Hello Family,
First of all, some of you have asked about the missionary who was attacked by the lion. He is in the South Mission and so our neighbors are his mission president and wife. He is from St. George. Monday was p-day and his Zone was at the Zoo. He passed the barriers of the Lion cage to get a good picture of himself with the lions and one of them grabbed him, the other lion then attacked as well. This morning (July 14th) we had an area meeting and the area doctor came in to get permission from Elder Falabella to have this Elder flown home to Utah for more adequate care. His hand is not receiving any blood circulation and so they are afraid that he might have to have it removed. They are also extremely concerned about infection. He is in very serious condition. They were scheduled to fly out this morning. It has been interesting to me to see and hear about some of the things that the missionaries deal with health-wise here. Most of them are not brought on by themselves though. We have had an Elder who was swept away in a river and ended up in the hospital with a concussion and broken bones, another Elder had gangrene, but most of what we see are sprains and ingrown toenails. Heavenly Father does protect his missionaries though.
We had our first Zone Leaders' Council last Tuesday. We had about 30 missionaries for lunch. I think that Ed felt like it went very well and it was good to have an opportunity to spend some time with them so that we can get to know each one of them better. Some of them travel on old busses or micro vans 10 hours to get here. You would not believe how many people they can stuff in to a bus!
Last week we traveled over 800 miles. Because of the trouble up in Peten we always caravan with one other vehicle and so three Elder came with us. Our two assistant, Elders Davis and Williams came and so did Elder Olsen. They are so GREAT! We have two vehicles in the mission, a Hilux truck and then the car Ed drives. I can't think of it's name right now, I will have Dad tell you. Anyway, I know that if we did not have those vehicles we would not have gotten everywhere we needed to be. At one point none of us thought that we would be it out of the mud...but we did!
Wednesday morning the Elders met us at our house at 5:00 in the morning and we were off to Coban. We met/visited with the missionaries until the evening and then checked into our hotel. This is where we saw our first monkeys! Many of the hotels have monkeys, parrots and other animals in the front of the area so that the people staying there can see them. It is like a little mini zoo. Ed and I were able to have dinner with the Stake Presidency and their wives that night. They are all in their late 30's or early 40's and three of the wives of the Stake Presidency teach early morning seminary. One of the counselors has a serious form of cancer and is undergoing treatment right now, but he is cheerful and kind. He says, "I have my family sealed to me. Nothing else matters." It was fun to meet them and spend some time with them. Coban is a really rainy place and that evening it rained hard. Luckily, we were able to find an umbrella, but it was way too late for my hair!
Thursday we left Coban at 6:00 to travel to the area called the Polochic. This is the area that has been written about most recently in the Deseret News. Men and women spend each day just merely trying to survive. The men all have machetes and they use them for everything. They get wood each day to use in the home. There are field after field of corn planted on way steep mountainsides. The women make tortillas everyday using the corn they grow. Very few people own their own land. The Polochic is very humid and can get very hot. It is very remote, but very beautiful. In the Polochic many people speak Mayan dialects, but the one that our missionaries learn is called Q'eqchi'. These people for the most part are very quiet and humble and the little people are DARLING!!! Our missionaries live without electricity and running water, only using the water they can collect in the rainbarrells. However, the Church is in the process of building cement housing that will have at least a generator so that they can have a fan and cook stove. They keep telling us that the housing will be done in two weeks and then two more weeks, etc. Hopefully the two weeks will come soon. Our missionaries are wonderful though and those that are in Polochic do not want to come out. Many of our missionaries in Polochic live in remote communities and so had left even earlier than we did to meet with us. Some of the investigators and members walk hours to get to the Church and then make the return trip when Church is over. One of the ares Chulac has 70% membership in the Church. Other little communities are quite hostile to those who are members and missionaries for the Church.
Friday we traveled to Peten. This is the hottest place in our mission and Saturday night at the District Conference the air conditioning in the Church was broken. It was 104 degrees. The poor men in their suits just had sweat dripping off their chins and they had already been there for the previous Priesthood leadership session! Most of the people that live in Peten do not have air conditioning in their homes, but I am not sure that anyone could ever get used to that heat! By the way, this is not the hottest time of the year. All day Friday we got to visit with our missionaries. Some of them had traveled 2-3 hours to be there with us and then went back the same way so that they could continue their work in their area. They joined us again for District Conference on Sunday. Saturday and Sunday we had our first District Conference. Ed was able to install a new District Presidency. He spoke 4 times and I spoke 2. They had a choir that had been practicing for weeks with matching outfits, ties and skirts. Sunday morning they all wore red and some of the little children, dressed in red, sang with them. Sunday morning the Church was packed with standing room only and people looking inside the windows. (There is no glass is the windows.) A little older Sister came up afterward to talk with us and she had her husband there who was blind. A little girl gave me a flower. The District Presidency had prepared a lunch for Ed and I and the Elders that were traveling with us. These are good people and we feel blessed to serve with them. All of them.
All through out the ares that we traveled we found that seldom do the children go to school and if they do they can choose when they go. For instance, schools are open Sunday to Sunday. Some children may go from 7:00 - 1:00, others go from 1:00 - 6:00 at night. Some children go to school only on weekends. Most children wear uniforms, but not in the Polochic, they wear whatever they can find to wear and usually that does not include shoes.
Each of these ares are very different in their own way. The weather is different, but the housing is unique to the area and so is the clothing. In Coban the women weave material called cortay(sp?). It is very beautiful, very heavy. The houses in Coban are made out of cinder block in the city. In the Polochic people wear whatever they have and live in houses made out of sticks and thatched roofs. Women still wash their clothes in the streams (in most of the rural area of Guatemala they do this) and everyone hangs their clothes out on whatever they can find to hang them on. Some houses, even in Guatemala City, have dirt floors. I will take pictures next time we go so that you can see what I am talking about OK?
Last night we met with the 70 that Ed is assigned to serve with and with the Stake Presidents in the City. This morning we met with the area President and the other Mission Presidents in the Area. We do love our missionaries and we do love the people.
Next week we have our first group of missionaries leave and our first new set come. I think that everyone should come and then stay for three years and then we can all go home together!
First of all, some of you have asked about the missionary who was attacked by the lion. He is in the South Mission and so our neighbors are his mission president and wife. He is from St. George. Monday was p-day and his Zone was at the Zoo. He passed the barriers of the Lion cage to get a good picture of himself with the lions and one of them grabbed him, the other lion then attacked as well. This morning (July 14th) we had an area meeting and the area doctor came in to get permission from Elder Falabella to have this Elder flown home to Utah for more adequate care. His hand is not receiving any blood circulation and so they are afraid that he might have to have it removed. They are also extremely concerned about infection. He is in very serious condition. They were scheduled to fly out this morning. It has been interesting to me to see and hear about some of the things that the missionaries deal with health-wise here. Most of them are not brought on by themselves though. We have had an Elder who was swept away in a river and ended up in the hospital with a concussion and broken bones, another Elder had gangrene, but most of what we see are sprains and ingrown toenails. Heavenly Father does protect his missionaries though.
We had our first Zone Leaders' Council last Tuesday. We had about 30 missionaries for lunch. I think that Ed felt like it went very well and it was good to have an opportunity to spend some time with them so that we can get to know each one of them better. Some of them travel on old busses or micro vans 10 hours to get here. You would not believe how many people they can stuff in to a bus!
Last week we traveled over 800 miles. Because of the trouble up in Peten we always caravan with one other vehicle and so three Elder came with us. Our two assistant, Elders Davis and Williams came and so did Elder Olsen. They are so GREAT! We have two vehicles in the mission, a Hilux truck and then the car Ed drives. I can't think of it's name right now, I will have Dad tell you. Anyway, I know that if we did not have those vehicles we would not have gotten everywhere we needed to be. At one point none of us thought that we would be it out of the mud...but we did!
Wednesday morning the Elders met us at our house at 5:00 in the morning and we were off to Coban. We met/visited with the missionaries until the evening and then checked into our hotel. This is where we saw our first monkeys! Many of the hotels have monkeys, parrots and other animals in the front of the area so that the people staying there can see them. It is like a little mini zoo. Ed and I were able to have dinner with the Stake Presidency and their wives that night. They are all in their late 30's or early 40's and three of the wives of the Stake Presidency teach early morning seminary. One of the counselors has a serious form of cancer and is undergoing treatment right now, but he is cheerful and kind. He says, "I have my family sealed to me. Nothing else matters." It was fun to meet them and spend some time with them. Coban is a really rainy place and that evening it rained hard. Luckily, we were able to find an umbrella, but it was way too late for my hair!
Thursday we left Coban at 6:00 to travel to the area called the Polochic. This is the area that has been written about most recently in the Deseret News. Men and women spend each day just merely trying to survive. The men all have machetes and they use them for everything. They get wood each day to use in the home. There are field after field of corn planted on way steep mountainsides. The women make tortillas everyday using the corn they grow. Very few people own their own land. The Polochic is very humid and can get very hot. It is very remote, but very beautiful. In the Polochic many people speak Mayan dialects, but the one that our missionaries learn is called Q'eqchi'. These people for the most part are very quiet and humble and the little people are DARLING!!! Our missionaries live without electricity and running water, only using the water they can collect in the rainbarrells. However, the Church is in the process of building cement housing that will have at least a generator so that they can have a fan and cook stove. They keep telling us that the housing will be done in two weeks and then two more weeks, etc. Hopefully the two weeks will come soon. Our missionaries are wonderful though and those that are in Polochic do not want to come out. Many of our missionaries in Polochic live in remote communities and so had left even earlier than we did to meet with us. Some of the investigators and members walk hours to get to the Church and then make the return trip when Church is over. One of the ares Chulac has 70% membership in the Church. Other little communities are quite hostile to those who are members and missionaries for the Church.
Friday we traveled to Peten. This is the hottest place in our mission and Saturday night at the District Conference the air conditioning in the Church was broken. It was 104 degrees. The poor men in their suits just had sweat dripping off their chins and they had already been there for the previous Priesthood leadership session! Most of the people that live in Peten do not have air conditioning in their homes, but I am not sure that anyone could ever get used to that heat! By the way, this is not the hottest time of the year. All day Friday we got to visit with our missionaries. Some of them had traveled 2-3 hours to be there with us and then went back the same way so that they could continue their work in their area. They joined us again for District Conference on Sunday. Saturday and Sunday we had our first District Conference. Ed was able to install a new District Presidency. He spoke 4 times and I spoke 2. They had a choir that had been practicing for weeks with matching outfits, ties and skirts. Sunday morning they all wore red and some of the little children, dressed in red, sang with them. Sunday morning the Church was packed with standing room only and people looking inside the windows. (There is no glass is the windows.) A little older Sister came up afterward to talk with us and she had her husband there who was blind. A little girl gave me a flower. The District Presidency had prepared a lunch for Ed and I and the Elders that were traveling with us. These are good people and we feel blessed to serve with them. All of them.
All through out the ares that we traveled we found that seldom do the children go to school and if they do they can choose when they go. For instance, schools are open Sunday to Sunday. Some children may go from 7:00 - 1:00, others go from 1:00 - 6:00 at night. Some children go to school only on weekends. Most children wear uniforms, but not in the Polochic, they wear whatever they can find to wear and usually that does not include shoes.
Each of these ares are very different in their own way. The weather is different, but the housing is unique to the area and so is the clothing. In Coban the women weave material called cortay(sp?). It is very beautiful, very heavy. The houses in Coban are made out of cinder block in the city. In the Polochic people wear whatever they have and live in houses made out of sticks and thatched roofs. Women still wash their clothes in the streams (in most of the rural area of Guatemala they do this) and everyone hangs their clothes out on whatever they can find to hang them on. Some houses, even in Guatemala City, have dirt floors. I will take pictures next time we go so that you can see what I am talking about OK?
Last night we met with the 70 that Ed is assigned to serve with and with the Stake Presidents in the City. This morning we met with the area President and the other Mission Presidents in the Area. We do love our missionaries and we do love the people.
Next week we have our first group of missionaries leave and our first new set come. I think that everyone should come and then stay for three years and then we can all go home together!
We miss you more than you can know and we love you more than you can know. The Gospel really is true. Take good care of each other. We would love to hear from you!!!
Mom/Lorie
Mom/Lorie
