Spencer's "News from Chiquimula"

January 31, 2010

Dear family,

The second part of January hasn’t been too newsy. I’ll bring you up to date a little about this area. I’m sure you’ll find it enlightening:
• Onions here have more than doubled in price this month. They were Q150 a hundred weight in December and they are now Q340.
• The quetzal has gone from Q8.20 to Q8.45 and now it is down to Q8.36 against the dollar. I’m sure you needed that information.
• Cooler weather in January has caused some sickness and has affected harvests in western Guatemala. That is information for your knowledge base!
• Ex president Portillo is now in jail for allegedly laundering money through the banks in the United States.
• Gasoline is down 40 centavos (or $.05) this week.
• Honduras has a new president in place (Lobo) and the ex-president has been exiled to the DR.
• You may not know it, but Haiti is in a mess. People here who have so very little have turned their hearts from themselves and are following the news about people who are even less fortunate.
Now for more domestic (local) news:
• We’re grateful that Adam is on the mend. He is home from the hospital and doing well with his IV antibiotics. This has brought us great relief. Now maybe Jeanine will be able to sleep at night. Their ward is being wonderfully supportive.
• This week has been one of preparation and coordination at CUNORI. We do testing this week for the placement of students and we start our faculty classes.
• We’ve been pulled into the dissemination of information, arranging a fireside, arranging for members to be treated and lots of logistics for the group of LDS dentists who are coming in two weeks. There has been some breakdown in communication this time. It is a wonderful service that volunteer dentists and assistants provide at their own expense. They come twice a year to give services to the very needy people. I can’t imagine a service much greater than that.
• Our classes at the church are filling up without any advertisement. We are glad to provide this service to so many people.
• We are glad to hear of the birth of Blaze, Amy and Tim’s sixth son and grandbaby number 37 for us!
• Other big news! The mushrooms (fungus—or athlete’s foot) between my toes has supposedly cleared up. The dermatologist pronounced them clean! You know, I have carried that crop (or should I say “crap”) around since I left this area at the end of my first mission in January 1965.
That’s it for the news from Chiquimula.
May the Lord bless and keep you,
Dad/Spencer
PS When we arrived home today we didn't (and still don't) have water. It is turned off until they can repair a broken pipe somewhere in the apartment complex. It is all or none. No individual shut-off valves. Welcome to Guatemala! :)

Picture is poor--but hey it was midnight!

This week our classes at the church started again. We had huge turn outs. I hope not all of the kids' class returns--does that sound awful?! I now have 30 on the roll and that is to many kids at too many various levels and ages to prepare for. I have to pick a target audience. I had told them in December we would start at the beginning again, and some of the advanced students haven't been here this week--and I hate to say it but that is a good thing!

Friday we left very early and went to the temple. We are back onto our every-other weekend schedule. It was nice to see all of our friends and wonderful to be of service. This morning we led a session. Many of the participants had come from Quezaltenango--leaving on the bus at 12 midnight and arriving before 8 AM. Many of them were really struggling to stay alert. I've been there and done that - and I didn't have such a good excuse!

One very special experience was when one sister looked up at me and said "You look like an angel! You are all white and you are always smiling! You make me feel happy inside." What a kind and wonderful thing for her to say.

It is still a surprising cultural experience to live in Guatemala. In a calendar we had from last year it says the 18th - 25th is the presentation of "Danza Drama Rabinal Achi Patrimonio ....." We aren't sure what the whole paragraph means, but last Sunday we noticed lots of people going to church in very formal black suits and white shirts - men and women both. In the evening there were firecrackers and they were blocking off the traffic on 5a Ave. about when we were going to bed. At midnight, a procession and band started from the Calvario Church a block away. It was very loud and coming down the street outside of our apartment, so we got up to look. They were carrying the HUGE platform with the Savior struggling under the cross. The people carrying it had on purple robes and did a sort of swaying dance as they walked. Nathan and Christena saw this type of procession during Semana Santa before Easter--but we had never seen on here in Chiquimula. The one they saw was during the daytime. There were pine needles scattered all along their path. It was such a huge platform that it was a major undertaking to turn to corner. My camera was down stairs, but I should have run for it anyway. That must have been the beginning of this "Danza Drama..." Then tonight our door bell was rung and we could hear a band. I peeked out the front gate then ran upstairs, so I could see from our little balcony. There was a band and lots of spectators, but right in the middle of our intersection, there were people in costumes with masks dancing and having a good time. It was a fun dance to watch and had happy music. It must be part of this same week and it is drawing to a close.

I will have to ask my students what this week signifies. I did try to take pictures this time. However, it is night and I'm pretty far away, so you can't see much. You just have to be here to experience it.

Thanks for letting me share our experiences with you--both the good ones and the hard ones.

Love,
Mom/Jeanine

Harrowing week

I have been in frequent communication with many of you this week, but I need to do a simple recap for my journal/blog. Last Saturday and Sunday I was concerned--but not obsessively with the fact that Adam had an abscess on his elbow and was in the hospital. The orthopedic surgeon had come in to see him and said he would have an MRI done on Monday. Adam was frustrated because he had been there for two days and he was still in intense pain, he couldn't focus on anything or stay awake. Carolyn went to Ann Marie and Chad's house to drop off Elyott and Sheamus and they were having a family birthday dinner for Ethan's 2nd birthday. Ann Marie's brother in law, Kip Sharpe, an orthopedic surgeon was there and when he heard what was going on he jumped up, called OR and scheduled Adam for surgery late that night. He did surgery and drained the abscess from his elbow (bursa). I had been worried about it getting into the joint/bone and becoming osteomyelitis. But it was actually a worse scenario. It developed into necrotizing fascitis ("flesh eating bacterial infection").

On Wednesday the 20th things were not looking good. Here was that report: Kip had a general surgeon come in today on consultation. They are trying to determine if they need to open up his arm from the wrist to the arm pit to drain out infection. When Carolyn said, "well I just want to be sure it doesn't turn into necrotizine fascities and he loses his arm". They said they didn't want that to happen either, but it was still a possibility. That was sobering to hear. Then Adam heard Kip and another doctor that was consulting on the case in the hallway. The other doctor said she was glad he had done the surgery when he did. Kip said yes, that they had bumped him from OR one time but he wouldn't let them do it again, because he didn't think Adam would have lasted until the next day. You can imagine how sobering that was for Adam to hear.

At one point the consulting surgeon and Kip thought he would have have more surgery and open his arm up from wrist to arm pit (basically "fillet it", a term the doctor used in describing it) in order to save his arm and his life. But they went a more conservative route and did about 8-10 incisions into the pockets of infection in the fascia, and changed his antibiotic. The next morning I wrote this email

Things are looking up today! (21st)

Both Kip and the infection control doctor are encouraged this morning. Adam may need some more areas opened to drain pus (just small surgical incisions done with a local anesthetic), but he doesn't have to have the extensive surgery to open up his entire arm (which the surgeon described as "filleting" his arm! The infection control doctor confirmed that the infection was necrotizing fasciitis. [Google that if you want to be really grossed out.] The good news is he wasn't in the 25% mortality rate. And he will completely heal (over a long time).

It is such a miracle (no coincidence, a flat out miracle) that he got the aggressive intervention he needed. Here are some of our observations:

Ann Marie was only planning to make birthday cupcakes for Ethan's 2nd birthday last Sunday. But Jacob kept insisting that they had to have cousins over for a birthday get together for Ethan. Ann Marie had worked Thursday, Friday and Saturday and didn't have food prepared. Jacob was adamant that they needed to have the cousins over. Because of Jacob's insistence, they invited the Sharpe's over for dinner. Kip was in the right place at the right time to learn about Adam's situation when Carolyn took the little kids over to stay Ann Marie and Chad's house while she returned to the hospital and be with Adam. I am completely confident that Jacob was being prompted by the Holy Ghost. He thought it was about Ethan, but in reality it was to have his Uncle Kip there to learn about and then to be able to step in and literally save the life of his Uncle Adam.

Kip told Adam this morning that he needs to journal this experience and the divine intervention(s). He says he (Kip) would never schedule a surgery without even seeing the patient, but he felt so strongly prompted that Adam needed the surgery that he made the phone calls immediately from Chad's house to get the OR scheduled. He was compelled by the Holy Ghost to jump in and drain the abscess. You know the rest of story from there from our previous emails.

Because Kip became involved, and he knows the medical community so well, he was able to have the best doctors available called in for infection control, general surgery, etc.

Last night, after I talked to Adam, I was checking headline news on the internet. I was so touched by all of the suffering in Haiti. But the thought came into my mind and heart that even with Heavenly Father having hundreds and thousands of his children dying and suffering from the destruction of homes and the infrastructure in the county, a lack of resources and medical supplies, no hospitals, no food or water, etc. He still was aware of my "little" boy. He was listening to and answering our fervent prayers. It is humbling and heart-warming to know that during all of chaos in other parts of the world, the Holy Ghost was prompting Jacob and Kip, as well as Adam and Carolyn, to accomplish the goal of saving Adam's life and his arm. Wow--a very humble and grateful "Wow".

I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. I am thankful for the power of priesthood and the blessings that Adam received from worthy men who hold the Melchizedek priesthood.
I am grateful for the internet, so that we can keep you informed and solicit your support and prayers. All of those prayers have made a difference.

Adam will remain in the hospital at least through the week-end. And he will continue on IV antibiotics for six weeks and have nurses come in to do dressing changes and wound cleaning.

He says before his down turn yesterday he was feeling frustrated about being in the hospital (and away from his little kids). Today he looks out his hospital window and feels grateful that he is still alive to look out the window--no matter that it is in a hospital and not at home. Not that he likes pain, but hey, when you have a lot of pain, at least it means you are very alive.

I'm so glad (world class understatement) things are looking better today. But I will keep praying and hope you will too. Now most of my prayers can be prayers of gratitude. But I will also pray for continued healing and a good response to the medications and treatments. I will also put his name on the prayer roll in the Guatemala Temple when we go there tomorrow morning.

Later that day Adam wrote:

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the prayers and love. I truly believe that heavenly father was watching out for me and protecting me.

The doctors made two more cuts last night in my armpit and this morning it looked as though the infection was visibly gone. My blood work looks good and all three doctors are encouraged and have said that I “turned a corner”. They said I will be in here through Monday and will have the pick line antibiotics for at least 2 weeks, but the concerns are gone and I should have no long term affects.

This has been a long, emotional and draining process, but I am very happy to have received the care I did. There are so many things that could have changed the course of things that make realize how much of a miracle this whole experience was. My testimony has definitely grown from this and I am glad to have lived through it, because I have gained so much from it. Thank you again for all the love you have all shown me, not only through this experience, but through my entire life. I will always be grateful and proud of the family that I came from. Adam Dike

By Friday, the doctors felt Adam had turned a corner. His little kids were able to come visit him. He was off his major isolation. He has to stay in at least through Monday. But he is mending and the infection is on the run! Thank goodness for modern day miracles.

It has been a hard week to be away from home, but Heavenly Father was there and that is even better.

School shopping with the Ramirez family

It is almost time for the new school year to start. Two weeks ago I took the Ramirez family shopping for supplies, shoes and uniforms. What an amazing experience. When they arrived at the apartment, the kids were fairly bouncing with excitement. Walking down the street I had two girls hanging onto one hand and one on another. One of the girls excitedly informed me that this was their Christmas present - to go shopping with Hermana Brown; which told me that they hadn't received other presents for Christmas. It was literally "Christmas morning" for this family. My heart was touched when I could see them comparing prices and trying to always select the least expensive. They were very aware that they were spending someone else's money and they didn't want to take advantage of it. The older brother, Diego and I went shopping the next week, after he had received his list from the night school (he hopes to work during the day - when he can find work). He was going to buy even the cheapest eraser (and save me $0.35. I had to reassure him it was okay to get the eraser with the plastic holder and the little pencil sharpner that had a case to catch the shavings. And he could have adult scissors instead of kids' school scissors. They bought everything they could from discounted street vendors. Backpacks were $5 instead of $50 in the stores. Watching the kids try on shoes was so much fun! I suspect they have always bought from the thrift stores in the past. I even splurged and bought Anderson (4 years old) and $2.50 backpack and a new pair of shoes (even though he isn't in school yet). After all, a 4 year old deserves to enjoy Christmas morning! Gladys only bought one blouse for each girl and fabric to make one uniform skirt apiece. I went back and bought another blouse for each girl. How can you expect kids to keep a white blouse clean for five consecutive days? But she wouldn't hear of purchasing fabric for a second skirt for each girl. We got two pairs of pants and two shirts for Diego, because he can use the white shirt and pants for church as well as school. The total for school expenses for all six kids was $292. I hope to get a little table and chairs for the kids to sit at to do homework. As you saw in previous pictures, the kids sit on a board across some logs. The child size table and chairs will cost $12. Because of your generosity, I have a matching amount saved to get them into school next year. We will leave it with our replacements or with a counselor in the bishopric that has helped them a lot.
Saturday, for the first time, Gladys actually asked for something. Everything we have ever done, we did because of awareness of the needs. She never asked. But Saturday she asked if she could borrow $60 to purchase staples in order to start preparing and selling food again. You could see her pain in having to ask. As we sat at the table talking, she finally lost her composure when she told me that Anderson had been asking if he could have tortillas (and sometimes beans) two times a day (like his friend in the neighborhood) instead of just once. My heart broke as I watched her lip quiver and the tears slip down her cheeks. You can't imagine this kind of poverty. I gave her the money (gladly). I didn't make it a gift, because she needs the dignity of working to pay it back. But if it isn't paid back before we go home, I will tell her not to worry about it and make it a gift. Neither Diego or Porfirio have found even one day of work since December 31st and they had pretty much used up the food they received in the Christmas basket. THANK YOU once again for your generosity and kindness in helping this family get their kids into school. They are attending church and the teenagers are going to the temple on the 30th. They have the information ready so that Dania can be baptized for her grandmother. She is excited about it. You have made a difference to one beautiful Guatemalan family.

Report on our trip to Tikal

I was able to get these post cards "trimmed" so that you can see them better. It is nice to see a professional photo or two, before you see our more personal ones. But it is nice to click on them and see them larger. Also where we have lots of pictures together, one ended up tucked behind another, so click on that edge and you can see us with Samuel the Lamanite. :)

January 16, 2010 (written by both Spencer and Jeanine)
Last night we returned from an absolutely wonderful trip to Petén (the northern most departmento in Guatemala) and the ruins of Tikal. It is a national reserve which is part of the rain forest. It is dense jungle with jaguars, pythons, other snakes, and hundreds of species of birds and other animals. Most of the Petén is uninhabited. The purpose of the trip was to visit the ruins of the Mayans who left many hints of their lives and beliefs carved in stone on the stele and ancient buildings. We are going to write our report in “chapters” so the pictures can be interspersed on the blog. This is an experiment, so I hope it works the way we are envisioning it.

Because of the temple being on break for two weeks, and because our classes haven’t been resumed yet, we took a trip with four temple workers and a tour guide who works with LDS archeologists. The tour guide was Bishop Sergio Navas and the others in the group were all temple missionaries: the Brady’s and Sisters Jaramillo and Kapp. It was fun and very informative. We don’t want to leave the impression that we are just “playing” senior missionaries, but it was another of those once in a lifetime experiences.
We got up early morning on the 13th and caught the bus out to the Atlantic highway and waited for about 45 minutes for our van to pick us up. We were happy to be on the way.

We made our first stop at Quirigua. We visited there last spring with Nathan and Christena. We learned some interesting things when we had a Book of Mormon tour guide with us. Most of you are already aware that each of these square carvings on the stone refers to an event, story or person that was known to the “readers”. One that shows up all over Mesoamerica is of an outstretched hand with a circular mark shown in the middle. Pretty interesting. Also where the buildings were at the end, there is a part of this sacred area where there are two entrances – presumably one for women and one for men and there are three separate rooms, each with a higher interior elevation for worship. Once again, we were able to visit on a day when it was overcast and the weather was beautiful. We must be living right. It is generally really hot and humid there.
The large steles each are the life history of a person – a ruler or warrior. The carvings are not completely understood at this point, but many of the glyphs have been deciphered.

There are many banana plantations in this part of the country. We got one picture that shows the rail that runs all day long, carrying giant stalks of bananas to the warehouse or trucks or whatever. The leaves of the banana plant are huge! Easily as tall as me. But the ones lower down are not as large. I had no idea what a banana plantation looked like before coming here. When I am not busy being a missionary, I want to read the Banana Republic trilogy about the relationship of the United Fruit Company and the people of Guatemala. There is a lot of history - both good and bad. Many people have banana trees growing in their yards. This is a Bountiful Land.

We went on to Rio Dulce and stopped for lunch. Once again we enjoyed the thatched roof, the bamboo serving area, and especially the tables and chairs. They wouldn’t be the same made from pine, since it isn’t all curvy, but man, am I drawn to the rustic appearance. I love the high chairs as well.

The drive thru Petén is pretty much all jungle. It has only been 10-12 years since they built a paved highway. It was beautiful. If the scholars are correct, it is part of the land of Zarahemla - specifically the east wilderness. You will recall that Captain Moroni had to deal with the king-men while simultaneously trying to stop the Lamanites from invading Zarahemla. Non-LDS archeologists refer to this land as the “forest of the kings” because of the tremendous evidence of belief in a divine right to kingship by the inhabitants of that area during the 1st century BC. Some Book of Mormon scholars think the king-men may have been Mulekites who descended from King Zedekiah and truly felt they inherited the right to kingship. Another source I read said that since Zoram was from Jerusalem, he was probably of the tribe of Judah, and his descendants may have also had the opinion they should rule. No matter who the king-men were; this knowledge we have from Book of Mormon scriptures provides insights into this phenomenon at Tikal and other cities in the forest of kings.

Spencer: I spent most of my energy trying to take pictures of monkeys, turkeys, and old buildings. The monkeys moved too fast high in the trees to catch them in a picture. But we saw a large group of them moving and swinging thru the foliage. The turkeys were as colorful as a peacock. Most of the time they wouldn’t cooperate either, but I did get some good pictures of them. At the Plaza of Seven Temples there was whole flock of wild turkeys. During the day we heard the jaguars roaring in the forest several different times. Thankfully they didn’t get close enough to even try to get a picture.
We were in the park for about 8 hours. It was a lot of hiking and climbing, but so beautiful! We spent a couple of hours visiting two museums. It was interesting to see one well preserved statue that had his hands on each leg. His right hand faced upward in a cupping shape and his left hand was palm down. That is the opposite of what I am familiar with, but very interesting, nevertheless. We couldn’t take flash pictures in the museum, so I can’t show you.

The spectacular site of Tikal, dated 600 BC – 900 AD is amazing to behold. It has an estimated 4000 buildings identified and / or excavated with thousands more underneath. We were able to ride out to Temple IV in a park truck, which saved us an hour. Then for the next six hours we walked and climbed. Once again, the Lord smiled on our expedition. It was overcast and cool. No one suffered from heat or dehydration (which plagues most park visitors). Our ages ranged from 64-81 years old. All of us, except one sister with a fear of heights) climbed the stairs to Temple IV and to Temple II in the North Acropolis. It was getting close to closing time, so we didn’t climb Temple V. (Spencer): The names of these are temples, but they aren’t temples as you would know them today. It was a building where the ruler had people come to pay homage. But even with the apostasy there are similarities such as the only rooms in the top are three rooms with each one a step or two higher than the others. You had to climb all the way to meet your “king” (“of kings”) who held all power over your future. In Tikal there were many places where they have just exposed corners of “hills” so you will know there is a temple or some other edifice underneath the dirt and trees. Roots of massive trees make excavation really difficult.

About ten miles out from the areas that have been excavated, the archeologists stumbled on a fascinating discovery, when they weren’t even looking. There is huge ditch around the perimeter (something like 50 square miles). Inside the ditch there is a very high wall. At first they thought the ditches were canals—but they are sandstone and don’t hold any water. Eventually the archeologists determined that it was an amazing fortification. Does that sound familiar? Captain Moroni was indeed a military genius. This form of fortification has been written up in National Geographic. Brother Navas has copies of many interesting resources for us to read on the way. We also listened to some CD’s by John Lund (who was the Book of Mormon scholar on the cruise we took several years ago).
We were the last ones out of the park at 6:00 PM. The other stragglers were apparently staying in the hotels within the park, because the parking lots were empty. What an incredible day – and with the great weather, no one even gave out during the exploration.

The woods in the Petén jungle are amazing. Mahogany is a junk wood used for fires. We saw some split and stacked by the road. The other woods are much harder (and heavier). With all of the hardwoods available to them they make some beautiful carvings. We have pictures of some of their work. There is a picture of some of the kids swarming us trying to sell us the smaller items. I (Spencer) couldn’t buy one from them because if you bought one, there were 50 other kids that would expect the same treatment. If I had the money I would buy a lot of those carvings. They were striking. I (Jeanine) had no problem buying some things from the kids. We made friends. There were twins named Adan y Eva and lots of other cute kids. Spencer ran out of money buying a jaguar and some other things, so I had to pay for the rest of the trip!  But to be fair – I bought a salad bowl and tongs and a honey container.

As you can see from the picture, some vines are strong enough for Tarzan (or Spencer) to swing from. We also saw rubber trees being cultivated. Some of the trees have really interesting names. One with a brown bark is called Indio Desnudo “Naked Indian” so of course I had to have a picture with a naked Indian. One with a white bark (it looks bare) is medicinal. It is an analgesic/anesthetic. We crushed some leaves and it smelled like an anesthetic. Then we chewed the leaf a bit and it made your tongue tingle. I wanted to bring leaves home to make a paste for my back! Another tree is called the killer tree. It is a parasite that attaches itself to the primary tree and just grows all the way around it. It keeps encircling it and squeezing until it squeezes it to death. We saw this phenomenon with small to medium trees and very large ones as well.

On the 15th we packed up and came back home. On the way we drove through 100-200 miles of pasture land with hundreds or thousands of Brahma cattle, Some of the ranch buildings were better than what we have at home. The cattle are all grass fattened. People here don’t have the expectation of grain fed beef. But it is good meat. The cattle production is remarkable.
Our group dropped us off again at Rio Hondo and we caught the bus back to Chiquimula. We were tired, but very happy with the great trip.
Enough of the touristy stuff. We will be back into the teaching process this coming week. We are headed to Esquipulas in the morning to fulfill our church assignments.

Volcano in Guatemala

On our way home from our "field trip" we stopped and ate at a beautiful resort, the "Reunion". Just up the hill behind the golf course was one of the dozens of volcanoes that are located in Guatemala. Many are still active. I wish the clouds hadn't been behind the mountain, because there was smoke coming out of this one. When we watched we could see it, but you can't really tell in a picture. Wish you had all been here to enjoy it.

Spencer's New Years' report:

January 3, 2010
Dear family,
As Jeanine wrote last week, it has been a wonderful month; maybe one of the most memorable of my life. We should always look forward to more and better experiences because each is part of mortality and each has a role in our development and our progress. Yes, even the terrible ones. Example: I remember when Benjamin left his old car with us to go on a mission. There had been a divorce and funs were very scarce. I worked up a couple of thousand dollars to restore the car so as to have something to keep me going while I made the mission payments. On the way home from Mesa on New Year’s Eve the plug in the radiator of the car gave way and without water the engine burned up. Hard times followed. Yes each experience makes up our life on earth.
One more “preachy” thing: Do we understand the “atonement”? Christ has suffered for all. We may and must cleanse our garments in the blood of the lamb. He has not left us here to flounder and He will see us through. Enjoy the good and endure the struggles!
The temple was heavily used with record numbers of ordinances this month. School is out and many businesses are closed at Christmas time. There are a host of reasons. There were sometimes 500 people in that mid-sized temple. Can you imagine, lockers occupied and clothes baskets stacked everywhere, the halls jammed up, people standing to get their recommend scanned and get their number to come back later for a session, all functions of the temple in full force. It gives us an opportunity to do a variety of things that otherwise we might not be able to do. What beautiful people come to the temple. That high volume of participants gave us real opportunity to be trained and to learn. Here is a particular example: The morning shift was way overtime with a huge group waiting to start. The afternoon shift was arriving and still changing clothes. The supervisor came to me just when I thought that we could have a lunch break. He said that I was the only one in the temple that was available and I was needed to officiate in a session. I didn’t have Jeanine to sit by me and kick me in the back of the foot, but I was grateful to be needed and to be asked. It was overcrowded, which caused some adjustment and some delays. The overall temple recorder and coordinator was there participating (which I didn’t even know at first). Afterwards, he pulled me aside and told me of two mistakes I had made. I was embarrassed, but grateful for the instruction he gave me. It’s been wonderful training, all in Spanish. I don’t know where else we could get the opportunity. Now we’ll be back to every other weekend after the temple reopens January 19th.
[Note from Jeanine: I sat with the temple recorder on Wednesday and he shared with me the stats from Tuesday. There were 730 endowments; 63 for their own endowments; 19 sealings, 11 of them being families with children. There were sessions about every 20 minutes beginning about 6:30 AM. The evening shift workers didn’t get finished until 11:30 PM. The schedule says the last shift starts at 7:00 PM. But what can you do when saints are leaving in the wee hours of the morning to return to another country and want to do more temple work? It was overwhelming and marvelous. You have to experience to know how it truly felt.] OK back to Spencer:
Another extraordinary experience: One of those once in a lifetime things: Temple president, President Mask invited us to stay the 31st and the 1st with them. Saturday he was taking lots of senior missionaries from the Area Office on an outing down by Esquintla. It was to see some very impressing findings that he and others had become aware of. It is a large stone in a sugar cane field. It has been examined by archeologist. He is without a doubt one of the most knowledgeable people in the church about Book of Mormon evidences. He and a host of others are certain there is MUCH more evidence in Guatemala and southern Mexico than in the USA (in spite of what Rod Meldrum has to say). Without going into all of this background, I will just say that one of the twelve apostles is coming next month and has cleared his calendar to spend three days with Brother Mask to learn more about these Book of Mormon evidences that have been uncovered and visit some of the sites (some brought to light by him and some by others). His facts are very objective and well documented. The carved stone that we visited on Saturday explains about various tribes (“-ites”) and includes glyphs that when translated into Hebrew mean Lehi, Sariah, Zoram and Jacob (I think). If Rod Meldrum found even one thing like this, he’d be ecstatic. They are all over southern Mexico and Guatemala (especially the western coast).
President Mask was just released as a seventy in October and became temple president the first of November. He has a manuscript, but as a general authority (even former) he can’t publish a book without the approval of the First Presidency. He also was told he can’t publish a book while he is serving as Temple President. So much of his information isn’t well publicized or known. Prior to going out we had the privilege of lots of personal tutoring. On Thursday we spent five hours sitting at the kitchen table going through all of his research and evidences. Then we spent a few more hours on Friday—as well as the outing on Saturday. He taught us about what the prophet Mormon actually tells us in the Book of Mormon and we reviewed place relationships, times, archeology and facts that match times and history of the Jaredites, Mulekites and Lehi’s family. Saturday he took us to a little known private museum in Santa Lucia where a plantation owner decided to preserve all of the artifacts he kept digging up as he plowed his fields. After reviewing things there, we went out to the field to see the actual rock and look at the carvings for ourselves. Aside from the wonders of what he taught us, the trip out there was a life time treat. How would one ever have found those things just running around the country alone? And what a thrilling opportunity to be personally hosted by someone with his knowledge and of his stature. We spent 3-4 days per week during the first part of December and Monday thru Saturday of last week.
Well, that is enough. I’m getting more verbose than Jeanine . We can’t have that now, can we?
Spencer,Dad, Elder Brown or whatever identification you want to associate with me

This is the rock Spencer wrote about!

We came at a good time because a new crop of sugar cane had recently been planted. Therefore, the plants were short and it was easier to find the rock. Sometimes this rock is hidden by sugar cane plants that 8' tall! That makes it a little bit challenging. I can't really point out the name glyphs in a picture this big, but I can when we get home. Imagine finding glyphs that mean "Lehi, Sariah, Zoram and one other name (I think Jacob or Joseph)" all on one rock on the western coastal area of Guatemala. It was a rare privilege to be here with lots of missionaries from the Area Office and the President of North Mission. All we can say is "Wow!"

The musuem in Santa Lucia

I'm not certain if Spencer is trying to hold these up or trying to be Samson and knock them down. This was the museum where a plantation owner decided to try to preserve the things he and his neighbors kept finding in their fields. He made casts and replicas of some things. The originals are in big museums or like the one we were most interested in, they are still in the fields because they are so big. There is a casting inside the museum of the rock we were most interested in.

Iguanas for our grandkids to enjoy!

OK, this post is especially for all of our grandkids. Personally, we thought the iguanas were ugly, but we knew you would like them. The really fascinating ones had crowns and beards (at least I think that is what they are called). Right by the museum where the stone carvings were located, was a place that breeds iguanas. Even if they are ugly, they are fun to see. I tried to get a picture of both a green and an orange one, but they kept moving really fast. Look how long their tails are. Did you know people eat iguanas here? They say the taste like really tender chicken. I don't think I'll go out of my way to try this delicacy.

Crowds at the temple

On the morning of December 30th at 7:00 AM we had crowds waiting to get into the temple. Some had been outside a l-o-n-g time. Inside it was shoulder to shoulder and you had to walk sideways in the halls. That day there were 730 endowments, including 63 new people; 19 sealings, including 11 families with children. The last session that night didn't start until 9 PM because people just kept coming. This is amazing for a mid-size temple. It was overwhelmingly awesome!

Temple Nativity

It looks like the Guatemala City temple and the Merida temple have the same nativity sets (just different stables). We loved seeing Dale and Marial at that temple and now you can see us at our temple. Fun to have siblings on missions at the same time.