Ubini showing off

Sack of ants $4.00 a pound

biggest ants I've ever seen

So we were on our way to Church after a good rain storm the night before and we saw all these people in the streets with sacks in their hands, picking something up and putting it in the sack.  It was happening all over the city.  When we pulled into the parking lot at the Church, we saw these ginormous ants.  They told us that about 3 x during the month of May, these ants appear.  You pull off the wings and the legs and toast them in butter and "they are delicious".  They said that in the market there were barrels of them and they were about 60 quetzales a pound.  Everyone who had tried them said they were really good.  They must be, to have so many people in the street gathering them up.  

But we will never know!  

Pink flower

White flower

Barbara buying food. 

 This is our favorite little fruit stand just a few blocks from our apartment.  We will surely miss all the fresh fruits and vegetables from here.

Song Practice

The youth from our stake are practicing to sing 4 songs for a youth conference.  The elder on the right is teaching them parts and they are doing a descent job of it.  

Elder Gonzalez and us

"Woody's"

Reminded us of Dad's store except that this is a beer joint

Red Bus most dangerous

Chicken Bus

  We hope that you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!! What a blessing it is to be a mother and to have the opportunity to have God's children in our homes, to teach them the gospel, and to help them to grow and return to our Father in Heaven.  As I wrote recently about the elder who lost his mother and gave a great tribute to her because of her faith, I don't think that in the everyday grind, we have any idea of how important our example is to our children.  I honor my mother for her righteous example of always being honest.  When someone would call on the phone, she never said to me, "Tell them I am not home".  She always was kind to others on the street, if we met someone that she knew and especially my friends.  We were not always kind to her and I regret that many times now.  She was a beautiful example of a daughter of God.  One of her favorite things to do was to teach the seven year old children in Primary.  She loved to prepare them for baptism even though it became hard for her when she could not see well.
  Dale's mother is another example of a wonderful woman who taught her children of the gospel and of life.  She always loves to read to the grandchildren.  Her face lights up when she sees the little children and they love to visit her.  She is the happiest when she is with her family.
   We have been blessed with beautiful children who have given us wonderful grandchildren.  We love and honor them for their example to us, for the way they are raising their children, and for the love that they give us daily.  They are a blessing to us and arrows in our sheath.
   One of the zone leaders called at 6:22 to wish me a happy mother's day today.  He gets to call his mom on Sunday.  Mother's Day is different in every country in Central America and they are allowed to call home when it is their Mother's Day.  It was wonderful to hear him thank me for taking care of the missionaries in the mission.  Some days get pretty hectic and busy.  Just to know that someone appreciates you makes it all worth it.  The other night, I called an elder who hadn't been able to sleep.  He thanked me very much for my help.  I guess it is all worth it!
   Just so you know, the reason there aren't many pictures of Dale on the blog is because he is the photographer and the "picture putter onner" so he gets to pick which pictures are put on.  He has been a great blessing while we have been here in Guatemala.  We could never have done what we are doing without him.  He went with an elder just last week to observe as they did physical therapy for his painful back.  He is the best resource for strained muscles, shoulders and ankles or knees.  He also drives us endlessly to the doctor and waits patiently in the parking lot.  I will say that it is not always without complaining, but we are very grateful for him!!  He also is the go to man for plumbing problems and sewer vent problems as well as the best calentador fixer around.
   The Lord has blessed us so much!! How can we complain about serving Him?  There are so many people who have so much less than we have.  If we can even just give them the knowledge that they have a loving Heavenly Father, that can make a huge difference in their lives.
   We wish to bear testimony that we do have a loving Father in Heaven who desires that all of his children return to live with Him in his kingdom on high.  He desires with all his heart to give us this blessing.   He wishes to bless us every day and when we do the things that he asks of us, he can.
   To all of you that we love and miss, we wish a very Happy Mother's Day and ask that the Lord bless you each and every day of your lives.  With all our love,  MOM and DAD

BYU dancer.  Living Legends from BYU came to Guatemala.  They were very impressive dancers and their costumes were fantastic. They brought a beautiful message of striving to become better, getting an education and loving the Lord.

   For any of you who may by chance have been following our adventure here in Guatemala, we have had some very busy days lately.  It may show in the lack of words along with the photos that we have placed on our blog.  Since the prophet lowered the age of the missionaries, we have seen a wave of young people willing to serve the Lord.  It has been amazing to see the response of these youth.  What a blessing to the Church this will be to have so many young missionaries with their testimonies and enthusiasm.  This will only serve to strengthen the Church more through their converts and the strengthening of their own testimonies.  This is a testimony to us that the Lord is in charge and that he has a plan, that these are the last days and that those who choose to live the standards He has set will not be sorry for that.
   We have had frequent zone conferences, a tour of the mission by the area president, Elder Martino and another set of zone conferences.  We are preparing for a split of missions with resultant changes of the missionaries serving in our mission.  We have had many health issues with little time to write about them.
   I was so touched by the testimony of a young missionary about his mother when I spoke with him after surgery yesterday.  She had died about 1 1/2 years ago of leukemia.  He spoke of her with much love and respect.  They had joined the church when he was 14.  She became ill and insisted on going to church even though she had to hang onto the walls to walk.  He said that he would come to her room and see that she was kneeling in prayer even though she could hardly move because she was so weak. It was through her wonderful example that he chose to serve a mission.  She had been through the temple before she passed away.  He was with her when she died and he said all he could think to tell her was that the Lord loves her.  And she replied that she knew of His love.
   I am very grateful for Dale and all of the things that he does each day to help here in the mission.  He has difficulty with the language and there are other huge frustrations for him like having to wait so often for doctor appointments and such.  But he has done a great job and there is no way that we could accomplish what we have done without his help.
   We have taken time to see more of the country lately because our time is growing short here.  We have been so blessed to have the association of the people here at Victoria Suites.  The Johnsons left this morning to return home.  We will miss them greatly.  Always cheerful and serving others.
   We had the chance to go to Quirigua and Rio Dulce with Mary and her family.  They were gracious hosts and we had a great day.  We were able to go with Gilberto's father and 2 sisters and niece, Irma's sister and all of the family.  We visited the banana plantation where they had lived as young children and also saw the Spanish fort at Rio Dulce, and ate a wonderful fish dinner by the side of the river.