Dick sat at the table last night for about two hours, calling stake specialists and writing down their activities for the month so I could type it all up into our specialist report today. He gives his all and he loves doing it. His personal comforts and pursuits do not come before his service…..never has!
Dick went to the office at 7 am and I went with Tilleys at 8:30 am. I did the specialist report and then split up the PEF Priesthood Report into wards and braches for Guatemala. We had a two hour PEF Committee Meeting this afternoon. Dick brought me home and then went back to the office to meet Gert because he needed some personal help. Tonight was Family Home Evening at the Hatches. Our lesson was about “Enthusiasm.” If anyone has enthusiasm, it is the Hatches. We love them. Elder Martino remarked that when he served here as a young missionary 38 years ago there was one organized stake in Central America. Now there are 99 stakes!
18 May 2010…..Tuesday
We woke up to a steady rain. It is still May…still more birthdays. Today Kaitlin is 22. So many of our grandchildren are old! I had a very busy day with emailing PEF Priesthood Reports to the bishops and branch presidents in Guatemala. I typed up a number of PEF exceptions for Dick (in Spanish) for Elder Clarke to sign.
Dick had Young Men’s meeting at 4 pm but he and Jim left at 3:15 pm to beat the traffic.
Today Rexene was home and let the apartment office know that they had an ant problem. She called us to see if it was ok for Mario (one of the apartment employees) to come into our apartment to spray for ants. Of course, we were happy to have him come in, accompanied by Rexene. Mario and his wife and five children are receiving the missionary discussions from the missionaries serving near his home in Zone 1. I have only seen a few ants the last couple of days so I hope this final spraying will cure our problem.
I have been reading the Church Almanac for 2010. I found it interesting that the Church has donated over one billion dollars for Humanitarian relief from 1986 through 2009.
19 May 2010…..Wednesday
We packed a small suitcase and left with Tilleys at 8:30 am to go to Sololá, on the shores of Lake Atitlan.
This was a not a trip for fun but a trip to train two senior couples. We got to Hotel Atitlan in less than three hours and went to the open air restaurant. We were joined by Elder and Sister Sandberg and Elder and Sister Cranney.
Both couples are attached to the Guatemala City Central Mission. They live and work in the midst of the people in Guatemala. Elder Cranney is a former mission president in Bolivia and now serves as a counselor in the Central Mission. Their call is to help the district grow and strengthen so it can someday become a stake. The Sandbergs are from Rancho Palos Verdes and in the Denning’s ward. He is a local branch president and she is the grease that keeps the wheels turning. We greatly enjoyed our time with both couples. After lunch we were taken to another building where we could use the room for Power Point instructions. First, Tilleys did their presentation on security issues. Then we did ours on the Perpetual Education Fund. With both couples working out in the district we knew they could be a great resource for the Fund and helping the young people with information and encouragement.
It was cloudy most of the day but we did have some clear, blue skies while we were eating. Later we had thunder and sprinkles. After the Cranneys and Sandbergs left at 5 pm we went up to our rooms,
sat on our terrace, watched the lake, had a candy bar, and said we were done for the day.
20 May 2010…..Thursday
I had a difficult night with intestinal problems, along with losing a lot of sleep between 2:30 and 6:30 am. Most likely it was something I ate for lunch. Hence, I didn’t join Dick and Tilleys for breakfast. In fact, I didn’t have anything to eat until we got home about 2 pm. Other than not feeling very well, the trip went fine and the scenery was beautiful.
We had a nice fleet vehicle to travel in.
Sister Harmon is here again. She and her husband served here a few years ago. She comes down yearly to do humanitarian projects. Once again, thanks to Jim Tilley, she brought us a box of See’s chocolates, hand packed with the Bordeaux and butterscotch squares. We have had See’s more often in Guatemala than when we lived a couple of miles from the See’s store in Lancaster. Thanks to Jim, when he hears someone is coming he requests the candy for them and us.
21 May 2010…..Friday
Today is Emma’s 9th birthday! I stayed home today. I still have very little energy. But, I had energy for reading. I finished “The Undaunted” (when I underline the names of books they don’t stay underlined when I send the journal to the blog). It was 804 pages and I was totally engrossed in this beautiful historical novel.
22 May 2010…..Saturday
Dick left for the office at 7 am. There are always applications and exceptions waiting for him on his computer. At 10 am he and Jim met a young man who showed them how to find the Villa Hermosa Stake center since we need to train a specialist there tomorrow. I am feeling well enough to get five loads of laundry done and the apartment cleaned. The ants continue to be a problem. There are not many but they are pesky. There were a few on me last night as I sat reading on the couch. This morning I borrowed the Prometherin again from Tomkinsons. Later there were a few more on the dining table, so I pulled out the Raid and did the baseboards….again.
The MacArthurs have a young missionary staying with them for a few days. He is Guatemalan serving in South America. He came back here for surgery and was released from the hospital today. They will keep him a few days until he can go stay with one of the mission presidents for awhile. His mother and sister came to visit so Dick went with Steve to take them back to the bus station before five o’clock.
There is a rambunctious storm going on right now with a lot of rain, a lot of lightning, and thunder to match. One clash of thunder sounded like a giant rip in the heavens. I love it! I love weather! I still want to be a meteorologist when I grow up.
23 May 2010…..Sunday
Today has been a good Sabbath Day. We had a specialist to train in another stake so we had planned to leave before singing time in Primary. But, Jim went with Dick and then I was able to stay for all of Primary. The singing is greatly helped when I am playing the teclado. Rexene and I rode home with Blackburns. We have the third and last disc of the “John Adams” series, so we hope to finish watching it tonight.
1 comment:
Missionaries??!! more like a 2 year vacation
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