My husband the Honky!

WE had to drive to Coban this week to have our wonderful new vehicle inspected.  For those of you that don´t know the road it is quite rough, and very crooked in many places so.... before entering any corners you have to honk, because you cant see around the curve, it is usually around a rock outcropping.  Elder Spradlin makes a very good honky!  WE were able to work in Canlun with the Elders there today visiting members. It is a very different type village than here in Senahu and also very very hot!  We were grateful that there was a wonderful breeze most of the day, that and the fact that I used my umbrella for a parasol helped a great deal.  One family we stopped to see because several of their children came out and started calling out asking us our names...I figured that was an open invitation to visit the family!  The parents welcomed us in and we had a prayer, a hymn, a short message and the Elders were able to set up an appointment for a return visit.  It was a great day!  Sunday we get to work in Panzos with the Zone Leaders and tomorrow will be working in Seamay with the District President part of the day, then meeting with one of the Young Women´s Presidents there to help her with the YW personal Progress program.  Just making this report to make sure everyone knows that we do work some of the time, although the work is such a great joy.  I finally got D&C 4 memorized in Qéqchi´, so am very excited.  I even understand quite a bit of it, although there is a long way towards true communication in Qéqchi´´. The people here are very patient with my language inability.  I love it when I try talking and they figure out what I am trying to say - so they just say it for me in Qéqchi.  Means they are listeningª!!!

Semana Santa

Easter Week is a little different here.  No school.  Many outings by groups and families.  We were able to go to the river with one of our branches and had an amazing time.  Another Branch celebrated April 6th, the restoration of the gospel, by having a meeting to recommitmit and make goals for living the Gospel and attending the temple - followed by lunch  Thursday night we went out about 10:30 to watch them doing the street art, very fine wood like sand that had been dyed, then they used templates and freehanded artwork around the park in front of the catholic church.  By Saturday morning they were all gone.  Processionals every day by the different catholic churches, and everyone who could headed down to swim at the river, because it was hot!!!  When we went down with the Branch it was about 2 hours on the back of a truck.  Okay, took too long putting up my pictures and so now the Elders are here wanting to use the computers.  Easter was great, went and spent the day with our sister missionaries in El Estor and had a wonderful lunch with them, then went out to visit an elderly sister who had fallen, and an inactive family that live close to her.  We have been making necklaces for children as we walk through neighborhoods and visit families.  Have lost count, and keep having to go back to buy more ribbon! 

Preparing for Holy Week

In Preparation for Holy Week our town has been hard at work.  Many people painting the fronts of their houses, or sidewalks, or fronts of sidewalks.  A lot of white paint going up.  Since the beginning of Lent every Friday evening was the processional up the town.  Yesterday though they started repairing the roads.  Where they had caved in during the year they took out the stones and today filled up the road with concrete.  Glad we didnt have to go anywhere.  We have been told that on Good Friday they will put out a carpet of either Sand drawings or flowers on the street where the processional will pass that night.  It goes right in front of our house, so should be fun to watch.  No school next week for the kids and our landlord said a lot of people go to the rivers to picnic and swim.  We drove down to Telemann yesterday and gassed up the car there, found out it isn´t much cheeper than here on the mountain, plus neither one except our credit card.  At least the gas station up here said they will accept our Guatemalan check.  Gas is very high here in the Polochic, ´40 q (I think that figures out to be about $5. a gallon) yesterday!  so dont really want to carry enough cash with us for gassing up.  We are looking forward to General Conference this weekend.  I was on the sick side yesterday, so we have been in and got a lot of studying done.  Working on that Qéqchi´ and Spanish!!!