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.
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.
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