A few special impressions and a life-changing experience .....thoughts of an AMA's wife

                                                                                                               February 25, 2018
  During the past two weeks, our daily schedule has been quite normal. We have our usual routine that we do each morning.  Then we go into the area office around 9:00 and work until about 3:00.  Morris answers medical calls and emails and is getting about 8-10 a day.  I am also busy answering emails about the newborn baby kit project I am managing.  There's a great deal of interest in it (even from a lady in California and one in Florida), and I hope to have a lot of kits to deliver to hospitals soon.  On Saturday, Morris and I were able to go to a tailor we heard about who makes baby clothes for Gerber. We ordered 100 onesies and 50 lightweight fleece blankets from him.  The onesies were only $1 each and the blankets were about $2 each. Thank you to those who have donated money for the baby kits!  It goes a long way in Guatemala!
 Usually each day Morris discusses his cases with me, and I help with a few medical duties.  Before the new missionaries arrive every 3 weeks, I check all their applications to see if they have had a PPD (TB test) or interferon test. About half of the missionaries have only had a chest x-ray which is adequate to go on a mission if it is within the normal range, but it only indicates that they don't currently have TB.  It doesn't let us know whether they have been exposed to TB and may still develop it at a later time.  Because we have recently had a case of TB in one of the missions, we now have the MTC nurse arrange for PPD's for those missionaries who haven't had it. Once she has the results for all the tests, she gives that information to me and I enter it online in Emed for each missionary.

  I have started staying home on Wednesdays now instead of going to the office.  The mental health advisor who lives in our building has arranged for a lady to come to her apartment on Wednesday afternoon to teach Spanish lessons. I went to our first lesson this week and had a lot of fun!  I know it will take me a while to learn Spanish, but I'm willing to try.  I think not knowing the language has been my biggest problem and adjustment.  The mental health advisor also said I may be able to help her with some of her clerical work on Wednesday mornings before our class, and I may help at the CCM on the day when the new missionaries arrive.
  I have had a few experiences the past two weeks that have left an impression on me. We attended our first FHE with all the temple missionaries at the temple presidents home.  Two couples were leaving to go home and they spoke to us.  It was wonderful to hear about some of the experiences they have had in the temple and about how much they have loved their missions.
 We also attended our first stake conference here, and I became quite choked up when I walked into the building (which was like a huge gym or multi-purpose room) and saw maybe 500 latinos and their beautiful children waiting for the meeting to begin.  When Morris was here on his mission, there was only one stake in all of Central America and now there are 48 stakes in Guatemala alone.  I've mentioned before that I love to hear the people sing in their meetings because they sing with such enthusiasm!  It was wonderful to hear all these voices joined in song!  We were able to hear from the Area President and his wife, one of the mission presidents and his wife, and also the temple president and his wife.  Even though I couldn't understand most of what was being said, there was a special spirit in the meeting.
  Every couple of months, the area president's wife arranges for a group to go and volunteer at the Children's Cancer Center.  I wasn't able to go last time, but was so glad I went with the group this time.  It was definitely life-changing!  When you first walk in to the cancer hospital, there is a huge waiting area where probably a hundred parents and children are waiting to be called back for their child's treatment.  You see children with bald heads, some with hats on their heads, some with masks over their noses and months, and some with bandages on their little hands where an IV can be connected.  As volunteers we wear the yellow church helping hands shirts, and we set up tables with different activities for the kids to do while they are waiting to be called.  The children we entertained were probably from about 3 years to 12 years old.  We helped them make red tissue paper hearts and had brought play dough for them to play with.  We also had coloring books and legos.  The children are so sweet!  I really think Guatemala has some of the most beautiful children in the world.  They would speak to me in Spanish and I couldn't understand most of what they said, but when they looked at me with their beautiful faces and big brown eyes it would melt my heart.  The parents are very appreciative of our efforts to keep their kids busy as some of them must wait for hours before they are called back.  The area president's wife has asked us to start making hats for the kids which I'm happy to do!
  We are a part of the Guatemala South Mission and have finally been assigned a branch to attend on Sundays.  Today was our first Sunday to attend the Cerinal Branch in the town of Cerinal.  It is about 45 min from our apartment and is a rural area.  The church building is small, but the room where we met for Sacrament Meeting was completely filled with people dressed in their Sunday best.  I don't think I have ever received so many hand shakes and hugs and kisses on the cheek.  The people are so friendly and very welcoming. We went with the Oylers who also attend the branch but are leaving to go home from their mission in about a month.  Sister Oyler plays the keyboard for the hymns, so I will probably take over her job when she leaves.  The area around the church is very poor, but the people are happy.  I'm anxious to see how we can serve and help in this branch.  Sister Oyler brings food to the branch each week for the sister missionaries because they don't eat with the members on Sunday, and I also want to do this.
  Tomorrow (Monday) we are leaving to go to Quetzaltenango which is about 4 hours away.  Morris has been invited to speak at two zone conferences, one on Tues and the other on Wed.  Then on Thurs, we train the mission nurses.  There's a beautiful lake on the way, lake Atitlan which we plan to see, and we hope to go to the temple in Quetzaltenango.  More about this trip next week....

 

Beautiful flowers that Morris gave me for Valentine's Day

These were purchased from a man who was walking down the street in the middle of heavy traffic

The way that fast food is delivered in Guatemala City

Cerinal Branch building

Volunteering at the Children's Cancer Center

Having fun with play dough

This sweet little girl really wanted me to see her completed heart!

From 80 degrees to minus 5 ...thoughts of an AMA

                                                                                                                   February 13, 2018
We coordinate the medical care for nine missions, three in El Salvador, six in Guatemala, and the Guatemala City MTC or CCM in Spanish.  To manage the care of roughly 1500 missionaries, we have ten mission nurses or mission president's wives to screen complaints.   Last Tuesday we drove down to El Salvador to meet the mission presidents there and do some training with the nurses.  Because it's 5,000 feet high, the climate in Guatemala City is quite temperate, lows around 50 and highs in the 70's this time of year with a lot of gentle breezes.  As we dropped down out of the mountains toward the border, the temperature went up about 15 degrees F.  So instead of 70 degrees, it was in the 80's.  We arrived about an hour early to the first mission.  They were having a zone conference.  President Kelly asked the missionaries to bear their testimonies in the other language: the Latin missionaries were challenged to do it in English and vice versa.  Most were not incredibly fluent, but there was great spirit.  We talked with a senior couple who are from President Kelly's ward in West Haven, Utah.  After the zone conference we had lunch with the group.  The couple serving the food was sneaky and gave us about twice as much as we asked for.  Good, but too much.  Then we trained mission nurse Hermana Saxon, a native of Australia.

The diligent workers of El Salvador Santa Ana mission and distinguished visitor

Sisters Kelly, Saxon, Martin and Matthews

     After the training in Santa Ana we drove in to San Salvador, arriving just in time for rush hour. We passed the temple on the way to our hotel.  We had picked one close to the second mission office.  The hotel was at the end of a street next to a stream.  The buildings of the hotel are around a courtyard with trees and a swimming pool and large vines growing on the walls.  Despite being in the middle of a big city, there was a feeling of seclusion.  We were in a big room with four double beds, a desk, dining room table and a kitchenette.  We had a late dinner at the hotel restaurant.
     In the morning we got ready to go to visit President Durán and Nurse Buhler of the El Salvador East Mission.  They called and asked where we were staying.  When I told them they explained that the mission office had been relocated and they would send two elders to pick us up.  Driving in Guatemala is an adventure, but in San Salvador it was more like a demolition derby.  In Guatemala when you start easing into a lane, within a couple of cars they let you in, knowing that you might be letting them in tomorrow.  In El Salvador, they tailgated the car ahead and wouldn't let anyone edge in.  Most of the cars had scraped bumpers or dents in them.  After a half hour thrill ride, we arrived at the mission headquarters and had a good visit with the president and nurse.  Even though we'd had a nice breakfast at the hotel, they insisted on giving us fruit and muffins which we took with us because we were too full to eat anything.  Then back in the mission SUV for another half hour thrill ride, oh yeah, the air conditioning wasn't working.

Morris, Patsy, President Durán, Hermana's Buhler & Hernandez

     We next met President and Sister Adams and Nurse Carcaño, a native of Mexico.  As a young missionary, President Adams served in Argentina, so he took us to lunch at an Argentine steak house.  I trained Hermana Carcaño while everyone else ate, then we tried to catch up.  I am a slow eater as it is, and trying to catch up with people after I've given them a 20 minute head start is impossible for me.  Good lunch though.

President & Sister Adams, Hermanas Gonzalez & Carcaño Patsy & Morris

     The president and his wife dropped us off at our hotel which was unfortunate because we were going to the temple which was close to where we'd been.  We got our temple clothes and headed for the temple at 5:50 for the 7:00 session.  The GPS navigator said we would arrive in 70 minutes so we were a little worried, but it was only about 4 miles away.   When we arrived at 6:30, I realized the GPS navigator was set on walking rather than driving.  So we got dressed and visited for a half hour, then went through a session.  Patsy opted for headphones, but I did it in Spanish.  Getting through the veil was a little hard because it was my first time in Spanish, but everyone was patient with me.  The temple is beautiful. It's one of three temples that have been built in what was my mission since I left.

San Salvador Temple

     We drove back to Guatemala the next day after another nice breakfast and detoured through Cerro Verde National Park which is a collection of volcanos.  The tallest one Santa Ana has a lake in the crater.   We would have had to hike several hours to see it, so we contented ourselves with looking at a picture. From the view point in the park, we had a great look down into the volcano Izalco.  We also had a great view of Lake Coatepeque, a large lake inside a wide volcanic caldera.  From then on we headed home.
   

Lake Coatepeque, note the caldera rim all the way around

Morris in the sugar cane field with Izalco Volcano in background

Izalco Volcano from park view point

     Friday I had to accompany a missionary home to the Midwest.  The flights here all leave between 6 and 8 am, ours was at 7, so I had to be at the airport at 5.  Fortunately it's only a 20 minute drive from our house with no traffic.  We got on the plane and flew to Dallas Forth Worth, then up to Denver.  Because the elder is from a small town, there was only one flight in during the afternoon, so we had a 6.5 hour layover in Denver.  He was anxious to get home and impatient.  We walked around for awhile, then I said "let's go to a book store."  We both had scriptures and Spanish grammar books, but were too tired to concentrate on them, so he found a science fiction book and we sat down and read for 4 hours, had a little dinner, then finally got on the plane.  Then they had to de-ice it, then wait to take off.  We didn't get to his town until 10:30.  I handed him off to his family and they were nice enough to give me a ride to the motel Church Travel had reserved for me.  My plane in the morning left at 7:00. I think they have one flight out and one flight in during the whole day.  I asked about an airport shuttle for 5:45, and they said the shuttle didn't run that early, and besides winter storm Mateo, [Is that great or what?] was coming through, and they might cancel the flight.  Finally we got the shuttle driver to come in early in the morning and I made the flight.  It was -5 in the town.
     I had a 5 hour layover in Denver, so Mark came up and took me out to breakfast.  We had a great visit, then I got on the plane and we got de iced, then waited to take off, and finally got airborne 1.5 hours late.  Fortunately I had a 3 hour layover in Houston, so it wasn't a problem.  I got home about 11 pm and was glad it was Sunday the next day so I could sleep in.

Fuego throws a tantrum......thoughts of an AMA

February 4, 2018 

Another week without being run over in traffic.  I used to make fun of the way kids in Sunday School would pray that they would get home safely, but now I’ve adopted that as a daily custom.  Guatemala City is located in the mountains at an elevation of 5,000 feet.  The volcanic soil is easily eroded, and there are large gullies or small canyons running through the city in various directions.  This results in some neighborhoods with only a few roads connecting them to the rest of the city.  The city is made up of a lot of clusters, rather than one big open space.  As a result, there are a number of big boulevards connecting the different parts of town, but there aren’t a lot of alternate routes if those get busy.  So at 5 pm when everyone gets off work, the main boulevards are jam packed and traffic moves at 5 or 10 miles an hour.  We were coming home the other day during the rush hour and a chicken bus in the right lane decided to switch to the center lane where I was.  People were in the lane to the left of me, so I couldn’t move.   I started honking for dear life and he paused long enough to let me get by. 

The senior missionaries threw a farewell party and dinner for a  couple who has been serving as humanitarian missionaries.  A lot of projects get done in Guatemala City, but these two were generally out at the end of dirt roads supervising projects.  Their dedication and your humanitarian fund donations have literally made the lives of thousands of people better.  Humanitarian projects are done where there is a need, regardless of whether the recipients are LDS or not.  One of their most touching stories was visiting the national school for the blind and helping them get a Braille printer and software so that they could print their own books for the students to read.  Prior to their project, the school only had one book in Braille.

There are several active volcanoes in Guatemala, two near the city.  Pacaya and Fuego commonly spit out plumes of smoke and ash, but this week Fuego was really active, blasting out smoke and lava. See the photo at the bottom.   See the video at this link  to see pictures of the eruption.  Volcano photos or Google: Fuego volcano eruptions for a lot of past and recent photos and videos.   

One of our senior missionaries wrote this limerick to celebrate:
Fuego is really blowing its top
it acts like it may never stop
it makes quite a splash
as it bellows gray ash
its an incredible photo backdrop.

On Fridays there is a movie night that the senior couples do.   Last week we got caught in traffic on our way to the apartment where it was being held, and after going about 3 miles in an hour, turned around.  This week we stayed late at the office, then went over.  They showed 7 Brides for 7 Brothers.  I had seen it as a play a couple of times, but this was the first time I’d seen the movie. 

Patsy has been crocheting hats for children at the cancer hospital.  When they lose their hair from chemotherapy, they are very self conscious and they love to get a cap.  She’s also making some tiny ones for the newborn baby kits that we’ll be taking out to remote rural hospitals.  She’s been publicizing the project by email and social media and has been getting a lot of responses.

Patsy's crocheted hats

Pizza Delivery vehicles

This week we’re planning to go to El Salvador to train some of the mission nurses and get to know the mission presidents there.  More next week...