Our two words of the week are "olvidar" and "recordar", and if one adds a "no" and then conjugates it in first person they mean "do not remember - recuerdo", and "I forget - olivado". which seems to be the story of our life. Our poor teacher shakes his head as these two 72 year old gringos seem mentally handicapped. We struggle on...and on!
We are back from Nicaragua. It was a wonderful week of family and workshops and clinics and eyeglasses. During our time in this beautiful country which is like southwest Colorado only with lots of volcanoes. we stayed with the mission president, President Romel Fraatz and his absolutely wonderful wife and their four children: 14, 11, 10, and 7 years of age. We felt at home the moment we walked through the door. We loved them and I cried when we left them. We were with them for 7 days. I had worried so, but I didn't need to as they were fun, funny, interesting, dedicated and delightful confersationalists. We spent many hours in the car each day as our conferences were, except for one day, in various parts of Nicaragua. We had such talks about everything under the sun (and including the sun) that we hated to get out of the car when we got home. To think that the children were waiting for us, however, nudged us and we postponed our conversations until the next day. We loved the family so much! Jeffrey, who is 11, however, lost his Harry Potter book as I confiscated it the night before we left. I did give it back the next morning, though.
The conferences were totally dedicated to health issues and lectures and discussions in the morning and clinics in the afternoon. Both Honduras and Nicaragua Missions cordially invited Kim to use up ALL the time during the day. Every mission president is different and presides differently and it is a joy and a miracle to see how each president approaches his mission a bit differently, although completely effectively.
In one of our glass dispensing - which we also were able to sandwich in, we had two remarkable women come for glasses. One was 90 and the other 97. Both were beautiful and gracious and both, as many people are in Nicaragua, without the means to buy something like a pair of reading glasses. I am no longer going to call those without resources in Latin America poor, as I just received an e-mail from Ann Koelliker. Suddenly, I have a new concept of what "poor" might be. I have cried all afternoon at the plight of people in Zimbabwe as Ann has described unspeakable need. For the most part the people in Latin America have access to water, they can eat something even if it is rice and beans. There is peace in the land - even if it is sometimes fragile, and children can, if they want to go to school. True, some choose not to take advantage. We have circulated Ann's e-mail in our Area Office and I have sent it to my family. I wish there would be something we could do for these people in Zimbabwe.
But, back to Nicaragua. It is a land with trees that defy description. We loved Nicaragua and thought that if ,and when, we grew up we might live there. It is comfortable for some reason. I can't think of any other way to describe it. Perhaps it is because I think I was on the desert committee when the Earth was created. I love desert and open land.
There is only one mission in all of Nicaragua. We had hoped we could fly into the more remote part of Nicaragua as they have some missionaries there, but it didn't work out. Instead, we went hiking. They have a volcanoe with a huge caldera and it has been preserved as a sort of National Monument. With gas masks and helmets we went through a lava tube for a little ways. Small bats were hanging from the walls and flying around as we disturbed them. As far as caves go it was not spectacular, but as we saw the tiny stalagtites of calcium carbonate we realized we were in an embryo of cave formation.
We were the guests of the Mission President and his wife. On this excursion we took the six office elders with us. At the bottom of the volcanoe there is a little museum about the geology of this part of the isthmus . (Did I spell this correctly?). After we walked through it the elders disappeared. We laughed as the six elders came out of the restroom dressed in their levis, long shorts and wild t-shirts. They wore this for the several hours we were on the mountain. We didn't need the helmets at all, but there were several places we needed the gas masks. I couldn't identify the gases, but they were not pleasant and made it impossible to breathe. Back at the museum the elders again disappeared for a minute. When they came back, they had ties and white shirts on and looked, once again, like proper missionaries.
We drove on to another inactive volcanic area and had lunch above a beautiful blue "lake" although they call it a Lagoon, nestled in the caldera of the ancient volcanoe. The wind was so fierce that we had to hold on to one another or to nearby furniture or posts. As we were eating lunch, inside- mind you, the wind came through the windows and doors and blew the food off the end of the table.
We still pinch ourselves at the wonder of being able to participate in the Central American Area as we do. We can't even begin to believe, even after all these things are over, that it really happened and is happening every day. We are blessed in so many ways, but mostly because we know there is no way we could do the things we do without help. We are taught what to do because our Father wants it to be a certain way. Our worry is that we don't listen carefully enough and there might be something important we miss. Ideas have come that we never thought we could dream of much less instigate into the missions here.
Dad is amazing! As he stands and gives health lectures and discussions, holds clinics, dispenses glasses, and uses his Priesthood as he cares for the Area missionaries in a dear and kind way, I feel grateful that he can have this wonderful opportunity to serve and to be affective in that calling.
There is nothing we want or need that we don't have, materially. We have a lovely little apartment, work to do and 7 countries to do it in, many opportunities for enjoyment such as concerts when we have time, and great people to associate with and inspire us. But, if we could have it, there is one thing we want more than anything, and that is for more Senior Couple Missionaries to come to Latin America. We need them so badly. As we travel around the missions we see that there are not nearly enough in any country. Nicaragua, for example, have none, not a single one. Costa Rica has three couples and who are stretched thin. These are just a few examples. Every country needs the leadership as the wards and branches, districts and stakes begin to grow. The church will continue to grow without us because this is a dedicated land, but it would help to have couples here. We need them in droves. We need couples in every country and in every mission. We need people who can love and lead, and it doesn't matter if they have any skills at all because the Lord, through the Spirit, tells us all what to do anyway. What we are experiencing is not a sacrifice in any sense of the word.
Enough of my pleading! We are so happy here and we are happy with the opportunity to serve. We think our son and his wife, James and Tammy, are coming in a few weeks and we are so excited.
Adios!
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