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.