A gift of the "widow's mite". Hna. Julia supports her family of six children by selling things in the market. We have helped reactivate some of her kids. Her daughter Xiomara wrote Spencer a sweet note saying thank you for teaching her in Sunday School. Julia, in her poverty, brought me a bag of oranges and jocotes (a local fruit). Her gift was so kind that it made the fruit seem almost too sacred to eat.

More Farewell Parties! Last night (Tuesday, March 23rd) we said good-bye to our church classes. It was bitter sweet. My class loves to party and do a great job of visiting in English while we sit and eat. They brought lots of yummy food. Juan Jose wrote out a speech thanking me. It was very touching. When I suggested to Spencer that he needed to have a party with his class, he said his class came to study English, not have parties. I sent cupcakes for the last class he taught. However, Spencer was wrong. His class felt bad that they didn't really get to say goodbye in a social setting, so they ordered pizza when they heard he was coming with me last night. He didn't know his class was planning a pizza party (and Sister Anderson was teaching), so he went to the bank after he helped bring the food for my party. A student had to go find him so he could eat pizza with them! He was sort of trying to avoid the good-byes, but it all turned out just great.

We had a party with the kids' class at the church. I didn't think to get a group photo. Karla (in the white blouse facing the camera) cried and cried when we said good-bye. She had her parents in tears as she clung to me and convulsing sobs racked her little chest. I will miss these kids a lot. This class has been hard and fun at the same time. Lots of the kids wrote me notes and gave me little gifts.

I have been a regular customer at the only "typico" store in Chiquimula. I have become friends with Sandra. I don't barter and she loves me, so she generally lowers the price anyway and sometimes gives me little gifts. She has been very sad when I see her and comments that it is only "three more days". What loving people live in this beautiful country.

The Perez family are one of our success stories in Chiquimula. We helped to re-activate them and they are going strong. The youngest boy in the picture is a nephew. Jairo and Blanca are great parents to Danels and Jairo. Beautiful people and a typical guatemalteco family.

Difficult Good-byes! These two little sisters (8 & 6 years old) live near the church in Esquipulas. They are precious! Their mother works from 6 AM to 8 PM seven days a week. She washes clothes and prepares food, late at night. The girls have a cell phone to communicate with her during the day and she sometimes can come home at 2 PM to have lunch with them. But in reality, they are raising themselves. They sit by me at church and love it when we stop by to say hello. Last Sunday they were really "clingy". It was hard for them to say good-bye. They laid on my lap for back-rubs. Paola left Primary to sit by me in RS. She scooted her chair next to mine and sat with me in the front while I was teaching. They even hovered after church. They wanted to give us a gift and they have nothing to call their own, so they looked around and brought us two pass along cards with a picture of the Savior and Mary outside the tomb. That was their humble and heart felt gift to us. They asked for a picture with me so they would always have a "recuerdo". Needless to say, it was a teary good-bye.

The Gordilla family are an exemplary family of good church members in any country. The husband / father was murdered when the children were little and the mom has done a great job in raising them. Hafid (the only son) just returned from the South Salt Lake City Mission. Angelica came and took care of me every day last year when I was so sick. So I adopted her as a daughter and this picture is of us and my Guatemalan grandkids.

Susan Anderson and I had a wonderful lunch with Dr. Arlet Remis. Arlet has been a wonderful friend and a gift from God when I have needed a doctor! She and her husband are two out of fourteen doctors who have building a new hospital. It has been three years--and lots of money, but it is almost to open. It is beautiful! I am very impressed with the planning that has gone into it.

We did take time in between all of those visits to eat at Burger Pizza Diner and we took several rides in the Taxi-Motos, also known as tuk-tuks. Two different drivers were even willing to take all four of us in one taxi-moto. We are so big it was amazing it could make it up the hills!

On Saturday the 20th we went to Esquipulas with the Andersons. We visited 11 different families! It was exhausting for all of us! But it was wonderful to be able to visit in these beautiful people in their very humble homes. We stopped by Belarmina Alonzo's while she and her daughter were making tortillas. This picture shows the stove and the wood fuel. It is an efficient set up. We also visited the family of Eduardo Alonzo and actually visited with her husband, Hno. Miguel. This room is the only one with a concrete floor. We learned that the two daughters-in-law are sisters and that their mother also lives there. So there are three married couples, one older woman (four heads of household, one teenage son and three grandchildren all in this humble home (dirt floors in every room except this one).