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!
