Thoughts of an AMA's wife.... It's been a while since I've posted on the blog. Our daily schedule is pretty much the same each week, but we have had many other wonderful experiences that are fun to share! A couple of weeks ago we did a day trip with Sister Olsen, Sister George, and Sister Smith to see the Iximche Mayan ruins in Tecpan. We saw ruins of ball courts and pyramids, and learned the history of the area. Mayan rituals are still performed at this site, and we were able to witness a Fire Ceremony. We had a great tour guide who spoke excellent English and provided a lot of interesting information. There are many many ruins all over Guatemala, but this site was excellent and well worth the drive to get there. After Iximche we stopped at a local restaurant for lunch where we watched ladies making tortillas while we were waiting for our food.
Mayan fire ceremony - participants lay food, alcohol, tobacco sugar and other offerings in the shape of a glyph surrounded by flowers, then burned to feed their ancestors
After lunch we went to the hospital in San Felipe to deliver baby kits and stuffed bears. Diane George has made over 50 crocheted baby hats and has helped me put together kits using her hats. I was happy she could be involved in delivering those kits to this hospital and also to Maternidad a few days later. As always, the kits and bears were very much appreciated!
A lady who works at the embassy (US Aid) contacted me about possibly getting enough supplies to put together 250 baby kits. She wants to get a group together to do this service. She has assembled kits in the past and is interested in doing it again. I've been scrambling the past few days to come up with enough items to give to her. I'm low on blankets and hats, but we're having a tailor who lives in our branch make some for me. I always seem to find a way to keep this project going and feel I'm receiving some divine help! It's a wonderful and rewarding project! We've received about 1700 kits so far.
We also made a trip to the Central Market on a Saturday with Sister Olsen and Sister George. This market is amazing! The market is in a large building with hundreds of stalls where people sell Guatemalan items - clothing, shoes, bags, hats, jewelry, cloth, paintings, toys, dolls, linens, food, fresh fruits and vegetables (pretty much any souvenir you could possibly want). It's very fun but a little overwhelming! After the market we ate at a restaurant named Patsy! The food was good and there were many dessert choices.
Morris and I loved watching General Conference! We had the choice of watching it at the CCM with the missionaries or going to our branch to watch it which is about 45 min. away. We actually decided to watch it online on our laptop which we connected to our TV in our apartment. We loved the announcement of the 2-hour Sunday block and also are excited about the 12 new temples that were announced. I know that President Nelson is really in tune with the needs of the church during these times and is receiving continual revelation. I especially liked the talks that were given during the Women's Conference broadcast.
We are really enjoying our small branch! I'm glad I have the opportunity to play the keyboard during Sacrament Meeting. It's forcing me to practice the hymns again which I haven't really done for many years. I also love Primary and the opportunity to do singing time with the children. The children's songs are very beautiful in Spanish, and the kids are so smart and love to sing! This month we have been singing songs about missionaries. I had the sister missionaries come into Primary one Sunday and talk to the children about being missionaries and how they can prepare to serve a mission. I asked the children how many may want to go on a mission and, of course, everyone raised their hand. We made small missionary badges to give to them last Sunday that said either Futuro Elder Misionero or Futura Hermana Misionera and pinned them on each child. The kids loved them so much! They seem to love anything we do for them! Many of the children wore their badges to a District Primary Conference that was held in Cuilapa later that afternoon, and the counselor in the District Presidency commented during his talk about the missionary badges he saw on some of the kids. We were happy that the kids valued their badges!
We have been concerned this past week about our daughter Jenni. She is only 32 weeks pregnant with her first child, but went into labor. She was admitted to the hospital for 3 days where she received meds to stop the labor and also meds to help develop the baby's lungs more quickly. She is home now and is doing well, but if she goes into labor again, she will be allowed to have her baby. She has gone back to work at the high school and is hoping to teach for at least 2-3 more weeks. We feel a little helpless being so far away from her, but have felt calm and that everything will be all right. We have received permission to go home for 10 days when the baby is born, so we are just on hold right now waiting to book our flights.
We love serving here in Guatemala and feel that we and our family have been very blessed!
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