Happy Sunday or "Cheek-Day" where Lana is concerned.

Dad gave his Sacrament meeting talk today in Spanish and I thought he did a pretty good job.  He says that doesn't count though because I couldn't understand most of what he said. I am so proud of him.  He came here knowing quite a lot of Spanish and has continued to work on learning it better.  There are always more words to learn!  I met a lady today that is perhaps going to help me a little with my Spanish.  I have some vocabulary but I really need someone to help me with conversation.  She tells me she can do that over Skype whenever I have the time. I just need to plan ahead on times that will work, which is a little tricky because I am not sure exactly when we will get home from the Clinic. I will let you know how that goes.

I didn't get a lot of pictures this week, but here is a few.  This first one is of a little town we went to a couple weeks ago.  I just thought it was kind of interesting, a church with a ferris wheel in front of it.  Also, most of the churches we see here are painted yellow. This is one of the few that isn't.

This little girl is another one of our "Patitos", little ducklings.  She was so cute and loved her little Burrito Baby that she got, we just had to take a picture of her.  Such brave little kids.  A ward back in Utah made a couple hundred of these little dolls to give the kids.  The girls really like them.

Last Wednesday afternoon we had seven missionaries from the CCM come in for dental work.  It took a little longer than we had anticipated.  When we finished our last patient, I looked out through the window to the waiting area and saw these two Elders totally zonked out.  They just looked so funny I started laughing and had to capture the moment.

This young girl’s name is Stephani.  Dad and I were very impressed with her, so I would like to tell you a little about her.  She is 22 years old and decided that she really wanted to go on a mission.  She came in for her dental check-up and to have her papers signed a few weeks ago.  The only problem was that she had a full set of braces on her teeth.  Dad told her that she couldn't have her braces on while serving a mission.  She would need to wait until the braces were finished to go or see about getting them off and then continue on with her mission papers. The braces had only been on a couple of months and it would be a couple years before she would be finished with them.  She said that she would check with her orthodontist.  A week later she emailed us and told us that she had an appointment to have her braces off and when could she come in again to complete her dental papers.  Dad told her she could come in the day after her braces were off.  She came in that day and we did some fillings, a couple of wisdom teeth and signed her papers.  She was so mature and dedicated to go on her mission.  What a great missionary she will be!

I shared Laren's missionary story about obedience with our district of Elders today and plan on sharing one each week with them.  So I appreciate those of you who have shared with me.  I could still use some more motivational, encouraging mission experiences to share with them, so please those of you I haven't heard from.... if you had an experience you would care to share with me I would love to hear it. 

Love to all!!     Hump Day is tomorrow, (Monday).   MOM, Grammy

Trip to Atitlan

   Wow, that last week went by super fast!  The new dental couple arrived this week, Rick and Lonna Jergensen from Medford, Oregon.  We borrowed a larger car so we three couples could go to the Lake Atitlan and check out some of the villages there. We left Friday morning and stopped at Iximche (pronounced E-shim-shae) to spend some time checking out the ruins there.  Then on to the city Panajachel, which is lakeside, but of course stopping a couple of times on the way to take pictures and shop.  When you get out into the agricultural areas you will often see people packing things around on their backs. 

   We saw another little man, age 80, packing some firewood.  The girls wanted to take a picture in passing but the guys wanted to stop and get out to take some pictures. Guess who won!  They took lots of pictures and gave the man some money for allowing us to snap pictures.  

    We stopped in a little shop where they demonstrate how they take the cotton from the plant, spin it, dye it and weave it to make the products they sell, table runners, scarves etc. They showed us which plant they used for the various colors, carrots for orange, oak tree bark for brown, paprika for burnt orange, beets for reddish purple, indigo plant for blue and several others. Then she demonstrated weaving a simple table runner.  Naturally we all bought something from them, I bought a scarf.

    We saw this little lady at the market, I think she is about 1/2 the size of Dad.  This is a little shop selling skirts and blouses for the ladies, they call it Tipico clothing.  It is just a little booth among many other booths selling all sorts of things, food, hardware, etc.

    These last pictures are outside of the CCM on the day when all the new missionaries come.  Larry saw them and took their pictures. They had just dropped their missionary at the CCM and were sitting on the grass next to the busy street having their lunch before heading home. Because all the women are in the Tipico clothing you can tell they came from several hours away.  It looks like they all packed into the van and made the trip.  For some of these families it is a real sacrifice to send their young son or daughter on a mission because they are usually helping to support the family, so to lose that income is a hardship.  But they do it and the missionary comes home and is a real strength to their ward or branch and the family. 

     Enjoy the eclipse tomorrow, several of you are right in the path.  I have heard, not sure if it is true, that this only happens in the same place once every 400 years.

    Love you all forever and always!!      MOM, Grammy

Volunteers @ Clinic

Hello Again,

    Can you believe it, it is Sunday again!  It really seems like they come more often than once a week.

    

    Last week at the Clinic was a fun change.  We had our friend from Providence, Earl Mills, come with his daughter Natalie, her husband Jaron and two children, a girl age 14 & son 17.  Actually, Jaron is a dentist and made arrangements a while ago to come and volunteer at the Clinic.  A few weeks before they came we found out he was related to Earl and that Earl was coming with them.  He was so good to bring some things to us that Joni gathered for us and took over to him.  It was a little bit of home having them here and they were all so great to help where ever they could.  Their son Kaden is very close to Wesley's age, 18 this November.  So while they were here he arranged to spend the day with some missionaries in the city.  He was a little nervous about going out, but after he came back he was bubbling over with enthusiasm.  He had a great day and is even more excited now about serving a mission when he is out of high school. This is Earl with us at the Clinic.

   Every once in a while something will suddenly remind me of home.  A couple of days ago I was getting ready for the day and heard a lawn mower and smelled fresh cut grass!  I very rarely hear or see a lawn mower, as you have seen in pictures I have sent, they usually cut the grass with a machete or a weed whacker around here.  So all of a sudden I was transported home, mowing my lawn and Allsops mowing theirs as well.  Kind of Crazy!!

   I received my Dad's Patriarchal Blessing from the church the other day.  I had lost track of when I had asked for it so it was a nice surprise to receive.  If you are interested in it, please let me know and I will email it to you. I should probably add the notice the church sent me about these blessings.  "We have been asked to remind you of the sacred nature of patriarchal blessings. Therefore, please bear in mind that the blessing should not be distributed or shared with those outside of your immediate family, including through electronic means such as in the memories section of FamilySearch, or on social media, websites, or blogs."

   This next week there is a big celebration in the area around our Clinic.  They have been building and setting up for a fair with rides and lots of booths for the past several days.  It goes on for blocks and is such a big deal we can't very easily get into our Clinic and there is no way patients can get in. Streets are blocked off and booths are built right in front of our front door.  So... we have next week off.  Check out the picture of the little roller coaster a little closer, I think someone is taking a power nap. These are the booths on our street.

   And the last picture is lunch.  A tamale wrapped in leaves.  It was pretty good.

Until next week......Love you all!   MOM, Grammy

Wood Shops

Good Morning All!

   Congratulations!!   Martin and Laren, you made it past Hump Day!  Ours is coming up later this month. We are eager to hear if you burned a tie or had some other rite of passage for the day.  We are so proud of you!!  Carry on, carry on.

   It was our second Sunday at the CCM and Dad's first week to conduct meetings.  He was nervous, but did great, as least that is what they tell me because I couldn't understand all of it.  He felt a little bad though, he was so worried about having everything prepared that he forgot his name tag.  It was a little weird seeing the Elders and Hermanas at church that we had just seen this last week in the Dental Clinic.  The one Elder I was worried about told Larry that he was doing just fine, then another Elder that was a simple extraction case complained that he was still so sore.  I know they all have different pain levels, but now I am seeing it face to face.

   The first picture is of us with Elder Hurtado (on the right) and his companion.  Elder Hurtado is from Farmington Utah and is the medical person for his mission.  That means we get to talk to him quite often when someone from his mission has a dental need, then he makes the appointment.  After talking to him for a few weeks it was good to finally meet him. 

 

    We went to a couple of woodshops in a little town about an hour away a week ago Saturday and were amazed at the beautiful things that they create.  The shops were just little and dark but the product was amazing.  This is one of the artisans making a wooden mushroom for us, he has been doing this for 32 years. 

   These wooden cherries look so very real, even the color is just right.  We bought them at one shop and the pears from another.

 

    Here are three young boys from Hogar Mi Casa, the Tio Juan orphanage.  They have come for their dental appointments and have had to travel several miles by bus and walking to get to us.  I am always so touched at how they help each other.  I am always so worried that Angel will fall as he is getting to the clinic, he...they are great kids and very kind and respectful.

 

    You know it is a small world when the son of your Stake President in Utah shows up to your mission, and here he is, Elder Benson Hill from Providence. He will be right here in a mission in Guatemala City.  Last month we had another Elder from Providence at the CCM, Elder Henderson.  A fun surprise!

 

     Thanks everyone for your love, support and your prayers!  We have been so blessed thus far here, with health, safety, etc.

 Until next week.....   Love, MOM, Grammy

A Street Performer

    On our walk Friday morning, we took pictures of a few things we see on our walks.  Always lots of little tables set up selling food.  I have been told that some people live in places that don't have kitchens and their meals are the street food.  It always looks good, but I don't dare try it, also it is one of our mission rules: No street food!

    Yesterday was our first day at the CCM for Sunday meetings. Dad and I never spent a Sunday at the MTC in Provo so we don't know how that works, but here when the new missionaries get to the CCM on Wednesday they are told to write a five minute talk to be given in Spanish the next Sunday.  On Sunday 6-8 missionaries are called up to give a talk, then they are all supposed to prepare another talk for the next Sunday about a different topic.  The idea is that when they leave the CCM they will have 6 talks ready to give in any ward they are assigned to. After Sacrament meeting they go into Relief Society and Priesthood meetings.  The third hour is District lessons, here Dad and I meet with a district and have two companionships give a discussion to the rest of our group and then the group gives ideas on what the companionship did good and what they could have done differently.  For RS they have three groups, Branch A Spanish, Branch B Spanish and Branch A&B English.  That was really nice to go to a RS in English for a change.  We are encouraged to eat breakfast and lunch there with the missionaries to kind to "rub shoulders with them". The man Dad is replacing has been there for 2 1/2 years.  Big shoes to fill!  Here is a picture of us in front of the CCM.

     We often see Street performers but don't get the opportunity to take their picture.  Here is one time we did get a picture.  I think they are brothers and the smaller one on top is juggling 2 limes.  I just had to give them a couple of Quets, they were so cute.

     They create walls of plants down here which is very interesting and lovely.  They attach some black fabric that has rows and rows of little pockets in it onto a wall, then add a plant to each pocket.  The water is run across the top of the wall and it runs down watering the plants.  Of course, they can do this here because it never freezes.  One time we had some hail, but it melted very quickly.

     Hope everyone enjoyed their July because we are now on to August!

  Love you muchly!!  MOM, Grammy