Wednesday, April 15, 2009
New ideas, most welcome visit, and some wonderful experiences
The little girl in the previous blog stares into the camera with eyes that are too big for her little face. Her name is Shirley and she has no palette in the roof of her mouth. Both she, and her mother, Carmen, have this genetic handicap. They live in our branch and we have loved them. Niether can speak, but they are bright. They live in a small house at the end of a long dirt lane in the hills of El Fiscal. Dean and Marilyn Bawden, Area Humanatarian Missionaries, figured out a way to get surgery for Shirley. The Bawdens are miracle workers and it is a joy to work beside them. We get a chance on weekends to play a lot, as well.
We came flying home (in the car) from Quetzaltenango in time to dust our house, do a bit of work in the office and then got James and Tammy from the airport. They couldn't have come at a more propitious time, as this was Holy Week, or Samana Santos. This is a week of a peaceful pause. No murders, kidnappings, thefts, robberies - as everyone observes this holiday with reverence. It is a family time where wonderful traditions are evident everywhere.
We had been invited to participate in the building of an alfombra by friends who live in Zone 1. We were not able to do this as we had to go to Quetzaltenango, but on Friday, we rented a van and hired a tour guide to take us to Antigua. While alfombras and subsequent processions occur everywhere in Guatemala, Antigua is famous all over the world for the way they observe Santos Semana. In our pictures you will see a few of the Alfombras made by families and friends. These "rugs" are begun early in the morning and are made in the middle of the streets. They are precise and beautiful. Some are truly fabulous, others are not quite so artistic, but all are made for one purpose: to observe the crucifixion of Christ. These alfombras are a gift the families give and the procession that will follow is the way the gift is accepted. Everyone wears purple robes like the ones worn in the time of Christ. The purple color signifies the Jacaranda Tree that blooms this time of year. I could go on and on about this tree and have saved blossoms for my journal.
Some people are wearing Roman costumes, especially of soldiers and centurions. At noon, the processions begin. All the men in the city, and there are thousands, take turns carrying a 2 ton platform with a large statue of Christ carrying the cross. There are many floats and many processions. Some of the Christ figures wear red robes, some blue...and they go down the various streets and walk through the Alfombras, obliterating them completely. The floats are beautifully made of mahogany, elaborately carved. It takes about 30-40 men to carry it. The procession is huge (and there are others going on all over the city with floats that are almost identical). No one can stay under the platform for long and the huge procession of men take turns. This is a family day and little children wore the same robes their fathers do. Picnics are held in little plazas as families wait for the processions. There are drums and mournful brass instruments that follow the platforms as they go through the streets. We followed several of the processions and followed them into the cathedrals. This is a time of prayer and the churches were full of people praying and lighting candles and I felt a great spirit throughout the day.
At 3:00 the robes change to black symbolizing that Christ has, indeed, died. We were in one chapel as the figure of Christ was taken from the cross. New processions begin, but this time the floats are smaller and depict the last days of the life of Christ.
Pictures follow this text. Tammy and James were with us, in fact, we planned this for them, but we had about 18 senior missionaries who went with us.
The next day we drove to a huge relief map that is situated in a park in Zone 1. It was made about a hundred years ago and,by viewing it and walking around it, makes it possible to see the fantastic topography of Guatemala. The lowlands in the North-east rise into huge mountain ranges consisting of many volcanoes in the West. Later in the day we went to Tec Pan, a Mayan site built many hundreds of years ago.
With James and Tammy and the Bawdens we were able to observe religious observations made by the Mayans. Large fires were built, candles placed in the ancient walls, and people praying as the fire died down. The next day, Sunday, we were able to go to church in our branch.
Immediately after church we began our long drive to Lake Atitlan with 600-700 glasses intended for an reading glass clinic to be held across the lake on Monday.
Now, the story of the clinic. Since this is burning season it is difficult to see the incredible volcanoes around this lake, but as we drove across the lake we were able to discern the mountains. UNESCO lists this lake as one of the historic and beautiful landscapes in the world. There are little villages on the other side of the lake and we met the missionaries on the beach in Santiago. We didn't intend to begin our clinic until 10:00, thinking we could walk around this town for awhile, but when we arrived at the church we found hundreds of people waiting for us.
We began at once, but were immediately baffled by this kaliedoscope of color and pattern. Everyone wears traditional dress, including the men, but they are stubborn people (these are the words of the missionaries, not mine) and they have a right to be. They have been subject to practices that speak of genocide, major wars, hunger and lack of education. They are beautiful people, but they overwhelmed us. We had three measuring stations set up with James, Dean and Dad, but they took glasses and pouches, tried to go through the lines more than once. It was a half hour of real frustration as we tried to get our footing. It took us only a few minutes to realize what was happening and we were able to modify our approach, but the line situation just got worse and worse. I was controlling the crowd and realized we would have to put the glasses away and close down until everyone sat in their chairs and waited for their turn. I was saying a prayer and then a miracle happened.
It is difficult to describe this, but a man wearing a golf shirt and levis, about 35 walked in and saw the difficulties we were having. He was immediately observable because he was the only one, in a crowd of hundreds who was wearing modern clothing. He walked over to the front of the line and turned and looked at the crowd. With words I could hardly hear, with an incredible look of love and respect for these people, he began to put everything in order. He was gentle and patient and yet I couldn't discern if people actually knew him. At once, everything changed. With smiles and gentleness he organized us all. He stayed with us until we had to leave to get to our little boat about three hours later. I watched him closely to try to see what he was doing and how he was doing this, but all I could see was love. He had such a spirit about him and we all felt it. With his help, we were able to give out, clean, distribute (with all the little pouches) about 600 - 700 glasses. When we were ready to leave he wrote a note for us. The note said, as we translated it later, was to bring medical help to these people. (we have done nothing all day, today, except write letters asking for medical assistance) We all felt that he was truly an angel or one of the three Nephites.
Driving home that afternoon we all reviewed the miracle we saw. To give service, with the help of all of our friends and family, has been a humbling experience for all of us. We will have given away, when we are finished, at least 8,000 reading glasses. We laugh as we thought we were completely audatious to even consider 1,000 pair by Spring. The glasses keep coming from places and people we have never heard of, to say nothing of our friends and family. I think we have enough glasses now. We leave in December or January to come home and we have found that the ability to measure for power is the thing that has made these clinics successful.
If we had to rank the effect on the various people participating in these clinics I think it would be impossible. But I will make an effort to describe who has been blessed the most. First, the people who receive the glasses...even if 50% of them use these glasses (and we think it will be much more because the correct power is issued). But even more important are the missionaries who help us. In every little clinic it is the missionaries who take over. Many of them have had to learn to measure. They run the clinics. In the meantime, they give scriptures away, give pass-along cards, make appointments for first discussions. They are excited and motivated by learning new skills. The members of that particular district or stakes help us as well.
The Mission Presidents and their families are part of every little clinic. Many of them are not "little" as we have done these clinics througout Central America. Some of the distribution clinics are huge. Dad and I have been blessed in so many ways. We keep thinking that since we are running out of glasses it might be time to quit. We have received "swift kicks from Heaven" as glasses literally fall into our laps. We have learned that this was not our project at all, but promptings from Heaven. We take no credit.
We do give credit to the hundreds of people, some of whom we don't even know, who have collected and sent glasses to us. The service all of you have done in the United States has been phenomenal. Because of you, hundreds and hundreds, actually thousands, of people who would never have heard of the church, much less entered a LDS building, have been inside chapels, met the missionaries and members who are their neighbors.
Enough said, I know I promised a month ago not to spend anymore time on this topic, but I can't help it. We only do these eyeglass projects after our work is done in Zone Conferences and on Saturdays, but look at what has happened. We have four clinics in El Salvador, Honduras, and one high in the mountains of Guatemala (which can only be reached by 4 wheel drive vehicles) in the next three weeks.
We have a life besides the eyeglass clinics. We love our assignment and work very hard at trying to accomplish what we were asked to do. Most of our time, actually, is laboring as medical advisor. We have learned so much.
I wish you could have seen James and Tammy labor with us. These people are tiny and Tammy, who was wearing a white blouse, looked like an angel as she worked all day. James, in a white shirt and tie, was such a dignified and able measurer. (I don't think that is correct wording, however.)
We got home late, had soup and long conversations, and finally went to bed. We took James and Tammy to the airport at 6:00 a.m. and were back to work in our office at 8:30.
Life goes on and how grateful we are for everything. Elder Bednar says time is irrelevant when one is serving the Lord, and we have felt time stand still for us.
This is my personal journal, and probably only dad and I will ever read it, but it will be precious to us.
We came flying home (in the car) from Quetzaltenango in time to dust our house, do a bit of work in the office and then got James and Tammy from the airport. They couldn't have come at a more propitious time, as this was Holy Week, or Samana Santos. This is a week of a peaceful pause. No murders, kidnappings, thefts, robberies - as everyone observes this holiday with reverence. It is a family time where wonderful traditions are evident everywhere.
We had been invited to participate in the building of an alfombra by friends who live in Zone 1. We were not able to do this as we had to go to Quetzaltenango, but on Friday, we rented a van and hired a tour guide to take us to Antigua. While alfombras and subsequent processions occur everywhere in Guatemala, Antigua is famous all over the world for the way they observe Santos Semana. In our pictures you will see a few of the Alfombras made by families and friends. These "rugs" are begun early in the morning and are made in the middle of the streets. They are precise and beautiful. Some are truly fabulous, others are not quite so artistic, but all are made for one purpose: to observe the crucifixion of Christ. These alfombras are a gift the families give and the procession that will follow is the way the gift is accepted. Everyone wears purple robes like the ones worn in the time of Christ. The purple color signifies the Jacaranda Tree that blooms this time of year. I could go on and on about this tree and have saved blossoms for my journal.
Some people are wearing Roman costumes, especially of soldiers and centurions. At noon, the processions begin. All the men in the city, and there are thousands, take turns carrying a 2 ton platform with a large statue of Christ carrying the cross. There are many floats and many processions. Some of the Christ figures wear red robes, some blue...and they go down the various streets and walk through the Alfombras, obliterating them completely. The floats are beautifully made of mahogany, elaborately carved. It takes about 30-40 men to carry it. The procession is huge (and there are others going on all over the city with floats that are almost identical). No one can stay under the platform for long and the huge procession of men take turns. This is a family day and little children wore the same robes their fathers do. Picnics are held in little plazas as families wait for the processions. There are drums and mournful brass instruments that follow the platforms as they go through the streets. We followed several of the processions and followed them into the cathedrals. This is a time of prayer and the churches were full of people praying and lighting candles and I felt a great spirit throughout the day.
At 3:00 the robes change to black symbolizing that Christ has, indeed, died. We were in one chapel as the figure of Christ was taken from the cross. New processions begin, but this time the floats are smaller and depict the last days of the life of Christ.
Pictures follow this text. Tammy and James were with us, in fact, we planned this for them, but we had about 18 senior missionaries who went with us.
The next day we drove to a huge relief map that is situated in a park in Zone 1. It was made about a hundred years ago and,by viewing it and walking around it, makes it possible to see the fantastic topography of Guatemala. The lowlands in the North-east rise into huge mountain ranges consisting of many volcanoes in the West. Later in the day we went to Tec Pan, a Mayan site built many hundreds of years ago.
With James and Tammy and the Bawdens we were able to observe religious observations made by the Mayans. Large fires were built, candles placed in the ancient walls, and people praying as the fire died down. The next day, Sunday, we were able to go to church in our branch.
Immediately after church we began our long drive to Lake Atitlan with 600-700 glasses intended for an reading glass clinic to be held across the lake on Monday.
Now, the story of the clinic. Since this is burning season it is difficult to see the incredible volcanoes around this lake, but as we drove across the lake we were able to discern the mountains. UNESCO lists this lake as one of the historic and beautiful landscapes in the world. There are little villages on the other side of the lake and we met the missionaries on the beach in Santiago. We didn't intend to begin our clinic until 10:00, thinking we could walk around this town for awhile, but when we arrived at the church we found hundreds of people waiting for us.
We began at once, but were immediately baffled by this kaliedoscope of color and pattern. Everyone wears traditional dress, including the men, but they are stubborn people (these are the words of the missionaries, not mine) and they have a right to be. They have been subject to practices that speak of genocide, major wars, hunger and lack of education. They are beautiful people, but they overwhelmed us. We had three measuring stations set up with James, Dean and Dad, but they took glasses and pouches, tried to go through the lines more than once. It was a half hour of real frustration as we tried to get our footing. It took us only a few minutes to realize what was happening and we were able to modify our approach, but the line situation just got worse and worse. I was controlling the crowd and realized we would have to put the glasses away and close down until everyone sat in their chairs and waited for their turn. I was saying a prayer and then a miracle happened.
It is difficult to describe this, but a man wearing a golf shirt and levis, about 35 walked in and saw the difficulties we were having. He was immediately observable because he was the only one, in a crowd of hundreds who was wearing modern clothing. He walked over to the front of the line and turned and looked at the crowd. With words I could hardly hear, with an incredible look of love and respect for these people, he began to put everything in order. He was gentle and patient and yet I couldn't discern if people actually knew him. At once, everything changed. With smiles and gentleness he organized us all. He stayed with us until we had to leave to get to our little boat about three hours later. I watched him closely to try to see what he was doing and how he was doing this, but all I could see was love. He had such a spirit about him and we all felt it. With his help, we were able to give out, clean, distribute (with all the little pouches) about 600 - 700 glasses. When we were ready to leave he wrote a note for us. The note said, as we translated it later, was to bring medical help to these people. (we have done nothing all day, today, except write letters asking for medical assistance) We all felt that he was truly an angel or one of the three Nephites.
Driving home that afternoon we all reviewed the miracle we saw. To give service, with the help of all of our friends and family, has been a humbling experience for all of us. We will have given away, when we are finished, at least 8,000 reading glasses. We laugh as we thought we were completely audatious to even consider 1,000 pair by Spring. The glasses keep coming from places and people we have never heard of, to say nothing of our friends and family. I think we have enough glasses now. We leave in December or January to come home and we have found that the ability to measure for power is the thing that has made these clinics successful.
If we had to rank the effect on the various people participating in these clinics I think it would be impossible. But I will make an effort to describe who has been blessed the most. First, the people who receive the glasses...even if 50% of them use these glasses (and we think it will be much more because the correct power is issued). But even more important are the missionaries who help us. In every little clinic it is the missionaries who take over. Many of them have had to learn to measure. They run the clinics. In the meantime, they give scriptures away, give pass-along cards, make appointments for first discussions. They are excited and motivated by learning new skills. The members of that particular district or stakes help us as well.
The Mission Presidents and their families are part of every little clinic. Many of them are not "little" as we have done these clinics througout Central America. Some of the distribution clinics are huge. Dad and I have been blessed in so many ways. We keep thinking that since we are running out of glasses it might be time to quit. We have received "swift kicks from Heaven" as glasses literally fall into our laps. We have learned that this was not our project at all, but promptings from Heaven. We take no credit.
We do give credit to the hundreds of people, some of whom we don't even know, who have collected and sent glasses to us. The service all of you have done in the United States has been phenomenal. Because of you, hundreds and hundreds, actually thousands, of people who would never have heard of the church, much less entered a LDS building, have been inside chapels, met the missionaries and members who are their neighbors.
Enough said, I know I promised a month ago not to spend anymore time on this topic, but I can't help it. We only do these eyeglass projects after our work is done in Zone Conferences and on Saturdays, but look at what has happened. We have four clinics in El Salvador, Honduras, and one high in the mountains of Guatemala (which can only be reached by 4 wheel drive vehicles) in the next three weeks.
We have a life besides the eyeglass clinics. We love our assignment and work very hard at trying to accomplish what we were asked to do. Most of our time, actually, is laboring as medical advisor. We have learned so much.
I wish you could have seen James and Tammy labor with us. These people are tiny and Tammy, who was wearing a white blouse, looked like an angel as she worked all day. James, in a white shirt and tie, was such a dignified and able measurer. (I don't think that is correct wording, however.)
We got home late, had soup and long conversations, and finally went to bed. We took James and Tammy to the airport at 6:00 a.m. and were back to work in our office at 8:30.
Life goes on and how grateful we are for everything. Elder Bednar says time is irrelevant when one is serving the Lord, and we have felt time stand still for us.
This is my personal journal, and probably only dad and I will ever read it, but it will be precious to us.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
our cup runneth over
It has been a week and a half since the last blog and we have had changes in plans, new understandings and appreciations regarding Pascua and Semana Santo. New foods have been eaten from Guatemala and Honduras, kind people have entered our lives, music has been written for us to use at zone conferences, new conferences finished and new experiments in the health part of our responsibility to be tried. Above all, we have had two eyeglass clinics that have been phenomenal.
Friends make living and working here a joy in so many ways. Remember, I used to say that my mother was "an adventure just waiting to happen". Our Senior Missionaries in our building, many of the other missionaries, friends we have made outside the mission, are just like that, "adventures just waiting to happen". There is always someone ready to help us with eyeglasses, visit archaeological sites, shop, travel and visit. Because our calendars are not full of civic, family things, lunch with friends, book clubs-all of which are dear parts of our lives at home- we have time to plan on the spur of the moment and go many places together. There is always someone available.
We discovered a new archaeological site two Saturdays ago which has to be Olmec or Mayan. It consists of very sophisticated building - ball courts, pyramids which are laid out in an arrangement dictated by the sun , or the ecliptic. The planet Venus is very important as it has cycles like our moon. Approaches that change each year and each season make this planet so important. It is like a punctuation mark: period, exclamation point,etc...as each approach each year differs from the last one, albeit it takes the same orbital path around the sun, but its path and pattern differs from day to day. Sometimes its a morning star, sometimes an evening star, sometimes appears very close, sometimes , although it is always our brightest object in the sky, dims a bit and on those bright cycles one feels that it is possible to reach out your hand and pluck it from the sky. It appears that close. This is partly why this nearby celestial body was so important to the ancient people and temples and pyramids made it possible to plot its movements. Its dance with other planets was (and is today) so intriguing as they seem to pass each other like cars on a highway.
We weren't able to go to Zona 1 where we had been invited to help with one of the Alfombra. We were asked to go to another Mission in the North-East of Guatemala about 5 hours away, up in the mountains and then down into the coast, to do Health Lectures in two mega-zone conferences. This mission did in two days what most missions plan for 4 or 5 days. It worked beautifully. When Mission Presidents invite us, we jump! These conferences rank in the top 2 of oue responsibilities and as health lectures are not the top of the needs of a mission president, we do our best to accommodate them in any way we can. Besides we love them so. God put them where they are for a very special purpose. The President and his wife of all missions look after all your sons and daughters in ways I couldn't imagine before. It can't be compared to the way it was a generations ago. We live in a different world and the social and economical and health circumstances are so vastly different than a decade ago. A much closer watch is required.
We left Monday, and this time we drove by ourselves as we had 150 eye glasses and pouches in orr do two eye glass clinics in the evenings. We arrived on Monday evening and had dinner with the Mission President and his family and the family Cheney, who is the contractor building the temple in Quetzaltenango. He just finished the Panama Temple and has done many others. I told a story about his wife in an earlier blog. I'll repeat it! While cleaning the temple just before its dedication and open house Sister Cheney heard some workers complaining about how she was demanding perfection. She took them aside and told them that if this structure were her house she would settle for less, but this wasn't her house, it was the Lord's house. She explained to them the meaning of temples and why these buildings were holy structures. They listened intently and from that time on worked as hard as they could. Hna. Cheney made sure these men and their families had tickets to the open house...and they attended with their families.
Our zone conferences were fabulous. Dad does such a great job. There are moments when I perceive his countenance change as he is just a voice for the Holy Spirit. It has been make evident to us, early in our mission, just how much the Lord loves his missionaries and they are protected with a special endowment. We see that, sense that, and respect our calling so much. Dad listens to instructions from spiritual sources and tries his best to minister to these young men and women in the way the Lord wants us to.
Both conferences were the biggest groups we have had. All 190 of the missionaries were there. They had to travel a long way to get there, but they came. Each mission has a different dynamic, and each Mission President brings his own personality and training and background to this calling. While the material and the purpose are the same, the way the Mission President approaches his responsibilities is different. The Lorenzana family is from Honduras and more gracious and generous people one could never find. They opened their home and hearts to us, and we tried our best to open our hearts and efforts to them. It was easy!
Driving in Guatemala as the roads go up and down mountains, into lowlands and into coastal areas is fascinating. I try to take pictures from the car, but often I am not successful. I pray fervently that I will be able to remember the culture and tradition of these people because it is really not appropriate to stop and take pictures. I have taken some great pictures, but they are just pictures. There is no way to capture the way the hills are farmed, the people carrying wood, babies, loads of fruits and vegetables to market on their backs and on their heads. There is no other country in Central America with a culture that is largely untouched by the levi generation. They resist change, they resist help and educational endeavors to help them improve their lives. And in a way, I wish they could stay that way forever. Their colorful clothes, their beautiful small and brown-limbed bodies, their busy lives permitting a subsistance living is precious to behold, but they need more. They are not poor in the sense of the people Ann Koelliker talks about, but they have so little. They sell the vegetables to the markets instead of eating them themselves, for example, and yet they live a tradition that they have lived since before Christ. They are beautiful people, yet they don't often have an opportunity for school or for a balanced diet. Life is difficult for them, but no one is idle. They have to constantly gather wood for their little cooking fires. Each day they have to farm. If they live they have to work. And they do!
We had two eyeglass clinics after our conferences. One on the Pacific coast and the other in Shayla/Quetzaltenango. Both were huge. We had three measuring stations set up, hundreds of glasses given away. The missionaries do all the work other than the measuring. It is a wonderful sight to behold as Kim does the measuring and then gives a little prescription on paper with the power to be given out. The glasses are laid out on a table by powers. The end of the table is equipped with windex, scissors, rags. Sometimes there are eight missionaries helping the people make sure they have the correct power. They do this by usining other Books of Mormon (as Kim uses a Book of Mormon) to double check power and then helping them select their glasses. After they select the glasses they go to the end of the table to have their glasses cleaned, labels taken off and a pouch selected. Kathy Knowlton made hundreds and we have received others from so many people. Some of these pouches are fleece and some are felt, but everyone loves them.
We had members and non members at both clinics and it is wonderful to see the missionaries give pass along cards, make appointments for first discussions, talk with the crowd and present an appearance of great dignity as they work. These missionaries are serious about their missions and they represent the Lord well. We had to inlist others to be trained so we had three measuring stations. We would still be there today if we hadn't done that.
We laugh as we recall our original goal of a thousand glasses by Spring...and wondering at the time how we could ever do this. We will surpass 5,000 by June or July. The one single thing that has made our clinics work is Kim. The fact that he can measure powers makes all this possible. To hand out glasses randomly will never work and we have found a stash of glasses no one wanted because no one could measure. These little guests walk away with glasses in their pockets that are just the right power for them. We still know that probably 30% of these glasses will get lost, broken, become a toy for the baby, etc. but if 70% are used it will have been worth all the effort. Think 70% of 5,000+. Pretty wonderful!
I wish you could see the beautiful women in their cortes, huipies and the incredible aprons with the secret pockets. The women have long braids with bright cloth woven into the braid. Their wrinkled faces are lovely. We only see the older people, but the young ones are startlingly beautiful as well. Many have spent their lives outside gathering wood, which is a constant occupation, working in tiny gardens, selling in little markets and as they would hold hands with me and hug me, smile at me while waiting for their turn I would say a prayer of thanks that people like all of you, my dear family and friends, made all this possible.
Can you believe that we are at a point where we cannot use any more glasses. Those that are still coming are factored into the rest of our clinics. Wonderful week!
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