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. 

2015 February

Last week we completed a year in our mission.  We went to the temple to mark the occasion.  We tried a new restaurant in Quetzaltenango - one of the best meals we have had.  We don't eat out much because we can't trust the cleanliness of the places and the way the food is prepared.

Things have been happening in the mission that affect us.  The mission president said we might have to move to help take care of some small branches on the other side of the mission.  I know he doesn't want to move us if he can help it.  We hope to know for sure this week.

Elder Ochoa of the 2nd quorum of 70 is the 1st counselor in the Central American Area Presidency.  He came to tour the mission last week.  On Thursday night we had a dinner with him and the mission presidency.  The meal was good, and it was good to get to know the other members of the presidency.

On Sunday, 3 days later, we had another meeting with Elder Ochoa and all of the Stake Presidencies, Bishops, and Stake Relief Society Presidencies in the area - probably 3 hundred attended.  He and 2 local area authorities laid out the plans for this year, the areas to focus on:  Conversion, Retention, Reactivation.

 This is our house, next to an empty lot.  If you look closely you will see a guy in his 40s up in the coconut tree.  He just cut the bunch of coconuts that is falling down,  It is better to cut them than to let them fall and cause damage to whatever they might hit - like a car.

A field of tobacco.  They make a space in the middle where they start the harvest, and put up bamboo racks.  As they cut it they hang it upside down on the racks to dry in the sun,

Anyone want a watermelon?  Vicky just had to have one,

 Shot thru the windshield, a grove of rubber trees.  Some 20-30 years ago a mission president served here.  When he went home he brought back a new industry - rubber.  At the base of the tree is a cup and the rubber runs into it.

  Our favorite tree is below.

 A week ago we saw 2 wooley caterpillars parked on the ceiling in the carport.
2 days later they had their cocoons finished (below)
Now we will wait to see what kind of critter comes out.
2 weeks later:  We were gone for 3 days on an assignment.  The critters have hatched and gone, so we don't know what they were.

When we have rinds, orange peels, etc. we throw them over the wall into the vacant field next to our house.  2 months ago we saw a vine growing and started watering it.  2 days ago Vicky harvested her water melon.

It tasted as good as any she has bought in the market,

This is a melocotón.  We are not sure what kind of fruit it is but it sure smells sweet.  Inside is yellow, like a pumpkin, but texture of a cantalope, with rows of black seeds.

So, my new name tag got here.  You probably can't see it: Presidente Wetzel, 2nd counselor in mission presidency.  It reminds me of when President Hellewell was chosen to be the new Stake Patriarch.  He remarked, "It just shows that, in this church, if you wait long enough, anything can happen ☺☻

Field of tobacco.  You can see the racks of it drying in the sun,


I had an asignment from the mission president to travel to Tierras Frias (Cold Land) to do some temple interviews.  Sat. afternoon we traveled 2 1/2 hours to San Marcos (about .  The next morning we left after 6:00 a.m. to get to Rio Blanco by 8:00.  This is taken from our hotel window. Rio Blanco is just on the other side of that mountain, at 8700 feet.  Where we live in Coatepeque it is 2000 feet - hot and humid.  Here it is cold and dry.

In the hotel where we stayed they had some cool antiques.  Vicky's mother used to use an iron like this, where you put live coals inside.

There is the Mr. Potato Head we used to have.  In the middle is a Campbell soup doll.

None of the sewing machines were Singers.  One this one has a wooden handle on the wheel that folds in when not in use.



Welcome to Rio Blanco, Land of Apples.  This is where a lot of this kind of fruit is grown - apples, peaches, etc.  On the way here we started at 7º centigrade, then dropped to 1º centigrade as we hit the mountain top, then went back up to 7º.

Somewhere over the mountains in the background is Mexico.




The 2 Elders to the right were our guides and came with us to take us to Rio Blanco.  There are no maps, few road signs, to tell you where to go.  It is common to stop and ask someone, "Which way to Rio Blanco?" or wherever, and they will give you directions

We went to a Quetzal refuge site.  The Quetzal has been voted the prettiest bird in the world.  The are almost extinct.  I want to see one before I leave Guatemala.  We saw a couple of Tucans this trip.  This was about 40 yards away, thru the branches, 12x zoom.

No fish here.  It would be a perfect place for brown trout,

This is what Ben wants in his backyard.

A circus came to town.  They pulled these guys around as advertisment.

Last month Elder Ochoa from the 2nd Quorum of 70 came to tour the mission.  Here he is with the mission president and wife, and our zone in Coatepeque.  The next night we had dinner with him and the mission presidency.

I finally got a picture of a whole pig, cooked up for tacos.  In one night it is served up and gone.  There are several of these around town.

One of the branches that I am assigned to visit is Ocos.  There are about 24 members who attend on Sunday.  It is on the pacific coast, right on the border of Mexico.  This big buganvilla needs a trim.

Yesterday there were 2 of these birds across the street from our house.  HIs long black tail is hanging thru the palm leaves.   This is at 20x zoom

We took another family to the temple.  Here are Carlos and Gaby with their children and her grandmother.

 The Jimenez family lives out in the mountains.  They have 3 other daughters, one on a mission

Not long ago Luis and Carol Quiñones saw us downtown and they pulled up on their motorcycle and invited us to come visit them.  They are taking lessons to go to the temple,  Here they are seated in front of the chapel.