November 3, 2009
Dear Family,
It is almost two weeks since I wrote a letter. I hope you know I have thought of you every day. I feel so very blessed to have your love and support as a part of my life. Thank you.
My back is soooooo much better, I can’t tell you. Rich (my nephew, who is a PT—for the Brown side of my family) had emailed me some exercises and I had been doing them for two weeks. They had helped a lot, but I still was having a lot of pain. The chiropractor Tuli found in Guatemala City is from Minneapolis and educated in the United States. He married “a beautiful Guatemalan girl” and they moved back here 12 years ago. I had an evaluation by the doctor, was taught more exercises for both my back and ankle, had ultra sound and a hot compress to my back, an adjustment and a massage. I got an ankle brace for when I am walking in rough, uneven places. It took 2½ hours and cost $100. It He also gave me the names of two different medicines—one a muscle relaxant that doesn’t make me sleepy and an anti-inflammatory agent that won’t cause rebound headaches. I was still pretty sore for a few days—my back was pretty rigid and hard for him to adjust. But once that calmed down, I have been better than I have been in many months.
The Limburgs (the missionaries here before us) are here visiting. They are such delightful people to be with. Everyone is so happy to see them. Today we were set up at CUNORI with cookies so they could see some of the medical students. Then the faculty classes, past and present, took us to lunch at the most expensive restaurant in town, as their guests. It was a relaxing, rewarding time. Tonight, I am hosting a movie night, meal, and get together at the church for the English students, past and present. Everyone is bringing food. I made chili and will provide nachos—plus plates, cups, napkins, etc. It should be a lot of fun. I had to cancel the kids’ class for tonight, in order to host the party.
Spencer went from Esquipulas to Guatemala City on Sunday, because there was a special excursion coming from El Salvador and the temple was going to be opened for it. There were 17 buses and 500 people. I guess it was crazy. He will probably want to write about it.
We received an email from the missionary department, indicating that unless CUNORI can support the classes by actually making them required and expecting a level of required performance, we will probably not be replaced. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Each year they have said the classes are obligatory. We keep roles and scores—but they don’t really want them in administration. The classes actually are strongly suggested, not obligatory. So as the year gets more intense and students are worried about staying in medical school, attendance dwindles down to almost nothing. We have given the medical administration the lists of attendance and performance, but there are no consequences and no rewards.
Not a lot has changed in our work. The members in the branch are still struggling economically and spiritually. It is an emotional roller coaster to see new people come out and others drop out of activity.
I will post a few pictures with comments on other things, so to complete this letter, go to spencerandjeanine.blogspot.com.
Love, Mom/Jeanine
Tuesday, November 3
Wednesday, October 21
Bucket brigade
I finally had my camera at the right time to take a picture of a bucket brigade. Of course I had an advantage--I was standing in a front bedroom, 2nd floor, in our apartment. Our neighbor Rony is adding a second floor to his house. It is interesting to watch cement buildings built with lots of rebar. They should be standing when the 2nd coming arrives.
One of our favorite families
This is Benedicto and Reina Martiniz and their two sons. We meet with them 1-2x per month (in Esquipulas). They have a wonderful spirit in their humble home. They answer all the questions perfectly and have great discussions. But the youngest son has never attended and never more than two at a time of the other three. It is so frustrating. I'd be so happy if the entire family attended Sacrament Meeting. Just once! (Well not really, I want it all the time)!
I love the colors!
This lady was just sitting on the sidewalk selling her wares. If there isn't enough room on the sidewalk, just put some of the merchandise on your head--it all works out just fine. I asked her permission to take the picture and you can see that it pleased her!
Zapatero
Hermano Juan Ramos is a prospective elder in the Esquipulas Branch and he is a zapatero (repairs shoes). Here he is working on my shoes. He lives behind the curtain. His shop and home are one little room. You can see how small he is next to Spencer. What a kind, gentle person he is.
October 21, 2009
Hi family,
All is going well here in Chiquimula. We are counting our blessings. If you ever want to feel blessed, just go to a 3rd world country. Last week we went to visit Gladys Ramirez. They have been working on getting the framework built to make a palm frond roof so they can put up plastic walls and have a covered shelter of their own for their family to sleep in. Some problems have developed between cousins sleeping together in their inadequate, crowded conditions. They have the palm roof up over her raised cooking fire. And they have strung an extension cord to that area. The posts are up for the house roof, but they haven’t been able to afford the poles that go across yet. They have the palm fronds drying. But that is only one problem. Portfirio was working on building construction and while he was working in one area, all of his tools were stolen (about Q5000 or $650 worth) from a different area in the building. You have to have your own tools to work, or else rent them from other people. Then, Gladys and her 8 year old both got Malaria. So she can’t go to church, until the department of public health says her blood test is OK. We took them a few pounds of rice to help them out. The kids were disappointed that I didn’t bring sweets. One of the little toddler cousins has obvious signs of malnutrition. The kids were eating homemade corn tortillas while we were there and it appeared to be all that they would be having that night. Next problem: While she was taking care of her dying brother, her two youngest school children didn’t keep up with homework and didn’t pass this year (school year ends this week), so they have to repeat this year’s work. There is not social “passing” here. Kids take very hard tests at the end of the year. It is very common to be 20 years old before you get out of high school.
However, she had one wonderful thing to report. Her brother who recently died came to her in a dream and told her the path I taught about in FHE was the right path and she should follow it and stick with it. Months ago, when we were teaching the unbaptized children, I created a path on a long paper that started with birth and ended up returning to Heavenly Father. There was a gate (built with cardboard) that had scripture quotes teaching that baptism was the gate. It had steps that needed to be followed after baptism (sort of like holding to the rod). Her brother wasn’t there for the FHE, but he knew about it. She was very emotional when she talked about it. That was a tender mercy—both for her and for me.
We spent last weekend in Esquipulas. We had some nice visits. I was looking forward to going out to the family with the ducks (who are becoming active again). But the person who was going to drive us didn’t get back in time, so Spencer took one of the missionaries (they have a three some there now) with him and took the bus. When you get out to the little aldea, you have to hike about 1-2 miles to their house. That didn’t seem like something that I would be able to do. So I missed out once again.
Tuli has found a chiropractor for me that she trusts, in Guatemala City. There are very few in this country. I have an appointment for this Friday afternoon. It can’t come soon enough! I have had terrible back spasms and my ankles and feet aren’t a whole lot better. Oh woe is me! But nothing is life threatening, so we just keep trudging along.
Spencer and I read up on “rebound headaches” and realized we were using way too many analgesics; so we have not been using them this month while we get them out of our systems and then we will be very prudent. We have definitely had lots of different pains, but the headaches seem to be lessening. Boy do we sound like a couple of old fogies or what? Maybe it is all of the years we both had to burn the candle at both ends just to survive and it is now catching up with us. Oh to be 50 again!
We have finished our CUNORI classes with students. They are taking midterm and final exams. We still have our classes with faculty members. And the classes at the church are still gung-ho. It is amazing how many people come just from word of mouth advertising.
Each Sunday we attend in Esquipulas having read the Sunday School lesson in advance and RS/Priesthood one if we know what it is. Probably about once a month, Spencer ends up teaching Gospel Doctrine, because the teacher just doesn’t show up. It is crazy. How hard is it to call and say “I won’t be there”? It is usually part way thru Sacrament Meeting when we realize she isn’t there, that Spencer starts to panic and give the lesson more than a cursory once over. The branch is still struggling. Our attendance continues to be less than we had come to general conference. I’m so glad they were here for that Sunday.
We have a stake conference for all of Guatemala coming up on November 15th. It will be a satellite broadcast. I am looking forward to that. They included the districts and branches. But I doubt if the branch can afford to pay bus passage again, so it will probably be a very sparse attendance.
I’m going to cut this short and try to put a few pictures on the blog.
We love and miss you all!
Mom/Jeanine
Hi family,
All is going well here in Chiquimula. We are counting our blessings. If you ever want to feel blessed, just go to a 3rd world country. Last week we went to visit Gladys Ramirez. They have been working on getting the framework built to make a palm frond roof so they can put up plastic walls and have a covered shelter of their own for their family to sleep in. Some problems have developed between cousins sleeping together in their inadequate, crowded conditions. They have the palm roof up over her raised cooking fire. And they have strung an extension cord to that area. The posts are up for the house roof, but they haven’t been able to afford the poles that go across yet. They have the palm fronds drying. But that is only one problem. Portfirio was working on building construction and while he was working in one area, all of his tools were stolen (about Q5000 or $650 worth) from a different area in the building. You have to have your own tools to work, or else rent them from other people. Then, Gladys and her 8 year old both got Malaria. So she can’t go to church, until the department of public health says her blood test is OK. We took them a few pounds of rice to help them out. The kids were disappointed that I didn’t bring sweets. One of the little toddler cousins has obvious signs of malnutrition. The kids were eating homemade corn tortillas while we were there and it appeared to be all that they would be having that night. Next problem: While she was taking care of her dying brother, her two youngest school children didn’t keep up with homework and didn’t pass this year (school year ends this week), so they have to repeat this year’s work. There is not social “passing” here. Kids take very hard tests at the end of the year. It is very common to be 20 years old before you get out of high school.
However, she had one wonderful thing to report. Her brother who recently died came to her in a dream and told her the path I taught about in FHE was the right path and she should follow it and stick with it. Months ago, when we were teaching the unbaptized children, I created a path on a long paper that started with birth and ended up returning to Heavenly Father. There was a gate (built with cardboard) that had scripture quotes teaching that baptism was the gate. It had steps that needed to be followed after baptism (sort of like holding to the rod). Her brother wasn’t there for the FHE, but he knew about it. She was very emotional when she talked about it. That was a tender mercy—both for her and for me.
We spent last weekend in Esquipulas. We had some nice visits. I was looking forward to going out to the family with the ducks (who are becoming active again). But the person who was going to drive us didn’t get back in time, so Spencer took one of the missionaries (they have a three some there now) with him and took the bus. When you get out to the little aldea, you have to hike about 1-2 miles to their house. That didn’t seem like something that I would be able to do. So I missed out once again.
Tuli has found a chiropractor for me that she trusts, in Guatemala City. There are very few in this country. I have an appointment for this Friday afternoon. It can’t come soon enough! I have had terrible back spasms and my ankles and feet aren’t a whole lot better. Oh woe is me! But nothing is life threatening, so we just keep trudging along.
Spencer and I read up on “rebound headaches” and realized we were using way too many analgesics; so we have not been using them this month while we get them out of our systems and then we will be very prudent. We have definitely had lots of different pains, but the headaches seem to be lessening. Boy do we sound like a couple of old fogies or what? Maybe it is all of the years we both had to burn the candle at both ends just to survive and it is now catching up with us. Oh to be 50 again!
We have finished our CUNORI classes with students. They are taking midterm and final exams. We still have our classes with faculty members. And the classes at the church are still gung-ho. It is amazing how many people come just from word of mouth advertising.
Each Sunday we attend in Esquipulas having read the Sunday School lesson in advance and RS/Priesthood one if we know what it is. Probably about once a month, Spencer ends up teaching Gospel Doctrine, because the teacher just doesn’t show up. It is crazy. How hard is it to call and say “I won’t be there”? It is usually part way thru Sacrament Meeting when we realize she isn’t there, that Spencer starts to panic and give the lesson more than a cursory once over. The branch is still struggling. Our attendance continues to be less than we had come to general conference. I’m so glad they were here for that Sunday.
We have a stake conference for all of Guatemala coming up on November 15th. It will be a satellite broadcast. I am looking forward to that. They included the districts and branches. But I doubt if the branch can afford to pay bus passage again, so it will probably be a very sparse attendance.
I’m going to cut this short and try to put a few pictures on the blog.
We love and miss you all!
Mom/Jeanine
Spencer gets homesick for the dairy
This is a Brahma cow that Spencer thought was really typical of the ones we see all the time. They wander all over the areas where homes are, just not downtown in either Chiquimula or Esquipulas. Brahmas are a very common breed. Many farmers only milk once a day because of the poor feed and Brahmas can tolerate the once a day schedule
Monday, October 12
The midsize buses:
These are the buses we ride to Esquipulas every weekend. Jeanine is boarding one of them to return to Chiquimula and the other picture is taken from a side view. I hope you can see that it isn't really very big--and we have often traveled with 40+ people crammed in it. In the USA it would probably be a 15 passenger van. But we aren't in the good 'ole USA! It is an adventure.
The city buses:
This is a typical bus that we catch everyday as we move about in Chiquimula. There are often people, generally boys, hanging out the door. Sometimes they are really crowded, but generally there aren't too many people. However, the buses are very old, the seats are ratty and the drivers are crazy!
Spencer's latest observations:
October 11, 2009
Dear loved ones,
I’ll take a turn this Sunday evening to write a report of our efforts the past few weeks.
Wednesday about noon or neighbor and former bishop sent some workers to pick up his window air conditioner unit from our kitchen/DR window. It does belong to him and he helped the Limburgs out by installing it for them. We didn’t have any warning about the change. Sort of caught us by surprise. He did send us a smaller unit, which means that I had to scramble to get a larger piece of plywood and hardware to secure the unit in the window (so that we wouldn’t have an open access for thieves). I fixed it up really good, but ran a screw into the tubing on the unit. It sounded like “air brakes” on a truck. Fortunately, I had developed a working relationship with a refrigeration repairman and he came to the rescue. He took it home to work on. He wasn’t able to return it until Friday morning (when we were scheduled to leave for the temple). We were anxious to get it installed and be on our way. When he arrived (an hour later than he’d told us) we removed the unit from the housing so that we could put in screws from the inside out so we would eliminate the problem of piercing the tubing. We got the unit housing and the plywood really solid in the window then proceeded to put the unit into the housing. The tube he had fixed wasn’t tucked in very well and we broke another tube. The “brakes on the truck” went off again! He went home for supplies and came back and repaired it here and we got it done. We immediately left for the terminal and boarded a bus at 10:30—three hours later than we had planned. We had planned on leaving early so Jeanine could see a chiropractor because she is having lots of problems with her back. With the late departure, that was out.
The buses:
The big bus lines were probably first class greyhound buses. When they aren’t in use in the US they sell them down here, where labor is cheap and they can keep them running for a long time. The air conditioning is generally driving 70 mph with the windows open. The seats vary in quality (a few are good, most are mediocre and many are poor or broken). There is a BR/toilet in the back, which usually functions (but there is no water to wash your hands). After waiting to get started and the stops for passengers all along the way, it takes about four hours to get to the City. On our trip Friday, our seats were very uncomfortable and we were pretty miserable. That made Jeanine’s back problems worse, but she is a trooper.
When you get to the terminal coming back, the workers from three bus lines all compete for your business and are immediately in your face trying to get your luggage from you so they can put it on their bus. They are pushy and obnoxious. I chose a different bus line to see if there was any improvement. Our normal bus line was starting to pull out, Jeanine suggested we switch, but this one said they would be leaving in 15 minutes. Three different lines left before us, while we were sitting there waiting. We sat for a full hour before it pulled out and started the long trip home. My knees and hips and low back were killing me from being cramped up for so long.
The midsized bus lines are used going to and from Esquipulas. The make a seat where there isn’t a seat and then shove people on top of people. When they can’t shove anymore into the seats, they all just stand in the doorway with the door open and hang on for dear life. They carry a half ton of bags and other things on the roof. This afternoon, I sat next to the driver with one knee doubled up to my seat. That added to my hip pain. Jeanine was already really hurting and had come home on an earlier bus. It isn’t always that crowded, of course.
The local bus when we return to Chiquimula we usually get on a city bus, which are vans with the side door removed and extra seats installed. I rode one of those to the apartment. When I got off of that bus, I wanted to cuss. I think there is some rule that a preacher can cuss under extreme circumstances.
It seems to me that the pattern of our best missionary work to date has been to “stop up the holes” or gaps in struggling branches. This was the case in Alamosa, CO, Garden City, KS and here In Esquipulas. There are three men there that are trying to overcome their spiritual problems. One of them is the couple that live way out of town with the ducks. Another one is a man who lives in an area just outside of town. His wife has been very ill with diabetes and renal problems. She was totally inactive and one day we found her when she was ill and gave her a blessing. Her husband was working out of town. At least we did that much. His daughter’s family recently moved in after the death of their child. The wife and daughter and grandchildren are now coming with him to meetings. That is real progress. The third is a man who is a brick/block hour builder. We’ve visited his family many times and he has been attending. His oldest son and his wife also attend sporadically. It doesn’t matter who gets credit—we work closely with two sets of elders there. There has to be a change of heart. Sometimes even a change in leadership is required. There has to be a desire from within the branch to progress. Otherwise, they will just continue to be a dysfunctional unit in the center of the religions of Babylon (Esquipulas is the regional center for the Catholic Church and is known for the Black Christ Crucifix)
As for the teaching at CUNORI, it’s there and we’ve tried. It is a project that is under the wing of the Benson Institute, which is under the presiding bishopric. The school hasn’t made our classes a requirement and so the attendance has dropped way down. That’s a problem the school and our leaders will have to struggle with. As long as the students can come or go without any consequences, it won’t improve much. It was that way for the couple that preceded us. This is the last week of student instruction until the end of January or first of February.
Our temple experiences have been wonderful. I’ll talk more about that another day.
Love,
Dad/Spencer
Dear loved ones,
I’ll take a turn this Sunday evening to write a report of our efforts the past few weeks.
Wednesday about noon or neighbor and former bishop sent some workers to pick up his window air conditioner unit from our kitchen/DR window. It does belong to him and he helped the Limburgs out by installing it for them. We didn’t have any warning about the change. Sort of caught us by surprise. He did send us a smaller unit, which means that I had to scramble to get a larger piece of plywood and hardware to secure the unit in the window (so that we wouldn’t have an open access for thieves). I fixed it up really good, but ran a screw into the tubing on the unit. It sounded like “air brakes” on a truck. Fortunately, I had developed a working relationship with a refrigeration repairman and he came to the rescue. He took it home to work on. He wasn’t able to return it until Friday morning (when we were scheduled to leave for the temple). We were anxious to get it installed and be on our way. When he arrived (an hour later than he’d told us) we removed the unit from the housing so that we could put in screws from the inside out so we would eliminate the problem of piercing the tubing. We got the unit housing and the plywood really solid in the window then proceeded to put the unit into the housing. The tube he had fixed wasn’t tucked in very well and we broke another tube. The “brakes on the truck” went off again! He went home for supplies and came back and repaired it here and we got it done. We immediately left for the terminal and boarded a bus at 10:30—three hours later than we had planned. We had planned on leaving early so Jeanine could see a chiropractor because she is having lots of problems with her back. With the late departure, that was out.
The buses:
The big bus lines were probably first class greyhound buses. When they aren’t in use in the US they sell them down here, where labor is cheap and they can keep them running for a long time. The air conditioning is generally driving 70 mph with the windows open. The seats vary in quality (a few are good, most are mediocre and many are poor or broken). There is a BR/toilet in the back, which usually functions (but there is no water to wash your hands). After waiting to get started and the stops for passengers all along the way, it takes about four hours to get to the City. On our trip Friday, our seats were very uncomfortable and we were pretty miserable. That made Jeanine’s back problems worse, but she is a trooper.
When you get to the terminal coming back, the workers from three bus lines all compete for your business and are immediately in your face trying to get your luggage from you so they can put it on their bus. They are pushy and obnoxious. I chose a different bus line to see if there was any improvement. Our normal bus line was starting to pull out, Jeanine suggested we switch, but this one said they would be leaving in 15 minutes. Three different lines left before us, while we were sitting there waiting. We sat for a full hour before it pulled out and started the long trip home. My knees and hips and low back were killing me from being cramped up for so long.
The midsized bus lines are used going to and from Esquipulas. The make a seat where there isn’t a seat and then shove people on top of people. When they can’t shove anymore into the seats, they all just stand in the doorway with the door open and hang on for dear life. They carry a half ton of bags and other things on the roof. This afternoon, I sat next to the driver with one knee doubled up to my seat. That added to my hip pain. Jeanine was already really hurting and had come home on an earlier bus. It isn’t always that crowded, of course.
The local bus when we return to Chiquimula we usually get on a city bus, which are vans with the side door removed and extra seats installed. I rode one of those to the apartment. When I got off of that bus, I wanted to cuss. I think there is some rule that a preacher can cuss under extreme circumstances.
It seems to me that the pattern of our best missionary work to date has been to “stop up the holes” or gaps in struggling branches. This was the case in Alamosa, CO, Garden City, KS and here In Esquipulas. There are three men there that are trying to overcome their spiritual problems. One of them is the couple that live way out of town with the ducks. Another one is a man who lives in an area just outside of town. His wife has been very ill with diabetes and renal problems. She was totally inactive and one day we found her when she was ill and gave her a blessing. Her husband was working out of town. At least we did that much. His daughter’s family recently moved in after the death of their child. The wife and daughter and grandchildren are now coming with him to meetings. That is real progress. The third is a man who is a brick/block hour builder. We’ve visited his family many times and he has been attending. His oldest son and his wife also attend sporadically. It doesn’t matter who gets credit—we work closely with two sets of elders there. There has to be a change of heart. Sometimes even a change in leadership is required. There has to be a desire from within the branch to progress. Otherwise, they will just continue to be a dysfunctional unit in the center of the religions of Babylon (Esquipulas is the regional center for the Catholic Church and is known for the Black Christ Crucifix)
As for the teaching at CUNORI, it’s there and we’ve tried. It is a project that is under the wing of the Benson Institute, which is under the presiding bishopric. The school hasn’t made our classes a requirement and so the attendance has dropped way down. That’s a problem the school and our leaders will have to struggle with. As long as the students can come or go without any consequences, it won’t improve much. It was that way for the couple that preceded us. This is the last week of student instruction until the end of January or first of February.
Our temple experiences have been wonderful. I’ll talk more about that another day.
Love,
Dad/Spencer
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