What it's like to be a senior missionary here

     This morning I thought I ought to let you know what it is like in the day of a missionary in this mission for us.
Dale is always up at the crack of dawn but the rules say 6:30 so I try to get every last wink I can.  He was listening to the Book of Mormon in Spanish on CD as I left to go up and walk on the treadmill.  As I came down from exercising, one of the couples offered us a ride to the office because the truck we drive is being repaired from the dings we spoke of earlier.  We will eat breakfast and make a lunch, probably a sandwich and fruit, or we can eat at the comedor which is like a cafeteria.  We'll leave for the office about 9:00 because that's when they need to be there.
     Yesterday, we were able to go to the temple with the young missionaries and another couple.  The temple is beautiful here and you can certainly feel the spirit.  There were 5 buses from Honduras ahead of us and a large group of  young missionaries.    Dale had a Spanish lesson in the afternoon.  He has a great teacher who he shares with another senior missionary and they are just starting but making great progress.
     You might wonder why we don't talk about the calls we get from sick missionaries.  That's because it is a continual thing.  We have had chickenpox, sprained ankles, H pylori, lots of nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, fevers, headaches, tonsillitis, athletes foot, acne, sore backs and knees, earaches, colds and flu to name a few.  The doctor who covers 14 missions happens to be living in the building with us and he has a clinic for those who are ill and we can't treat over the phone.  We have access to pharmacies on almost any corner,  great labs in or close-by most of the mission areas.  Our mission president and his wife are actively involved in the health of the missionaries and truly do care.
     On Sundays, we are involved with a branch where the Pres. has no counselors, nor do the presidents of each of the auxiliaries but the missionaries are doing great work.  We have had ward activities.  (We also work with another couple who were in the branch when we got here.)  We have gone visiting with the missionaries and they are teaching several member couples about temple marriage.  
     Saturday is our P-day which is when we can wash and shop and do the sight seeing that we have talked about. We have the opportunity to Skype with family as needed and often have Family Home Evening activities with other seniors in the area.
     Dale has spent time inspecting and repairing apartments where the missionaries live.  He does a great job of it.  We have spent time at zone conferences where the teacher was Elder Amado of the Seventy.  Elder Martino of the Area Presidency attended Family Home Evening with us last Monday.  We are very blessed to have the opportunity to learn from them by their teachings and also by their example.  They work tirelessly for the Lord, as does our mission president and his wife.
     Every day there is some little thing that happens to remind us that this is the Lord's mission not ours, whether it's just a prompting to do a little thing or being given what each missionary should do to help them be healthier.  There is no question in our minds that the Lord is in charge and it happens on a daily basis so it would be hard to write every incident down but it is so apparent!  When we have assignments that seem insurmountable, they just seem to flow along and after, we wonder why we were stressed over it at all.
     We have had opportunities to introduce people to the gospel thru pamphlets or just a conversation as we go about our daily activies.  We truly do hope that this will make a difference in their lives someday.  As we purchased a knee braces a couple of days ago, the clerk said that her sister was a member and that two of her nephews had served missions and were married now.  We left a pamphlet with her on The Proclamation of the Family.  Last weekend when we visited San Antonio Polopo, we met a wonderful family who showed us how they weave cloth on large looms.  He was the leader of a cooperative of home workers who manufacture woven articles.  They also offer tours to people of several areas in Guatemala.  As we left, we said that he would make a great bishop.  He was very proud of his family.  On the way out of the area, we passed the missionaries assigned there.  We were able to give them a pamphlet with the information about the family and hopefully they can make contact.  Just another one of those little miracles.
     We are very grateful for the opportunity to serve here.  Yes there are hard days, and no we don't want to come home because the Spirit is teaching us day by day how to be better and how to help the people here to improve themselves, in the Lord's way.  They are starting a project in our stake of a 3 month class on how to be healthy with few resources.  I believe it is a pilot project.  Our little branch is truly a branch of little resources and we hope it will help them to have more of the blessings of living a healthy life.
     This is our testimony, that at this time we are where we should be and we hope that the service we give will bless many lives, our own, our childrens and the people we serve.  So far we have not been disappointed.  LOVE YOU ALL!!!
     
   

Guatemala Temple

The making of fabric in San Antonio Palopo, very good quality.

Looking out the window of a 6 person ceramic factory. The town is on the hillside next to Lake Atitlan.