Where to begin?

What an eventful two weeks. I hardly know where to begin explaining and describing where we have been and what we have been doing. I think I will begin with the Mission President's Seminar. Elder Bednar conducted the whole workshop and, even two weeks later, I still hear his words ringing through my heart. First of all, I will describe where the event was held and who was invited. The seminar was held for all twelve Mission Presidents throughout Central America plus the CCM President, Dad and I, the Temporal Affairs Director, one of the Presidents of the Seventies, the Area Presidency, and all the wives. The Mission President's wives are powerful and incredibly strong. This event was Wednesday through Saturday and I will try to sift through my notes and report on a few of the things we heard. I used a leather book given to me by Leigh and Morgan last summer. It has my General Conference notes and those I could recover if they were lost. The notes from the seminar will remain precious and carefully kept for the rest of my life.

The seminar was held in Antigua, Guatemala, one of the places we will take any visitor who comes. It was the first capitol of Guatemala, but was leveled by several earthquakes over the last several centuries. The small buildings remain and the larger church ruins are treasured. It is a old town with cobblestone streets and where the population wear traditional costumes. That isn't really too different as much of the population of Guatemala wears their vivid traditional clothing. The skirts and blouses are very beautiful, but they are also very easy to wear and are both warm in the cold weather and cool when it's hot. I can't describe why. One just has to see it to understand. The hotel we stayed in is a landmark in Guatemala. It is old, with three museums, places to eat and several places for concerts. The "Messiah" will be held there and it will attract visitors from all over. I hope to be one. Beautiful gardens, walkways, patios, trees and shrubs and flowers fill every corner. Orange, avocado trees, palms, hibiscus, hydrangea and on and on and on, fill every corner. It is very expensive so this will be our first and only overnight visit.

Elder Bednar modeled the way to be a Mission President. We came home with so many ideas of how we could change our presentations to conform with this model. There is no doubt in our minds that this man is an Apostle of God. To be in his company, to eat with him, to listen to his wife counsel the women...all of these things and more were just the surface blessings; but to hear him work with us, question us, to listen to his testimony and to hear him bear witness of the Gift of the Holy Ghost was unforgettable. He spoke with the voice of Authority in his very humble way. He blessed us as only an apostle can do. He counseled us as he taught us to how to work with young men and women so that they can become leaders of the church in their own countries when they finish their missions.

He did not lecture, he questioned. He taught us HOW to listen to the Holy Spirit. We were guided and directed to search for answers to our concerns in ways I have never heard. He
gently said over and over, "Do not waste time asking questions anyone can answer...ask questions that only an Apostle of the Lord can answer". And under his gentle guidance we did. Dad and I sat in the back and from that vantage point we could see everyone and we were struck by the power in that room. It wasn't just Elder Bednar. The men and women in charge of their missions and who are in charge of the hundreds of elders and sisters serving missions, are guided in unexpressible ways. There is simply no way these people could do what they are doing without Heavenly help. It is not possible. There is no way we could be doing what we are doing, as unimportant as it is, compared to the Mission President's and their wives, as we are guided and directed to fulfill and magnify our callings. The more I learn the more I am absolutely humbled. How can we be recipients of blessing after blessing, not just here but in our family and among our friends? Elder Bednar made it clear that our difficulties and challenges are part of mortality and a part of the callings we have, and further, he told us that those challenges will always be present throughout our lives. But what he did do was to help us become confident in patience and trust.

These are sweet teachings I could not ever put in a blog, but they are in my heart and I think I may never forget them. I will tell one interesting story that was part of Elder Bednar's Conference talk. He repeated it to us. When he was president of BYU/Idaho they often had General Authorities visit their home. Just before one of the GAs arrived the Bednars had news of a friend who had suddenly passed away. This man was young, left a young family and a loving wife. Disease is everpresent. They discussed many ways they could help this family. When the General Authority arrived they knelt for family prayer before dinner. Elder Bednar asked his wife to say the prayer. Just before she began, the General Authority counseled her to only express gratitude in her prayer and ask for nothing. She didn't know what to do as her heart was full of grief for this little family; however, she did as she was counseled, and was able to see beyond the immediate sorrow. She spoke in gratitude of the Plan of Salvation and was able to actually understand how it applied to her friends. We have been trying to do this very thing as we kneel in prayer each morning and night, and it is difficult not to ask for favors and blessings for our family. Elder Bednar doesn't mean for us not to ask for blessings, not at all, but to occasionally express only gratitude to a loving Father.

Let me backtrack a bit and speak of the first day. We finally were able to go to Camp Colinas which is similar to the camp in Heber City. They were preparing for a huge regional camp with 6,000 youth and leaders. They had erected 2,000 tents. There was an amphitheater for 2,000 people and yet it was quite small. For the first time, I can understand howKing Benjamin was able to communicate with so many people. Enroute to Antigua we visited a small museum focused on the history of Guatemalan music. This is another place we can't wait to take visitors. Early on Saturday morning we took the bus back to Guatemala City and attended the temple. The endowment rooms are small and hold, perhaps, 40 people. Elder Bednar was in our session and it was wonderful to stand in the circle with he and his wife. When we left the temple there were many teen-agers waiting to see him. That night he held a fireside for all the youth in Central America via telecommunition. Evidently, it was a truly memorable event for the youth. We have spoken to many and have heard this. Elder Bednar did this through means of e-mail. Questions could be asked from any of the seven countries and he could answer immediately.

We are going to load some pictures on the blog and then speak of our trip to Costa Rica where we have seen the hand of the Lord as he guides and directs the Mission Presidents. We were there from Monday to Friday. This last weekend, we went up into the high mountains of Guatemala to give reading glasses while the Mission President of this mission held a District Conference. If our family and friends could have only seen the participants of this little clinic they would shout for joy. The little town of Senahu, at possibly 8,500 feet in altitude, and one which only can be driven to via 4 hours of dirt roads. We gave several hundred pair of glasses away. We ran out of 100+ and 125+ and thought we were out of business until the next wonderful gift arrived. Today, however, when we went to the Central Mission we found a sack from an anonymous donor that held 20 pair of 125+. These little miracles keep happening.

Our biggest miracle, however, is the generosity of our friends and family. The glasses keep coming. Our goal was a "thousand pair by Spring". It was in the Spring, we thought, that we would begin our clinics, but we are giving them away already, as fast as they are coming in. If only everyone could "see" how they are helping others to see. Because of our friends and family we have had at least 600 -700 pair, maybe more, and they are still coming. This little town - next step was the sky and into the clouds because it is so high - had many old people who didn't even know how to put the glasses on. We had impromptu cheering sections from those waiting in line as they helped each other put them on right side up. They all wanted me to take their pictures wearing their new glasses, and I thought it might be helpful if our Humanitarian Missionaries could see that many had no teeth. As soon as I brought the camara up to take a picture they would close their mouths so the camera couldn't take that particular kind of picture. I am going to elaborate on both the Costa Rica trip and the Senehu clinic, but that will have to be later, perhaps tomorrow.

We saw a rainbow as we were coming out of the mountains Sunday night and the end of the rainbow fell into the mountain town we had just left.