2015 March

This is 12 year old Karla who was baptized a few months ago,  The foto is to show how most people cook.  The table is wooden, full of ashes.  There is usually to pumic blocks, then some kind of grate or something to put a pot of beans on - often there are 2 spring leafs from a small car (but not in this pic),  If 20,000 homes cook this way, 3 meals a day, how do you think it affects the sky?

Finally mangos are here.  As we drive around Vicky will look at the trees and say, " Look at the mangos!"  It is her favorite fruit.  She says she is going to eat  4 each day from here to May.

Another fruit stand.  The yellow stuff in the foreground, with a little stem on them, are pods of cashew nuts.  You peel off the outer layer and roast the pods of nuts inside,

People can't spell very well.

This is spring and the trees are flowering.  The yellow ones are usually the tallest.

The yellow trees are Palo Blanco,  They use it a lot in making dressers and wardrobes.  I want to bring a small piece home.

As we got home last night there was this huge toad.  I got one picture, but wanted one closer up.

Just as I shot the pic it jumped.

In the background is the entrance to our gated community.  These are the guards.  This morning they had a possum - big one!

The guards say they have killed about 40 of these in the last few months.  It is the first one we have seen.

This is a snake that was run over by cars - a coral snake.  Now Vicky is really worried, although we have not seen one snake in over a year.

Some people that live out of town take pickups to town, like a bus or taxi, except you have to stand up,  In this little Toyota there are about 20 people,

It has only rained twice in the last 4 months.  This is the time of year when a lot of bugs thrive.  In this video listen to the sounds of the "Chicharras".  It is loud!  Once when we were walking along a road surrounded by trees it was so loud it hurt our ears - had to cover them.  The chicharra is small, like a grasshopper, but puts out a shrill noise at high volume.

Bryan turned 10 this month.  He was baptized a year and a half ago.  His mother was baptized in October last year.

Our gift to him was this tie, made from "tipico" guatemalan cloth.

More people from the mountains going into the city.  These are like buses, only they are small pickups.

 Vicky loves the lively colors.  I can't decide if I like the sunshine yellow or hot pink for our house,☺

Sister Enma and her husband Leonel live over an hour away.  We go to teach them twice a month.  They just finished repainting their house.  When we came Sister Enma seemed to be wearing the same colors as the paint.

Most of the meat eaten here is chicken.  This is how they transport them.

Alejandro and Josie from Silverton - must have some relatives down here.

For my birthday we took a trip and Vicky bought cloth to make skirts with (the last part by her ankles).  Then she added a blouse and an apron.  She looks very "Chapeen" - slang for Guatemalteco.

So for my birthday she got a new outfit

 

As we entered one of the little shops, a little girl 2 years old grabbed a skirt and held it up for us to see, like she has seen her mother do hundreds of times.  She looked up at us with big eyes like she was saying, "This is nice. It would look good on you."

When Vicky has fruit skins and seed to toss out, she often tosses them over the wall to a vacant lot.  We found a squash growing from those seeds.  Here is the first fruits of her garbage.

We got permission to visit a site outside the mission.  Lake Atitlan is almost a 4 hour drive.  We stayed in Panajachel.  This is the garden outside our room.  

Bouganvillas abound and bloom year long.  This area is about 5100 ft. elevation.  Where we live is around 2000.

The day we got there was foggy.  You could barely see across the lake (2+ miles).  Still it was a cool site.

 I always thought bananas grew the other way,

 There was a cool sunset even in the mist.

 The next morning we were blessed with clear skies and a wonderful view.  There are 3 volcanoes on the other side of the lake.  They are bigger than the picture shows - like Mt. Hood.

If you look close you can see the town at the foot of the volcano.

 
We played tourist and went to the market.  These 2 kids saw us coming and wanted a picture.  I think they spend the day with their mother in the market.

 These are all t-shirts for sale.

 What does it say?

 We bought some scarves here.  This is typical dress for the local women.

 There is one volcano behind the other.  Down below is where we stayed.

 Now you can get a sense of how big this is.

A panoramic video.

We stopped by the temple to pick up a few things.  It is beautiful, and sits on top of a tall high, so it can be seen from far away.

Where we ate lunch we listened to 2 marimbas, a bass, and drum.  Nice music.

Sister Elsa Lopez was just released after serving 31 years as Relief Society Pres.
She has 3 sons.  This is her little store.  As we dropped in on her she said she wanted us to meet her oldest son, Christian.  We walked into the bedroom where he lay.  He is 39 years old, very alert, but his body is misshapen.  He is not a vegetable, but he cannot use his arms or legs, nor can he speak.  But he understands what is said, and he is always smiling.
Elsa told us that after her third child her husband left her for another woman.  Since then she worked and raised 3 sons, and 3 other children of her sister who went to the U.S. and left her children with her. The older 2 are married and living on their own.  She considers it a great blessing to be able to care for Christian.  Through all this she was R.S. President, serving with 8 different bishops  She is very happy, willing to help others in any way she can.  And after all this her husband will not give her a divorce.  Meanwhile you can find her in her store most days, but not Sunday.