wings on their feet and fire in their hearts

I am reading a wonderful book by Morris West called "The Shoes of the Fisherman". This man is a Catholic scholar and I have read several of his books over the years. This book was written in 1963. I read this particular book while in my 30s and much of what I read then has informed part of my own personal ethic and identity. The book is an account of a man who was just elected by the Cardinals to be the new Pope. The book is fascinating because of the story, but it is also thought-provoking because of the philosophy. I am constantly reading sentences and paragraphs over and over because I see the similarity of love, purpose and service that the men in the book portray with that of the people in our own church and throughout the world, whatever their creed. It is a good book! The night before his installation (I can't remember if that term is correct) he made this plea to the Cardinals. Knowing they would leave the Vatican the next day he asked, "send me men with wings on their feet and fire in their hearts". These words ring in my mind while I am sitting each day during Zone Conferences with young men and women who truly do "have wings on their feet and fire in their hearts".

In another place in the book, one of the protagonists is writing in his journal and remarks that the "Earth is the Lord's textbook". Profound! This was interesting to me as I have been comparing and contrasting the accounts of the creation of the world as found in Abraham, Moses and Genesis.

I know I promised, but I had my fingers crossed. I said I wouldn't talk about eye-glass clinics anymore, but I must mention the adventure we had on Saturday. After 9 days of intense Zone Conferences we went to Solola for the last conference. Solola is situated in a high mountain region of Guatemala and it is right next to one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. Lake Atitlan sits at the feet of three volcanoes and the people there retain a traditional Mayan culture. There is so much poverty here, but the people are kind and the church is growing. Many cannot read and there are many who speak a different language...there are 23 different dialectics in Guatemala.

The missionaries rented a spot right in the middle of the Saturday market. This market is the same as it was 100 - 200 years ago, certainly, even longer that that. By the way, most people wear the traditional dress. It is beautiful! Notice that in the pictures the men wear a "skirt". This is the mark of this particular region. The bags the men are wearing cannot be purchased. The men make these and put their name and town in the knit. They are beautiful. Sometimes the men will make one for a missionary and they are to be treasured forever. By the way, one of the occupations of many of these men is "ganadero" which means cowboy. There are times I think I am right back in Wayne County as often men wear cowboy hats and pointed shoes. They do not wear levi's, however.

We set up our clinic right in the center of the plaza. Fruits, vegetables, CDs, watches, rope, and on and on, are laid out on blankets for people to walk past. I don't know how to describe this. We were nervous before we started, but once we began we forgot fear as we were surrounded by color, noise, chattering, smells of cooking.

Guatemala gives a whole new meaning to "fast food", as everyone seems to eat on the streets. These little vendors are everywhere, but here in Solola we walked past hundreds of little food vendors with their barbecues broiling everything from blue tortillas to sausage, to pollo.

We gave away 150 pair of glasses and then stopped counting. We had 8 missionaries helping us and the whole process was so professional. It was something I don't think I will ever forget. The lake may be, and I, too, (a confirmed sceptic) think that this lake is the same lake mentioned in the Book of Mormon and identified as the "waters of Mormon". If one looks down through the water it is possible to see submerged cities. Interesting!

It was cold on Saturday, as it almost always is, and we finally had to buy a tablecloth at the market to put around the shoulders of one of the missionaries. He would not trade his spot at the table for anything. He was Latin and he loved the process he was involved with. We kept the clinic open for three hours. After the little service project was over we took all the missionaries to lunch in the next town. Panachel is very near Solola and it has the same sort of market on Fridays and Saturdays. All the streets in this town are made of cobblestones and rocks. As I walked down the street I pulled my famous trick of falling. I was stunned by the impact, but suddenly 8 sets of hands pulled me off the street and into the air.

Notice the grounds of the hotel where we stayed on Friday night. We had been to lunch there before. Our window looked out over the lake and before I went to bed that night I opened all the windows - floor to ceiling and from one side to another. The sky is clear up here in the mountains and from our balcony I could see about 1/2 of the sky as well as the black lake. I saw familiar stars and consellations set in the West behind the volcanoes. In the morning, from the bed I watched the sun rise over the lake. It has been an intense week, and hundreds of miles of driving each morning and night. This beautiful hotel and the Solola market was the "frosting on the cake", so to speak.

We have been in the office all week...working some nights till 10:00 trying to catch up before we leave again on Monday. We will go to Honduras for 5 days, then to Nicaragua for a week. After that, things will settle down for three weeks. I just finished the Central America Health Newsletter we send out each month. I am so inept on the computer that doing this newsletter is a struggle, albeit a fun one, to finish on time. I wanted to send this one out in Spanish, so after it was translated for us this morning by a good friend I find that I can't understand a word...even though I wrote it. The pictures in the newsletter are incredible and I took them while in zone conferences to identify certain issues. I save these newsletters and they will be a marvellous part of my journal someday. Each issue highlights the concerns the missions mention in their "Incident Reports" and the newsletter has become a great networking tool between us and the Mission Presidents, and also among the missions.

The pictures are all amusin, but they are serious just the same as they illustrate different sections of the newsletter. One, however, is worth mentioning. In Central Clinic there is a large scale. The missionaries head for that scale before they even check in with the mission secretary. Last week, one of the missionaries who had been watching his diet for weeks stood on the scale, hoping he had lost weight. As he stood there adjusting the weights the nurse put her toe on the scale and the Elder didn't even notice. He was so upset to think he had gained 7 pounds. We didn't tell him that she had given the scale a little push until he had been in the office for about an hour. This was one of those moments where I had the camera ready. It was in my hand just then. It was a Kodak moment.

We tried to go home and watch the inauguration, but we had to settle for re-runs late in the evening. Kim wanted to see the politics, but I was interested in the clothes the women were wearing.

We are grateful to be here. How grateful we are for the prayers of others. They are felt!