Feliz compleaños

tropical storm

for the last four days it has been raining solid.  And, the rain is supposed to last for another 2 to 3 days.  All of Guatemala is under a tropical storm.  The problem is mudslides, the ground is soaked with water and areas that do not have lots of foliage are dangerous.  Also, the rivers are raging and the streets in the cities in the low lands are like rivers.  Our cities are so are OK since everything is on a hill.  It is very hard to find many flat places.  We were scheduled to travel to a low land city and were advised not to.  And, the schools are closed.

  Most of the houses have either steel or fiberglass corrugated roofs.  The noise of the rain hitting on the roof is unbelievable.  The air is cold and inside any house is uncomfortable cold, remember we have no heaters.

 Given all of that, our brave missionaries are armed with their umbrellas and are working.  We again say, we are so very impressed with missionaries.

Coming Home

We are happy to announce that we have a return date, August 20th.  Or normal return date was September 17th, but, we got approval to move it up a few weeks so that we could be home for our 51st anniversary. We had our 50th here last year and we did nothing. (keep in mind we were about 10 years old when we got married)

The interruption

We visit the missionaries in their homes in the mornings.  We study with them for a little while.  This helps to understand their needs, and, lets them know that we are interested in them and their studies.  So, we visited a pair a few days ago.  And the discussion was really spiritual.  So, Gary has a stomach problem, he has had it for a month or two.  While we were discussing spiritual things his stomach lets out a gigantic growl ruining a wonderful meeting.

Crying Lady at the baptism

We try to attend all the baptisms.   We attended a baptism of two young buys.  The families of these boy are very poor.  After most baptisms, food is served.  We had an appointment that we had to get to after the baptism concluded.  A lady brought food to us first.  We said we could not stay and had to leave.  Tears came to her eyes.  We left but we will never do that again.  The tradition here is to serve guests food no matter how poor you are.  And, Gary being a president makes it worse.

Birthday

We went to a zone meeting on Thursday.   We walked into the church building and a missionary said they were having the meeting in another room than usual.   We walked into the room and there was a big surprise party for Gary.  Tables all set, breakfast, cake, happy birthday song, and a card with lots of nice comments written on it  We were humbled and very appreciative.

Our Friends

Last night we joined are friends at a really nice restaurant.   Miguel and Cicely have been so helpful to us and we have become close friends.  We had yet another birthday meal and it was fabulous.  We were talking to them about a lady that recently got baptized but has no idea how to be a mother.  She leaves her boys, one is about 9 and the little brother is about 6, all day by themselves.   The boys are very disobedient and destructive.   Everyone simply cannot be around them.   The older boy a few months ago was in Miguel and Cicely’s house and was caught stealing anything he could put in his pocket.  Well, now, Miguel and Cicely hired the older boy to work a few hours a day at their house and they have loved these boys and the boys love them and they are improving.  We are one of the many people that could not stand these kids.  We were so impressed by what Miguel and Cicely are doing.  They are truly doing what the Savior would do!    We have learned some important lessons from Miguel and Cicely.

Here are some pictures:

BIRTHDAY 

Miguel and Cicely