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.