Christrmas Week

On Monday, December 22, we had a group outing with all the other missionaries to Iximche and Los Colinas.  It was a wonderful day!  Iximche is ruins of the ancient capitol of the Kaqchikel, a Mayan tribe in the area.  There is a lot of known history for this area because it is relatively new for an ancient Mayan ruin.  It was built in 1478 AD and conquered by the Spanish Conquistadores in 1524.  It included more than 170 buildings.  What is left now are the pyramids of stone on which the original wooden buildings were built.

Inside the little  museum on the grounds is this miniature representation of the original city.

This is a ball court.  They played a ball game of some sort here.  President Burke said that, if you won the game, you got the privilege of being sacrificed, unless it was the day the loser got to be sacrificed.

This is the sacrificial stone.  Looks like Gary won the game...or lost it!

 Dorine coming down the steps from the ball court.  They are very steep, but the step itself is so narrow that  you have to come down sideways.

This is one of the pyramids.  The top and parts of the sides are overgrown, but you can get an idea of what it looks like.

 This large tree was in the middle of the area.  A close-up of the trunk is very interesting.

Woodpeckers bored holes all up the trunk, and squirrels filled the holes will little acorns.  This was the only tree we saw that had this phenomenon.

Here we are in front of one of the temple pyramids.

This is an area where Mayans still perform religious rituals.  The round stones are altars, and the rocks in the picture above are places where candles are burned and fruits and vegetables are sacrificed.  They no longer do animal sacrifices.

We spent a delightful couple of hours exploring these ruins then got back in the vans and headed to Los Colinas.  That is a church-owned camp for youth camps, EFY, etc.  It is  a beautiful facility that covers 300 acres.  The staff of the camp prepared a delicious lunch for us.  They were in the process of breaking camp from a huge EFY that brought kids from all over Central America.

 This was the boys campsite and is nearly all down.

 This is the girl's campsite and is still up. 

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 It was called Camp of Helaman.

And this is the lunch room where we ate.  We really enjoyed this visit!

On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we had a wonderful Christmas dinner at the Burks followed by some games and visiting.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

First Week of November

Hello!  It's already November???

On Monday Gary couldn't wait any longer to set up our Christmas tree, so we had great fun putting up our little "Charlie Brown" tree for our Guatemala Christmas.  Look how cute!

The snowman dances to "Frosty the Snowman".  He is so cute, we can't stop putting him down on the floor and squeezing his hand to make him dance.  His personality makes our tree so much cuter!!

On Friday we celebrated Dorine's birthday with a breakfast at San Martin.  It was yummy!

 Dorine's breakfast:  Scrambled eggs with onions, peppers, etc, fried plantains, and refried black beans along with a glass of mandarin orange juice. 

Gary's breakfast of eggs sunny side up on top of quesadilla with ham and cheese, plantains, and refried beans with regular orange juice.   The bowl between the two plates was filled with various breads.  We ate way too much!  We also went into the bakery and bought some rolls to make sandwiches for lunch. 

 We love to sit in the outdoor section of the restaurant where the air is so fresh and pleasant this time of year.  The veranda is surrounded by clear plastic walls, so you can see the view outside. 

 On the way home, since we had the camera along, we had to take some pictures of the shrubbery along the way.  Don't know the name of these plants, but they are always so pretty!

 This bougainvillea is spilling over the back fence of the CCM (MTC).  We see it all over the place. 

 At the outer gate to our casa Dorine poses with the fuschia we picked up at Vivero's to hang in our patio.

And, inside the above gate we are welcomed by the front courtyard with it's gorgeous hanging ferns and other  flowering and nonflowering plants.  Above the wall, to the back, you can see ripe oranges on the tree in the lot next door.  They look so tempting, but they are out of reach.  We have picked some mandarin oranges from the miniature tree in our back garden though! 

Bienvenido (Welcome)

We had a Bienvenido for the Brubakers and the Allreds on Monday evening.  Of course, with Halloween on Friday, we had a Halloween theme to our treat table.

In case you can't see it very well, there are two plates of ghosts and two plates of pumpkins in the bottom picture.   The ghosts are bananas and chocolate chips, and the pumpkins are peeled oranges with a piece of bell pepper stuck in the top for the stem.  Thought they were really cute!

We also had some visitors, two doctors and their wives, who were invited by the president after he had to have their help to recover from his blocked arteries, and Elder and Sister Burbidge.  Sister Burbidge is the nurse at the CCM (MTC) and also our closest medical help.

We are:  First row, l-r, Hna Paniagua, Hna, & Elder Brubaker, Hna & Elder Allred, President Burk.
Second row, l-r:  Elder & Hna Cuellar, Hna Cordon, Hmna Guzman, Hna & Elder Padilla, doctors and their wives, Hmna Burk.
Third row:  Hna Wilson, Hna Cabellero, Hmna Tanner, Hmna Thompson, Hmna Barney, Hmna & Pres. Roberts.
Fourth row:  Elder Wilson, Elder Eberhard & Hmna Eberhard, Elder & Hmna Burbidge, , Pres. Thompson, Hmna & Elder Gardner & Elder Barney.

Late October

We finally have some pictures so we can blog this week!  On Tuesday Hermana Tanner turned 80.  The single sisters had a pizza lunch with her on Monday, and we sang to her at home evening that night, but Hermana Barney and Hermana Eberhard wanted to do something more since it is such a special birthday and she is away from her family.  We took her to breakfast at San Martin.  She was so thrilled!  We told the waitresses it was her birthday, so they brought her a muffin with a sign stuck in it that said Feliz Cumpleanos.  It was on a plate, and they had written in frosting Happy Birthday  80.  They also gave her  a San Martin hat which is like a chef's hat and a balloon.  She was so tickled!  Unfortunately, we forgot to bring a camera, so we went back to her apartment and took pictures there. 

The pictures are small because we took them on her I-Pad and she e-mailed them to us, but this is Hermana Tanner.

We took this one in the mirror of the three of us.

Note our bright, autumn colors.  We don't get autumn here, so we have to dress for it!

We got our two new missionary couples this week, the Brubakers and Allreds.  It was our assignment to collect food donations for them so they would have have something to eat until they could go shopping and also have a start.  This is how much we gathered, and this is for just one couple.  The other couple got the same things.  The one thing not pictured is the homemade bread President Thompson made because he delivered it fresh after we took the rest of the food in.  These couples are our neighbors, and it is so good to have people near us again.  They are delightful people, and we are very excited to have them here.  We will get pictures at their Bienvenido tomorrow night.

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Dorine also finished the donations from the first 8 yards of flannel for the humanitarian service project.  We're waiting for the opportunity to go to a different fabric store where the flannel is less expensive and nicer quality.  These things will be donated next week at our break the fast.

 

General Conference Week

This week we finally got to pick and eat our first ripe tomato.  It took longer than we thought it would, but it was fun to finally realize the fruits of our efforts!

The peppers are growing well too but are still too small to pick.  Sadly, the cantaloupe plants are blooming, but no fruit has set on yet.  The plants are looking pretty droopy and ragged, so it's likely they won't survive to bear fruit.  At least the fruit lady comes regularly and sells us her cantaloupes!

We have been enjoying conference very much this weekend.  On Saturday we walked to MacDonalds for a Big Mac between sessions.  Gary brought along the camera and got some good pictures of and from the pedestrian overpass we cross to get to the other side of Vista Hermosa, the busy street that runs past the temple.

 This is the temple from part way up the stairs to the overpass.  This is the back of the temple.  In the left background you can  see across the street where a Shell station sits  on the corner.  Above it you can see a large building.  That is the CCM (MTC).

 This is a shot of the overpass bridge from the first landing of the stairs.  Dorine is standing on the bridge.  You can see the cars going under the bridge.  The street is really busy, so the Church built the overpass for the safety of the people coming to the temple.

 Gary got this shot of Moroni framed by the trees from the bridge.

 He took another shot on our way back home.  It is a really inspiring view from up there!

Despedida

On Monday night our family home evening was a despedida (farewell) for two couples who are finishing their missions this month, the Murri's and the Barlows.  Both couples are our close neighbors and the only other missionaries living on the ground floor of our building, so we will be alone here for a few weeks before their replacements come.  The Murri's leave tomorrow morning and the Barlows next Monday morning.  They will be missed.

The despidida happened to fall on Guatemala's independence day, so the dinner was very festive.

The dinner was a potluck, but all the Latins brought authentic hispanic food, and it was wonderful!

For dessert we had President Roberts' birthday cake.  His 70th birthday was two days after the party so Hmna Roberts pulled off a surprise party for him with a beautiful cake and a slide show presentation of his life.

The Murri's are in the top photo at the table to the right.  Elder Murri is at the head of the table and Hmna Murri is to his left facing the camera.  In that picture are also:  L to R Hmna Cuellar, Hmna y Elder Wilson,  Pres. y Hmna Thompson facing the camera, and Elder y Hmna Barney with their backs to the camera.  Pres. Roberts is in the foreground.

The second photo is a repeat of the far left table in the photo above but shows Hmna Cabellero who didn't show up in the first.  The third table shows Elder Barlow in the front then the Gardners and Gary. 

The next table shows Hmna Guzman, Hmna Tanner and Hmna Barlow. The last photo is from the other end of the table in the first shot.  On the left side of the table you can see Hmna Burk and, on the right side, Hmna Cordon.  Everyone else in the photo has already been pointed out.  This is a wonderful group of people.  We have come to love them very much.

After dinner we went back to the president's living room where we thoroughly enjoyed hearing the Guatemalan National Anthem from Hmnas Cuellar, Cordon, y Padilla and Elder Padilla.  The did a beautiful job, and it is a beautiful anthem.  We then heard farewell speeches from our departing missionaries.  It was a very uplifting evening!

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Humanitarian Service Project

Because several of you have expressed interest in participating in the service project we are doing, this post is to give you more detail on what is needed and why and to show you what we are doing and give you ideas for how you can participate.

The project is being headed by Elder and Sister Milne who are senior missionaries serving in the church dental office.  Retired dentists are called to come serve a mission providing dental services.  They bring much of their own equipment but are partnered with Catholic Charities who provide things like the building, utilities, etc.  The dentists then provide free services for children who cannot afford it as well as missionaries in our local MTC who couldn't afford to have their work done before their mission.  One of the schools that they serve is one that was set up by some local men who recognized a need among the people who live their lives in the garbage dump.  They scrape a meager existence by going through all the garbage that comes to the dump and pulling out anything they can use or recycle.  Their children are born there and not registered with the government so cannot attend public schools.  This school is run on charity and provides those children an opportunity to get an education.  We donate money for it every month and others also donate what they can.  The dentists give the children a small gift when they do dental work to help them overcome their fear.  So a part of the service project is to provide those gifts.

Another project the Milnes have taken on is a maternity hospital run by the department of public health and social assistance.  The women who have their babies there have no money and often have no clothing for their newborn babies.  Sometimes they have to send them home with the baby wrapped in newspapers.  We are helping to provide newborn kits so the mothers at least have something for their newborns to wear home.  The kits include the following:

1 blanket or quilt
1 cloth diaper
1 diaper band
1 infant gown or shirt
1 knit cap
1 pr infant socks
1 bar baby soap
1 washcloth

Optional is sample toiletries like shampoo, toothpaste, etc for the mother

Complete kits can be provided, but the Milnes also welcome individual items on the list so they can put together kits.  It is easy to purchase packs of diapers, washcloths, socks, etc, so they are especially in need of blankets and knit caps.  

There is a fabric store about a mile down the street where we went and bought 8 yards of flannel.  Here is how I cut up each yard.
                                      

The picture is not as clear as I had hoped, but, if you look carefully, you can see that I cut  an 11" strip off one side of a yard of flannel.  I cut that strip into three pieces, each 11" square. (I will explain below what I do with those squares.)   (By the time I get the yard piece straight on both ends, it is about 33 inches long.  Since it starts out 44" wide, the 11" strip I cut off leaves me a 33" x 33" square for a receiving blanket.

 

The first one I made I crocheted two pieces of flannel together like I do for my grandchildren, but I realized that is quite time consuming and also uses twice the flannel.

                                           



                                                

So I made the second one with one layer of flannel and machine hemmed it.  Since I love to crochet them, I will probably still do some crocheted ones, but I want to repeat this process every month, so some will have to be done faster.  There are no specific guidelines for the blankets.  They can be small fleece blankets or quilts.

With the 11" square pieces of flannel I am making these drawstring bags for little boys.  In each bag I put a Hot Wheels car. 

                          
                                  
With others of the 11" squares I am making these dolls for little girls which are called burrito babies and are from a pattern I got off the internet that is a church-approved humanitarian service project.  The website is www.bevscountrycottage.com/hum-doll-pattern.html.  The instructions are to cut the raw edges with pinking shears, but I don't have them here so am crocheting them.

The Milnes didn't suggest these particular gifts.   They were simply ideas I came up with to make more efficient use of the flannel I bought.  Any small gift item would be appreciated including decorative hair clips, scrunchies, or small toys.

One other area where we  plan to contribute is for weekly prizes for the school.  They have to give the children prizes of food to take home or their parents will pull them out of the school to beg on the streets or find other ways to contribute to the family.  They are asking for rice, spahetti, oil, beans, sugar, etc.

I am currently working on ideas for how to get your projects shipped to Guatemala without costing an arm and a leg.  We are looking at a few different options such as a member here who flies his own plane to the US, another whose son-in-law works for Delta and flies here frequently.  We have also been told that embassy families can have things shipped to them for US postal prices.  We have several embassy families in our ward.

If you would like to start working on these projects, we will let you know when have figured out what is the best way to get things shipped.  But thank you to all of you who plan to participate!  There is such a great need, and your help is truly appreciated!