Quetzaltenango Looms Large

Hopefully, I numbered and cataloged the boxes in storage well, because Mike is out in the cold garage going through boxes in search of the router password we need. It couldn't be a KitchenAid mixer we're looking for. No...it had to be an itty bitty password. That little piece of information will, believe it or not, enable us to keep our U.S. phone number and call home very inexpensively on both our Guatemalan phone and our cell phones. We love you, Vonage! Plus, we are very indebted to our technically-gifted sons who help us when things become complicated. Mike is very skillful with computers, but these guys are experts.

We received word from Pres. Bautista, our mission president, that we will need to ship a printer for our computer, plus bed linens. Since a large priority USPS box costs $60 to ship, we figure we're in for some major expense. I'll pay for it with the money I'll save not idling my car in the bitter Minnesota cold this winter.

We've pared down most of our earthly possessions and are packing the last dozen boxes, plus studying Spanish every spare moment. Sterling, our Spanish tutor from the LDS Mission Training Center, didn't laugh much when I told him I called my Latina friend, "chica de vide alegre", which in my dictionary is a party girl. I didn't think much about his response until my Latina friend (possibly ex friend) told me this term implies "prostitute". So, I'm not only scoring low marks in Spanish; I'm also scoring low marks in friendship. I have a hunch a lot of apologies will be made before I master the language. Keep your sense of humor-it's critical.