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.