SERVING THE PEOPLE WE LOVE

Hirshe Smiles group from Colorado
Rich and LeeAnn Call Lee and Peggy Olsen
JR and Wes (who helped soooo much)

One of the things that we have wanted to do since moving to Guatemala is to go into the country and service people with their dental needs. A couple of weeks ago we got this opportunity and loved every minute of it.

The Hirshe Smiles foundation out of Denver, Colorado sends a group down here every six months or so. Dr. Rich Call is a big part of the organization of these groups. Wayne was able to meet him right after we moved here and in fact they left all of their "extra" supplies with the clinic for our use. A big thanks to them for that donation......it has really helped to get us started the past few months. Rich and his wife LeeAnn and Lee and Peggy Olsen were scheduled to come to Guatemala and they really needed another dentist to go with them. So we got this great opportunity.

Setting up at the school in preparation for Monday morning

Just an aside.....I didn't realize that they were all from the Denver area. As we met them and exchanged life stories I quickly found out that LeeAnn Call was from the ward that my family moved to when they returned to Denver. Her parents and my mom and dad were in a dinner group for years.....small world yet again.

Waiting for the welcome program to begin
This little girl just came and sat on my lap and would not move

Hermana Garcia....the directora of the school

The week started out with our going to Mazatenango where we worked in a school on school children and their families. The directora of the school is LDS and she had a delightful family. We really enjoyed them. The children started out Monday morning with a program for us. We listened to the national songs and watched them act out their traditions. I always love when they wear the traditional dress. Then the time came for the dental work. We had told them to schedule between 25-30 children each day....it turned out that we did closer to 50-60. Everyone wanted their teeth looked at and would scramble for space at the front of the line.

Some of the students we worked on:



We got our first taste of HEAT that week. It is very humid in this area of Guatemala...it is closer to the coast and the beach area. It was so hot that I was literally dripping and sweat was running down my arms and legs. Have to say that the old visor came out!! We did get a couple of fans to move the air...but that quickly stopped because the compressors that we had couldn't work with the extra drain on the electricity.

Note the visor and the dripping wet hair
and the portable dental unit behind us

We spent two days at the school. The children were for the most part calm....we did have a couple of children that were pretty hysterical.....and I don't mean funny....I mean crying hysterically. They just have not had the experience of being in the dental chair or anyone putting things into their mouth. Some of them waited for HOURS and I really think that the anticipation was way worse than the experience. I was able to watch Wayne and the other dentists bring this service to these wonderful people.

When we were finished with the school personel

While we were working in the school we were able to stay in the Irtra resort. It is a famous resort complete with a water park and great activities. Unfortunately, we were at the resort only to eat dinner and sleep.....but we were so tired that we would not have been able to do anything there. It was fun to get to know the other participants during our dinner times. The resort is known for their peacocks. These birds are fascinating. Just watching them for a week and you could do a whole discourse on family relationships and interactions.

Two cute peacocks

I did not realize that peacocks fly. I watched them get into this tree

On Wednesday morning we started to climb up the mountain to Quetzaltenango. We were amazed at how green it was. This is one of the agricultural hubs of Guatemala. It looked like you could just let a seed fall and it would grow. As we entered the towns I saw some of the largest vegetables I have ever seen. It was wonderful. We were so glad to be able to visit Quetzaltenango before we leave Guatemala.

Wayne and Antonio Salguero....our good friend and organizer of the trip

This experience was a little different. We set up the dental equipment in a local LDS building. The Stake President had prescreened members that needed dental work, and they would come to the building. We were so humbled with the privledge to be able to work on these beautiful people. The women came in the indigenous dress (which you know I LOVE). At times we could feel the Spirit so strongly and just knew that we were working on descendents of father Lehi.

The first group of women that we worked on were all dressed in their native clothing and had a baby with them that was one week old. The mother of the baby girl was 17 years old. The women walked about 4 miles to get to the building, and were planning on walking home after their treatments.

The second hermana from the left is the 17 year old mother of
the adorable baby below. They put her in one of our crates while
we were working on her mother

There were so many experiences here....but one stands out to us. One of the young girls who was about 13 years old came with three of her front teeth deeply decayed. There was really no hope for her but to extract them. Wayne had told the other doctors that he would do root canals if needed. Root canals have to be selective because of the time they take. Spending that much time on a patient will take away time from others. The three doctors quickly conferred and decided that if any life would benefit from a root canal, it was this young Beehive. She and her mom and sister came back the next morning first thing and Wayne did the root canals. It took about 1 1/2 hours. Then Lee did the restorations in front. She spent most of the morning in the dental chair.

As she was finishing her mother motioned to me. She had me come over to where she was sitting and told me through tears that she was so thankful for this blessing in her daughter's life. If we hadn't been there.....they would have had to pull these three front teeth. We hugged through both of our tears. What a tender moment.

Our dental miracle with her mom, sister and the crew

Another brother who was seventy years old sat in the chair and wanted Wayne to put fillings in two or three literal nubs of teeth that he had in front. Wayne explained to him that there weren't any teeth to put fillings in those....but he could extract them. The brother didn't want them extracted....they didn't hurt.....but Wayne found something to do. As we were working on him, Wayne asked him how long he had been a member of the Church. The man proudly said 17 years and then proceeded to open his wallet and show us his temple recommend. It was his proudest possession.

A father came in the last afternoon that we were there with his three daughters. He wanted his daughters to have dental work. After we finished, we found out that the mother had been killed in an automobile accident just a few months ago. We were able to give one of the donated quilts to this family.



These people are in the middle of getting a temple build right in their own area. It will be such a blessing for these faithful Saints. I can not complain any more about the hour that I have to travel to attend the temple at home. These people need it closer than I do!!!

Scene of Lake Atlitlan on our way down the mountain
we love the volcanoes there

Saturday we opened the clinic for this Stake from Quetzaltenango to bring some future missionaries to get their papers signed and their dental work completed for the mission. The Stake brought seven future missionaries down. They had to leave about 3:30 in the morning to make the trip and arrive at 8:00am. What a wonderful experience. We love working on the future missionaries. You just KNOW that you are maybe the difference in their being able to serve.

Back home at our dental clinic working on future missionaries

The futuros from Quetzaltenango

What a great week. We loved getting to know the Calls and the Olsens. Hopefully we will be able to return to Guatemala with them in the future and serve again.

Celebrating when it is all over.....Tacontento