ELDER GOMEZ

Elder Castillo and Elder Gomez with Los Tomkinsons
They stay at Casa de Huespedes for their PEF program

I really really miss the daily contact that we had with the missionaries in Honduras. We were able to make contact with one of those missionaries this last week. Our neighbors, Richard and Myrna Graff, are the Area Perpetual Education Fund missionaries. One of the requirements that the missionaries have that are returning home is to go through a two day course on the Fund. They get to the airport, say hello to their family if they are there, and then spend two days with the Graffs getting oriented to the program and what it can do for them.

Elder Gomez with his program completion

Last week we realized that we had two missionaries coming home to Guatemala from Honduras...Elder Castillo and Elder Gomez. We had been really close to Elder Gomez while we were serving in the office and he was an Assistant to the President. We surprised him when he got to the program. He was so excited to see us.....and of course we were excited to see him.

With the Graffs and the other missionaries

Elder Graff reported what a fine and wonderful missionary Elder Gomez is. Elder Graff asked him to do the first devotional for the program, and he reported to us that Elder Gomez just didn't recite or read a scripture....he taught the others. We know how great he is!!!! He is going to use the PEF to continue and finish his education.

Graffs promise to let us know when the other missionaries are coming....we will get to see more of them!!!

CASA DE HUESPEDES

One of the rooms at Casa de Huespedes

One of the things that is amazing about the people of Central America is their commitment to temple attendance. Every time we go to the temple here there is a bus or two with people from one of the neighboring countries filled with people to attend the temple. One of the things that the Church does to help ease the burdens on these people is to provide a place where they can stay during the two or three days that they are here in Guatemala. This is called Casa de Huespedes.

Bathrooms are included in each room

At Casa de Huespedes they are able to stay in a room, use kitchen facilities to cook their food and be within walking distance to the temple. It kind of reminds me of the Ronald McDonald houses that are built in conjunction with hospitals. Last week we were able to visit Casa de Huespedes and give ourselves a tour. It is amazing!!

The kitchen...they say that everyone just brings their food
and cooks there all together

There are beds in each room for between 8-10 people. I am anxious to go back there and see the place in action. I can just imagine that kitchen in full swing with all those families trying to use it at once.

ANOTHER RELATIVE

For years our kids have teased Wayne unmercifully about knowing people everywhere we go. He talks to someone for about 2 minutes and BOOM....they are related. My kids love this.

Well....I found a relative this past week...and she lives right up the stairs from us.

We were in Atlitlan eating dinner and we were talking around the table. One of the hermanas (Adele Blackburn) asked me about where my family was from. I told her that my maiden name was Goble; and even though it is a German name that most of my ancestors came from the British Isles. She said that he maiden name was German too. I asked her what her maiden name is and she said BUCKWALTER!!

I was almost speechless (it would take a lot to make me speechless). I told her my mom is a Buckwalter....long story short she and my mom are first cousins. Their dads were brothers. Technically that makes us lst cousins once removed (for the genealogists among us).

The world gets smaller and smaller.

LAKE ATLITLAN

Part of the fun and adventure of going on the humanitarian glasses project was the fact that we got to go up a day early and visit Lake Atlitlan. This lake is described in travel brochures as "the most beautiful lake in the world". I have seen LOTS of water in my lifetime, and I really do need to agree with the brochure. This beautiful lake is in the mountains surrounded by 3 volcanoes. It is breathtaking.

The view from our hotel room of one of the volcanoes

We stayed at Hotel Atlitlan right on the water. If anyone needs a week away from everywhere....this is the place to come. It was tranquil and beautiful. The Hotel prides itself on its beautiful gardens. They are immaculately maintained and are prize winners. They have over 150 different varieties of roses, beautiful bougainvilleas, wisteria....just to name a few. It took us all afternoon to view the gardens. They also have toucans and macaws that you can actually get in the cage with. I had one of the macaws chasing me and trying to bite my foot. It was hysterical. He just wouldn't take no for an answer.

Wayne making friends with the macaw....

...and the macaw wanting to eat my shoes

Some Book of Mormon scholars believe that this is the area that could have been the Waters of Mormon. Not sure about that....but it was wonderful reviewing in my mind how those people must have felt when they were in this location. I can definitely picture those things taking place there.




There are several small towns situated around the Lake. Some are more tourist-trapey than others. You can take a boat ride from the hotel across the lake to these towns. This is definitely a place that we will go back to....need to explore all the towns on the lake...and get in a good nap in the gardens!!

....ONE MORE PEOPLE PICTURE

I really thought that this picture needed its own blog. We saw this woman in Solola last weekend. She is the perfect picture of old meets new with her traditional dress, two little ones hanging on......talking on the CELL PHONE.

Enjoy!!

PEOPLE

Traditional dress women listening to Elder Tomkinson

I just had to put in some pictures of the beautiful people that we met last week while doing our Humanitarian Project. These people are some of the most humble and grateful people that I have seen. The little branch where we did the project has between 80-90 people attend every week. That is as much as some of the big wards we attended in Honduras.

The Relief Society President and her baby

I am especially drawn to the children. They are carried by their mothers everywhere...it is not uncommon to see one wrapped around the mother and another one holding on to her hand. Their facial expressions are dear to me. I love being around them.

Check out the handwork on her blouse

I am so glad that the women here are continuing to wear their native dress. So many in the younger generation are not...especially in the cities. But in the smaller towns, all are wearing them. The fabrics that they weave are beautiful...and it takes a long time to weave the textiles. I am hoping to collect some before I return to the States.

I love this picture
Here are some teenage girls we saw going home from market

The men typically wear jeans and their hats. And they always wear BIG SMILES.

These men are looking at their glasses and getting
ready to come to the dental clinic

HUMANITARIAN PROJECT

Here we are.....being Humanitarian missionaries in Guatemala

Carolyn and Kim Taylor

Our dear friends, Kim and Carolyn Taylor, are the Area Medical Specialists here in Central America. They are the people that we were next door neighbors to in the MTC. We cannot believe that it has been over 16 months ago!! Kim is an opthamologist by specialty and when they arrived in Central America they decided that they would do a "glasses" project here. They felt that they might be able to give away 1,000 or so magnification glasses. People here just don't have eye exams and those especially over 35 have trouble seeing. It makes it hard to do their sewing or work.

Well....the Taylors have given over 9,000 sets of glasses during their mission!! We were able to participate with them in their latest project. We helped assemble hygiene kits and school supplies to take with us. The couples here in the area office took a Saturday and went the small city of San Andreas Semetabaj on Lake Atitlan. We left Friday morning and spent the night in a beautiful hotel on the lake. Then early Saturday morning we made the trek to San Andreas.

Elder Sandburg giving instructions
Sister Sandburg is in the background taking a picture

Sister Sandburg, the RS President and me
The Sandburgs are from the Los Angeles area

Making the trek to San Andreas was an adventure in itself. There is a Senior Couple serving there...the Sandburgs. Elder Sandburg served his mission here in Central America and a couple of the men in our group served here with him. The Sandburgs have NO way to get but the most basic supplies so the Taylors made a "Pricesmart" run with a list of things for them. We also took things for the Elders and Sisters serving in the area. They were so excited to see the fun things that we had brought them.

The car behind us just crossing the bridge

This is the bridge that we crossed
Don't look too closely!!

There is a bridge that goes across a portion of the Lake that is questionable at best. The bridge had been closed for some time, and they had been doing repairs on it. Carolyn had been praying for awhile that we would be able to cross the bridge....if not, we would have to take the "long way" around and take another 2 hours to arrive. We got over the bridge....everyone had to stop and take pictures of the giant crack that we had just crossed. Needless to say, we crossed the bridge one by one.

Waiting in line to get a chance to get glasses

When we arrived at the chapel where the glasses clinic was going to be held there was a line of people already forming. They had been there for about 2 hours already that morning waiting for us. The line was constant all day. We spent about 4-5 hours at the clinic. The volunteers would help the people decide what magnification was best for them, and then let them pick out a pair of glasses. No mirrors were present, because that would take forever for them to pick their glasses out. The new glasses were then polished and given to the people.

Lines and lines and lines of people

Thank goodness for the missionaries to help us translate
Some of these people did not speak Spanish but
spoke K 'iche....a Mayan dialect

During this time Wayne held a dental clinic for the people. He taught them how to brush their teeth and why. He was explaining about acid forming on your teeth and was comparing it to the acid in a car battery. One of the men pointed to his leg and showed where the car acid had burned a hole in his jeans. Perfect visual aid for Wayne....we gave out toothbrushes to all who came...about 450 in all.

All those years of school lectures sure paid off!!

Wayne's visual aid helper.....

....and his acid hole jeans

I loved looking at the people. The women usually wear the traditional dress. Most of them are descendants of the Mayan people. The men typically wear jeans and a hat. The children are beautiful. The members of the Church are wonderful. We met several of them and many of them helped us throughout the day. They love the Sandburgs and are thrilled to have them among them. The Sandburgs will spend their entire mission in this area. They are going to do a great work among this people.

The Branch President and his family

GUATEMALA RELIEF MAP

Right next door to the dental clinic is a recreational area for the city. There are a couple of baseball diamonds, a carousel and a big area for street carnivals. Also in the area is a scaled relief map of Guatemala. It was built in 1905 by a man who was an engineer and did surveying for the country. He had the map done about the same time that he finished his surveying. It is one of the most well-known landmarks in the city. People will be able to find the clinic by knowing where this is.

Wayne on a platform looking down at the map

We visited the map this last week. It was fascinating to us to see the geography and topography of the country. There are lots of volcanoes here and it was evident in the mountainous regions. We could also see the route we took through the mountains to get from Honduras to Guatemala City. It was a great tourist attraction.

The climb from the coast to the mountains

The gardens were beautiful and we could not believe the flowers. I thought of Trisha. These are the exact flowers that she wanted for her wedding. Sorry that we couldn't find them this big at home Trish!!

MENLY MAN BAKE OFF

One of the great things about moving to Guatemala as a missionary is the number of Senior Couples that are here. We are able to associate with great people in the Area Office as well as the Area Presidency, Temple President and the MTC President. There are even people here serving in the Embassy and teaching. It is a bit overwhelming.....all these people after being the ONLY missionary couple in Honduras for 6 months and then having the wonderful Adams with us there for the last part.


There are 7 couples in the apartment complex where we live. All of those living on our floor are missionary couples: Jim and Rexene Tilley are the Security for the Area, Dick and Myrna Graff are Perpetual Education Fund for the Area and us. Above us are Bill and Adele Blackburn who are serving as the Area Auditors. Our dear friends Kim and Carolyn Taylor are on the 4th floor. He is the area Medical Advisor and we were neighbors with them in the MTC. On their floor Neil and Kathy Anderson. He is on a fellowship here from BYU. The 5th floor is Preston and Bonnie King. He serves as the Executive Secretary to the Area Presidency. Bonnie is responsible for getting all of the missionary papers ready to send to SLC. Also on their floor are the Bawdens...Dean and Marilyn....who are just leaving as the Welfare/Humanitarian Agents for the Area. He has been instrumental in building the dental clinic.

Well....you can see that there is always someone to do something with or talk to. One of the great things is that we have FHE with this group. Last week we were invited to a MENLY MAN BAKE-OFF. Each of the brethren were asked to bake something (no help from their companion) and the bring it to be judged. I could not believe what enthusiasm was brought to this project. They worried for days what they were going to bake....and really put a lot of thought into their choices.

Wayne, Neil Anderson, Dick Graff, Jim Tilley, Kim Taylor and Bill Blackburn
our wonderful chefs

The feast they prepared
Only one guy did a main dish...everything else was desserts!!

The afternoon of the bake-off you could see missionaries with aprons on humming in their kitchen. It was a riot. They were measuring ingredients, pre-heating ovens, and generally having a great time. One guy (can't remember who) sprayed so much PAM on the pan that he started coughing. When all was said and done we had a great time. So glad that we didn't eat dinner before!!!

Our neighbor Dick Graff in his kitchen making
a great pumpkin dish

Wayne with his famous peach cobbler

All of the participants got a best ribbon. Wayne made his famous peach cobbler...which was really tasty even though he didn't have a dutch oven. I had visions of him bringing charcoal to the roof and actually trying to cook it that way....he got the best cobbler award.

Best cobbler award

We feel so blessed to be here with these wonderful people. We are learning so much from them already!!

DOGS WITH A DRIVER'S LICENSE

Our lazy orphanage dogs
Flo is the orphanage director

There are two dogs that are a part of the Orphanage where the Dental Clinic is being built. They are a part of the landscape and are included in the mosaics that Judy Albert made. (Also included is the rooster below). These dogs are the laziest things that I have ever seen. They lay in the sun all day long and barely notice when we come into the parking area.

Have you ever seen anything strut so much?

That is until the other day.........

Wayne and I were leaving the orphanage when the dogs slipped by us and left down the street. I was really worried that they had escaped and we would never see them again...that cute little girls would be crying because the dogs were gone, etc. Never fear...Wayne took one look at those runaways and said..."OH NO!!! They are going with a purpose. They know exactly where they are going and what they are up to!!"

On a mission.....look at those tails!!

Sure enough....those dogs were on a mission. They knew exactly which corners to stop at and where to "leave their mark". They were trotting with their tails held high. It reminded me of a teenager with a driver's license for the first time alone. We have talked and talked about those crazy dogs. Their secret will be safe with us....they really are not all that lazy!!

THE LOST CHILD

Most of you have probably had the feeling of losing a child....in a shopping center, at the beach (go Alissa) or at Disneyland. You remember the moment of panic between the time you thought you had misplaced the child and when you first saw them again. I have wondered what the child is thinking during that time....

Yesterday Wayne and I went to work out at the gym with our good friend Jim Tilley. Jim and Wayne were going to play raquetball and I was going to work out for the hour or so that it took them to play a few games.

After I finished my workout I came downstairs to the court area and Jim and Wayne were not there. I thought for a minute or two that they had gone upstairs, out to the car to wait or anything else I could think of.....then I actually realized that they had LEFT ME AT THE GYM!!! I didn't know whether to laugh or get mad. I thought about walking home, then realized that Jim is the head of Security for the Church for Central America and that would not be a good idea. Besides...it would be dark by the time I got home....etc...etc....

After trying to get Wayne on the cell phone, I called Tilley's and asked them if they were already at home....yup....and then they realized that I was still at the gym....When all was said and done (and I got picked up) we were able to have a good laugh and I can tease Wayne about that one for a little while. So sorry that there are no pics on this one....impossible to have everything with you when you think you might get "lost".

So much for keeping track of your companion....

GENERAL CONFERENCE....GUATEMALA STYLE

The blank wall of our apartment that served
as a great projection screen

I can remember six months ago when we were so thrilled to be watching General Conference in English in our apartment. We watched on our computer screen (which actually is pretty large) by connecting to the BYU channel.

Watching Sunday conference

This past weekend was completely different. Wayne hooked up the computer to a projector from the Area Office and we projected it on a wall in our apartment. We had about 4 couples join us as well as some women who were down here on a Humanitarian project. It was very casual....including popcorn for the afternoon sessions.

The messages were wonderful. I still thrill when I hear our Latin American saints speak. I love their accents....especially when English is new to them. The "men" all went out to dinner and then watched the Priesthood Session in the area office. The "women" had a potato bar in our apartment and then had a meeting for some Humanitarian things we want to do for the fall/winter time. I will send you more on that later.....

Our conference group
The Blackburns, The Graffs and the Tilleys
with our visiting humanitarian workers Evelyn and Joan

I think that we are going to have a "movie night" and show movies on our wall again. It was a great screen!!!