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!!! 

Car! Electricity! and Waterfalls!

We feel so very blessed!  We got our vehicle last Thursday, a Toyota RAV4.  Sunday we were able to go visit a branch called Canlun which is down the mountain and across the river.  We had wanted to visit them previously, but there was no transport connections for Sunday.  On the way back we were able to stop and work in Telemann with the Branch Primary President there, and still make it back up the mountain by 3:30 in the afternoon.  To top off the miracles this morning our 220 Electricity was finally finished so now we can use our stove, and when the rain gets too bad, especially during rainy season, we will still be able to get our laundry done and get our work done also.  Now the important thing will be making sure that we organize and use our time and resources well so we can better serve here in the Polochic.  We did take a Pday break this morning and go with two Elders up the mountain, that way we could check the driving out better and also got to stop and picnic at a beautiful small waterfall.  Had plans to go up to a bigger one, but the road was just too bad for us to feel safe in passing.  Turning around was probably a very wise decision on Elder Spradlin´s part!  Honestly didn`t mind not getting to do our travels in Truckbed and micro! 
Saturday the Elders up here in Senahu and Seamay had 7 baptisms and one marriage.  It made for a very eventful day.  We are very excited looking forward to hearing General Conference this weekend.

amazing days! and Electric Skillet cake recipes!

Members from Gordon Hamms group left toy cars, necklaces and beads with us that they didnt get to give out, so yesterday we hiked back in to two homes in Seamay, not real far in distance, but in reality check -yes!  Gave the children cars and a doll and necklaces.  They were thrilled.  These two famlies appear so very happy, in their very small pole huts with tin roofs.  One family has 5 children in a two room hut - their washing area is outside.  The other family with 8 children live in about a 12x18 building with a washing area outside.  Happy, welcoming and loving.  Makes it very evident we get our priorities mixed up!  We stopped on the way back down and made necklaces with a family using the beads and ribbons we were left.  This morning we located more ribbons and visited a family to play after we taught at the school.  Love the people here andthe joy and love they share with us.  Tonight though I am very excited because I just found an electric skillet cake recipe!  Watch out next for the brownies!  Yesterday I had started filling the wash machine with water from the pila - by hand- because it is faster - had the clothes in, turned on the machine and the electricity was out!!!  By the time the electricty came on last night, the water was off!  Have to get the timing down a little bit better.