Last Blog, summary

It is January 2010 and we are home. Being with our children and grandchildren is heaven on earth. This is the last blog for my journal, but it wouldn't be complete unless I added the activities of the last three weeks of December and the first week of January. This journal entry will conclude our account of our wonderful experience in Central America/Guatemala.

On December 16, 2009, we waited with great anticipation for our grandchildren to arrive at the Guatemala Airport. We will never forget the sight of them pushing their way through the glass doors into the walkway. They are so beautiful and good and they were the only thing we could see through our tears. Suddenly, the rest of the crowd disappeared.

They arrived on Saturday and we spent that night briefly going through the activities for the next few weeks. They came with a purpose which was to engage in meaningful service projects throughout the Guatemala City area. They did this and much more. We began Sunday with two church services. Jaime helped me play for a ward choir in another chapel. This was a Christmas concert and it was comforting for me to be the page turner. Jaime just took charge much to my relief. After our own church meeting we ran home for dinner just long enough to get little sacks full of gifts they had made the day before. We went to a hospital in Zone 1. It was so basic and needy and the many children were given gifts, the girls sang to them and Jaime and Maddie accompanied with our little traveling techlado. We have carried this with us throughout Guatemala the last 18 months and its odometer would read something like a thousand miles...if it had one.

That evening, on the way home from the hospital, we drove across the city to a fairly rough zone to visit Gert Karnischitsky. He has a little house down in a gully, but he has made this tiny house comfortable with his skill in planning and creating. He is from Austria, Czeck, Holland...a gracious and distinguised gentleman, etc....and the girls were fascinated by his stories. They sang to him, we brought treats and had a little Feliz Navidad Program.

Monday morning (December 21) was spent making cookies, planning and working on orphanage gifts, shopping. We spent the afternoon in Antigua where the girls had a wild time shopping, visiting and taking millions of picturs. Jessie is so talented and her photos are posted on her facebook. We gave up taking pictures as Jessie could do it so much better. Her record of Antigua is wonderful.

Tuesday and Wednesday (22 and 23) were the only real play days for Lindsey, Jess, Jaime and Maddie as we had programmed every other day of their two week stay with service projects.
We visited Quiriqua (spelling), my favorite archeological site as it seems to be "the library" of Mayan history with its enormous stelae, and late in the afternoon got to our destination in Rio Dulce. We stayed in Banana Palms that night. During our mission we have found that the game of Dominoes is actually a real game. All this time we thought it was only created to drop from the shelf onto the floor of the utility room so one could make tunnels and highways. What do you know? We played a lengthy game of Dominoes with the girls winning every game.

The next day we took the boat trip down Lake Isabell, visited a little Caribbean town and went further into the ocean and banked in a cove, hiked a trail called "Seven Alters" which are a series of limestone pools that wend their way into the jungle.

On the 24th, Christmas Eve day, we finished our projects for the orphanage, met all the senior missionaries in the building, had our little program and hung socks on the bookcase. The girls made tons of cookies while dad and I gave a lectures and shots in the CCM. We went to the hospital with the Robertson family and had pizza that night with this remarkable family who had girls almost the same ages as ours. At 11:00 p.m. we went to a small buffet with our wonderful friends, President and Hna. Torres who live in a 15 story apartment building. At midnight the fun begins as the whole city lights up with fantastic fireworks. We went up onto the roof and spent the next hour trying to decide which direction to look. Close to the building the fireworks were huge. The full moon was in the Western sky and it was difficult to decide which to look at as both the fireworks and moon were bright. I have a few pictures with the moon and the fireworks together. One gets the vastness of the city as we look as far towards the volcanoes and hills as possible as the fireworks diminish in size with distance.

The next morning (25) we had a scone breakfast as the Graffs and we, the girls and many other senior missionaries walked around the corner and found ourselves in a different world. Kim and I had been working with the orphanage for months and we spent many hours in the next three days working with these children. Between 70 and 130 children under age 5 are in this building. They have a little food, mismatched shoes, bare mattresses...but the children do have a roof over their head, someone to change diapers, and keep them on a schedule. Imagine taking care of 130 children, 20 tiny babies, 24/7. The staff is stretched, but wonderful. No one has time to hold or sing to these children, so on Christmas Day we took hours in the afternoon to do some little programs and then just hold and play with the children. The girls were incredibly loving and helpful. That evening we had a fireside for the missionaries in the CCM The girls sang and played the piano.

Saturday (26th) was also spent in the orphanage, later in a hospital. We had a moment to shop in Central Market, visit the topo map, and drive through parts of Guatemala. The girls spent time in the Guatemala Temple doing baptisms and confirmations...about 95 of them.

Sunday..(27) .again church...donate a techlado for Hna. Silva and host a dinner in our tiny apartment for the missionaries, the Marroquins and the Astorgas. We had dinner, sang Christmas Carols until it was time to take these wonderful families back to El Fiscal where we go to church.

Monday (28) the girls spent many hours in the orphanage once again, visited hospitals, distributed blankets and church baby kits. I believe this was Roosevelt Hospital.

Tuesday, (29). the girls visited a hospital with the Robertsons to play and work with children. I had planned a night of music for our ward that evening so I spent the day preparing for that and wringing my hands. Our good friends, the Blackburns, went with us to be Santa Clause. The Robertson family came to support us, as well. We were undecorating the Chrismas tree and Santa came by to tell everyone how much he had enjoyed his Guatemalan vacation. We knew from past experience that maybe no one would come. To our surprise the chapel was filled from wall to wall and side to side. We had planned this night as a gift to our little town, elFiscal. The missionaries had taken fliers around the town and people actually came. Every person in our branch attended that night plus family members who were inactive. We had 15 non-members and their children, many less actives plus our own branch members. We had planned refreshments and the branch president took charge which was a miracle in itself. This was the crowning activity in our beloved branch and many knew it was our last time to be in church. They loved us, helped us, were patient with us these last 18 months and everyone gave us hugs and very kind words. We will never, ever forget our little El
Fiscal Branch and its wonderful people. It is difficult to imagine, I know, but try! Two little old people from Sugarhouse spending three hours a week, attending church where a language was spoken that we didn't understand very well, and yet feeling great love and support. People sitting on both sides of us would help us find the correct hymns, point to scriptures we were supposedly reading in Sunday School and Relief Society. There was a great love and bond between the 79 members of our branch and with us. It is difficult to explain, but we felt loved and cared for and, what's more, they allowed us to give to them through music and example.

We had so many other activities: all service oriented, but at noon on Tuesday we piled in our car to head to Lake Atitlan to do an eyeglass clinic. This was to be our last clinic as we had saved 300 glasses to dispense in the little town of San Lucas Atitlan. Jessie helped us measure, Maddie, Jaime and Lindsay helped people select their glasses, clean them and generally encouraged the people who came through. We always work with missionaries and they were wonderful. We speak such little Spanish, but it doesn't matter when the missionaries are there. It doesn't really matter anyway...we did a clinic in the Polochik about a year before and the missionaries had to leave for awhile. We did just fine. I clown around, Dad grabs people to help him measure, and language doesn't really matter.

We stayed in cabins in the jungle that night and walked through the famous gardens of the Hotel Atitlan ( we didn't stay there). The next day the girls did a fabulous zipline through the jungle.

The following days: Birth defect center...most distressing, but the girls were gracious and kind. This was followed by a visit to maternity hospital to distribute baby kits. This is a hospital for the indigent as the women knock on the door of the little facility and tell them they are in labor. They stay in the hospital long enough to have their baby delivered and rest for a few hours before they have to leave.

In between all these activities with the girls we were trying to finish our mission duties. Our friends, the other Senior Missionaries, were so kind and supportive. Never before in our lives and probably never again, will we find such a compatible group. We all had diverse assignments in the Area, and yet we were united in every thing we did. We helped one another, we supported one another...and the many things we had to do that last month were assisted by our good and dear friends. They welcomed and loved our granddaughters. They provided many material things we were able to give away those two weeks. In every way they extended love and service to us. How can we even begin to describe the love we feel for each of them. These people are/were great souls, multi-talented and gracious and generous in their love for us, for each other and for Central America.

We dropped the girls at the airport on Saturday at noon and drove home long enough to clean, sort and organize the office, do carpetas and then go back to the airport to pick up the new AMA. They would be staying with us for the next five days while we trained these wonderful people. Instant friends and kindred spirits were these two dedicated people.

We left on Thursday morning to come home to our family. We saw Charlie and Tim first and as we left the airport surrounded by our wonderful family we could only say a quiet prayer of thanks for the last 18 months. We love our Lord and Savior, we know Central America is a unique and dedicated land. We have love and admiration for the mission presidents, the missionaries, the members, and the people in general. Where in the world, except here in Guatemala would every person getting on or off an elevator say, with genuine feeling, "Buenos Dias? Tardes! or Noches!"? Meeting anyone at the grocery store, at a door, a restaurant, the men who took such great care of us in our office and apartment building always resulted in a genuine smile. This greeting was something we will never forget. A smile always got a smile back in return!!! We loved Guatemala, we loved Central America. Our dear mission president friends...will always be our friends. In this last post we thank everyone with all our hearts.

Christmas in Guatemala

Kim and Carolyn with a friend during the Christmas Devotional the other day. The spiritual talks and the quiet part of the meeting was over when lunch was announced. We went into the church parking lot for a steak, turkey, sausage meal... a meal that went on and on and was incredible. Then the fun began....Karaoke!
Did I spell that word correctly??? We thought they were joking when they asked us to participate. We declined, but the rest of the devotional was dedicated to K. and at the end of the party...huge pinatas. We were amazed at the fabulous voices from our Area office singing songs from Madonna, Elvis Presley and Verdi. Then, after 2 hours everyone got up...Area President included..to hit the pinatas. There were 8i huge pinatas and men in suits and ties, women in beautiful clothes were given bags to put their candy in. It was a made scramble and we were right in there with the rest.

Our good friend, Carlos Rabenales, at one of his piano recitals. They are on their way to the U.S. for Christmas and we may never see them again. We have been a part of this family for 18 months. His granddaughter is having a birthday tomorrow in a little town called Boca Monte.

Especially For Youth....same enthusiasm no matter where on might be in this beautiful earth. See those little cities...we are getting 20 of these complete with little cars to donate to the places the girls are going. On that note, we are so eager to see and work with Jessie, Jaime, Maddie and Lindsay. They will be doing great things to help in various places in and above Guatemala City (Lake Atitlan where they will be doing our last reading glass clinic. Now we will have witnesses as to the great work you have all done in sending glasses to us.

We home teach this wonderful couple and here we are doing our home teaching. In November we were taking turns recalling things we are thankful for in church service. We made a funny little turkey out of feathers and styrofoam balls as we were stating our blessings. It was the silliest activity, but it was fun. Like our grand-children, they put up with our goofiest ideas.

The three beautiful young women on the left and middle, Nahomy, Mauritza and Alma, are either our grand-daughters or our "Moms". They work in the Area Office with us and take such good care of us.

You will see two volcanoes on this blog. One is in El Salvador and one in Nicaragua (this one was in El Salvador). These are only two of the many throughout CA. The isthmus is a site of great geo-thermal energy and sometimes it seems as though those shocks strong enough to form mountains andvolcanoes still hover in the air. We are walking on great magma pools that are at rest for the moment underneath the surface that somehow, just seem to be waiting to pounce. We have experienced a few earthquakes. We keep our shoes handy at all times.

Three weeks ago these little houses on the edge of this river in El Salvador in San Vincente were sites of peaceful family life. Some of these people were members of the church. It rained very hard for a few days and like a flash flood in the deserts of the West, water collected and rolled down a nearby volcanoe, raising the water level 80 feet. The surge wiped out everything along the river. The highways were many scores above the river still had huge boulders and debris from the volcano along the length of the road beneath the volcano. We took many humanitarian goods to help these people, as did many countries in the world.

Carolyn and two friends! They became delightful friends that day. We gave them a Book of Mormon and shared the Plan of Salvation with them. and they loved being with the Dental Brigade and with us. They took such good care of us for the four days we were there helping in the Brigade. They stopped all traffic on a busy highway just so I could take pictures of the El Salvador temple just being built.

The dental brigade was a magnificent gift to Central America. There is no telling how many people have been blessed by these dental donations from the U.S

Here is a volcano from Nicaragua. We have been in Nicaragua and in El Salvador, both, the past month. This past month and a half has been a wonderful adventure as we have worked for four days with an Apostle of the Lord, as he instructed us, plus zone conferences and dental brigades. How could TLOPS (two little old people from Sugarhous) have the experiences we are having.

President Don Clarke and his wife and Niel Anderson and his wife are great leaders. They are passionate witnesses of Jesus Christ.

Here we are in a golf cadillac at the seminar during a few moments of fresh air. The seminar, though, was even more glorious than the landscape.

We are coming home on January 7th and we feel such joy to be able to see, hug and talk with our family members and friends. We will do one more blog when we get home as a record of our 18 months in Central America. To be able to post photos and text of the work Jess, Jaime, Maddie and Lindsay are doing will be our last blog. This blog has been our journal, our "Large Plates" with bits and pieces about Central America. We will share the "Small Plates" when we get home. As with Nephi, one set of plates records the happenings on the outside of our very interesting and beautiful land, but the "Small Plates" is the record we will cherish forever.

We love all of you! The Christmas season in Guatemala is one of fireworks. We go to bed with fireworks and are often awakened by strings of firecrackers. This is the way one's birthday is announced and the days celebration is begun. We love the sound of fireworks and can't wait for the girls to see the Christmas Eve fireworks which begin exactly at midnight. We will be observing the sight from a 10th floor apartment. What a way to end our mission!!!!

Waiting for Dinner

We are sitting in a lovely hotel in San Salvador waiting for dinner. We've been driving all day and our only sustenancee was two Mrs. Field's most wonderful chocolate chip cookies. I'm not complaining, mind you, but some veggies would be nice at this point. Preston and Vaugna King and Kim are giving instruction to the dentists and doctors who are here to do a major dental brigade for pre-missionaries. Prior to the clinic opening in the morning, everyone needs to be taught how to make use of the new on-line system. There is no way to explain what happens in a brigade. David Sheets, the director of this massive humanitarian method around South and Central America, has been doing this for many years. Many thousands of missionaries are able to serve because of brigades like this one.

Just a brief explanation of what these brigades are will hopefully paint a picture of people from around the globe who donate, over and over, incredible ways of providing dental care. Just now, as we drove into the hotel, there were two doctors in the lobby. One, a Dr. Prince told us this is his 7th brigade. Another man, whose name I did not get, told us that this was his first one. He was from Atlanta, Georgia.

These men take their office - literally - from their place in various cities. Chairs and all are unscrewed from the floors and packed into trucks to be airlifted into places in Central America. When they get to the area where the brigade is stationed, the chairs are recovered and placed in a chapel, in this case San Salvador. Each station is set up as a complete dental office. The gyms hold 20 mini-offices. There are labs, X-ray areas, orthodontics, surgery set up in classrooms and on stages. Teeth are extracted, cleaned, cavities filled, jaws restructured, and on and on. For 10 days these dentists and technicians and doctors who give all the physical and medical exams will work from early morning until late at night. This brigade, which begins in the morning, will be our third opportunity to experience the bee-hive of miracles in the making.

The last brigade served 930 young men and women. This brigade has over 500 pre-missionaries signed up. Buses will come from all over El Salvador, most having driven all night, and deposit young men and women from every corner of this beautiful country. Their work begins as they step off the bus. Hair cuts, mission photos, used clothes....are just a few of the service given during these days.

Many of these dentists, doctors, technicians, and the families of these people who serve from all over the US use this time as their vacations. This is a great expense for these people and yet many have been doing this service for 20 years. Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala are countries who have been sites multiple times for these brigades. I'm so grateful I have a chance to rub shoulders, even just for a few days, with great people such as these.

Photos for the prior post

Here are a few photos of the evolution of the dental clinic.

Good friends...as all the Senior Missionaries have been. This is Neil Anderson in the red shirt. He lives across the hall from the us. These people are adventures waiting to happen.

The Bawdens the day before they left to go home. Still waiting for the chairs.

This is an orphanage for girls. They love the Bawdens and the Alberts who have spent many hours building this clinic.



Nahomi with two phones at her ears at the same time has a smile for everyone.
This is a country of smiles and laughter.

Babies are always carried in a sling on mom's back.

The dental clinic is finished except for the chairs which are in customs limbo somewhere.

Two amigos from our branch. They are our right arms...and our left. The branch is so good to us. We are left alone, now that the Bawdens are gone. And yet, today, everyone looked after us. We love these people. The dental clinic at the beginning. This was a garbage area and yet the Bawdens had the vision to see what could be done.

Diana, in the yellow, will go to Puerto Rico for her mission this week. Francisco and Hayley will be married next month. See those smiles?

Halloween - then....Feliz Navidad

Photos are coming in next post.

Happy Halloween! Today is the "Day of the Dead", a lovely family holiday in Guatemala. It is not celebrated the same in Guatemala as it is in Mexico. This is a sweet family holiday where people visit cemetaries and lay flowers on the graves of their loved ones. Children and parents, grand-parents, aunts and uncles and cousins get together and have picnics. Special food is prepared and served. In some areas the very large kites are flown. I had many pictures last year, but the kites are flying on Sunday this year so we will not have a chance to watch them go into the air. Kites are everywhere, sold along the highways and typify the connecting of heaven and earth.

We love the laughing and joking in every conversation by those around us. Laughs and jokes and silly comments are part of every day, every minute discussion everywhere. We have learned a whole different kind of humor in Central America. It's sometimes difficult to hear laughter and not understand the joke, but Dean Bawden says that takes years to pick up. We hear and understand enough, though, to be delighted by the good-nature of everyone. Here is an example of the simple jokes and entertainment. We went to a farewell lunch, daybefore yesterday, for Dean and Marilyn at Appleby's. The lunch was attended by ex-mission presidents, Area personnel...all very distinguised, stake presidents, etc. I only mention this to illustrate the contrast. After lunch, a physician who is, at the moment, over all Welfare in Central America whispered something to the fellow on his right. The whisper began to go around the table to see how it came back to the original person. Didn't we all play this when we were kids? Soon they had whispers going this way and that. Everyone laughed when the whispers morphed into something completely different from the phrase as the beginning. Another example: We had a wedding shower for one of the young men who handles all communication throughout the 12 missions about a month ago. Our floor was invited. After he opened all his presents (the bride was not invited) they played "pin the veil on the bride" , and some other silly childhood games we use to play. This all occurred in the lunchroom of the office. I sometimes think we get too "grown-up" and forget the childhood delights.

Speaking of Dean and Marilyn Bawden, they are leaving to go home tomorrow. We love all the Senior Missionaries around us, all the people we work with, our Guatemalan friends and the friends we have in all the other countries, but the Bawdens are very special to us. Jean Bird, our dear friend from the Mt. View Ward, is related to them and spoke highly of them before we left Salt Lake to go on our mission. She was right! We have played, gone on adventures, shared service projects, worked almost side by side in the office, shared our families, driven many hundreds of miles together and we will miss them. On the other hand, we understand and look forward to our own release in the futures. That's the way of missions.

Our branch had a surprise dinner for the Bawden's last night...surprise in that they didn't know about it until few days ago. We sat out on our new lawn beside the church and enjoyed everyone's company. We are so fond of everyone. We hope and pray this little branch of the Lord's vineyard will grow and flourish.

We were invited to attend the temple with a young woman who has become a dear friend. She works on the 3rd floor of our office. She is going to Puerto Rico on her mission next week. I always say a prayer for Central America and make the time in our temple a time of focus for the missionaries and especially for the people in these countries. As I was sitting waiting for our session a thought jumped into my mind. A chorus from one of my favorite oratories, "Elijah" entered my mind. I hadn't thought of this music for awhile and yet these words just flowed into my mind. "He, watching over Israel, slumbers not nor sleeps". I think it was a reassuring answer to my prayer for Central America.

We have communicated with the people taking our place in January. They will stay with us for 5 days while we orient them. They are from Springville and they sound like wonderful people with whom we'd like to be neighbors. They will rent our apartment in the "Mormon Dorm".

This season throughout Central America is my favorite. Everything cools down, and in some places, gets cold. People pull out their jackets and coats and bundle up before going outside. Everything looks greener, everything has a vibrancy and we have seen rainbows every day this week. While the rainy season is over with, the rains that come now are precious gifts. The sky changes every minute with blue skies which change to a bit of mist, then grows into a dark cloud that begins to move across the sky. One feels ahead that there will be rain in 10 minutes. As at home, it is possible to read the dramatic language of weather.

We have been hoping and praying the 5 dental chairs will arrive. They have been sitting in port in a container for a week. The port officials have promised Dean Bawden they would be here every day, but they don't come. These are the last items that need to be installed in "Dean's Dream". The clinic is just incredible. It is located in a girl's orphanage and tucked into a space which just held a lot of garbage that had accumulated over the years. Dean and Marilyn saw this space and saw the possibilities. The Bawden's have put off their departure for three weeks just waiting for the chairs, and day by day they have had to change airline tickets, but they must go tomorrow. This is the last "tooth-pick before the finished sculpture". The installers have come from Salt lake, but they too are just in a holding position. Getting through customs and other port formalities in any country is a perplexing and undependable process , and often a "cross you fingers" process. Medicines, supplies and other commodities will sit in these containers for weeks. We have had major problems with every country project we have been part of- Africa, So America...now Central America, Russia. Eventually it all arrives, but we all learn to be flexible in setting definite dates.

The days are not long enough. Yesterday, we had a Zone Leader Council Training via video-conference with one of the Honduras Missions. Preparation, phone calls, carpetas, research, correspondence with missions all contribute to busy days in our office. Time seems to stretch in remarkable ways as we get to work about 8:00 a.m. or so. We begin our work and when we think it's time for lunch we are often surprised to find that lunch hour has come and gone. It's interesting that we never know when we will be finished enough to go home. Our calling is autonomous and we decide our schedule. As the afternoon progresses, and this is so interesting, we both will know when to leave. We will look at each other and realize we both have a pause. Sometimes it's late and sometime's it's early. Sometimes we have finished something, but that moment just arrives and both of us feel it at the same time. We may not have an earthly boss, but someone is sitting over our shoulder saying, "It's time to go home".

We always pray that our family...one by one...will find someone to help each day. Smiles, service, phone-calls - are ways to serve others. We will never look at "service" quite the same way, ever again.

Medical Mystery

Medical Mystery
October 2009

This clown is from an orphanage we visited the other day. It was National Children's Day and children everywhere were having parades, special parties, etc. in schools throughout the country. The only two holidays I know of that we have in common with the US is Feliz Navidad and Columbus Day.

This has been an eventful two or three weeks. We have had a particular pesky medical issue arise during the last six months and dad has been perplexed and baffled by treatment and diagnosis. Our very insightful and intuitive Area President asked that we have a bit of help from Salt Lake. Two doctors from the Missionary Medical came down to Guatemala. We had set up interviews for the doctors prior to their coming so we kept them busy from dawn 'till dark for two days. It was interesting to see the medical detectives work to solve this mystery. Equations on the white board, interviews, questions and more questions. What have we learned? We know for sure this situation is not really solvable. There are so many variables that the three doctors finally gave their best guess and advised us to act accordingly. The two days could be put in an medical fiction format, but without a solid answer. The two days passed in a blur and we have been doing all the follow up the last 4 or 5 days.

We went to our first Guatemalan LDS Church) wedding reception. The weddings here are not "come and go" events, rather sit-down dinners. In Guatemala, if you come to an event on time (except for soccer) you are a few hours early. We had just come from a zone conference in another part of Guatemala and we were tired and hungry. We remembered, with the urging of the Bawdens, that we were supposed to be at the reception and it was already 7:30. We didn't eat, knowing it would be dinner, and drove about 15 miles to the place where the reception was to be held. We couldn't find it and the only place with the same name was a bar with only a few customers. We drove into the village and it was dark. We decided to go home and as we turned on to the main road we saw a beautiful chapel set off the street with many cars in the parking lot. There it was! Being an hour late, we were still an hour early. We were so excited to see the bride but she waitied till 9:00 to come out. This was in the cultural hall. She entered the room out of the Relief Society room with her little flower girls and wearing the most gorgeous satin dress. She walked through the cultural hall and met the groom and they had a little ceremony. The sealing had been done in the temple earlier that day. About 10:00, after a beautiful program, we ate dinner, finally. The bride and groom had come to our home for family night some time ago and we have worked with Laura and Jose each day for months and months. It was a lovely evening and we are so glad to have made the effort to get there.

Zone Conferences remain a special experience for us. We have had three days of mega-zone conferences in three different places in Guatemala, one being in the city. It is so nice to come home at night even if it does mean 3 hours of driving. This mission president and his wife were terrific. You can take the temperature of the president just by attending the zone conferences. The 180+ missionaries loved one another and loved their president and it was a delight to see the common goals they all had to do their best for the Lord.

Medically, this has been a challenging 10 days as Missions have called us with serious issues. We have been on our knees, lately, praying for these missionaries who needed more help than medicine and medical support.

It's interesting to work with a group of Senior Missionaries from the Area Office: humanitarin, PEF, Financial, Security, etc. A simple project seems to take on a life of its own as these wonderful missionaries start brainstorming. We have seen it time and again, and dad and I have two projects, simple projects, which have turned into huge affairs. We are going to a village on th7th of October to give out the last of our reading glasses. Everyone wanted in the group of senior missionaries wanted to come along. This project has turned into a mini-health fair. We will have dental hygiene, hygiene workshop, a story corner and baby kits. It is suddenly going to be a massive group with at least 16 of us going. Now we have to find hotels and transportation and make other elaborate plans. We are so excited by the help and support and know this will be of great service for the people in that area. The eyeglasses have been a wonderful window, no gateway, into serving many people throughout Central America.

General Conference was remarkable. We sat in our apartment and projected the conference on the wall and it was as good as being there. There were a couple of men working on the apartment next door. We were so excited at seeing our prophet and apostles we ran next door and asked the workmen to come and see a prophet of the Lord and his apostles. They noticed our Biblia on the table and asked about it. We then told them about El Libre de Mormon. They both wanted one so we ran to the office to find two written in Spanish.

Dad went to the Priesthood session with other English-speaking Elders and the women in the apartment had a baked potato bar, with Chimichurri, an Argentinian specialty that is delicious and very common in Latin America. I have a recipe and will share it with everyone when we get home...which will be January 7th.

A crisis has developed in parts of Guatemala as the rainy season never arrived. There are parts of Guatemala, as you have probably read in the paper, with a million or so starving people. Children have died and families are desperate. Help has come from around the world, our church, as well as many other churchs and humanitarian aid, has poured in to bring relief to the towns in the "dry area". Many of these people have no idea how to help themselves. The interesting thing has been so see how the Guatemaltecans have suddently become united in an effort to bring food to these people. People have donated food: rice, beans, sugar, maize and one other thing that I can't remember at the moment and a huge warehouse with volunteers from all over recieves the food and takes the food out to these people as fast as it comes in. Dad and I took this picture when we went to drop off food.

We know our departure date: about January 7th. What a blessing this mission has been for us!

The blog bumped me off before I was finished, but I will conclude with a brief explanation of the pictures in the blog above. Most of them were taken with the Honduras Mission President and the nurses. These conferences are times of revelation for us in every sense of the word.

The other pictures are taken in another orphanage we went to a few days ago. This is a small orphanage and we will definitely help in as many ways as we can. They only have 14 children and the objective is to get them back to their parents if at all possible. Usually it is not, but they try. We were so impressed by the love we felt as we walked through the rooms and met the chidlren. The orphanage seemed more like a family to us than an institution.

We are blessed!