MI BELLA GUATEMALA/ Marimba CHAPINLANDIA (German Alcantara)

Just another taste of the Marimba and "Mi Bella Guatemala" (My Beautiful Guatemala).

NOCHE DE LUNA ENTRE RUINAS MARIMBA CHAPINLANDIA

This is the famous Guatemalan Walz, Noche de Luna Entre Ruinas (roughly "Full Moon among the Ruins") by Mariano Valverde.  It was written in remembrance of the terrible earthquake of April 18, 1902 in Quetzaltenango, Valverde´s hometown and the so-called "Capital of the Mayans" (although some say it was for the December 1917 earthquakes that rocked Guatemala City and Antigua).

Here it is performed in its traditional method on the Marimba, the beautiful national instrument of Guatemala.  One of the things I love most about Guatemala is listening to the beautiful music of the Marimba, it is uplifting.  There is a traditional Guatemalan walz performed to this piece.

Cosmopolitan Panama

Last weekend we accompanied two other missionary couples in a weekend visit to Panama City.  We stayed in the Wyndham Hotel in the Albrook Mall, the largest mall in Central America and the biggest one I have ever seen.  On Saturday we took a tour of Panama City that was very interesting. We visited the Panama Canal and watched some ships go through the Mira Flores locks.  We learned a little of the history of this incredible engineering feat.  The French first attempted to build the canal in the late 19th Century, but the effort was unsuccessful in part due to disease.  Their plan called for building a flat Suez Canal type canal over the isthmus, which would have required the excavation of an incredible amount of rock.  Over 20,000 workers died in the first five years of their efforts, and more than 10,000 are buried in a hill in the city. Thankfully the company went bankrupt and the dieing stopped.  The United States then took up the effort of building the Canal, but they didn´t want to deal with the Colombian government at the time, so the independent country of Panama was born (without U.S. involvement, of course).  I think it was five days later that the U.S. signed the agreement under which the Canal was built.  The U.S. plan involved the excavation of a man made lake in the middle of the isthmus with an ingenious lock system to use fresh water from the lake to lift ships up from the the level of the ocean on one side and lower them down to the level of the ocean on the other.  The United States military constructed most of the infrastructure that has become Panama City, and it is very nice from Central American standards--a good road system, drinkable water, and beautiful buildings and housing.  When I came through Panama in 1973 the Canal Zone was still in the hands of the U.S. military, but now it all belongs to Panama, and it has helped make the country stable and profitable.

We visited Casco Viejo or Casco Antiguo, the old walled city of Panama where most of the gold from the new world passed on its way to Spain.  It had fortifications to protect it from pirates, but in about 1671 it was burned to the ground during an attack by the pirate, Captain Morgan.  The history books say that Morgan burned the city, but our guide said that the truth is the mayor burned it by accident, as he had ordered that fires be set on the walls as a defensive effort, but the fire burned out of control and burned the entire city.  Anyway the city was rebuilt and at the current time is in a period of renovation and restoration that is making it a great place to visit and taste a bit of history.

Since the Canal was transferred to Panamanian control, Panama City has undergone a surge in high-rise construction in the city center, making Panama City the Dubai of Central America.  It is financial center with an impressive sky line.  The people of Panama are a mix of people from all over the world who came here to build the canal and of the indigenous people.  This background gives the place a cosmopolitan feel, and there are goods for sale from all over the world as well.  Panama has become a popular expatriate retirement place for North Americans and Europeans because of favorable tax and residence laws and other benefits.

The Panama City Temple is a beautiful and peaceful refuge on a prominent hill in the area once occupied by the U.S. military.  Sunday meetings in the chapel next to the Temple were conducted in a mix of English and Spanish, each person speaking in the language with which they were most comfortable and translation services back and forth between the two language being provided.  We enjoyed our visit to Panama very much.

The Temple of the Mayas

This weekend we visited Quetzaltenango, the unofficial "captital of the Mayas."  It is also known by its Mayan name, Xelajú (meaning "under ten mountains") or simply Xela for short.  It sits in a beautiful, agricultural valley high in the mountains (7,600 feet in elevation), surrounded by volcanoes, hills, and mountains.  Every inch of it and its surrounding hills is cultivated and produces rich harvests of corn, coffee, and all types of fruits, vegetables, and nuts.  The population is predominantly Mayan and traditional Mayan dress is the norm.  It is the second largest city in Guatemala, but it is not Americanized like the Capital; it is much more traditional.

We attended the temple on Saturday morning.  It really is the temple of the Mayas!  I can't describe how beautiful the temple is!  It sits atop a hill overlooking the city surrounded by expansive and beautifully manicured grounds.  It is built on the theme of the Mayan temples of antiquity both in its architecture and in its appointments.  It is such a beautiful and peaceful place!  On Saturday it was teaming with Mayas, most in traditional dress, and large youth groups doing baptisms.  It was moving to see them in their temple and so filled with the light of Christ!  It truly is the Temple of the Mayas.

We visited the beautiful central plaza and other sites in the city and attended church in a vibrant ward near our hotel.  On the way home we stopped and visited the impressive property "Las Colinas" which is the stake camp near Chimaltenango where they hold SOY (like EFY) and other youth camps and other church gatherings.  It is a most impressive property with first class facilities.  I haven't seen anything like it before, even in the States.

We travelled this weekend with our friends here, Ross and Kari Sanford, who serve with Mary Ann in the Dental Clinic.  It was a very enjoyable trip.

The Pure Love of Christ

I have been thinking much this week about the wonderful spirit of peace, joy, and love we feel here in Guatemala.  There is a spirit in this Work that is hard to describe.  It hearkens me back to my days as a young missionary in Colombia.  There too I felt this same special spirit and experienced the same spiritual growth that we feel here in Guatemala.  We feel this special spirit in our work in the Area Office and Dental Clinic, and we especially feel it in our work in the Guatemala City Temple.  Last night at the temple, I officiated in a session of the endowment where an elderly couple came to receive their endowment and then be sealed as eternal companions.  The spirit in the session was marvelous and moving.

As I have contemplated this topic this  past week or so, I have come to realize that the feeling we are experiencing here is the pure love of Christ.  It is our love for Christ and for the Father that brings us here to serve as missionaries, but what I mean is that God loves his missionaries and He shares that love with them in a very special way.  That love fills our hearts with great peace and joy, with gratitude, and a desire to do always that which pleases our Father.  There are many things which we could be doing with our lives right now, but I can´t think of anything that we could be doing that could possibly bring us such love, peace, and joy as serving here.

I hope and pray that each of my grandchildren will gain a personal testimony of the Book of Mormon, the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration, the Church, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that each of them will have the experience of tasting his pure love as a missionary.  There is nothing sweeter than the love of God.

Feeling our age

I got a new responsibility today in our Guatemalan ward to work with the young men.  With teaching institute, working in the temple, and my day job in the Legal Office, I feel the load.  The past couple of weeks at the end of a long week of service, Mary Ann and I have been pretty worn out.  I guess we are showing our age a little.  We love the work we are doing here and being a part of building God's kingdom on this earth.  We pray for the energy to keep pressing forward with faith.  Four new members in a family were confirmed again today in Church--really cute kids.  Spanish is getting better and Mary Ann is learning more each day.  The Lord cares for his missionaries and we are receiving His blessings here in spades.  We love you all and miss you all so much.  Every day we pray for you that the Spirit will be with you and you will have the faith to keep your covenants and be true and faithful in this day of sifting.

The Work of the Lord is a Marvelous Work and a Wonder

Last night we attended a baby shower for a beautiful young woman of our ward here who is soon to have her first child, a girl. There must have been 100 people at the shower and piles of gifts.  There were games, food, and celebration for this faithful couple.

Later we attended a baptismal service in the ward where four new converts, a family, entered the waters of baptism and made eternal covenants with God.

This morning the fine young Elder who taught these new converts gave his final testimony and farewell to the ward as he prepares to depart for his home in Peru on Tuesday morning, but not before having three more baptisms on Monday evening, another family.

As I contemplate the events of this weekend and reflect on the wonderful young saints in our own family, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for being part of the miracle that is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  This work truly is a marvelous work and a wonder!

Follow the Prophets and Apostles

This week I had a disturbing esperience.  A fine young man, a Latino, in Barrio Lucero in Salt Lake City, who was at the time we were there, the Elders Quorum President, has become disaffected with the Church.  He was having difficulty reconciling the long delay in providing Blacks the priesthood and the current Church doctrine and policy toward Gays and Lesbians with His view of a loving God. He thought it unthinkable that God would give a detailed revelation to Joseph Smith with respect to the Nauvoo House, which he saw as in Joseph´s personal interest, and yet be silent on such important topics as these.

As I communicated with this young man, it became apparent that he had become critical of the
Lord´s annointed prophets, finding fault with them, and even speaking evil of them.  This is the first and almost universal step on the road to apostasy.  It has caused me grief to contemplate the choices this young man is making.  I pray for him, that he may humble himself before the Lord and find his way back into the light.

I have been praying this week for my children and grandchildren, pleading that they will not be overcome in this day of tribulation with the sophistries of the adversary and his cunning, but false doctrines.  Whenever we cut ourselves off from the Lords annointed servants who hold the keys of the Holy Priesthood, we cut ourselves off from God.  If we will follow the prophet and receive his words as if from the Lord´s own mouth, and if we will humble ourselves before God and not trust in our own wisdom or in the arm of flesh, He will teach us His ways, and we will not be overcome by the false doctrines of our day.

"And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people.  For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant; they seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world . . . . What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."  D&C 1:14-16, 38.

The Dentists Remote Site Trip

Time has been racing by, and we haven´t been doing as well as we had hoped at keeping this blog up to date.  We have a million pictures to post, but have had difficulty posting them (not tech savvy enough).

Anyway, just wanted to share some comments about our trip to the Petén with the Dentists.  We left here on Wednesday, March 3, 2016 in a big and very nice Nissan van carrying 8 adults and all of our luggage plus the dental equipment to do screenings in San Benito.  We drove down the road to the Atlantic as they call it, and stopped to see the ruins at Quiriguá.  That was an important Mayan city on the Montagua River that was a hub of commerce in Jade and Obsidian.  The interesting thing about the site to me was the tall stelai with Mayan images and inscriptions telling about their kings. Amazingly these stones were found still standing upright in the jungle after 1,000 years!  That is just incredible to me.  We travelled as far as Rio Dulce that day and stayed in the Catamaran Hotel on the Rio Dulce, a hotel comprised of separate huts, some on stilts over the water.  The next morning we drove through the Petén to Tikal, the famous ruins that Mary Ann and I visited last November.  We stayed in the park in the Jungle Inn.  We toured the ruins and enjoyed our time together.  The hotel was very nice, but they turn all the electricity in the park off at night, and it was a total blackout, like being in a cave!  I had to creep through the hotel room with my hands out in front of me to feel my way to the bathroom--it was a hoot.

The next morning the ladies did some shopping buying handy crafts from the Mayans, and then we drove into Flores, the island city on Lago Petén Itza where we had stayed in November.  On Saturday, they did dental screenings for future and serving missionaries at the stake center in San Benito.  I helped set up and translate.  It was fun getting to visit with the missionaries and with the young people heading out on missions, many of them young women.  It is wonderful to see these faithful young people willing to go and serve the Lord as missionaries.  They are bright and clean and such just plain inspiring to me.

Later that afternoon, the Sanfords, a couple who has a home in Pine Valley, Utah, and we drove over next to the Belizean border to visit the archaeological site of Yaxha.  It was a very interesting place to visit, a beautiful lakeside Mayan city with three sisters cities in the area and more than 200 settlements surrounding them.  It was a busy place in its heyday.  The highlight is sitting atop the highest temple above the jungle canopy at sunset and watching the sun set over the beautiful lake below.  There were very few people in the park, and it was a very peaceful, spiritual place.  As always it made me wish I could have walked those streets and plazas in the day of their glory and known the people who built such impressive cities.

Sunday morning we attended Church with the Santa Elena ward and then started the long drive back.  We drove to Rio Dulce and again stayed in the Catamaran hotel.  On Monday morning before we headed back to Guate, we took a four hour river tour down the Rio Dulce River to Livingston on the Caribbean coast and back.  We saw many interesting sights, like Castillo de San Felipe where the early settlers defended the entrance to Lago Izabal from the pirates, the mangrove forests, natural hot springs, and the gorge through which the river carves its way to the ocean.  There were homes and sailboats and yachts all along the river, the properties of retired foreigners getting away from it all. But all along the river were also little Mayan villages where the native people live in their houses on stilts and fish the river in their dugout canoes, speaking only their native Mayan tongue.  It was another world!

The Gadianton Robbers

One of the very saddest parts of our service here in Guatemala is reading about the murders and robberies in the newspaper every morning.  Violence in these Central American countries is widespread, and most of it comes form organized crime, gangs who extort money from shopkeepers, bus drivers, and merchants of all types.  It is a scourge in this country, and it reminds me so much of the accounts of the Gadianton Robbers in the Book of Mormon who destroyed the Nephite society.  I read about a criminal gang a little south of here in Esquintla who would kidnap people and keep them bound in pits in the wilderness on the Volcán de Fuego while making ransom demands.  It is very sad that the government is unable to get control of these criminal gangs.  Part of the problem is the people won´t report them for fear of retribution.  Any opposition to them often leads to death.  The other day a man and his son were taking a pickup load of goods to a market in another city to sell their goods, when a gang induced them to stop their truck, telling them their load was falling.  Once they stopped, the gang attempted to steal their truck with all of their goods, and when they resisted, both were shot dead in the street. When I see all the opposition to law enforcement back home, I wonder if we are not on a road to more lawlessness and violence as well.  Living in a well ordered society where the rule of law is respected and enforced is a great blessing.  That is not the case for many of our brothers and sisters here.