Matthews Mission in Guatemala: Work.... Have Faith.....Tender Mercies

Thoughts of an AMA's wife.....
The past 2 weeks have been quite routine. We go into the area office most days and spend about 4-5 hours doing our work. Morris usually spends his time sending emails and making and taking calls about missionary medical issues. I've been helping Diane George, the AMHA (area mental health advisor), with some of her clerical work which I usually do at the office. I enter some of the emails she receives from her Spanish speaking counselors in Central America on EMED which is the church's online system for keeping notes about the missionaries. Sometimes the correspondence she receives from her counselors is in Spanish, so I first have to translate it into English before I enter it. I feel like I'm learning a lot and have a good general knowledge of all the medical efforts that take place here in Central America to help the missionaries stay healthy or deal with problems when they arise. I'm impressed with how much the Church cares about the missionaries!
We have delivered baby kits 4 times during the last 2 weeks. We've been going weekly to the local Maternidad hospital which is close to the airport. It's a very small maternity hospital and only has 12 beds. However, there is also an area where new moms are waiting to take their one week old babies in for a checkup, so we also give kits to those moms. The moms are always so grateful and because there are so few moms in the hospital, we can spend time talking to them, taking pictures, and even holding the babies. Guatemalan babies are especially cute because they all have lots of black hair and big brown eyes. We had a chance to go twice last week to Maternidad because one of the senior missionary couples, the Harrises, is leaving to go home, and they wanted to have the experience of delivering the kits with us before they left. One new mom in the hospital who was LDS picked up her baby and handed her to us to hold. It was so fun! Morris told the mom she better be careful about whom she gave her baby to because these grandmas might take her baby home and not give her back!
On Sunday we also went with the Smiths, the other AMA couple, to deliver baby kits at the hospital in Cuilapa. It is also a very poor hospital, but it's bigger and the maternity ward has at least 50-60 beds. Most of the beds were full and we gave out a lot of kits. Sister Petrie is our connection to this hospital. She is a member who is very devoted to helping there, and she volunteers several times a week. She is always looking for ways to help the patients and asked me if I could possibly provide some small hygiene kits for the women. Sometimes women enter the hospital and have nothing for their own needs. I told her I would make some kits for her, so I may use a little of the donation money I've received to put together some kits. After we visited the maternity ward, we also went to the pediatric ward and gave out toys, stuffed animals, coloring books, etc to the kids. Today almost every bed had a child or a baby. We were able to give out a few more baby kits in this area also.
When I was first asked to manage the baby kits, I was quite concerned about how I would ever get any kits (first of all), and then how I would get them to Guatemala. I have learned since then that this assignment requires a lot of faith, but I've been reminded that when we are asked to do something, the Lord provides a way. Time and time again, I've received help when needed and a way has opened up to get the kits here - whether they are coming from Utah, Florida, or California. Now when I hear that another 100 plus kits have been made in Utah or other places, I don't worry. I just know that I'll receive them!
I'm really starting to enjoy our branch that we've been assigned to attend. I'm now practicing the hymns again so I can play them well on Sundays, and I especially enjoy my Primary assigment to do singing time. The children love to sing (even though they sing mostly off key), and they are attentive and enthusiastic. They also learn the songs so quickly! They are affectionate and loving and give lots of wonderful hugs!
This past Sunday the missionaries, (me Morris, the 2 sister missionaries, and the branch mission leader) were asked to sing Called to Serve in Sacrament Meeting. We did ok and were actually only a little off key during some of the song!
We have great FHE's here each week! It is usually held in our first apartment building, and the senior couples take turns doing it. One week one of the dental couples did a presentation about their work in the free dental clinic. They are leaving to go home soon, and wanted to share with us what they had accomplished. The clinic provides service to prospective missionaries and missionaries who have just entered the MTC, Also if a missionary in the field has a dental problem, they can get help here. There is also a private school by the dental clinic which receives care from this clinic whenever the students need a checkup or have a problem. The dental missionary couples do a really great service! Some Latin American missionaries have never gone to a dentist and require a lot of work on their teeth. Missionaries who are too embarrassed to smile because of bad teeth, have received special care and new confident smiles.
One tender mercy that occured was during a time when an extra dental assistant was needed at the clinic.. Usually the wives work as the assistant to their husbands, but one of the couple's sons who is also a dentist came to Guatemala just for a couple of weeks to help out in the clinic. He needed an assistant and they weren't sure who they could get to help him. Shortly after he arrived, his dad was at a store and was trying to decide which brand of milk to buy when a lady approached him and suggested a certain brand of milk. They started casually talking, and he found out that she and her husband were living in Guatemala just for a short time. Her husband worked for the UN, and she mentioned that she had been a dental assistant before they moved. Long story short - she was asked to come help out at the clinic for a couple of weeks and she was excited to be involved, even though she wouldn't be paid. While at the clinic, she noticed a Book of Mormon on a table and asked about it. The dentists were able to give her the book and share their testimonies with her. Even though we're not sure what will happen with this lady, she is now friends with the dental couple and has learned about the church. Many other tender mercies have occurred when the dentists were out of supplies and wondered how they could keep working. The Lord has provided and supplies have arrived in unexpected ways.
Finally, we had the opportunity to take one of our missionary nurses, Sister Sayer, and her parents out to dinner on Saturday. The sister was just released and her parents came to Guatemala to pick her up. She was the first nurse we met and trained when we arrived, and she has been wonderful! We are sad to lose her!