the valley doing all of the zones interviews.  Yesterday morning early before we left we had a surprise visit from one of our new neighbors, she brought us a plant and a Mayan calendar to welcome us!  I was super touched by her sweetness.
Tomorrow we get to go to the Chapel dedication in Coral Pek, another one of our very remote areas, one we can´t get to in our RAV 4, road is too rough.  Choir practice in the afternoon, then working on English with one of our new neighbor familys.  Monday morning early we leave for the Poptun and Peten areas to do housing inspections and English.  We will be coming back through an area we have not visited yet, called Chisec.  Hoping it will soon be opened up for missionaries, some members living there are asking for us to come, so we will visit them and take some Book of Mormons.
A few challenges in our new home, mosquitoes!  We now have a mosquito net over our bed from our landlord, but need to buy a bigger one while we are out this week.  Not sure if they are really mosquitoes, as they are very small.  Normally I am the one that has always been eaten by bugs, but they are mainly attacking Elder Spradlin and making life a lot less than comfortable.  We also only have gotten water a few times for a couple of hours each time since moving in ' usually between 3 and 6 am.  They are putting us in a water tank outside, so as soon as that is installed it should fix the problem.  It made Coban really nice because we had hot showers!

Symphony in our New Home

We moved yesterday, to a house about 20 minutes south, that is walking distance, from where we were living.  It is a bigger home and much more private, and painted lime green outside, lime green with inside too, with some of the rooms a melon or pumpkin.  The family that is renting it to us left some of the furniture, so we have a spare bedroom with a bed in it, our office where we also put some of what was our front room furniture, a large living room with lovely furniture, and a large dining area. There is a separate room for the washer and dryer, and  the pila.  They left their dining room table for us - it seats 8, so that with the small one we have will be enough to seat all of our missionaries when they come to eat with us.  Since 8 of the elders showed up to help us move yesterday, I told them I would be fixing all of them dinner as soon as we can get set up, and have a free time on a Monday!  I did make sure that my cookie jars were full before the move - so they could be empty when we finished the moving.  Two sisters also helped us and had my kitchen unpacked for me before we even had everything unloaded.  They are coming next Saturday and we shall bake something sweet together.
  The house seemed quite quiet yesterday after everyone left, but this morning at 5am I awoke to a symphony of bird calls and songs occasionally punctuated by a rooster crow.  It was still quite hazy out, with just the trees and plants surrounding the house and the song of birds.  To top it off one little bird even came and sat outside the window and sang for me. It is now 6:30 and they have all begun to go off to their days work and the symphony is gradually calming, but with calls still coming from each direction.  In back of the house are two banana plants, on one side are two pineapple growing, on the other side we look out to see where our neighbors have ducks and lemon trees, and some other trees yet to be identified.  In front of the house is a variety of plants lining the drive, but then the staple of the world here, corn, grows on both sides of our path up to the house.
The family we are renting from are very dear, their daughter has always called us Abuelita and Abuelito, (grandma and grandpa)  she is now about 4 or 5 years old. She was very excited that we are living in "her house,"  but also very curious as she saw it changed to our things. We have a lot of fun with her and when her grandparents are around we always say, "oh my how lucky you are to have so many grandparents!"    The grandparents are also very special, her grandfather was the first person baptized here in the Senahu area, 35 years ago.
We went and did the housing inspection in the areas up the mountain this past week and it was quite an adventure.  We are certain that the most  remote area we have missionaries placed right now is Chijolom.  So glad we went before rainy season hit, because our car will probably not make it once the rain hits the roads.  Several times Elder Spradlin had to stop, get out and figure out where to drive in front of us in order not to get stuck.  He is a great driver, and I am grateful! Our next trip will definitely have to be in a truck. Once we drove as far as we could we had just a short walk to the church, about another 20-30 minutes on trails.  Our missionaries live in a small room off of the church, with a faucet outside for washing their dishes, a shower and what we would call in the states an outhouse.  The impressive part was how neat and orderly they had organized their things, and how overall clean they were keeping their apartment.  We made a list of a few things that could help them be a little more comfortable and will make those purchases in the market today for them since they have limited time down here on Mondays and Market day isn't till Tuesday.  There definitely isn't availability for the shopping in Chijolom.  I'm grateful for meeting so many valiant Elders, willing and joyful to serve wherever the Lord calls them to go.

thankful

Tonight our youngest daughter is being set apart to begin her mission in Uruguay.  We get to join in that occasion through Skype.  I am so gratefu,l and also very grateful to the many people who have supported and nurtured her.  I think some of my wonderful sisters there have done a better job than I might have in helping her prepare to enter the Mission field!
I am grateful that we found a different house to move to this Friday!  It is a little bigger, more private, and very pretty.  We also have 8 elders close who have volunteered to help us move.  I have volunteered the Brownies!
I am grateful for the humor in our days!  Yesterday we looked back over the day and remembered how many times we had laughed or smiled at the incongruencies we saw around us.
Heading out of Senahu we saw three of the Senahu Police force walking back into town.  The motor on their vehicle blew a few months ago, so they are all on foot.  No chasing people by car for sure!
Between Teleman and Panzos, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the dirt road was a man selling Cotton Candy - even funnier was a car stopped that was buying it from him!
Coming back home through Teleman we saw a drunk directing traffic, and doing a very good job!
We had a romantic candlelight dinner because luckily I had just finished fixing supper before the electricity went off.
Don't forget to smile!  So yes, very thankful for Smiles!

Elements of a GREAT Day!

I challenged one of our Spanish speaking elders who is working hard on his English to write a talk in English. He called us and we went and listened to him give it to us Friday morning, and he did a great job.  We sang a hymn together, had a prayer and he then talked about the relationship between commandments, covenants and ordinances.  I felt blessed by his sweet spirit and strong testimony.  I also found out later that I don't pronounce the word covenant correctly! 

 On the way home we went by to check on Rosie and her mom was running a fever, it was also very hot this week, so we gave her some Ibuprofen and ran home to get the thermometer, some ice water and cloths to bathe her and bring her temp down.  It was so funny when we put Rosie's little hand or foot in the water how she would react!   Mom is now doing much better and seems all well today.

 We went and saw our little boys up the hill, still studying and going to school but the older one is really struggling to learn.  Pretty sure there may be a learning disability, but of course no resources here.  The grandmother was sick, not feeling well, she has been fighting a bad cough for months.  We took them some cold mangos though from the fridge, it was a hot day!  Later in the evening we went down and visited our girls in Seamay, the 12 year old is now in school (hooray!!!)  and we looked at their school work. Elder Spradlin tried showing them how to put together a 100 piece puzzle, they did well with the 24 piece the other week, but this one was a little much. 

Carol from La Tinta finally got into the MTC in Guatemala City this past Wednesday!  We are so thrilled for her, it has been a very long process.  She had started her paperwork before we ever got here, and had lots of glitches, challenges and problems to finally start.  She was called to Argentina, but right now they are not clearing Visas, so where she will finally serve is still unknown.  

Today we got to take a set of Elders up with us to Santo Domingo where they are working this weekend.  We then visited with the Branch President's wife (she is also the Relief Society President) in her home.  We needed her to go with us to another sister's home to check on her baby, but first she said she had to finish her work - so we had the fun of helping!  Shelling corn, folding clothes, sweeping floors, amazing how much fun work can be when doing it to help others.  We then went and visited our little malnourished one and weigh her.  Again someone from the US has stepped in to help provide for her food so she can grow and we got to be a part of their miracle.  We are so very, very blessed! 

the process

We are in Morales helping with a Dental Clinic this week. Morales is about 3 hours from where we live, and very hot! It is so much fun though getting to be with the Senior Missionaries and working with them. We have also been able to work with some of our future missionaries with their Dental checkups and checking their missionary files. I contemplated on one of our sisters who came to the clinic today and the process she is undergoing to become a missionary, it is quite a journey. She is a convert from Canlun, a very small branch, and will be the first sister missionary to leave from the Branch. She is one of our future missionaries who has a different type of challenge – learning Spanish since her native language is Q'eqchi'. We had District Conference in her District last weekend and she along with several others had their interviews with President Watts. During the Sunday meetings three of our missionaries who have received their calls bore their testimonies. Sometimes this process of going on a mission gets very complicated, because after they get everything done for getting their call, when their call comes in they have to work toward getting a Visa! We have new calls in right now from the ones we have worked with for Costa Rica, Retelheleu Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Bolivia (three are going to Bolivia!)

We did part of our Housing Inspections and working on English with our Elders last week. It is so much fun to visit with our Elders. We love hearing their testimonies and watching them serve.

On the family side – we got our airline tickets reserved finally and will be going home for 10 days in May to see our children, meet 2 new grandbabies, renew our Driver's Licenses and attend a wedding.

Conference and updates!

Conference Weekend was great! The members from up on the mountain came down to watch it on Sunday morning and they used every chair in the building. People watching in the classrooms, the chapel, the hallways, some in Spanish and some in Q'eqchi' We were very happy with the little 13 inch TV they were able to set up for all of us Gringo Missionaries in English! Loved being able to greet and talk to all of our members between the meetings.

Last week a 13 year old young man and his Dad came in from the states to do his Eagle Project. He chose to do a service project in Teleman. The Branch President there has come up with an amazing plan to help his members become more self-sufficient with raising chickens and putting in home gardens. One of the surprises here is how few people know how to do simple gardening and rotation, something that could be an extremely important tool for combating malnutrition. Elder Spradlin and I got to spend part of a day going out with them visiting homes and it was awesome. The thing that probably touched Elder Spradlin most was when we were visiting one of the families, the Branch President asked the 13 year old boy for permission to use some of the money to build walls around the area of the home that only had a roof - the family uses it for kitchen and dining room. The response was an immediate yes. This will double their enclosed living space. Then the Father/Husband turned to the young man and said “what you have done here has changed our lives, Thank-you so much.”

The little 2 month old (now almost 3 months!) from Santo Domingo is still gaining weight and is back home. She has gained up to 7 pounds now, averaging a pound a week. Rosie is getting stronger at sitting up and will reach and grab for toys when we play with her. I took her and her brother and sister to the market with me on Saturday to buy vegetables and had a lovely time with them. Today we went and I worked with Rosie while Elder Spradlin helped her siblings learn how to do a puzzle. We are hoping now that she is doing better with her vision she will begin to catch up developmentally.

response to comment!

This message shows my computer illiteracy!  We had a comment asking us if we had to speak Spanish for our mission.  The answer is that I honestly don't know!  I spoke Spanish before we came, Elder Spradlin began learning Spanish when we got our mission call.  I started learning a little Q'eqchi' when we found out it was spoken here, but I still on speak a very limited amount.  I know that a Senior couple entered the South Guatemala Mission with very limited Spanish and served a wonderful mission.  Love tends to break down even language barriers.

culture crossing

April 1

As far as I know April Fool's Day is not celebrated here. That said when our young girl, who comes once a week to help, was sweeping today she handed me an earring she found on the floor. I told her thanks and put it up, a couple of minutes later she said “oh and here is this one” and handed me a dead cockroach! I jumped and yelped, then we laughed. She thought it was very funny! Some humor definitely crosses borders. Harold sprays the house regularly, so it is not a dead cockroach that puts me on alert – just the kind that still want to walk and run!

Semana Santa finished, the nightly parades are interesting here with their drums and dirges and carrying the statues through the town, stopping to pray and preach along the way. No school for the week, so the children enjoyed their break. One strange law we learned though was that people aren't allowed to cut wood for building and only enough for their own home cooking during that week. We only found out because some of the members saw people arrested for transporting wood!

We did a lot of work by phone last week, checking on each of our Spanish speaking missionaries to see how they are doing with their English and giving reminders to everyone to make sure their apartments are clean. We start our inspections round again this week and that is always a lot of fun to visit with all of our missionaries.   

How one measures

 My day is starting, but it sounds like outside with a riot of noise with various roosters crowing, dogs barking and at least three or four different types of birds welcoming in the day.

Monday morning we had two sets of Elders up and made flour tortillas with beans and rice topped off with jello cake. Two of them had had birthdays in the last week, so it was a lot of fun to celebrate with them.

There have been different groups of Americans in in the last few weeks doing humanitarian projects so we have had a great time visiting with them. One group helped a Branch Elder's quorum build furniture for their elderly, and helped a school further up the mountains build tables and benches for their classrooms. The difficult line here for service is to help the people grow, but help them become self-sufficient, not dependent on outside aide. The Church is currently working on a chicken-egg production program and home gardens with several members. The main key is going to be education and time, both things that we obviously have no control over!

We went and visited our little two month old in the hospital and found out that she had gained a pound in the last week. Two months old and her weight is up from 4.12 pounds to now being at six pounds. I think we can call that blessings by the ounce!

We have been visiting one family and encouraging them to put their 12 year old daughter/grandaughter back in school. She has only completed third grade, but the children live with the grandmother and she is kept home to be with Grandma, during the mornings while her older brother and younger sister are sent to school. Many of the people here do not realize or place any importance on education, and even more so for girls. Last night though when we went to see them the young girl told us she will be starting back to school next week after Easter Break! We will take her some school supplies on Saturday to help encourage them to follow through.

Sunday we went to Chulac District to the Sajunte Branch, on the way back down we saw that there were still members outside the Buena Vista building so we stopped to visit with them. They have an Elder in Honduras on his mission and we have been trying to help them communicate with him by email, since they have no internet or computers where they live. Hopefully going to help their District President set up email with the Missionaries serving from the District. It was so much fun to take the computer in and type up their messages to him, then we took pictures and I emailed it all to him so he will have a message from home.

We had a double Zone Conference last week for the missionaries from the Polochic and Senahu Zones. It is always a joy to get to be with all of the missionaries and President and Sister Watts. Plus Sister Watts always puts together amazing food for the Zone conferences!

My Brother-in-Law has asked for prices here, so here is some of our shopping. We are very blessed in that when we do our trips out of the valley to Coban, Peten or the capitol we can stock up on nonperishable items like soap, rice, beans, flour and sugar. Those things all cost a little more here because almost everything is transported in.  Plus things like peanut butter just aren't available here!

On the market it depends a lot on what is in season or available, some weeks you can't find different things, and sometimes you can. Tomatoes, Cilanotro, Onions, Potatoes, Hot peppers are always available. The prices fluctuate some between venders. So here are some average prices.

Mangos – 13 cents each. Bananas, average size – 3 for 13 cents. Small 6 for 13 cents.

Small Roma tomatos – 39 cents a pound. Cucumbers (when available) 26 cents each.

Eggs, 13 to 18 cents each. Rice – 52 cents a pound.

Avocadoes 13 cents each. Cilantro 13 cents a bunch.

Frozen Chicken I can get for about a dollar a pound. I don't feel safe buying the fresh killed chicken off of the market, nor do we really want to buy it and kill and clean it ourselves!

Ground Beef -this is something most people here don't buy, but the butcher makes it up for me out of the leanest part, NO FAT - 20 q a pound, about three dollars. He also sells every other part of the cow imaginable for lower prices. The beef here is extremely tough, so it takes a lot of effort to tenderize. 

We have a local woman who comes by our house every week and sells us fresh ground cocoa and chili for 1 quetzal (13 cents) an ounce that she makes.

So since today is market day I am off for my tomatoes and cilantro!