May

OK this was way too long.  I shall have to try to do every two weeks. 
I guess it is time to catch everyone up on May events.  We did not go many places this month but we had lots of fun experiences.  Sadly the Dibbs had to return home for medical reasons and had to be released as it was going to take too long to stabilize.  We miss them greatly.  Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we went for long walks with them around Guatemala.  Now we have to go by ourselves.  We walk about 1 1/2 hours and have a couple of circuits or we walk to Walmart or go to Brother Jacome's for breakfast.  He has a street side canopy covered eating establishment.  The typical breakfast here is black beans, eggs, corn tortillas and maybe a little what they call sausage.
We began the month with a birthday part for Sister Norman.  A Marimba band was hired and we had some dance instruction.  It was a fun night.  Sister Dibb was the star of the show.  The Marimba is an instrument of Guatemala.

Dad and I "cuttin' the rug"  Only they were pine needles

Great Marimba band

Pine needle covered floor

Brother and Sister Dibb

May 2nd we did our usual Monday shopping run and then went to a movie, The Jungle Book.  It was great.  We had big comfy recliners and the staff brought our popcorn and drink orders up to us.  Such pampering!!

Enjoying the movie.

The week was uneventful with the normal daily shift at the temple.  But Sunday we went to the Smith's for home evening.  Josh and Jill Smith and their three children moved into the ward a few months ago.  He works at the Embassy with US Aid.  They just finished a 4 year assignment in Zimbabwe.  They showed slides and talked about how the church is growing so fast in Africa. It was very sobering to hear how AIDS has affected the country.  One in every 4 children have lost one or both parents to AIDS.  The Smiths loved their time in Zimbabwe and said the members are so thrilled that a temple has been announced for their country. It was very interesting.  The kids are very smart.  I imagine this life of moving about to foreign countries all the time is a challenge for them.

Tuesday with her Ferris wheel creation

It has a motor and actually works.

May 9th President Norman decided to cook Chinese.  So after our regular Monday shopping spree he invited all of us to his house to test some new recipes.  They were delicious.

A fine meal 

The Wok is ready

Saturday night we got off a bit earlier than usual so we all went to Applebees.  President had heard they had good hamburgers.

Wow!

The food was good.

Sunday we got up early and went with President and Sister Norman to Patzicia to a stake conference.  It was great.  Almost all the women and girls had on tradition clothes and the men and boys all had dark suits.  I don't believe I have seen such a huge cultural hall before.

We got there and hour early and yes it is as big as it looks

Filled with people

Sisters

"What do I do?  This crazy lady wants my picture"

Pose and smile

Sister wanted her picture taken too

She gave president a kiss on the cheek and asked for a piece of paper to draw on.

Help she is taking my picture

Close up of the kissing chica

Can we go now?

Three generations.  Mom is the tall one, grandma the shorter one.

The family car.  Many pickups were loaded to capacity and over.

 Saturday the 14th we were all invited to Presidents house for Swedish Pancakes.  They were yummy.  Does it seem like we are always eating every time we all get together.  Probably because we are.

Eating yet again!

After the shift we all ate Price Smart pizza at Presidents home.  Yup eating again.

May 23rd we went to Antigua with Mays and President.  Leonard May bought a nice saddle for $400.  Not bad for custom built with a cushioned seat.

Soft seat.

Eldon and I wandered the streets of Antigua while they were shopping and found a few treasures.  Got a couple of pillow covers for Sister Dibb and myself.  We bought rotisserie chicken on the way home for lunch.  That evening was a neat home evening.  Sister Guarcax from the temple collects indigenous costume from the different areas and she brought them for us to model.

Sister Funes, from Nebaj, Quiche

This is suppose to show the tree of life.

Sister Norman, mom, Ceremonial from San Pedro Sacatepequez, Guatemala

Sister Fillmore, from Solola, Solola

Me (I look scared to death and they mess up my hair) Solola, Solola

Sister May, from Zunil, Quetzeltenango

Sister Price, from Solola, Solola

Sister Morris, from San Rafael La Cuesta, Huehuetengango

Sister Rosado, from Santa Cruz del Quiche, Quiche.

Sister Province, Santa Catalina Palopo, Solola
I videoed the head wrap going on.

Sister Lowrey, from Santiago Atitlan, Solola

Sister Guarcax, the daughter, from Coban, modern

It was fun and very educational.  The story was told of how a girl found her grandmother's birth place by the costume she wore.

GREAT GRANDMOTHER’S GENEALOGY

The Guatemala City, Guatemala Temple was dedicated in 1984. Since that time, priesthood leaders have encouraged church members to find their ancestors and perform the temple ordinances in their behalf.

A sister from the city decided to obey her leader’s invitation and found that part of her ancestors were from a town named Coban, but there were no records of her great-grandmother in that town and nobody could give her information about her, because they didn’t know where she was from.

She became sad because she couldn’t help her great-grandmother. One night she had a dream. In that dream she was in the temple baptistery and suddenly she saw her great grandmother standing next to the banister (handrail). At that time she knew her only by photos. As she awoke, she was still sad for her great grandmother, but this time she was very impressed because she saw her wearing a yellow typical dress and she knew that wasn’t a dress from Coban.

With that impression in mind, she began to investigate about the color of the typical dresses and finally found that the yellow dress was from San Pedro Sacatepequez in the state of San Marcos, (300 miles away from Coban).  She traveled to that town and began to look for that family and to her surprise she found all her great-grandmother’s family.

They were very happy because the only thing they knew about her was that she had disappeared many years ago and they thought she was dead.

At that that time, the Guatemalan army used to kidnap young girls between 14-15 years old. Now they found out that she had been kidnapped and taken to Coban, because there was no way for her to travel a long distance (300 miles) except by horse, which was the only transportation available in those days.

May 30th we went to the Victoria Suites Roof for a lovely BBQ and farewell for three of the local missionary couples that are leaving.  Yes, eating again.  Three other couples will be arriving the middle to end of June.  The evening was lovely and lightning was flashing over the volcanoes.  Lovely way to end the day.