Our Visit to the Regional Hospital in Cuilapa

Yesterday morning, we accompanied a group of Senior Missionaries to the Regional Hospital in Cuilapa to give baby kits to the mothers of newborns in the maternity ward of the hospital and some gifts to the children in the pediatric unit.  It was an interesting drive down through rural areas on the road to El Salvador, CA1.  We drove through the towns of El Cerinal and Barbarena and finally arrived at the hospital in Cuilapa.  It is rated the third best public hospital in Guatemala, but it isn't a place you would want to have your child receive care.  The conditions of the hospital were nothing like you would see in the United States.  It makes you wonder why a country that has malls as nice as anything in the States has hospitals like the one we visited. Some say it is because there is drug money behind the malls and government corruption keeps public funds from getting to the hospitals.  I have no idea if there is any truth to that, but the difference between the malls and the hospitals is stark.  But the children in the hospital were beautiful, and Sister Smith was in her element sharing the gifts we had brought with the babies and their mothers.  She even suited up to visit the babies in the nursery.  She said that should be her job, just to hold and care for the babies in the nursery.

There were sights, however, that tore at our heart strings.  Two little infants in the hospital had been abandoned by their parents.  One infant boy of Quiché (a Mayan people) parents had serious heart problems, and his parents had left him, presumably because they felt they couldn't care for him.  The other was a little premie in an incubator whose twin had not survived.  He too had been abandoned by his parents. These two will be sent to an orphanage for adoption when they are healthy enough to leave the hospital.  Their chances for adoption, however, are not good.  The international adoption system in Guatemala was entirely shut down in 2008 due to widespread corruption, kidnapping, and baby selling.  In its hey day one of every 110 babies born in Guatemala ended up in the United States for adoption, many stolen from the birth parents.  Lawyers/notaries in Guatemala charged $35,000 plus expenses for every one of these babies placed for adoption, almost 5,000 per year.  It was big business, and subject to corruption.  Now since 2008, the system has been shut down while reforms are implemented.  So the chances for adoption of these and who knows how many children like them are bleak.  It broke our hearts to think of these two little ones abandoned like that.

Dental Clinic group

Today we say goodby to Dr. Call.  Elder Call was the brains and muscle behind getting the dental clinic here in Guatemala built and running.  This clinic was somewhat of an experiment.  It was built with humanitarian money and volunteers.  However it has served our LDS full-time Missionaries and future missionaries here in Guatemala and surrounding countries for the past 5 years.  We also serve 2 orphanages and one school.  It has and is staffed by full-time senior missionaries and donations from individuals and humanitarian groups.  Because of the success of this clinic the church has now put into motion the construction of a church sponsored dental clinic in the Philippians.  Dr. Call's hard work and dedication has paid off.  He is not alone in this.  All those that have served in anyway at this clinic for the past 5 years have had a big part in it's success.  This clinic has and is blessing the lives of all that have received services here.  From the full-time missionaries and future missionaries throughout Central America to the children we serve that see the church in action in blessing their lives and the lives of others.  I am so grateful to be able to rub shoulders with faithful dedicated people such as these.
Dr. Call is the one in the middle on the back row in the light blue tunic.

Preparing for Our First Christmas in Guatemala

Christmas is wonderful time of year!  As we approach our first Christmas in Guatemala, I thought I would share what we are seeing and learning about Christmas here.

Much is the same:

In some ways Guatemala looks very much like Christmas at home.  There are Christmas decorations all over town with the decorated Christmas trees and lights we are used to seeing at home.  The stores are decked out in Christmas decorations just like we see at home.  There is a huge Christmas tree (mechanical one, not a real one) in the plaza at the Obelisco, and Christmas programs are all around us just like at home.  We watched the First Presidency Christmas devotional (via BYU TV) just like we do every year at home.  We had a wonderful Christmas devotional and luncheon at the Montúfar chapel yesterday for all the Church employees and the Senior Missionaries who work in the Area Office.  It was beautiful and very much like home.  We attended a Christmas party for our ward last night, just like we would have done at home.  We will have an Office Christmas party on Monday for the legal office.  Things really slow down at Christmas time, just like at home.  We have a small decorated tree in our apartment, and we listen to Christmas music every day.  We are excited to have Robert and his family visit us at Christmas time.

But some things are very different:

It is sunny and nice every day here, more like a Christmas in Hawaii than what we were used to in Salt Lake.  At our ward Christmas party last night, we had very tough, thin beef and chorizos (a spicy sausage), frijoles (refried black beans), rice, corn tortillas, salad, and horchata to drink.  It was a typical Guatemalan meal.  All over town there are stands selling fireworks, mountains of fireworks, and every night there are fireworks going off all over the city.  This will culminate on Christmas Eve (Nochebuena) with a spectacular fireworks show all over the city at midnight, or so I am told.  At first this seemed quite a strange way to celebrate Christmas to me.  We certainly don't have that tradition at home.  But as in all traditions, there is some truth underlying it all.  In the night before He was born there was no darkness on this land; it was as light as at mid-day.  And a new star was seen in the sky.  This Christmas Eve the people here will light up the sky all night with their fireworks.  He is the Light of the World, and they will celebrate His birth with lights in the sky.

All over town, we see traffic stopped as processions walk down the streets carrying one of their Saints, the Virgin of Guadalupe or the Virgin Mary or another.  This is a very Catholic tradition and quite strange to us.  We are told that on Christmas Eve, families will gather and eat mountains of tomales and drink "ponche" their traditional hot fruit punch.  Late that night after the fireworks, the children will open their Christmas gifts.  Both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day along with New Years Eve and New Years Day are holidays.  I'm sure there will be many other things this Christmas that will be new to us.

But for us, this Christmas will be like all Christmases, a special time to remember Our Saviors birth and worship Him.  He is the gift of Christmas, and we love this special time of year when the world joins us in Honoring Him.  May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The Chacón Family

Last night we had a dinner invitation from the Chacón family.  Brother Chacón is the Stake Patriarch in the Molino Stake and the family are members of the Santa Luisa Ward where we attend we church.  They live in a small home not far from the church where brother Chacón has lived all of his life.  He is a convert to the Church of more than 50 years, and his family is an example of the remarkable difference that the Gospel can make in the lives of people.  His children have served missions (the youngest is still serving in Salt Lake City) and are faithful members of the Church.  The Spirit in their home was wonderful.  We visited all evening, and I enjoyed very much getting to know them and hearing Brother Chacón's testimony.  He is a CPA and works for a subsidiary of General Electric, but notwithstanding that, their circumstances are humble by American standards.  As a young man he was challenged in his poverty to live the law of tithing, and he tells of going for a walk in the street and weeping.  He could barely care for himself and his family, including his parents, but He told His Heavenly Father that if He wanted him to pay tithing, he would do it, but he would need His help.  He began to pay his tithing and shortly thereafter was blessed with a job opportunity that more than doubled his income.  He bore a strong testimony of the law of tithing and how it has blessed his family.  We pay tithing with faith, not with money.

Our Trip Home to Honor Markel Allen Caldwell

After only two days in Belize, we received the sad news that Mary Ann's father, Markel Allen Caldwell had died at about 11:00 p.m. on Monday, November 16, 2015.  In Belize we had no cell phone service, and no-one at home had any way to contact us to let us know of Markel's death except by Facebook and email.  I was out visiting with our attorneys when Mary Ann stumbled onto the news by computer.  She was all alone that morning in a foreign land and couldn't talk to anyone.  She had messaged me several times during the day, but I hadn't been anywhere where I had wifi, and that was our only method of communication.  In the early afternoon, we stopped at the Church Office in Belize City, and I discovered Mary Ann's messages about Markel's death.  I quickly handed off our remaining appointments that afternoon to my assistant, Set Quinonez, and hurried back to the hotel to comfort Mary Ann as best I could.  The rest that day was a rush as we obtained permission from the Area President, Elder Duncan, to return to the United States for the funeral.  Because we had driven a car into Belize, I had to drive the car back to the Guatemala border and leave it at the Church property in Melchor de Mencos across the border and then return to Belize City to catch a flight out the next morning.  I had to get to the border before they closed, so Luis Ochoa, the Country Coordinator in Belize, and I drove to the border in separate cars at breakneck speed.  We later returned together to Belize City, and I got the chance to hear Luis' compelling life and conversion story.  After a late night haggling with on-line airline ticket sellers, we finally got flights booked to return home.

During our time at home, we visited with Nadine and her family, participated in Markel's funeral, and stayed with Ben and Melanie in a condo in Payson where we got to have a nice family dinner and spend some time together.  We later travelled to Preston and spent Thanksgiving with Dannan and Melanie and their family.  On Friday after Thanksgiving, they headed to Jackson Hole to ski with Ben and his family, while we headed back to Guatemala.  Saying goodbye again was no easier than the first time.  In contemplating the loss of Grandpa Caldwell, I wrote the following:

I lost my father when I was 17. Ever since I met and fell in love with Mary Ann Caldwell when I was 21, Markel Caldwell has been a father to me. He was an honest, hard-working man of few words. He let his works do the talking. In the early years of our relationship I would at times see his temper flare, but over the years I saw him soften, develop great patience and a loving heart. He was generous, forgiving, and kind. He was most tender in his prayers for his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, when he would often be moved to tears. He taught me by example to plumb a straight line not only in work but in life. I will miss him terribly, but I hope to honor him by living my life as straight as he lived his. I love you, Markel.

The Adventure

Last Friday morning at 6:30 a.m. We left Guatemala City en route to Belize City on assignment to meet with our attorneys there and with new law firms in an effort to resolve legal problems in Belize. We drove down El Martí and Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán Highway, the winding highway to the Atlantic, as it descends from the highlands plateau on which Guatemala City sits to Lake Izabal, the largest lake in Guatemala.  On the far side of the Lake, we turned north through Rio Dulce on our way to the Petén and Flores, a small, historic town on an island in the middle of Lake Petén Itza.  The drive was long and tiring, as drives in Guate are prone to be, but what an interesting trip.  We passed through so many Guatemalan cities, towns' and villages.  There was never more than a few miles between settlements.  We winded along the Rio Grande or Rio Motagua most of the way to Izabal, and for the first time we saw large agricultural projects and even large tractors.  These were obviously large operations of agribusiness, not the little hand tended plots of the Maya we had seen on our trip to Atitlán in the highlands.  In the long road into the Petén, we had to be in constant look-out for túmulos, big speed bumps across the highway as you approached each little village.  They are such big bumps that if you hit one unexpectedly at too much velocity, you can do serious damage to your car.  After about 9.5 hours of driving, we arrived in Flores.  It is a beautiful little island city with cobblestone streets and traditional buildings.  It was a place where the Maya held out against the Conquistadors.  The lake, Petén Itza, is karstic, as are the other 20 or more lakes across the Petén, and its level varies in about a 20 year cycle.  It is high now and the north and east sides of Flores are flooded.  Flores is a tourist town that caters to the waves of tourists from all over the world that come to see Tikal, the famous Mayan Ruins a little north of Flores.  We stayed in a tiny little room in the Casona de la Isla with a view of the lake.  Flores was a lively little town at night.

On Saturday morning,  we drove to Tikal.  As we entered the park, we hired a Mayan guide who speaks English to show us the ruins.  His name is Josue Castillo.  He grew up in a small Mayan village near Rio Dulce, speaking his traditional Mayan dialect at home, learning Spanish in school. He had to leave his home as a teenager, because he wanted an education.  The government only provides six years of education for the children, and after that the family has to pay for schooling for their children.  The poor families can´t afford that, and it is rare for the poor children to get more education.  They are expected to work and the help the family survive.  Josue left and worked his way to an education, even learning English and becoming a tour guide.

Tikal is an amazing Mayan Ruin site.  Sitting atop Temple 5, the tallest building in the Mayan world, you look north across the Petén, across the heart of the Mayan empire.  It is an impressive sight.  The ruins are layered across the centuries being built over the structures of earlier times.  The oldest ruins of the Lost World date to 600 B.C.  The size of the site is astounding, and only a small part has been excavated.  We will post some pictures of the ruins when we get a chance.

The next day, on Sunday, November 15, we attended a regional conference for Guatemala with the Petén Stake, the newest stake in Guatemala, created just a couple of weeks ago.  They have a beautiful stake center, and the Saints there were impressive.  Elder Bednar was the presiding authority at the conference.  Afterwards we drove to Belize.  The border crossing is an experience in itself and took us an hour to get through the whole process, including the fumigation of our car.  On the Belizean side of the border, everything changes--the language is English, the tradition is British, the houses have yards, the cattle are Angus and Hereford rather than Brahma.  It was amazing how much things changed when crossing that border.  That afternoon we had torrential rains and the highway (that is really an exaggeration for this rough, pot-holed road), which follows a large river, Rio Mopán an later the Belize River, was flooded in many places.  We made crossings of these flooded areas, sometimes with water nearly up to the doors.  It was a dangerous and difficult drive into Belmopan, the capital city of Belize.  From there the highway is really good on over to Belize City.  We had our hotel, the Raddison, entered into Waze, the GPS navigation system people use here, but it took us to our hotel in a circuitous route through the worst parts of Belize City.  It was dark by then, an we felt a little disconcerted trying to find our hotel.  But finally we arrived, safe and sound, after this drive which can only be described as an adventure.  We are grateful for the Lord's protecting hand!

Make the Sabbath a Delight

It has been another wonderful week in Guatemala.  I can't describe the joy we feel from being involved in the work of the Lord.  Friday evening we went to the temple with our assigned ward, Barrio Santa Luisa.  I worked with the few brethren who came to do baptisms for the dead with the youth of the ward while Sister Smith did a session with some of the women of the ward.  There was a great spirit in the baptistery as there always is; and I enjoyed doing the ordinances in Spanish for the first time in more than 40 years.

While we were waiting outside the temple for the bishop to arrive with the youth recommend, Brother Bernabe Suret and I had some time to visit.  He is the first counselor in the ward, and a humble, hard-working man.  He builds houses for a living, and he builds them from the ground up-- he is skilled in concrete, plumbing, electrical, roofing, painting, and every other construction trade.  I was saddened to hear what has happened to the construction business in this country over the past decade.  In earlier times a builder could make Q2,000 per week plus bonuses doing construction work.  But since about 2004, the business has collapsed and now these skilled workers make barely Q600 per week with no bonuses.  It is very difficult for them to survive on such meager wages.  I pray that these oppressive conditions will change so that these good men can earn a decent living for their families.

Today we attended Stake Conference for the Molino Stake.  Elder José Maravilla, an Area Seventy from Nicaragua, was the visiting authority, and he gave a very inspiring account of his conversion to the gospel.  He grew up in very small town in Nicaragua, and ran a small business doing oil changes on cars.  When he first was exposed to the Church, he attended his first sacrament meeting in a small, "horrible" rented house with very few members.  He told of being curious and anxious to see what was covered by a white cloth at the front of the room.  When the American missionary pulled back the cloth, he saw both the emblems of the Savior's sacrifice, and he was so anxious to partake of them.  He explained that as a child in his former church he had repeatedly asked why he could not partake of both emblems of the sacrament.  When the elder blessed and distributed the sacrament, he offered the emblems to everyone except Mr. Maravilla.  He told how crushed he was when he could not partake.  Later the elder explained to him that he must first be baptized to make these sacred covenants.  He told of the inexpressible joy he felt after his baptism when he and his wife and their child partook of the emblems of the sacrament for the first time.  He said he has never missed an opportunity to partake of the sacrament since that time.  May we all love the sacrament as this humble servant does and partake of it gratefully with a broken heart and contrite spirit at every opportunity.

Elder Maravilla next told us of his trial as a new member when he was taught about keeping the Sabbath day holy.  Sunday was his busiest business day, when he made more money than all the other days of the week combined.  He was in competition with a bigger, more established business across the street, and when the elders told him he needed to close his business on Sunday, he was sure that if he did so his business would fail and he would not be able to provide for his family.  He took the matter to the Lord, and in faith, he closed on Sunday.  His competitor ridiculed him about his decision and sought to take away his customers, but Elder Maravilla's business did not fail.  The Lord prospered him.  He made an offer to buy the larger building on the corner that belonged to his competitor, but the man said he had no need to sell to him.  Elder Maravilla said he prayed to the Lord that he would give the man a need!  For two years he saved, and one day, the man came to him and said he had a need and wanted to sell the building to Elder Maravilla.  He bought the building, improved his business, and this main corner in his small town became known as Maravilla corner.  It became the junction of two main roads between neighboring communities, and everyone referred to the junction as Maravilla corner.  Elder Maravilla testified that he was blessed and prospered, because he kept the Sabbath day holy and kept his covenants, partaking worthily of the sacrament each and every Sunday.

Baby project

One of the senior missionaries humanitarian projects is providing new born baby kits to the state run hospitals. The women that come to these hospitals to deliver their babies usually come with nothing to take the babies home in. The hospital gives them a diaper but that is all.  If anyone or organization would like to gather/collect some of the items listed it would be greatly appreciated.  THE ONLY CATCH IS THAT WE NEED TO HAVE THEM COLLECTED AND DELIVERED TO OUR SON IN MANTI, UT BY DECEMBER 10, 2015.  HE CAN THEM BRING THEM TO US HERE IN GUATEMALA. 
This is what we typically put in our Newborn Baby Kits.  A flannel receiving blanket, can be either single layer or double about 40 or 45" square, a onesie, short sleeve, printed, color or white in size 0-3 months, a pair of socks, the roll top ones are best because they stay on their little feet, Walmart has them in packages of 3, a hat either hand made or purchased newborn hat, wash cloth and a bar of Ivory or dove soap. Everything is put in a gallon size ziplock bag.
Occasionally we receive burp pads, diapers and pins, toys, coloring books and crayons, etc., (we can always use coloring books and crayons) which usually go separately to the regional hospital where they are given to babies or children in the hospital with illnesses.  We try to keep the kits as standardized as possible to avoid hurt feeling.  We include a card identifying it is a donation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that we print up here from the official church logo.
If you can help please let me know.  Thanks Mary Ann (Hermana Smith)

The Changing of the Guard

Today after Church, we attended a devotional for temple workers and their spouses where the outgoing Temple President and Matron, the Burks, spoke along with the incoming President and Matron, the Normans from Salt Lake City.  Elder Kevin Duncan; the Area President, was the concluding speaker. It was an inspiring devotional.

President Norman spoke of how the temples have two great purposes: (1) to provide the ordinances of exaltation to the living and the dead, and (2) to provide a House to the Lord where He may manifest himself to His people.  On this latter point, President Norman quoted D&C 109:5 and 110:7:

5 For thou knowest that we have done this work through great tribulation; and out of our poverty we have given of our substance to build a house to thy name, that the Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself to his people.

7 For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.

He taught us to go as do the Prophets and Apostles into the Temple to receive personal revelation, for the Lord will manifest himself to His people in His house.

Afterwards we hurried to the Area Office to set up for the Break the Fast dinner with the Senior Missionaries, where the Presidents and Matrons also came and we got to know them a little better.  We had a great meal as usual.  It is wonderful to serve with so many dedicated and consecrated couples.  The Normans have served three missions; this is their fourth.  The Kirks too have served several times.  They have missed 7 of the past 8 Christmases with their children and grand-children.  It is amazing to see the commitment and dedication of these Saints.  It is a testimony of the truth of this work.  What else would impell so many to sacrifice so much?

Our Trip to Lake Atitlán

Yesterday we ventured out of the city into the heart of the Maya at Lake Atitlán.  Mary Ann has some pictures to share.  The drive was incredibly beautiful!  We got to see Mayan agriculture here for the first time, and I was astounded.  Every square foot of the country side seemed to be under cultivation no matter how steep the hills.  Each area was divided neatly into small plots with a great variety of crops in every stage of growth from newly planted through harvest, all at the same time.  And eveywhere there was corn, 10 or 12 feet high by appearance as we drove by.  Every bit of the work from planting to harvest and even to transporting the produce to market was done by hand with hoes and machetes as far as I could tell.  The abundance of produce everywhere was mind boggling, and everything they grow was so big by our standards: big corn, big squashes, giant watemelons, huge carrots, etc.  Simply amazing!

Lake Atitlán is a jewell nestled among the surrounding volcanoes and ringed with traditional Mayan villages where everyone, men, women and children, is dressed in traditional Mayan clothing.  We had a great lunch at the Hotel Atitlán and enjoyed their beautiful gardens and collection of parots and parakeets in a beautiful array of colors.  We drove some of the streets of Panajachel (the lake-side tourist town known to the many just as "Pana"), some of which were too narrow to get a car down, but were traversed by the "Tuc Tucs"--little three wheel motorcycle like taxis.  We mixed with the locals, who were only too willing to help a couple of Gringos find their "way", and we took a public launch across the lake to the village of Santiago.  Lining the main street were the ever present vendors of traditional handcrafts and the annoying and persistent women selling their weavings and fabrics.  The old Church in the center of town was built in 1547 and the central plaza was a bustling marketplace--a Chapine farmers market.

We started for home by 4:00 in hopes of getting back before dark, but the heavy traffic made that impossible.  Driving here is not just setting the cruise control and relaxing.  It is more like a three hour roller coaster ride, and that can be pretty exhausting.  Doing it at night was a whole new dimension!  I can't recount the number of cars I saw with no tail lights at all.  What a ride!