Surprise Honor

Last week my friend Jelen (see December post on Christmas in Guatemala) stopped by the office with her sister-in-law, Elvia, who speaks English and has lived in the U.S. for many years.  Elvia explained that Jelen and her husband Victor were going to go to the temple to have their marriage sealed for time and all eternity and they were inviting us to participate.  We were thrilled to receive the invitation.

It was very touching to have Elvia come to talk with me, as their family has been Catholic as far back as they can remember.  We were not only invited to join Jelen and Victor, we were being asked to represent Jelen's father and mother in a temple ordinance to seal her to her parents, who are deceased.  This ordinance can then be accepted by her parents if they choose to do so.

Here are Sherydan (left), Jelen, Victor, Luisa (right) and Josue'.  After the sealing for Jelen and Victor, the children were sealed to their parents.  All those attending LDS temples are dressed in white, so as the children walked through the doorway for their portion of the ordinance, they looked like angels.

“Through the power of [the] priesthood ...husband and wife may be sealed, or married for eternity; children may be sealed to their parents for eternity; thus the family is made eternal.”                     —Joseph Fielding Smith

This is the beginning of the rainy season and it rained from noon until about eight in the evening.  We huddled under the temple portico for the photos.

  Everywhere I looked in the temple I was in awe of the architecture.  The church architect who builds the temples worldwide does a great deal of research into each country's history/art/culture prior to the design.  There is a prominence of uses of the Mayan star throughout the temple, even in the baptismal font.  The customary oxen holding the baptismal font in this temple are formed into a Mayan star.  In a word, it is breathtaking.  I wish I could have been here for the open house in November to see the faces of the Guatemalans when they walked through the doors prior to the temple dedication, when it was open to the public.  I'm certain they were awestruck  

The next temple open house will be in Brigham City, Utah.  Ticketing begins the end of July.  If you are in the area and would like to walk through a Mormon temple, keep an eye on this link for further information:  http://www.lds.org/church/temples/reservations?lang=eng

The temple gardens are gorgeous and each month they look fuller and more color-filled.

This was part of the group attending the sealing.  Hermana Franco (in the wheelchair) just celebrated her 94th birthday and not only came to the temple, but participated in a reception dinner at the church afterward.  She is a delight-one of my favorite people.  The photographer was having trouble understanding our camera, and I was ready to offer a suggestion when he snapped this one-thus my clueless appearance.

Panhandlers in Centro Park

We spent the morning cleaning our apartment, then decided to get some fresh air.  Jaime drove us to Centro del Parque and we wandered through some shops and bartered a bit for a very nice Guatemalan apron.

We almost missed the panhandlers, as there were so many people surrounding them we couldn't see them from our vantage point in the street.  We wiggled our way through the crowd and had a lot of fun watching the locals respond to the buskers.  They performed in several very clever ways when people put money in their containers.

This cowboy was paired up with the lady below and the little girls were having so much fun handing him money.  He would take their hand and not let it go and they would giggle with delight.  He was very cute with the crowd and seemed to know exactly how to appeal to the good nature of Central Americans.

There was a huge outdoor screen set up as well as a formal buffet on the other end of the park.  Maybe they were gearing up for a concert of some kind.  It's still surreal to me to see children running around in the park in a pretty carefree manner compared to how guarded we are with our children in the U.S.

We sat down to rest and this mime started working the crowd.  He was absolutely delightful.  I offered him money, but he politely declined.  He encouraged Mike to take a photo of us, however.

This Buster Keaton wannabe was doing some pretty funny caricatures and really had the crowd going.

Glad we ventured out, as it was lots of fun.

Post Script to Dia de la Madre

Yesterday was mail day, so we called Jaime to come and drive us in his taxi.  He was friendly as usual, but his countenance changed immediately when Mike asked  him how he was doing.  Shortly after he phoned on Thursday morning to say happy Mother's Day, he got a call from his sister-in-law, saying his brother was in the hospital.  The doctors were unable to save him and he died shortly after the phone call from a heart attack.  He was only 32 years old  and he was active in sports and running.  He left behind a wife and two daughters, ages 6 and 3.  Jaime's mother will never forget having a son die on Mother's Day.

Jaime told his sister-in-law that he would take care of the children, so now he has to support his own four daughters, plus hers.  This is the second rough blow he has had of late.  Not long ago Jaime was  driving through the terminal where the ruta buses pick up their passengers and some men hailed his taxi.  When they got in and they had driven a small distance, one of them pulled out a gun, put it to his head and told him to get out of the car and leave his keys.  So, he lost his taxi that afternoon and received no help from the police.

We asked Jaime if people here carry life insurance and he said it is so expensive very few people can afford it.  Isn't it amazing that you can go to sleep peacefully one night and have your life transformed completely the next day?

Di'a de la Madre

Mother's Day started early this morning.  At 6:00 AM I heard the first truck with loud speakers driving down 5 calle playing some kind of celebretory music.  I was not ready to wake up quite that early.  As I was putzing around the apartment at 7:00, I heard Mike's cell phone ring; he brought the phone to me and I heard a very cheery voice say, "Happy Mother's Day, Mummy!!"  It was Jaime, our taxi driver and new friend.  Jaime's family is investigating the church and we have had him drive us several places in the last two weeks.  We have thoroughly enjoyed his company and are enormously relieved to have a driver who not only speaks good English, but knows the safe places in the city as well as those to avoid.  It was super thoughtful of him to take the time to call.

This card is one that was given to me by two of the mission's zone leaders-Elder Anderson and Elder Arriaza.  They went out of their way to bring it by the office, which really tickled me.

After their lunch the APs, Elders Becerra and Andrade, each brought me a rose.  The office elders, Hansen and Maldonado (along with Elder Dennison, whose parents are coming to pick him up tomorrow)  stopped by the local Xelapan bakery and brought me a piece of cheesecake.  They all are so thoughtful.

Sister Bautista stopped by with this bouquet picked fresh from her beautiful garden at the mission home.  Whenever I go over, there is always a vase full of beautiful flowers typical to Guatemala.

Later in the afternoon Sister Batschi and her new companion, Sister Morgan, came in with a card and candy bar.  Almost the entire mission changed yesterday, so today was extra busy trying to get everything organized.  It was an especially nice day to receive so many caring gestures.  Even our very thoughtful doorman, Jose,  saw me on the sidewalk and told me happy Mother's Day in almost perfect English, just to be sure I understood him.  That was huge!  

"Ruins" at Zaculeu

President and Sister Bautista invited us, along with the Flakes, to spend the day touring the ruins of Zaculeu near Huehuetenango and then driving home via Quiche for some breathtaking scenery.  

We have the park almost to ourselves and begin with an explanation of the history of the ruins.   This was the capital of the post classic Mam kingdom.  In 1525 this Mam refuge was plagued by disputes between the Mam people and the K'iche.'  The Spanish conquistadores arrived and allied with the Mexicans and the K'iche' warriors to starve the Mam into surrendering after months of fighting.

The mounds are the real ruins.  The cement buildings are in dispute.  They are not the original buildings and not considered to be an accurate representation of what this area would have looked like according to Mayan tradition.  They were reconstructed by a fruit company that held an economic stranglehold on the community and the people here regard the reconstruction with a dim view.

Part of the authentic ruins

A ball court where a life and death ball game was played

Looking at the center of the photo above, you can see the man who is also in the photo below at the fire pit.  He is performing a Mayan ritual with incense and much ceremony, but we're told by our guide this is not the original pagan Mayan ritual.  Anciently, this ritual was used for positive purposes.  Now we are told it is partially good, but  combined with witchcraft, not unlike voodoo.  So....maybe this guy is putting a curse on his ex-wife?

What is said to be a combination palace and temple.

Food vendors as we are leaving the park.  They make this sausage smell very good, but we don't take a chance with street food.

Centro in Huehuetenango, the motorcycle capital of Guatemala.  They buzz around like annoying flies, cutting into traffic in every which way, completely ignoring the rules of traffic.  We have seen as many as five people on one of them at times.

The roads are pretty smooth today and suffice quite nicely if they actually remain on the mountains.  We passed several spots where the pavement had given way and crumbled down the steep mountainsides.   At points in the road the remainder of the road was barely one lane wide.

The other road hazard here is the all too frequent derrumbe, or landslide.  These landslides are common here, especially during the rainy season and the Bautistas tell us they never get cleaned up.  Drivers just use one lane of traffic after they occur.  These huge bolders are enough to crush a car or send one down the mountainside if you are driving past when they occur.

Today's drive was incredibly beautiful and for us, impossible to photograph the landscapes and do any justice to them.  There were layers upon layers of mountains in the background combined with aldeas (villages) along the mountainsides, terraced agriculture on even the steepest mountains, and homes at the very base of the deep gorges.

Drive to El Bau'l

Looking out our bedroom window to the southeast we have a good view of El Bau'l, the viewing platform  and the huge white cross on the hill.  Mike has wanted to make the trek up to the top, so we ventured out in the mission truck to get a new view of Xela.  When you drive up the mountain you start out on the Xela side, but the photo above is the opposite side of the mountain as we climb.  The views are spectacular and the road narrow and bumpy.

Looking ahead of the truck this maybe looks like a normal road.  Don't be fooled.

There is a well-cared-for park at the top, much like one you would see in the States.  Perhaps the difference is that many of the folks in Quetzaltenango can't make the drive up here to enjoy it, or pay the Q10 park entrance fee.

The base of this monument is a stunning depiction of a Mayan warrior.

The tree trunks are painted white strictly for aesthetics, as we're told.  It doesn't make much sense to us, but the people here find it attractive.

This is Guatemala's version of the alpine slide minus the sleds.  Here, there are a variety of cardboard pieces and large, smashed plastic bottles laying on the ground to ensure a thrilling ride down the slide.  

Smaller slides for smaller people.

There is a military presence around Xela.  Armed guards protect most businesses and these fellows spend the day watching over the safety of the park visitors.

Grills for public use.

The all too familiar chicken buses that provide one of the better forms of transportation.

This is the the viewing platform we can see from our window and we're looking down into Quetzaltenango, which is the second largest city in Guatemala.  We can see our apartment building from here with our binoculars. 

The dark thing on the top of the cross is NOT a dead bird.  It's a piece of artistic metal of some kind.

We're close to 9000' here.

The fields here being prepared for planting are similar to the ones in San Juan.  It was different today, however, to drive up the mountain and pass trucks parked along the side with men and boys carrying equipment to work the sides of the steep mountain completely by hand.  It's a tough job!

Unsure why this gate is here.  It's right at the edge of the mountain.

Mike has been looking for months for Xela's only Taco Bell.  We tried the shopping center where Walmart is and after getting some partially understandable directions, we found their food court.  There was a mega TV anchored above the food court where people were gathered to watch the soccer game and eat fast food. We waited in this line for nearly thirty minutes to get some barely edible food, not at all like the Taco Bell at home.