Friday 6/26/09
The whole saying of "The Lord works in mysterious ways" was very true today! We (Chris) has been jumping through hoops trying to get this whole temporary residence taken care of. It has been an on going battle that doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Yesterday Chris called the U.S. Embassy to make sure that we could get a certificate that our passports are authentic. Well, we drug the whole family down there and they wouldn't let us in. We were standing at the front gate while Chris talked with the guard. Another lady was standing there and started talking to me. She asked if we were from the states and commented on the kids. She then asked what we were doing in Guatemala. I explained that Chris was working in Xela for a Jacobsen Construction. She got a little smile on her face and asked if we were by any chance working on the LDS temple there. I said yes and she then introduced herself as Sis. Clark. For those that aren't familiar with the LDS church, we have a prophet that leads the church. There are also 12 apostles. Then there are the quorums of the 70s who are general authorities for the church. They each have a geographic area that they oversee. Well, it just so happens that Sis. Clark's husband is the general authority that is over all of Central America. Sis. Clark was at the embassy trying to get something notarized and was also having issues getting in. It just so happened that there was a member of the church that was working there that day that she had called and was waiting for him to come out and let her in. Not less than three minutes after we started talking did the guy come to let her in. She explained our situation to him and he let us in as well. If we had been three minutes later, we wouldn't have met her and there would have been no chance of us getting in. Once inside we were told that the office that did the verification stuff was only opened on the 1, 2, and 3rd Fridays. (Why they didn't mention that yesterday when Chris called is beyond me!!) While we were waiting for the embassy to take care of Sis. Clarks stuff and ours, we had a nice little chat. She is a very nice lady and very helpful!! When she found out that my parents were recently retired she said that they could come on a mission here. She said just to let her husband know and he'd make arrangements for them to serve in Xela. So....if anybody is wanting to serve a mission in Guatemala, let me know!!!
It still boggles my mind at how many times people "just happened" to be in the same place where we have needed help! I was just talking a week or so ago with my visiting teachers and explaining to them about when ever there has been a time that I was away from Chris and nervous/scared/unsure of myself, I would turn around and see a set of missionaries there. Anywhere from the grocery store to the zoo to the restaurants. (I actually ran into Elder Cruspo at the grocery store last week. I met him our first week here and he was the one that found out what ward we were in and how to get there) Even if I ended up not even needing their help, just their presence was a great comfort to me. I have never once felt like I am completely alone here. The Lord definitely knows what we need and when we need it and he fills those needs in some pretty amazing, and at times unexpected ways!
After our amazing adventures of the morning, we decided to continue the craziness and search for some wheat. There is a lawyer for the church that lives here and his wife told us of the one place that she has been able to find wheat. We were able to contact the company and order 100#s to pick up today. I think it would have been easier to have it shipped down from the states!! Chris said that he felt like he was trying to buy weapons grade plutonium. We couldn't find anybody that could give us directions to the place and so we ended up having to buy a new map that showed the right zones. We spent a while but finally found our way to the place. We had to go through some "interesting" places to get there!! It was this huge mill in an industrial type area next to abandoned train tracks. The security guards made us leave our drivers licenses and said that I had to wait in the car with the kids. Chris went in to pay but their system went down. They didn't know how long it would be until it was back up so we decided to take the kids to get some lunch. After lunch we did some more round about driving to get back to the building. Chris went back in and spent what seemed like forever. (Yes, 10 minutes in the car with the kids at that point would have seemed like forever!!) Once he paid for the wheat we had to take the receipt a few blocks away to pick up the wheat. We went to the address that they sent us and once again we had to deal with the security. They had us drive the van onto a scale to have it weighed, then Chris had to do a bunch of who knows what before they'd let us in. Once again it seemed like forever before Chris came back out and told us that we were at the wrong place!! So, back out through security and another round about trip trying to get over one building since the road was one way. We finally made it and got the wheat!! This seriously took us about four hours from start to finish!! Luckily the kids were good so Chris decided to reward them by taking them to a movie.
Another unexpected meeting...the lawyer and his wife were at the same movie!! What are the chances of running into Sis. Clark and also the Johnsons on the same day in such random places??? Although all the people that live here for the church are EXTREMELY nice and helpful, I can't help but feel a little like an outsider. They are all older with their kids married and have grandkids. They have been doing this stuff for so long and it's a piece of cake for them. I guess I just need to remember that they started out in a similar situation to me and had to learn the language and raise kids also!! Maybe I should look at them as examples and learn from them!!
(While getting lost in Guatemala City, we saw this cool old Datsun. Chris thought it should be a collectors item)
Saturday 6/27/09
(This was our view from the hotel balcony. Notice the lack of any safety harness or anything on the guys standing on the edge of the wall!!)
Back to Xela. The kids have been doing so much better on the drives. Every five minutes Alysa announced that we've gone on 6 trips now without anybody throwing up!! We still have our emergency bags and napkins though!!
(This was an old truck that I thought was pretty cool.)
The drive back was pretty uneventful. We did stop about half way for lunch at a cool restaurant. It was a Swiss restaurant that is known for its barbecue. We got a platter of different kinds of meat that was supposed to serve 4 people. We barely even made a dent in it!! We'll have left overs for a while! It was pretty good. The best part was that it was like a cabin. When we walked in Cole said that it smelled like Grandma and Grandpa Hunsaker's cabin. They had wood stoves going and cool wood siding. It was pouring down rain outside and we could look out the windows and see all the trees. It brought back great memories of sitting on the couch in my parents cabin and listening to the rain!!
(The kids at the restaurant)
(Cole and Chris taking a little "break" from the drive)
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