Circle of Life

In the past week we have celebrated the end of a beautiful life (Michele), a great upcoming experience of life (Nathan Judd's mission call to Minneapolis, MN, and the beginning of a new life (grandchildren number #48 to be born to Jon and Marjon). We are truly feeling blessed.

September 28, 2014--Spencer

I have a special housekeeper. However, she has been known to kick my pants and make me do some of it! These sweet children are in a corner taking care of each other while their parents are in the temple. [The big sister had been carrying the little one around on her back prior to this picture being taken] I took a soft rubber ball over to them to play catch. They lighted up and went with me to the class. By the end of the hour and our trip around the temple they were brave and enjoying the experience. They have probably never been away from parents. Time to get over to the temple: Here comes the next bus load of people: I love to greet people getting off the bus. They love it that someone notices and greets them: Kids in activity after class: This lady is carrying a drink to sell on the street. Her customer is purchasing and enjoying the drink (you won the lottery when you were born in our country). This past week has been heavy, but I have had some uplifting experiences, especially while conducting my temple tours with the children and in the baptismal font. There is great variation in those being baptized. Some of the 12 y.o. young men are no bigger than our 7 y.o. grandsons. One young man was 6'5" and weighed 300#. Occasionally there are older women who are pretty heavy as well. I get my work out on those shifts! Note from Jeanine: Saturday the sister missionaries told me that they visited with a woman who sat in the background listening to our class. She then went on the tour Spencer led. She reported that she learned more about the temple that day than she had in the year since she has been a member. She especially loved Spencer's tour. She is now determined to change her life and prepare to come to the temple. SUCCESS!!

Another great week in review!

September 28, 2014 Wow--this has been a tough week. I had so many emotions battling for precedence when I learned that my sweet, beautiful cousin, Michele Garvin died Monday night. My emotions have been raw. I felt so very, very far away when I knew so many of my loved ones were gathering in Utah yesterday. Oh, how I wish I could have been there. My heart was .... I don't know, I don't have the words. I am so very grateful for my testimony and knowledge of the plan of salvation. I know my Heavenly Father loves me and each person who ever reads this blog. He has a plan for each one of us. Our lives are happier if we learn to let go of our own will and turn things over to God. I am grateful to work in the temple five days a week and further the Lords work here on the earth. Spencer took this beautiful photo with the amazing clouds in the background. We had lots of kids here on Saturday morning. We taught three groups consecutively. In fact, while Spencer was taking the kids on the tour around and into the temple, I had to move forward and cover his parts of the lesson. He would return to the Annex, get them started on the activity and rejoin me whenever he could get there. We were going non-stop for several hours. Fortunately, we didn't have to go to the temple, because it was closing for the afternoon, because of the Women's broadcast from Salt Lake City. Prior to the broadcast we had a Devotional for all of the temple missionaries and workers that have worked with/under President Perez. It was a beautiful, spiritual feast. My heart was overflowing when he testified that he has received revelation in the temple and manifestations. He could hardly talk. They had prepared an amazing DVD of the history and memories of the Quetzaltenango Temple. I can hardly wait to share it with you when we return home. After the prayer we received our DVD's and pictures and had refreshments. Then the missionaries joined the President and Hermana Perez to cut a cake and sing "Happy Birthday" to the temple. I led the singing in both English and Spanish. It was a lot of fun!! Fortunately, we were all able to go to and from the temple on a bus the president rented. Here are some pictures: The chapel we met in was immense. Parking was on the lower level. There were two wings of the same length and a stage in back. It was especially nice to celebrate the 3 year anniversary of the temple. The mission, district, and stake leaders were also invited (and given a DVD) so they can promote temple work here in our temple district. After we got home, I had some computer glitches, but I watched the Women's broadcast with Nita Hinton in her apartment. It is amazing that technology is so available. I plan on listening to talks in Spanish now. One a day next week. It was great that so many of the talks were centered on the temple. Gives us lots of great quotes we can use if we are called on for the spiritual thought in the training meetings in the temple. I will also listen to the talks in Spanish after General Conference--that will take many weeks!! It is good training for my ears. I still can't translate in my head fast enough to keep up. But I am doing great with the MTC tutor. I spend a lot of time studying--probably I'm somewhat OCD about it. Spencer is an excellent resource and helps me review.

Quote for the day!

“God does not begin by asking our ability, but more of our availability. When we prove our dependability, He will increase our capability.” ― Neal A. Maxwell

An example of great faith

On Friday we had a large group arrive from Huehuetenango. They were from an area where they speak Mam. It is very guttural with a lot of clicking noises in it. There was one precious little lady that required a lot of help to get dressed. She seriously isn't more than 4' tall! But she is scrunched with age so maybe she was 4'3" in her prime! She looked like she was about 88-92 years old. She carried a walking stick that was straight from the field. She even used it in the session. When she took off her hair wrap, her long gray hair was down to her waist. We put it in a scrunchy for her. When I asked her if she needed to use the bathroom before the session, I learned that she didn't speak any Spanish. So sisters from the ward helped her. I was assigned to the new name booth. But when she came in I couldn't communicate to learn her last name, so we had to go back out and find someone who could give me her last name, which is needed in the ordinance. As I thought about that my heart was touched by the faith of people like her who come to the temple, and cannot understand the words that are being spoken. She could be taught by the Spirit and she had a fervent desire. She even stayed for a second session. The ward came back after lunch for a third session. But she and her husband waited in the annex. My testimony was increased as I thought about and observed her simple faith. I wish I had a picture of me standing with her--but I didn't know how to ask her to stand up and besides--she was justifiably tired!! She was the star of the week for me!! Just want to share a great experience I had this week with Hermana Herrara. She is my 87 y.o. hero. She comes Tues-Friday for about 3 1/2 hours to perform initiatory work. She is my adopted mother and she calls me her hija (daughter). One day this week I entered the cubicle and there she was. She reached up for me and I bent down to her. She hugged and kissed me and whispered, "Te quiero hija!" ("I love you daughter"). It brought tears to my eyes. Then when I was facing her and performing the work, she reached out, grabbed my hand and held it to her lips while I was speaking. Talk about an emotional high! The spirit of love was so strong and so very special. This is why I love missionary work! It is an amazing experience to be in the temple five days a week.

"Maestro"

Recently I have been thinking about the word maestro. It literally is translated as "teacher" or "master". Teacher is the most common usage. But inchurch videos, you will also see it used in reference to the Savior. He is our Master. At first I thought of Rachelle--as she is a maestra. And I thought about how awesome it is to have the same title as Christ. But then I realized that it has a much broader application--for each one of you is a teacher in either the church or the home. We truly have the stewardship of representing Christ. We are His voice and His hands. Hopefully, we can be master teachers at every opportunity.

Pictures & comments from Spencer

Note from Jeanine: I shouldn't let Spencer write his first--he wants to use all of the pictures. But that's OK, I guess. A couple from Huehuetenango, where they speak Mam. I officiated at one of the sessions they were in and he slept thru most of it. They brought their own food to eat. Staff of maintenance workers: Dony, Estuardo and Manuel. I started teasing them early on and now they constantly give it to me double! The Amanzans: a couple that prepares and sells all of the food sold here in the Annex of the temple. They feed a couple of hundred people on Saturdays--for several meals during the day. They are good sized groups some other nights as well. There are two kitchens at one end of the dining room. One is for them and one is where people can prepare their own meals using the facilities to feed their family or group. Some patrons rent a room to stay in overnight. There are also large bathrooms with showers and lockers to keep things in. Without a doubt it is the nicest facility they have seen in their lives. Jeanine has a Bingo game going and I am the "maestro" who's responsible for the coloring activity. I am the leader of a lot of young talent! This is President and Sister Cesar Perez. He is the secretary of the temple and a stake president here in Xela. Their kids like to come on Saturday to participate in our classes. A Primary from Totonicapan came on Friday night for our class and tour. We didn't know they were coming, but since we worked the day shift, it was OK. I want to know how the Ward came up with funds for Happy Meals after our activity! But, I'm surely glad they did because they came bringing us a box and drink. I tried to talk them out of it, but not TOO hard! A Happy Meal never tasted so good! I even got both of the drinks, since they are too sugary for Jeanine! We're getting ready for Sunday School. All but two of those people are temple workers. I'm gonna get me one of those tipico dresses! I've started making popcorn and delivering it to our colleagues on Sunday afternoon. No one has turned me down!

Last week when we were riding with the Mortenson's, Paul mentioned that Spencer should be called, "Spencer, el bautista" (as in John the Baptist). Last week he mentioned that he had been called in extra and performed 554 baptisms. A day or two later he did 456 or something like that. He frequently is called on for baptisms because he is bigger and stronger than many of the Guatemalan men. Sorry no picture available of him in the font! :) Some interesting people for whom the ordinance work was done recently. I mentioned the Korean woman born in 1326. Well, on Friday night Spencer and I were doing proxy sealings of daughters to their parents. We were the parents. Spencer was proxy for the King of Portugal. I was proxy for three different wives. One had 14 names in her name! Don't know where she was from. The next wife (mother) was Princess of Austria and the third one was the Princess of Luxemburg. Pretty interesting--not our normal experience! Interesting king--I know nothing about Portuguese history, so I can't shed any light on his life at all. But in reality--all of us our of royal birth as children of our Father in Heaven!! Now THAT is REALLY humbling. That beats royalty here in mortality any time! We teach some beautiful little children every Saturday. You have seen many group pictures, but sometimes you might want to see faces up close! They are darling. Our Mondays (P-Days) surely vary. As you know two weeks ago, we were at a resort in Lake Atitlan. Last week we were doing some deep cleaning and shopping. Tomorrow we will be stuck at home. It is the Guatemalan Independence Day and the streets are packed and the stores are closed. No shopping on that day. We will watch the parade on the local TV channel. Today after church (in a different chapel/ward, because of congestion making it difficult to get to ours) we watched the equivalent of the Prescott Kiddy Parade--lots of schools and sports teams. Kids were dressed in amazing costumes. It was great. Then later in the day they had the competition to select Miss Guatemala. It is held here in Quetzaltenango rather than the capital. The reigning queens from the other countries in Central America were also here. It was similar to beauty pageants in the US, except here, people aren't so anorexic and bolemic. The contestants all had sort of heavy thighs and hips. I found myself with mixed opinions--I was glad they had healthier bodies; but I've been programmed--like most all Americans--to not think that was as attractive! Guess I'm too influenced by the world! Live continues to be wonderful here! We love the people--and they love us. But recently I was realizing that there are losses and gains in types of missions. This is VERY rewarding, being in the temple everyday. But if we came back to visit in five years, it would be hard to find anyone who remembered us--maybe some of the employees would still be around. But workers and presidency would have changed. We don't spend time in the homes and get to know people on an intimate basis. When we returned to Chiquimula and Esquipulas we were well received and well remembered. I think they will remember us all of their lives. I think we could even return to Colorado and Kansas and be remembered--unless people have moved away. So-o-o-o, as much as I love this mission, I realize that the intimate relationships are with the other missionaries, and in October, we are losing half of them! I dread that day because I have come to love them very much! It is important to share our love with people in every setting and circumstance--not just the underprivileged (like some of the saints here), but also those who have an abundance in life. We are all children of a loving Heavenly Father.

Spencer reflecting back (since we have no current pictures!)

There are gardens in our lives: The dreary world where we live. Heavenly Father's children generally don't live lives of luxury. Luxury can slow down our progress. The people we serve or serve with frofoundly chage who we are and our perspective on life and the value of the struggles that we all will experience. We won the lottery, so to speak, when we were born in the USA. This is where we keep it all in perspective. Of this I'm sure. Children, keep trying!