ARMY OF GOD

So, a few things first.  

We were sitting in a most amazing and fancy pizza restaurant we have ever been in.  Someone at the door to open it for you, sit down service, excellent waiters, he served us the first slice of pizza.  Then we paid at the table.  This is a Pizza Hut!!

We made an attempt to get to a ward house that is in the middle of nowhere, after two hours, we did not find it, however, we were on the worst roads ever, see the picture

(By the way, that is not a school bus.  Somehow they get USA school buses here and use them like taxi buses)

We just received 28 new missionaries.   20 of these are from the USA, and 10 of those are sisters.   These are amazing new missionaries, they know Spanish, they are focused and ready to go.  The current missionaries are overwhelmed by their knowledge of Spanish and their dedication.  They "hit the ground running"  We feel that the missionaries of today are the best and most able spirits and Heavenly Father has kept them in reserve for these last days.   They are in all ways an Army of God!

GARY IS FINALLY POPULAR

So, Gary has never been very popular.  For example he data one girl, that was Kathy, she data the entire east bench.   Well, it took getting to Guatemala to solve his social problem.  He now has lots of friends.  They all have the same name:  entamoeba coli, or, parasites.

We found out about his buddies because he had a constant tummy ache.   So, he had to get a stool test.  Well, thing are not to formal here.  No cute little envelope with a stick and all kinds of complicated equipment.  We just got some into a left over Chinese food take out box and took it to this doctors office.  The lady there looked at my name tag and said to come back in an hour.  No disclaimer forms or insurance forms or wrist bands, etc.  So we came back in an hour, the lady gave us a single typed page, and said, "tiene parásitos" and we paid her about $2.50 dollars.

However, he has to brutally kill his friends with some antibiotics and he is back to his anti-social self.

On the other hand, here is Gary with a friend we hired.

PICTURES

LOVE IN THE MOUNTAINS

We went to the mountains to work with the missionaries there.   Three hours of winding roads, but, the place is beautiful.  And, the weather is cool and in fact cold, which means, no cockroaches and no Mosquitos.    So, this is what we do.   Kathy, as we have said before, is responsible for the Latino English program.    This is a church sponsored program to teach the Latinos some English before they go home so that the have a better chance of improving their employment and church service.  Kathy has made a really cute little video that we play on our laptop.   She gathers five or six Latino missionaries and shows them the video and encourages them to work on their English.  (They have study books) however, what Kathy really does is she shows them her love for them and her true concern for their personal improvement.  So, with really bad Spanish and her giant heart she really gets these kids to know that she cares about them and, as a result, most are working On their English.

Gary is responsible for the in-field training of new missionaries.   He meets with each training companionship, a trainer and a student.  (A seasoned missionary and a new missionary) They have a book that outlines how to do the training.   The training is really important since the MTC training has been shortened due to the tremendous amount of new missionaries,  however, the training is hard and takes time, so, many tend to not do too much training.   This is Gary's job, to get them to do the training.  So Gary mets with each training companionship.   He reviews the progress they have done in their book.  Then, he asks them to show him how they study.  Then, he does this little test.  He tells them that we are going to have an exam.  This is where they get a very worried look.  He says let's pretend I am an investigator, a Guatemala Indian that only know basic Spanish.  (This is to compensate for Gary's lack of Spanish),  and the new missionary is the teaching missionary.  Well all this ends up in lots of laughs and fun.  Gary tells them he loves them and he is very proud of them and will visit them again and then gives them a piece of candy.

So, after being here for a few months we are doing what we all understand.  The way to get your teaching understood is to prove to your students that you really love and care for them.

PICTURES

WHY IS THIS MISSION SO HARD

We are sitting in this Chinese restaurant, for the first time,  we have no idea whether we will get a parasite for life or be deathly ill, we can't understand any body, we can't talk to any body, in a few minutes it will rain like a fire hose, we drove in the dark last night, cars with no lights, no markings on the road, missed a turn off and all most went on the wrong side of the road, and so on...   Kathy looks at Gary and says, sweetheart why do you think this mission is so hard.

FORTH OF JULY

Before saying few words about the forth of July here, we would like to say a few words about our mission:

We seemed to have reached a turning point and we are doing well.  We are at the three month mark and during these three months we have been tested.  We assume that we needed to show The Lord that we could handle the whole mission.  There were several time that if we knew were the bus station was we would have "abandoned shop"  but, we got through by praying many times a day and studying the scriptures.  We would be lead to read about having faith to handle adversity.  We reflected often upon the character of Nephi, never losing hope.  When he was so harshly tied down on the ship, watching his parents suffering and not being able to help. We noted that he didn't ask The Lord to lightning bolt his brothers, after many hours he just asked for the strength to bust the cords.  These kind of examples caused us to repent several times.

So now, we are still limited in the language but we are beginning to see why we are here, and, the many areas we can be of use.  Just talking and loving the missionaries we meet seems to be helpful.   We are very careful as things improve to understand that it is all God's work and our job is to just look forward and do the next right thing.

We finally have a car.  We do not use it for any thing but missionary work.  And, the new president seems to like us.  However, we are very careful do not think that we are "any better or any worse than anyone else" to paraphrase president Hinckley.

Now, the Forth of July.   This picture was taken last Forth of July and this is about as good as it gets.

Also, we thought the next picture is interesting.   The truck has one tire on one side and two on the other.  Note that only one tire can fit on the right side.  Maybe they turn right a lot and everything shuffles to the left side.  After many flats they decided to fix the problem. 

THE CAR

We must be getting closer to being real missionaries since we had our fist sort of rejection.  We had a neighbor all committed to go to church with us Sunday and Saturday we saw her pack up and leave town!   Kind of disappointing.   We will try again.

Today is preparation day for the missionaries.   So we traveled by what they call here a taxi.  (But what it is like is back in the day of "how many people can you stuff in a Volkswagen"  only in this case it is how many people you can stuff in many versions of old broken down cars.  When the hordes of us unpacked, then another guy jumped out of the trunk). We travelled to a church and met all members of a local zone and had a great time.  They played games, had water fights and a cook off of which we were the judges.  There were just two meals each from our friends so Kathy chose one and I chose the other to avoid hurt feelings.

It rained really hard and we had to walk a ways to get a taxi back.  We were soaked!  We got in an old car and Kathy and I were stuffed in the front.  Kathy's rear was crammed up against the gear shift.  Each time the driver shifted Gary had to help Kathy lift up.

So, we finally got a car.  We got the old corolla that has been used by the office missionaries.  Here is a picture of its sleek lines.

We are told it will be replaced by another car since this one is in bad shape.  The new car will be a Toyota Rav4, identical to our car at home.