Greetings from Guatemala

December 15, 2008

OK—time for a little more narrative before you get more pictures. In addition to teaching English classes, we have focused on finding Less Active Families (Menos Activos). We have made a lot of progress in the south end of the Ward.

When we were in Kansas, I remember President and Sister Fotheringham saying that if were possible, they would have all missionaries on bikes or on foot—because you interact with the people so much more. We are living that experience now. One day when we were completely stumped on where a family lived, a group of teenage boys, who looked pretty rough, stopped us to see if they could help. They recognized the name tags. They said they knew a boy who went to our church and he lived two blocks back up the hill (that we had just walked down). Several things about impressed me. 1) Byron never comes to church, but the boys knew he was a Mormon. 2) Missionaries before us have been visible and people in the community recognize the name tags—even when they are worn by old fogies like us. 3) They wanted to help us.

The next day on the bus, I was confused by the coins for a Quetzal and 25₵. I gave the helper four quarters instead of four Quetzals. When he told me I had to pay more I thought he was trying to charge us extra. When I realized my mistake, I joked with them about the gringa that didn’t know anything about the money. We all laughed and then the man next to me on the bus said that he knew where our church was and he had a friend that was a Mormon. In my limited Spanish, we talked briefly about the church. We would have missed out on both of those conversations if we had been in a car. When we are out walking and/or hopping on and off the buses, people see us and begin to know who we are. It is awesome.

We visited one household where the grandparents, four adult children and 6-7 grandchildren all live together. That is not uncommon in this culture. They have not been coming to church. The grandfather has leukemia. One of the adult daughters (menos activo) asked if we could come back the next day, because she wanted to take us to visit someone. The next day we walked to the home of her mother-in-law, where there are two unbaptized children. We made an appointment for a follow-up visit—but they weren’t home—which was a disappointment, but Sheyla, the less active who took us there, and her daughter were both at church on Sunday. Also, I saw Sheyla on the street today and she was very excited to see me. I also saw one of our non-member English students on the street and he stopped to visit with me as well. People are
starting to know who we are!

We are seen—because we probably walk at least 3-4 miles everyday in various parts of town! I have asked Santa for a pedometer for Christmas—just because I am curious about how far we actually walk—not that it will make any difference—we’ll still just keep on walking.

I have to tell you a little more about the buses. I misspoke when I said they are minivans. They are actually about 10-12 passenger vans that have been adapted to add bumper seats, remove the side door and put a bar with a railing on it so you can hop on and off easier. The drivers usually have a helper with them who hangs out the side encouraging passengers to use the bus or calling out where they are headed. Apparently there aren’t regulations about driving in Guatemala. I have seen drivers that look about 14, but looks can be deceiving. But they are very young! The drivers are sometimes insane because there are dozens of buses driving the same routes, so they compete vigorously for passengers. Sometimes they race around another bus in unsafe situations just to get to the next intersection first—in case there is a potential passenger. They squeeze past other buses and motos without a second thought. More than once I have closed my eyes until we successfully navigated a tight/crazy spot. As the bus gets fuller, the “helper” just stands on the outside hanging onto the bar/railing with one hand and has his fingernails of his other hand hanging onto the inside of the door jam—nothing really to grip. One day we stopped for a passenger and there wasn’t one inch for him to squeeze into so he also stepped between the railings, grabbed onto “nothing” and rode on the outside with the helper—and had to pay the same fare! J

School is out right now (their long break is November, December and into January). Saturday we were headed to the mall and the bus we caught had a teenage helper and 2nd helper-- a little kid who looked about 6. When we were going thru the Mercado the traffic was slow, so the driver gave the little kid some money and sent him to get a snack at one of the stands. There was a line, we all watched as this cute little boy nervously waited his turn and kept watching the bus creep further and further down the block. We were at least ½ block away when he made his purchase and came running! He caught up with the bus just before we turned the corner away from the Mercado. We were cheering for him and he just grinned. I guess if he hadn’t caught up he would have just waited until the bus came back on its next pass—but that would have been about 25-30 minutes later.

We are really good at stopping the bus to get on or off now. We also have figured out which ones to take to go most places in the Ward and in the town. We still have to learn the extreme east and north sections of town.

With school out, we often see young children. There is one little shop with food where I have seen a little girl who looks about 9-10 standing in the morning making tortillas and she is still working when we walk past it to go the church and teach at night.

Friday was the Dia de Guadalupe. It is religious holiday for Catholics. Here, it is a great day for having all of the children dress up in native costumes and there is a carnival type atmosphere at the City Park. There are lots of booths for taking pictures—many backgrounds are crèches, but some are secular—horses, Santa, you name it. I loved the colorful costumes. The little girls wore make-up and the little boys painted mustaches and sideburns. There were lots of booths selling food of every kind—even cotton candy. I’ll post some of the pictures.

I finally figured out the Posada Parades every night. Generally I just listen to the band, but don’t go outside. Last night I went out on the street. The parade participants were carrying floats with figures depicting Joseph and Mary. They are out every night trying to find a room in the inn; I guess this goes on until the 24th. However, a neighbor told me that the people in the parade actually go to a different house every night and the host invites them in and feeds them. I wonder if the same people do it every night. It would sure be a time commitment! But you could get free food. There is always a trade-off!

We just returned home from a great FHE with a less active family who learned about prophets—specifically Joseph Smith. They gave great answers. The Lord blessed us because we didn’t have a hitch with the film or activity, but during refreshments, the power went out. There were only momentary times of having lights after that, but we were fine with candles. We need to start carrying a flashlight at night, because it also meant there were no streetlights—and these roads and sidewalks would be treacherous in the dark. But even in their remote area of town we waited less than five minutes for a bus to show up (there is no schedule anywhere—you just watch for the right bus and jump on when you see one).

We have loved talking to various family members on our Skype phone. It was especially nice to be able to sing Happy Birthday to Rachelle (who is now middle aged at 40! Dave decorated her classroom and her car so that the whole world would know!) and Adam (who celebrated his birthday playing a Kung Fu Panda video game with his kids. Elyott explained that that’s what she did for her dad’s birthday—she played games with him.)

I talked to Tuli on Sunday. Her son’s wedding was great. Her sister Elba wants to get to see me when I am at Tuli’s house the next time. It is so nice to be able to just visit—like old times. Tuli asked about Shannon, Marci, Darren and Monica—all by name. She was reminiscing about what a tiny baby Monica was when she first arrived in Arizona from Guatemala, 40 years ago. Wow, how can it be that long?!

Well, I love all of you. We hope your Christmas plans bring you joy, even in the planning stages. We love the Savior and we love serving as His hands and voice in interacting with His children here in Guatemala.

Love,Mom/Dad/Spencer/Jeanine