It's Almost Over

Hey everyone!
Well, I’m in Mexico right now. And it’s raining. And it’s supposed to rain for a while. So much for coming home tan . No, but we’ve had a lot of fun. The last email I sent I wrote from our house in Guatemala, but it took me a while to send it. Since then we’ve had a lot of adventures. We picked up our friends that Thursday and then Friday went to the temple in Guatemala City. We took them to Antigua and then Saturday headed down to Lake Atitlan.

We took a boat over to Santiago, near one of the volcanoes. It is so pretty down there, but so touristy. Sunday we went to church in Solola where one of the missionaries I taught is serving. It was neat to see him. The church building was one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen and it had a great view of the lake and volcano. We headed back up to Chimaltenango and then Luis drove us up to Flores. Monday we took everyone to see Tikal. This time we got a guide and it was really cool to hear all the history. We were also able to give him a book of Mormon so that was neat. That afternoon we headed to Belize. Just minutes after crossing the boarder there was a night and day difference in everything. You could tell that Belize hasn’t been a war-torn country and that their government for the most part takes care of the people. The standard of living was so different there. We made our way to san Ignacio and on Tuesday we went on the most amazing adventure. We went to Actun Caves. We hiked for about 45 minutes, crossing a river three times. Then to enter the cave we had to swim in. We spent about 3 and a half hours swimming, hiking, and climbing around inside. We made our way to an open cavern where the Maya had done rituals and sacrifices. It’s all still in tact. Ill try to send pictures later, but you should all get on the internet and look up Actun cave in Belize to see it. Wednesday morning we got up early, took a bus to Belize City, and then a boat taxi out to Caye Caulker, one of the keys off the coast. We spent 3 days out there and had amazing weather.

Thursday we went sailing and snorkeling all day.......and during our snorkeling we swam with sharks and stingrays. I’m not kidding. They were some descent sized sharks too. The guides through some food into the water to attract oh....I’d say around 30...and then they told us to jump in. So we did. It was pretty sweet.

We spent all day Saturday traveling up here to Playa del Carmen. I’m excited for the beach if it will stop raining. Yesterday we went to church and another elder that I taught was there too. It has been so neat to run into missionaries I’ve taught and to see them in action. We went to Tulum, some Mayan ruins on the coast. If I had been a Mayan, I definitely would have liked to live there. Tomorrow we are going to Cancun, and then Wednesday we fly out in the afternoon. I think I’m ready to be done. I miss Guatemala, but I’m tired of traveling and doing the whole tourist thing. I miss talking with the native people and working with them. Right now feel like we are in Las Vegas on the beach. But I can’t complain too much......the toilet paper in our hotel is scented. That’s pretty swanky if you ask me. Well, thank you all again for your support. See you in a few days.
Love Kirsti

Santiago was a fun little city. Really touristy, but fun. We paid our little friend Pedro to take us to see Maximo, some Mayan idol that they do rituals around every day. It was kind of weird but kind of cool too. We also went to the catholic church. They had some memorial cites inside for those that were killed during the civil war. We went back to Panajachel for dinner and to sleep. Jeff got really sick, so in the morning only 7 of us went to Solola for church. Elder Reeder and his companion met us at the bus stop and we all went up together. They have one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. Nicer than a lot of the ones in the states. And the view overlooks the Lake and a volcano. Elder Reeder is such a solid missionary. It was neat to be able to see him in the field. After sacrament meeting we went back to Pana to see if Jeff was ready to make the trek back to Chimalt. We got back a little after noon and at 1:00 Luis came to take us up to Flores. We slept there and got up early to go to Tikal. We git a guide and it was worth it. It was seriously so cool to learn all about Tikal. Around 2:00 Luis dropped us off at the bus station and we headed for Belize. One more stamp in the passport. There was such an immediate difference in the two countries. It was amazing to see what civil wars and corrupt governments do to countries. Belize was so much cleaner and safer. We spent the night in San Ignacio and Tuesday morning went on a tour of Actun Cave. What a cool experience!!! We hiked up to a mountain with an opening to a cave that you had to swim through. We then hiked/swam through the cave until we climbed up a ladder to chambers that the Maya used for sacrifices and rituals. There were intact skeletons and so much history. I've never done or seen anything like it. We stayed the night in San Ignacio again in a cute little boarding house. Then got up early and headed out to Caye Cauker. It is so beautiful here. We are on a tiny little white-sand beach island. Our hotel is right on the beach. Yesterday we did a full day snorkeling tour that was awesome!! We swam with sharks and sting rays and got to sail the Caribbean Sea. It was amazing!

Goodbyes

That Wednesday night we had English class and it was my last night there. Elvia brought me a little ceramic dog that she said her husband sent. It was so sweet. I almost wanted to cry. Then when I said goodbye to Sandra and the girls she just kept hugging me and crying. It was like being on a mission again. It's so hard to meet so many amazing people and then have to say goodbye to them. On Thursday morning Eric, Keri, and I went to see Samuel, Elvia, and kids because I wanted to give them a Book of Mormon with my testimony in it. They were so sweet and bought a cake and coke. It always amazes me that the people who have the least are also the most willing to give. When I thanked Samuel for the dog he said that it was small but it was given with all the love that the family had in their hearts. What a special family. I hope that soon they will learn the truth about the gospel. After we left we went up to Xetonox to say goodbye. They had made a beef caldo to share with us. I am also really going to miss that place. They were so wonderful to us and I feel like they gave us more than we gave them. That evening we went to the airport to pick up our friends. It was hard to grasp that 6 weeks was already over. We brought them back to the house and in the morning we went to Guatemala city by bus. It was and adventure getting to the temple but we eventually make it. We were late picking up Joe and Annie and then late getting to Antigua, so we only had time for them to buy some purple jade. The people in the store gave me a free pendant for bringing them all in. It was so sweet of them. We had a pretty classic ride home on the bus and then ate dinner at DeJavu. Saturday morning we headed for Lake Atitlan. We got on the Lake and headed over to Santiago.

No Subject

Hello everyone! Well, this might be my last big email from down here. Our friends have arrived and we are about to start our backpacking adventure. All we know is that in two weeks from now we have to catch a plane out of Cancun. It should be pretty exciting. I think it’s been over a week since I have written so I’ll try to sum up what we’ve been up to. Last week we went back to La Jolla to make adobe stoves. I am so impressed by the people there, especially the women. They are such go getters.To get to La Jolla we took a fletes……pick up truck…..instead of the bus. It’s fun because you are standing up in the back. You know how the windshield of a car gets bugs splattered all over it? Well, that’s pretty much what happened to our faces. I was pulling bugs out of my hair and wiping them off my face. When else could you have an experience like this! On Saturday we drove to Honduras to see the ruins of Copan. They weren’t as amazing as Tikal, but it was pretty cool. And now we can say that in the space of one week we were in three countries. Sunday a couple of us got to go out and work with the missionaries. It brought back a lot of memories and made it that much harder for me to accept the fact that we are leaving soon. Tuesday and Wednesday we went down to Panajachel to go to Tzunana and teach nutrition to the school kids there. It was so much fun. Most of the kids don’t speak much Spanish though so I had to teach it in Spanish and then the teacher would translate in Kaqchikel. The children there and all over Guatemala are so beautiful. It’s hard not to fall in love with them. Wednesday night was really great though. I had my last night with our English class at the church. They were all so sweet and one lady even brought me a present. It felt just like having to say goodbye in the mission. It’s so hard to leave people that you have grown to love so much. I’m almost glad I have to leave now so that I don’t get even more attached to the people. Gosh, I feel like I have so much to say, but I don’t even know where to begin. This morning I went to go say goodbye to a couple I met in English class that the Elders are teaching English to now because the husband works. They are so poor, but had bought a cake to share with me. I gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to start studying it. Hopefully they will want the Elders to teach them more than just English. But here is a picture of English class and the Sanchez family.Well, it’s late, but I want to say thank you to those of you who helped make this trip possible and for everyone’s love and support. This has been such an incredible experience that I will always be grateful for. I’ll see you all in a couple weeks! Love Kirsti

More Travels

A girl in Tsunana

Well, I've got 10 days to sum up. Last Friday we took all the new girls up to La Jolla to work more on the stoves. it was a really rainy day though so we got soaked on the fletes. But it was a good day. The people seem really excited about the stoves and they are willing to put in the work to get them. On Saturday we got up at 4:00 am to go to Honduras to see the ruins at Copan. It was about a 5 or 6 hour ride. The ruins were pretty neat, but didn't compare to Tikal. It's always fun to spend time with the group though. We only stayed for about 4 hours and then we were hot so we decided to go home. It was a miserably hot ride home though too. Sunday was a good day. I love going to church here. Sandra's mom came and so did a whole bunch of inactive people. It was packed! Then at 3:00 I got to go out and work with the missionaries. We weren't able to find anyone home, bit it was still good to be out working. It reminded me a lot of the mission, especially no one being home on Sundays. Monday me, Keri, and Eric took a half day off to shop in Antigua. We found some really neat jade stuff. Then we went to the orphanage. I am really going to miss those babies. Its been neat to see them grow so much in such little time. Edi is so alert and hardly cries now. Monday night we invited the Elders to come over for FHE. Silvia, Radolfo, and her daughter were still there so we invited them to stay. Afterwards we invited them to go to church and they accepted! And they went today-all of the kids except Silvia had to stay home. They Elders also have an appointment to teach them this week!

Tuesday morning we spent getting ready to teach nutrition down in Tsunana, so in the afternoon we went down and looked around. We had dinner at Pana Rock (it's like Hard Rock) and then got up early to go teach. It was such a neat experience. A lot of the kids don't speak Spanish very well so the teacher had to translate what we said into Kaqchekel. The kids had fun though. And it is so beautiful down at Lake Atitlan. On our way back to the hotel I stopped in on the missionary's district meeting. Elder Reeder was there. It was neat to see him. He gave the closing prayer in Kaqchekel. I can't imagine learning another language on top of Spanish during the mission. I bought all the missionaries ice cream and Elder Reeder had had some holes drilled into some Quetz to give me and the group coming to travel. What an awesome thing to do.

Babies

Ya, so I definitely fell asleep last night. So back to Thursday. We went to Patezia. It's a little city of about 11,000 about 25 minutes from here. There are 2 buildings (one is the stake center) and 3 wards that meet. They said in total there were about 480 primary kids and I'd say that at least 300 came to be weighed and measured. Most of them have some type of malnutrition. What we are planning to do is pick the 50 most severe and use the $3500 from the guy in the states to start a day care. Someone up there is donating a house to be used so what will happen is the moms will have to work in the daycare 1 day a week and then they have the other days off to work. A couple of us will also go each day. At the daycare we will give the kids vitamin drinks to help them get healthy. It should be a really great project that should be able to keep running once we leave. The relief society president was also saying that there is a huge need for eye doctors and dentists. Some of the kids are cross-eyed or have lazy eyes, and not many young men are going on missions because they can't afford to have their teeth fixed. Hopefully better nutrition will help some. Suzanna talked to her dad about eye doctors. We'll see what else we can do. On Friday I went to Antigua to be with the babies. Edi was looking so much better. His cheeks are a lot fuller. We came back at one because at two we left for El Salvador. It was only about a 6 hour drive to San Salvador. We got our passports stamped and headed on our way. San Sal is such a huge city. I don't know that Ive ever seen anything like it. All of the restaurants had play places that were huge. The grocery store was like the ones in the US. It was really kind of a shock being there. 


















We spent Saturday at Majual, a black sand beach. It was really pretty. That night we did dinner and a move. Melissa, one of the girls on the El Sal team, had to go to the hospital because she got dengue fever. They have been working on an anti-dengue campaign and she must have gotten bit working out there. We went to church on Sunday and it was a different experience. We had to take a couple of buses to get there so it took about 45 minutes. Some of the members were Americans that are working there. Many of the natives spoke English. It was a small group, but there were 8 missionaries. The people were so friendly though. After church we packed up and made the trek back home.

Monday we went up to Xetonox to do nutrition with the school kids. They are so stinkin cute. They sang us a couple songs in Kaqchequel and we just sat and talked to them for a while. 


















They just adore us and we adore them. The men made us lunch (beef with tomatoes and cucumbers). They were so funny. They kept saying "hola" in high, girly voices. After lunch we went up to the water tank and carried boards down to a house. We all bruised our shoulders in the process. It is so refreshing to be up in Xetonox. It is so beautiful and peaceful and the people love us. The children are beautiful and are fascinated by us. They are all so appreciative also. We told Martin that they really don't need to feed us every time we go there, and he said that it is the only way they know how to say thank you. It was really sweet.

On Monday night we went to an inactive families home to do an FHE. The grandpa has been really sick. It was so fun to be in their home. It reminded me a lot of the mission. Man, I miss that. The mission was so rewarding. This experience is too, but nothing can even compare to the mission. Tuesday morning I went to MesoAmericano (the Rose School) to help with English classes. It was better this week than last.

Doesn't Edi just break your heart?

We went to Hermano Pedro for the afternoon and Edi is up to 5 lbs! He is so much more alert and focuses his eyes on you now. It's neat to see how much progress he has made in such a short amount of time. The babies there are so adorable.

Big Antoni, Little Antoni, Angela

Angela is happy all of the time and has the coolest hair I have ever seen. Little Antoni is putting on weight and laughs like you wouldn't believe. He was looking at Edi and would touch his hand and then laugh and laugh. It was hilarious.

Yesica knows that big Antoni is her brother and gets so excited to be around him. Rosalio is precious and Estela is the biggest fighter I have ever seen. She is 8 but spends her time up with the babies. She was so malnourished that she couldn't walk, but is learning how. She has bright eyes and a glowing personality. She remembered all of our names after just one visit. She really is an angel. After English classes we ordered Domino's Pizza. Everyone was pretty excited about it. Yesterday we spent the day in La Jolla. I love it there too. It's a community of 35 families and they are so organized. Pedro couldn't' take us this week so we went in the back of a truck. It was awesome. My face acted as a windshield. And guess who we saw as we were getting to San Martin?.......Elder Ford! That makes it 3 for 3. When we got to La Jolla they wanted to show us a stove that one of the guys made after we showed them the video. It was awesome! Seriously. Way better than we could have done. We went to one woman's house who didn't have a base made and made on so everyone could see how. They guy who made his own stove helped a ton. They made us eggs with tomato and put it in tortillas. Such great people. We ate a tree. It didn't digest too well. Today we've been cleaning to get ready for the new wave of volunteers. 6 come in tonight.

This is why we were teaching them to make stoves with chimneys

La Mostaza Verde de Fe

I just keep getting worse about writing in here. Oh well. At least I'm writing. So, to begin, last Wednesday I went out to La Joya and Palo Blanco with Eric, Justin, and Jacob. It was so funny to be in Pedro's car with them. They were making up songs and raps about Pedro and anything else they could think of. Pedro was pretty amused. They would also do things like ask if we were there yet every 2 seconds. When we got to La Joya we checked out the square foot garden we had made. Pretty much everything had already started growing. We planted another one and then went around to other houses to look at the boxes they had made. I love the people out there. There are 36 families that live there. The women are so organized. Marta is such a natural leader and go-getter. I really admire her a lot. When we finished looking at the gardens we watched a DVD on the computer on how to make adobe stoves. There is such a need for it out there because they are cooking inside over fire. The smoke gets in their eyes and also gives them respiratory problems. Especially the kids. One of the men watched the movie and pretty much grasped the whole concept. We left them with plans to come back to build the bases of the stoves. We went to Palo Blanco next to teach English there. I love how much respect and attention the kids give us there. We taught them body parts and sang the chicken song and head, shoulders, knees, and toes, and then played Simon says. I think they really enjoyed it. They bought us drinks and wafer cookies. I guess we hadn't set an exact time to come so they had been waiting all day for us. Oh, a funny thing, as we were driving through Chimalt to go to San Martin we ran into Elder Ford again. They were coming in for a zone meeting. We took a picture. Anyway, later on that day Pedro decided to take us home through San Jose. 

But it had rained really hard and there was a mudslide so we couldn't get through. So we turned around and took another road. We were totally 4-wheeling. It was awesome and Pedro's little amigo did awesome. The boys named it "La Mostaza Verde de Fe." It was a pretty adventurous ride home. We ended the night with English class. The Elders came so they could meet this couple in my class that I think might be ready to hear the gospel. They are starting by teaching them English because the dad's work schedule is changing so he can't come to class anymore. They are such a cute little family. I really want them to start getting the lessons. On Thursday we went to Patacia to do nutrition with the primary kids

Sorry it has been a while

I have so much to catch up on. I can't even remember the last time I wrote. Last week was a great week. We spent time out in La Joya with the women's group and then on to Palo Blanco with the kids in the school. The women's group is so amazing. We are going to start building adobe stoves with them so that their houses aren't filled with smoke. The kids get a lot of respiratory infections because they breath it all in. We taught body parts to the kids in Palo Blanco then did Simon says with it, head shoulders knees and toes, and the chicken song. So far that chicken song has been a hit where ever we teach it. And I just thought the missionaries in the MTC loved it. On Friday we went up to Patecia. It’s a small city of 11,000. they have a stake center and three wards there though. We measures and weighed the primary kids (about 300). Most of them are mal nourished. We are hoping to set up a day care system where the mom's will work once a week there and 2 of us will go so that we can make sure the kids get supplemental drinks.


















Some of the kids were in the 0 percentile for height and weight. They also can't afford to go to the dentist so all the young men can't go on missions. It’s really sad. But we are getting some financial help from outside sources so hopefully we can help them work for a better life. That’s what's so great about HELP-International is that we never go somewhere and give things. We bring teaching materials and ourselves and we show them ways to improve life. We don't want them to become dependant on us or just get free hand outs. We went and visited a small community that help international worked with 2 years ago. They are thriving now and have all kinds of improvements planned. It’s great to see. We spent the weekend in El Salvador. There is a team of help volunteers there too, so we crashed at their place in San Salvador. It is such a humongous city. We felt out of place. We spent all day Saturday at the black sand beach. Yesterday we went up to Xetonox to work with the kids in the school measuring them to see if they are malnourished. 

Then we carried huge planks of wood down a mountain. I love being in Xetonox. I wish you could all experience it. They always feed us a huge lunch and when we tried to explain that they really don't have to feed us every time we go, they said it was the only way they could show how gratefully they are for our help. The kids are adorable. We recorded them singing a song in Kaqchequel about ants. You can hear it when I get back. Well, I’m sure there is a ton more I can say, but I’m running out of time. I love you all.
Kirsti

Update

So, I fell asleep last night while I was writing. I didn't realize how tired I was. This morning I had to be at the Rose bus at 6:45. 4 of us went to help out with the English classes. I'll be honest, it's not my most favorite thing to do. It's just hard because the kids are so long and the classes are so big that you really can't keep their attention. But it's sometimes fun. The kids can be really sweet. We went grocery shopping after and I washed clothes. We have English class tonight so we are using the afternoon to get ready for the week. I forgot to write about talking to Elder Reeder. I had called Solala earlier to see if they could go and see if Eric's wallet had been turned in that got stolen. The Elder I talked to said he would check and call back. But he never did. So Thursday night I called and asked for Elder Reeder so that he could do it. It was fun to talk to him and hear about how his mission has been going. Hopefully we will be able to get back down there. I told him we'd take him and the other missionaries out to ice cream.

I went to the Rebel Base

Hey everyone! How is everything going? Things are great here. This weekend was awesome. We traveled up to Tikal but along the way stopped at Rio Dulce and a canopy zip line. Then we got to Tikal. It was so amazing. There is so much history there. It is a bunch of Mayan temple ruins. One of the ones we climbed up was used as the rebel base in Return of the Jedi. It was awesome there because it was in the middle of the jungle but when you climbed up the temples you could see for miles. You’ll all have to experience it. We are in Antigua today at the orphanage. Last Thursday while here I fell in love. His name's Edi. He’s the cutest thing you have ever seen. I will have to send pictures. He was brought in last week and is only 2 months old. And guess how much he weighs? 4.5 pounds. He is soooo tiny!!! I have never held a baby that small. It’s like holding a bundle of cloth. He has a severely cleft pallet so I guess he had trouble drinking and lost weight in those first couple months. He eats really well with a bottle though. The nurse said that once he weighs 8 pounds they will be able to do surgery to fix his mouth. Well, I have to run. Love you!
Kirsti
p.s. apparently some emails haven't been sending, so if you have written me and not gotten a reply, it probably just never went through. Sorry.

Adventures

Oh gosh. I really need to write daily in here. There is just too much to catch up on. Well, on Friday morning at 4:00am we left on our adventure for Tikal. Our first stop along the way was at Rio Dulce. It is a beautiful river that attaches a lake and the ocean. It's got a cute beach town and almost has an island feel to it. We got in a little boat and they took us to see an old pirate castle, a bird sanctuary, and a bunch of little houses. Then we went to an "island" named Livingston. They call it an island but really it's a peninsula but the land is really swampy so you have to get to it by boat. It's a cute little island. We got to swim in the ocean. That means that in the space of 2 weeks I swam in the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic. That's pretty sweet. After Rio Dulce we went to Flores and got a hotel. Me and Annie shared a room and it had air conditioning. It really was divine.

We got up really early on Saturday to be on the road by 6:00. We went to a canopy zip line that was AMAZING! There were 9 jumps that we did in the tops of the jungle. What an experience! Then we took off for Tikal. Its is quite amazing. It's a bunch of Mayan ruins and temples in the middle of the jungle. One of the temples we climbed up was used as the revel base in Return of the Jedi. There is so much history there. I wish I knew more about it. After spending the rest of the day there, we headed back to our hotel in Flores. We went to sacrament meeting the next day and the branch was so sweet! They were all so friendly and loving. More so than here in Chimal. It reminded me a lot of the people in Argentina. Today we went to the orphanage. This morning I fed Edi and held him for a while. The nurse told me that they do the operations to fix cleft pallets there and that as soon as Edi weighs over 8 pounds they will be able to operate. That's such great news! After lunch I went down and talked to the women. They were so sweet. IT was fun to talk to them and find out a little bit about who they are.

Where to start

This is the kids class singing the chicken song..........it's a song I used to teach the missionaries at the MTC only they had to do it in Spanish :)

Sorry I haven't written in a little while. We've been pretty busy. On Saturday we decided to go into Guatemala City to see Star Wars III and then go to the temple. Both were great. It felt good to be in a big city too. Sunday was really neat. This Saturday the primary kids are going on missions for the day so sacrament meeting was dedicated to them. The bishop talked about how he had interviewed them all and then called up a couple to share their testimonies. One was a girl who got baptized the Sunday I got here. It was so powerful. Then the bishop called each child up and gave them their callings. On Saturday they will go out and knock doors offering copies of the book of Mormon, pictures, and even teaching. I think it will be really successful. On Monday we went back up to Xetonox to do more digging and moving dirt in wheel barrows. I love the people there. The kids love us and they always end up feeding us lunch. They wanted to hear some songs so we sang them hymns. Hopefully everything will work out soon with their water project. On Tuesday I got to go to a school and help out with the English classes. The kids were soo cute. They are getting ready for their English extravaganza on Friday night where they will sing and do skits in English. That night and Wednesday night we taught our free English classes at the church. I teach the beginning adult class. It’s a lot of fun. On the first day I made them sing and dance to a chicken song I know but they had to do it in English. They are good sports. Yesterday 4 of us got to go out to a couple little communities and teach square-foot gardening. the first place is called La Joya and there is a women’s group (it's pretty much like relief society) that gather ever week to make sure everyone is doing okay and to work on projects. A lot of them are widows because of the civil wars here. They are amazing women. The second place is called Palo Blanco. We taught the school kids. It’s a great community. Most of the parents can't read or write but they want so badly for the kids to have more opportunities than they have, so they have a small school that meets for one week then is off for a week so they can help work for their parents and then back in school for a week. The kids are so eager to learn. They were between 13 and 17 and so attentive to everything we said. I doubt you could find that in the states. I’m in Antigua right now. We are working at the orphanage today. We were up with the babies. They are so tiny. Hopefully I can get a picture out of two of the kids. They are so sweet. They just want to be held. Tomorrow we are taking off to Tikal so we will be spending the weekend seeing the sights on the way up there. It should be really neat. I think that's about it. Thanks for the emails. I love you all.Kirsti

So much to catch up on

What an amazing week I have had so far! Monday we went to Tecpan and met the men from Xetonox there. We bought the piping that they needed for the tank to the houses. We bought the piping and then rode in the back of a hauling truck with the pipe up to Xetonox. The fumes from the truck were wafting in and I thought we were going to suffocate, but we made it. When we got there we went back to shoveling dirt into wheelbarrows to fill in where the rain washed away the dirt. While we were there, a man named Arnoldo was asking Justin about the Evangelist church and if it came from the states. He asked if we were part of it and 


















Justin told him we were from the Church of Jesus Christ. Then Justin took his wheelbarrow down so I jumped in and told Aldolfo that there was a chapel in Comalalpa and asked him if he'd seen it. He hadn't, but he asked if we read the bible and I told him that of course we did and that we also read the Book of Mormon. I had a copy on me so I pulled it out and offered to lend it to him. I was able to tell him a little about it and ab out Joseph Smith and then I testified of it. I invited him to find out for himself if it's true and that if he ever wanted to he could talk to the missionaries "sin compromiso." He seemed really grateful and interested. I am so grateful for the chance to share the gospel. It was like being on the mission again. I really hope he reads it so that next week we can talk about it. I had been praying for a missionary experience and Heavenly Father answered that prayer quickly. It was neat too that day because they wanted us to sing, so we sang hymns. It was powerful. They made us lunch again and it was seriously so tasty! I loved it! They are so generous and giving. The little kids are also so cute. They always start out shy and then warm up to us. They love us and also love having their pictures taken :). It is just such a blessing to be around them. On Tuesday I went to the Rose school to help teach beginning English. The kids have just taken their exams so this week they were mostly getting ready for the English extravaganza on Friday. The little kids are singing songs in English and the older ones are doing little skits. When we were riding the school bus home, I noticed that at one bus stop, a couple dads were waiting to pick up their kids. (Moms had been at the other ones). But it just hit me how important it is for the parents to be that involved with and concerned for their children. It shows a lot of love, bit it is also those children who are going to be most happy. I don't know, I guess it just reaffirmed to me how important a strong family unit is. On Tuesday night we had English classes in the church. Me and Jacob teach the adult beginning class. They all think I'm crazy, but we have a lot of fun. Wednesday was awesome! Me, Keri, Jacob, and Heather got to go with Pedro from Asaguari out to a couple little communities to teach square foot gardening. The first one was with a women's group in La Joya. 


















These women are so amazing. Marta is the president and also has a certificate in nursing. She is super sharp and so sweet; a natural leader. I guess every week the women (there are about 10-12 of them) gather together and work together to help each other out. They seem like a really well organized and united Relief Society. Maybe one day the church will get out there. I think a lot of the women are widows because of the civil wars that have happened here. But we taught the square foot gardening. They were awesome at it! Everything that we needed they were able to find in a jiffy. We asked them to make boxes at the other homes so that when we come back we can plant the seeds. They also have a huge need for stoves. They cook over the fire inside the house so smoke is everywhere and it is really bad for their lungs and eyes. Hopefully we will be able to help them out with that. After La Joya we went to Palo Blanco. It's more developed than La Joya, but still needing outside help. 

The leader gave us lunch (a chicken guiso thing) and then we went to the school to teach the kids (13-17) square foot. They were so attentive and interested. Most of the adults struggle to read and write and they really want their kids to have more opportunities. So they go to school for a week and then are off for a wee so they can help out at home. One of the girls was so outgoing and bubbly. She wants so badly to study in the states and one day be a lawyer. She'll probably never have that chance, but no matter what she does, she;ll impact people. What they really want out there is English classes. So we'll see if we can get out there at least once or twice a week. It's pretty far though. On the way home the coolest thing happened. We were in San Martin I think, and we saw 2 missionaries so we pulled over to say hello. And guess who one of the was?-Elder Ford! It was crazy. They funny thing was that neither of us acted that surprised to see the other. But how random to just run into each other like that! Today was also a great day. I went to Antigua to work in the orphanage. We worked with the babies and they are so stinking cute. Little Antoni is 7 months old but looks like he's 4 months old. But he's happy. he loves Annie and she can really make him laugh. After our lunch break I went into one of the back rooms and pulled out Edi. He was just brought in 2 days ago. He has a severely cleft pallet and is TINY! He is only 2 months old and weighs 4.5 pounds. I weighed over 8 when I was born. But I was able to give him a bottle and he ate it all. Hopefully he will be able to put on weight quickly. I can't believe I've been here for almost 3 weeks and that I only have 3 weeks left before we backpack for 2 weeks. It's been a great experience so far. Tomorrow morning at 4:00am we are heading up to Tikal. Luis is taking us and we'll be stopping at places like Rio Dulce along the way. It should be great.

The City

I can't believe another whole week has passed. This week was a little less eventful because of weather, but it was good nonetheless. We did some ESL training and made posters for our English class. We had such a great turn out. Me and Jacob taught the adult beginning class. I taught them the chicken song in English. It was awesome to see adults singing and dancing about a chicken. I had a pretty bad cold/flu this week. Bit it passed fast. On Tuesday we went back up to Xetonox to fill bags with dirt to put over some of the piping. A bad storm had washed away the dirt. They were so sweet and made us lunch and everything. We were a little nervous to eat it since it was chicken from the market and they don't have running water, but no one got sick from it. I love being out in Xetonox. They are so loving and it's so peaceful They are a very happy people. On Thursday we went to Comalapa for some heath/nutrition training, but a hurricane was supposedly on the way so they sent us home. The hurricane ended up missing Guatemala. We really didn't even get much rain. But it was cold and overcast all week. Friday we went back up to Comalalpa to measure and weigh the primary kids up there. We did the same thing in the afternoon here in Chimal. I guess there is a member in the states who wants to make sure the children in the church n Guatemala are healthy. So if we can find 30 that are malnourished he is going to provide a drink like Ensure for them for a year. We had quite the experience on the bus ride up to Comalapa. They always cram way too many people on the buses so we end up standing in the aisles. There are 3 adults crammed on each seat with a 6 inch space in the aisle. So we get crammed in the aisle. My butt was a bout an inch from some guys face. Keri was in front of me and then Tawnie then Jenny. So Tawnie starts feeling sick so me and Keri are trying to find a plastic bag. But we didn't succeed. Then all of a sudden Jenny starts throwing up. Keri gives her a poncho but it ends up just running down the front of her. People are trying to get away but we are crammed in too tight. I had some alcohol wipes so Jenny could wipe up a little, but Tawnie is about to throw up from the smell. So I give her one of the swabs to sniff. Needless to say, we made it to Comalapa without too much damage. Yesterday we went into Guatemala City to see Star Wars III and to go to the temple. The movie was really good and it was awesome to be at the temple. I love the peace you feel there. Everyone is so friendly. It's just so nice to see the church flourishing no matter where you go. Today at church the spirit was so strong. The primary kids got mission calls to be missionaries this Saturday. A couple of them came up to share their testimonies. It was so neat to see their excitement.

The Best Bus Ride Ever!

Hey all!
Well, I just have to share our experience that we had this morning. I wish you all could have experienced it for yourself, but ill try to make you feel like you were there. As a precursor, when we travel to other towns, we usually take chicken buses. Chicken buses are the way old-school buses from the states. 3 kids fit on a seat with little room in the aisle. But here the bus drivers must work on commission or something because they are always recruiting and they will shove as many people as possible on the bus. There are always 3 adults per seat, with more children on laps, and then the aisle is filled in (remember though that there is only about 6 inches for the aisle). Then when that is full, they fill the front up where the bus driver is until there are people hanging out the door. You could probably fit 15 people up there. (Sometimes people fall on the horn. It’s pretty funny). So this morning we are on our way up to Comalapa and are standing in the aisle. We’ve all lost our personal space by this point. We are spooning each other and some guys face is about an inch from the back side of me. But the road to Comalapa is really winding and uphill. So Tawnie starts to get sick. Me and Keri are asking around for a plastic bag but no one has one. Then all of a sudden Jenny starts throwing up. Keri grabs her poncho to give to her, but that didn’t work too well. People are trying to get away, but really there is no where to go. I pull out some alcohol swabs for Jenny and Tawnie ends up sniffing one the rest of the way there so she doesn’t throw up from the smell herself. We felt bad for everyone on the bus, but really they shouldn’t pack the bus that full anyway. But on a more important side, we got up to Comalapa and worked with the primary kids in the branch up there. We measured their height and weight so that we can find out which ones are mal nourished. We are doing the same thing today in Chimaltanango. The ones that are malnourished we are going to be able to provide with a supplement drink to help them get the nutrients they need. We are also going to be able to teach the women how the make sure the children do get what they need. There is such a need everywhere. 80% of Guatemala is considered poor and 60% of them are below the poverty level. It really is sad to see. But for the most part they are a very happy people. We could learn a lot from them. Oh, by the way, the hurricane missed Guatemala. We didn’t even get much rain. But it has been really cold and overcast for the past few days. We are freezing at night. But hopefully it will warm up soon. Well, that’s all for now. I love you guys.
Kirsti

Tengo Pulgas

That’s right. I have pulgas. Pulgas are fleas, and I have them. But don’t worry. I pulled out my pretty purple flea collar and put it in my bed, so I think I’m okay now. Things are going great here. I can’t believe it has only been a week and a half. I feel like I have been here forever. We have already been able to do so much. It’s funny because at first when I got here I would tell people my name is shearsty like it sounds, but they couldn’t say it. Then when I would spell it they would say oh....Kristi. So now I just introduce myself as Kristi. It’s a lot easier for them. I did my laundry on Saturday and man, I forgot how long it takes to wash things by hand. I also forgot how awesome it feels to wear stiff clothes when they dry. So I want all of you to take a moment of silence for me the next time you do laundry.


















Last Friday we went down to Lake Atitlan and took a boat out to a little community called Tzunana. We are going to teach nutrition to the kids out there. Most of the people only speak Kachekquel though, so it may be a little difficult. But it was an adventure getting out there. We were going to spend the night and hike a volcano the next day, but we got stuck in a down pour and decided to just go home. We couldn’t do an 8 hour hike all wet. So instead on Saturday (our day off) we went to Monte Rico which is on the southern coast. There is a beautiful black sand beach there. The ocean was a lot of fun, but super salty. Way saltier than Hawaii. But we had a good time. Some drunk guy thought it would be a good idea to try to swim drunk, but passed out. They carried him up on shore and started pumping his legs just like on the cartoons. It was awesome. So I ran over there hoping to use my life guarding skills, but someone finally realized that he was breathing and probably chest compressions wouldn’t help. He was just so drunk that he passed out. Don’t worry though. 45 minutes later he was back at the shore with a beer in hand. Smart. Yesterday we got English classes set up and put up fliers all around the town. They went like hot cakes. Everyone is really interested in speaking English and who can pass up free classes. Today was awesome. We went back out to Xetonox (shay-to-nosh), the community 


















that is trying to get water into the houses. They are so great to us. We shoveled dirt into bags all day so they could take it down to where they started to put in piping before they ran out of funding. The rain washed away the dirt so we needed to get more down there. The people there so love. We are the first foreigners there but they take such good care of us. They even made us lunch.......chicken and soup. I’m not sure how safe it was to eat, but we didn’t want to offend them. We’ll see how we all feel tomorrow. No. I’m sure we’ll be fine. We are kind of adopting this community. We are going to help them out in a couple weeks with nutrition assessments to see if any of the kids are malnourished. Well, I better get going. We need to go to the pharmacy before dinner. About half of us have come down with a wicked cold. I love you all!!!! Kirsti

Travels

I have a couple days to sum up. On Friday we made our trip down to Lake Atitlan, but it sure was an adventure getting there. We got on an overcrowded but to get to an exchange point and then got on another bus to Solala. We got off at the market there and Eric got pick pocketed. Sad. He had Q300 and all his cards and things. While I was using the restroom, the others think they saw Elder Reeder. Hopefully I will get to see him while I'm here. So from Solala we went down to Panajachel. It's a little tourist town on Lake Atitlan. They've nicked named it "Gringotenanga." When we got there we got on a little boat and went out to a little pueblito called Tzunana. They mostly just speak Katchekquel there and a little Spanish. We are going to go out there every other week and teach nutrition to the school children. There are about 350 kids enrolled in school. It should be neat to work with them.

After we got back to Panajachel we got dinner and looked around. We were going to get a hotel room and spend the night so we could hike a volcano the next Saturday, but it started to pour and we really weren't prepared to do an 8 hour hike. So we hired a van driver to drive us back to Chimaltenango. So yesterday we decided to do something fun for our day off. We got Luis to take us a couple hours away to Monte Rico to go to the black sand beach there. It was Beautiful! The town reminded me a lot of Bella Vista-like a little beach town. It was really hot and humid at the beach. We had a lot of fun laying out and playing in the ocean. IT was so supper salty though. When you gt pounded by the waves, your eyes would burn so bad. But it was a ton of fun. There where a lot of crazy drunk guys on the beach though. One of them passed out and people thought that he had drowned so they 


















started pumping his legs like on the cartoons. It was pretty funny. Then someone was going to do chest compressions until someone realized the guy was still breathing. About a half an hour later he woke up, stumbled off with his friends, got another beer, and went back down to the ocean. What an idiot. Some other drunk guy pushed Annie down in the water and pulled on her suit. Then he kept asking us to go out and swim with him. Ya right. On our way home we stopped in Antigua and got dinner for Jenny's birthday. She turned 19 today. We went to church this morning. It was fun to be back in a Spanish ward. It made me miss Argentina a lot. But the people are great and I'm excited to be able to work a little with the missionaries. I would love to see Preach My Gospel in action. That way I can help the missionaries at the MTC better.