Domingo

We attended church, didn't understand much but the people were great. We need to sit in the front and not look back since there are mothers nursing in the chapel!

Gary is felling pretty good since if you have a "tummy hanging out" you are considered bishop material.

The mission has a rule: no caffeine drinks, we are setting an example. Gary is handling it ok but he seems a little dumb.

Kathy is in a strange habit of: being very enthusiastic in the morning and works hard all day, then, in the evening she blames Gary for every thing: the heat, the bugs, the crazy driving, no tv, no Internet in our house, and so on. Gary, being dumb with no coca cola, just stares at her lovingly and waits until morning.

One picture shows that the way the houses are built, they do not need any fire alarms or a escape routs, since every actual building is cinder block with plaster on the bricks inside, and, tile every where inside with no carpet or curtains. There just isn't much to burn!
Also, people live below, but, the builders leave the rebar on the next layer in case they rent a 2nd floor.
The next picture shows a little bit of the security around the chapel, it is about a 20 foot fence with rolled barbed wire on the top. Also, the building has non-removable steel grating over all the windows and steel grating doors.
The last picture is a shot of a few of the six office missionaries we have mostly been hanging with, these guys are great!!

THE LAST END OF P DAY

We ended up int the office doing our once a week finances and catchup stuff. Here is Gary doing some work:

P DAY CONTINUED

We went with six missionaries to see a Mayan ruins. Very impressive, really in the jungle. Here is a shot of us there:

OUR PREPARATION DAY

We are going for a tour of some ruins, then doing our finances and stuff later.

I thought I killed a cockroach this morning with spray. I went to sweep him up and he took off! Very tough bug. We all share the house.

Here is a picture of our clothes dryer. Pretty cute eh!!

LOCK DOWN

For three days the whole mission had to stay off the street.   So, the president had the elders sleep in the chapel on the chapel benches!!   They brought pillows.   The sisters all stayed at the closest sister apartment.   Each day they gathered at the chapel and stayed all day until 8pm.   The fist day, Thursday,   They were taught lessons, they later got in a circle, each reading two verses of the new testament and went on for two days until they finished it.   This lock-down is for a very strange Easter celebration, called "holly week" (they really are not celebrating Easter as we know it),  they dress up with masks and weird costumes, and get a bit out of control.    They make human figures that are supposed to be judas,  they haul him around house to house eating and celebrating and after a few days they burn them.  This is a picture of the missionaries in one zone reading.

DRIVING HERE IS INSANE

There are no traffic cops, no need for a license, never get stopped for insane driving, it simply is survival of the fittest!!

Five hour drive to Retalhuleu. We had a good driver hired by the church to take missionaries from the "arrival hotel" to the mission.

The missionaries here worked real hard to get us a furnished nice place. They stocked us up with all kinds of kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff, and it is ok. One problem, no air condition, of course, and windows open with no screens, and a few fans. It is really hot and humid but we are ok. No covers for bed, Just a sheet. We went to bed a little scarred, wondering where the lizard is that came in through the window.
The president invited us to lunch and then gave us many hard assignments. We will be working day and night. Gary has missionary training and housing, Kathy has English training for the Latino missionaries. The church wants them to know English so they can get better jobs when the go home.
We met a bunch of missionaries today. We were talking to a sister missionary and she laughed while telling us her companion died. We were really shocked when she said this until she told us that "died" means to finish your mission and go home.

These missionaries are just wonderful, we just love them already!!

Every Guatemalan you smile at or wave at smiles and wave back. Really nice but very poor people.

Oh, by the way, only cold showers.  The shower has one knob, but, in this heat it is ok.

Here are some shots of our house

Travel to Guatemala

Got up at 530a. Got to Guatemala at 7p, same time as Utah. We rigged our luggage so we could pull all six bags, the four big bags weigh 50 lbs each. We strapped a big, medium, and little together so that the rolled like a train. Got a few laughs in the Guatemala City airport.

The flights were on time. The only problem in our gordo (fat) situation, we barely fit in the seats! Very uncomfortable. But, the flight to Dallas was only two hours and the flight to Guatemala from Dallas was only three hours.

We had no others missionaries on our flights but we waited in the SLC airport with about eight, half boys and half girls, going to the Chech Republic. They were so impressive! They did not watch the tv monitors and did not leave there companions side. They obeyed every rule for the 2.5 hour wait. We just love them!!

When we got to Guatemala City we were met by the two nicest guys, twins in fact. The let us talk to the mission president so that we knew who they were. We were taken to the Barceló hotel, very nice, and all paid for.

They are brothers not twins. The one met us in his Sunday suit with a tie. We knew immediately by his dress he was a member of the church . We felt so blessed the our Heavenly Father has watched over us. This truly is an adventure. We feel it a privilege to be on the Lord's errand.

Our Last Day at the MTC
the MTC really kept us busy today, Sunday.    We started with a district Sacrament Meeting with a district, all the young missionaries are assigned to small groups called districts.   The young people gave good talks and did the sacrament service.
Then, to an all cereal breakfast.    The missionaries seemed to really like this cereal fest.   But, I wondered about the missionaries from other countries where they don't eat cereal.   By the way, they had every know sweet cereal made!
We had meetings most of the day, but, it still feels like we are mostly eating.
During our last meeting, I finally got a call from our mission:   They have an english speaking man pick us up and take us to a hotel by the airport, then, tomorrow we head out into the jungle to our mission home.   This is a major answer to prayers!  We were very worried that we were going to be stranded since after many emails we got no response.   And, of course, the stories of robbery in Guatemala continued to roll in.

We were reminded again that if we strictly obeyed the mission rules, and always followed the promptings of the spirit, we would not be harmed and would be protected.

One thing was promised us in the last devotional.   The speaker said we would be helped on our mission by our loved ones that had passed away.  This understanding was very special to us!  Gary's dad, Kathy parents, and our grandsons are going with us!!

So we fly tomorrow,  very short stop in Dallas and onto Guatemala.

6th Day at the MTC
Today was our "preperation" day, and it snowed all day!
We did our wash and it worked out OK.   The washers and dryers are real tough and good.    It took half the time to dray as our home dryer.
It was a day of fun meetings:    We ran into Jasmine Rindlesbacher from our SLC ward.    She is off to Budapest and has had a really rough time, all kinds of "barriers" to her mission.   She must have a special mission coming!  She was just wonderful and very excited.
Then, Gary bought a cheap watch at the MTC book store, and, the young girl clerk asked us where we are going, and, she has been called to the same mission, arriving in June!   She and we were so excited to see each other.   We, again, were a bit overcome with the thought that we will be tasked to help take care of these kids in a rough land.
Finally, we ran into Kathy Marler, a very dear friend from Escondido in San Diego.   She and her husband will be mission presidents in Peru!    We had so much fun catching up with the Escondido gossip.
We did a lot of Spanish study and we feel a bit overwhelmed but we will persist.
We had to completely re-pack so that our carry-ons contained enough stuff for us to live for a few days without our big suitcases, in case they were lost.    We have a pro-weighing machine by our MTC room, and, after moving small items back and forth, we have four suitcases at 49 pounds each.   Just under the limit.
It is really cold and we have no cold weather clothing!!
By the way, if you would like to leave a comment, please include you name,   We only see the comment otherwise.

5th Day at the MTC

We finished our training from the "Preach My Gospel" manual.   We had mock encounters again.  This time, we played both an inactive couple and the missionaries visiting them.  We have had some experience with inactiveness so we did a good job.

We are over eating still.   Can't help it, all we do is sit and eat.   So, we have to make eating an event.

I have a bad habit of patting Kathy on the butt as we walk around.   Gary, not thinking as usual, patted Kathy on the but will dropping off our dirty dishes.   As a result of this pat, we had a bunch of missionaries behind us have a very good laugh!!   Very embarrassing.

We checked out the laundry since we have to do some.   The laundry has probably a hundred or more stacked washer dryers.   We will give it a try tomorrow.

Our main worry is that we will not be picked up at the Guatemala City Airport since we get little communication from our Mission.  Gary, always the worrier, is trying to get some back up plans in case we get stranded.

We are up at 530 am.  So, we have eaten a lot of food at the cafeteria and are sitting in our little room deciding if we should study spanish, or, go to bed at 630p!!

4th Day at the MTC

We had our training as usual and it was really hard but fun, to talk to this role playing lady, her story was: lost her Dad and in the middle of a divorce.

Kathy and I wore matching colors today which got lots of comments from the teachers.
Gary is still miserable without is diet pepsi, but, he is surviving.
We went to dinner with our teachers to Zoppa's, a soup and salad place.   The young teachers and their friend were crazy.  The girl went to Spanish Speaking Sacramento,  the boy teacher went to Argentina, and, his friend went to Brazil.  They were showing us all the hand signs from their missions and we were laughing our heads off!!   What a fun time.
Zuppa's was ok, good soup and salad.

We are just getting fatter since you can eat all you can here.   Gary is so fat he had to buy a bigger belt! And, Gary is having a hard time wearing a suit, white shirt and tie every day.  He has broken out with a neck rash from the wearing the white shirt.

3rd Day At MTC

A few big events today:
We did a very realistic mock investigator meeting.   The MTC arranges with people in the area to act as investigators, and, they are well trained and very realistic.
Kathy and I talked to an older man, and, we talked about God loving him and that he could see his dear wife again, who recently passed away, and, it was very spiritual including tears!!   Really interesting.

Then, hundreds of new missionaries came in to today.  It seemed like at least half were young ladies.  I was very impressive to see them all being led around by hosts and enjoying their enthusiasm.

We met our dear spanish tutor at the cafeteria.   We only knew him over "skyp".   He was really fun.

We have been training every day from Preach my Gospel on how to bring people to Christ.  It has been an amazing experience and we have learned so much.  We are going to teach another investigator tomorrow.
We sat by a district of French Missionary's.  The girls were gorgeous they were going to Paris and some to Leon Mission.  They told us the second day in the mission they were handed Preach my Gospel in French and told to teach.  Wow.  What a blessing to be here and be apart of this great missionary movement....I thought we had it hard, the kids really do work day and night

2nd day at the MTC
We had a good day today learning and using the Preach My Gospel method of doing missionary work. Our teachers are recently returned young missionaries and they are full of fun and energy.
We have had to "role play" teaching converts with Kathy and with other couples.
The food is average and there is too much of it.   However, at the evening meal we are able to get a pretty good salad.   The cafeteria is gigantic and handles all 3000 missionaries without long lines.  Tomorrow, we have to teach a person that came from the surrounding cities that may or may not be a member but has agreed to act as an investigator.   We have to teach for 45 min!!  We are a little scared about doing this.
Gary is having a hard time with no diet pepsi.    He has a headach and is sleepy and is real dumb!! 
We are going to a fireside tonight.   A General Authority comes every week to do a fireside for the missionaries.
The General Authority was Elder and Sister Whiting, and, the talks were very inspiring to us.  Again, as it has happened to Kathy and I before, we were led to repentance to be more diligent in prayer and obedience.
We felt very inspired by the words that were given to us.  We both are going to be more dillagent in praying for the Holy Ghost to help us over come our fears.

First Day at MTC

Got dropped off by several of our children and their families.   Very fun and very sad to say good bye.   They were so nice to convoy us to the MTC (missionary training center) bringing us and all our luggage.   We took pictures, kissed goodbye, dropped off luggage, and they went home and we started our MTC stay.
Got lots of info, travel stuff, and, a key to our room.  The room is small but very nice.  Basically a double bed, a table with stuffed chairs, a bathroom sink, toilet, and a real nice shower.  Nicely decorated and really clean.   We will be staying here until Monday 3/25 morning.
Kathy and I missed breakfast, so, we made up for it at dinner.   A gigantic cafeteria, with 6 or 7 food stations, lots of drink fountains all around with sodas, milk, and juice.   We had large salads from a salad bar that has a serving person, and, fish and chips.  Food was good.
The day consisted of telling us what we will study this week and introductions to the MTC leaders.  We had a fun time talking to the other Senior missionaries:  Going to Russia, Singapore, the US and many other countries.
When we first arrived, young missionaries handled our luggage.  One of them was from McKinney Texas, the same place that Kary and Family live.  And, it turns out he knows our grand daughter Haley and in fact while we were there, Haley had gone to this boys farewell sacrament meeting!!
We were talking about all the young women that have signed up for missions.   One of our instructors said that they have 3000 missionaries at the MTC now, and, will grow to 7000 by July and 50% will be girls!!  One senior missionary said that where he lives, the local jewelry store had more than 30 engagement rings returned by young women deciding to go on a  mission rather that get married!!
Also, we had wonderful news that twins Heather is carrying for Jake and Jane.  Both kids are doing really well as is Heather.  They will check again in two weeks!!