Favorite Things

Today is Sunday...my favorite day of the week. The time spent in God's house this morning was, for lack of a better word, good. It's not FFBC, but it is pretty close....except for the language. The music is lively and uplifting and is one of the few churches here that doesn't blast you out of the building with speakers as big as all outdoors. After church I usually have lunch at Los Cebollines and think about my favorite people I used to have lunch with in the states.

It is so quiet up here on this mountain on Sundays that a person can hear the corn growing down in the valley. If I want noise, all I have to do is go a couple of miles to Chimaltenango.

My friend and resident nurse, Laurie King, and I went to visit Berto Friday to take him some stronger pain medicine and some antibiotic. He is so thin his arms look like bones with skin on them. Laurie made the comment when we left that she hoped that if she were ever in that situation, she would have the same attitude he does, always grateful and thanking God. I ditto that.

Tomorrow is back to work painting the inside of the mission house.

Luisa

FTSS - Guatemala Branch

We are in business! With the money sent by FFBC, I was able to buy enough food for ten bags and nine of them have been given away this week. Each bag contains rice, beans, consumme, dry soup mix, margarine (that doesn't have to be refrigerated, yuk), cooking oil, Incaparina (a vitamin fortified drink), and moosh (oatmeal) and the cost of each was approximately Q43.50 or $5.50.

Right now, each family is limited to one bag per month....that may change to every two weeks depending on circumstances. I tell them not to tell anyone else and they say "no tenga pena", don't worry, we won't, and I know they can't wait to get back to the village to tell someone. The one thing they would like to have that I don't provide is sugar. IMHO sugar is poison....clogging your veins, rotting your teeth, and causing all sorts of health problems. So if they want sugar, they will have to buy that themselves. See my mean streak.

I now have two English students, my gardener, Freddy, and Manuel Chavez, the dentist. Now I wish I had paid closer attention in English class, although it probably would not be helpful now if I had, it being 50 years since I sat in an English class.

Rain, Rain, It's Some Other Day

Normally, it would be pouring down rain about now, but this is obviously not a normal year. It has been about six weeks since we have had any significant rain. According to one of the local papers, the corn corp this year will be down by about 40%. That is devastating for a people whose staple food is corn. They can't eat a meal without tortillas. The road to Chimaltenango cuts through corn fields where there are corn stalks fifteen plus feet tall with tassels and small ears. If it doesn't rain soon, and a lot, the ears won't get much bigger. This is a crucial time for corn as it needs moisture to develop the ears. Some of the gringos who have lived here for over 30 years say they have never known the rain to stop for this long in the rainy season.

I went to see Berto yesterday to take a few things to him and his family. He is in a lot of pain and at this point, I think he is ready to go to the hospital. Whether they will take him or not remains to be seen. Please pray for him and his family and for us as we try to help make him as comfortable as possible and for wisdom to know how to deal with the situation. He is so humble and grateful for everything that is done for him. It hasn't been all that long ago that he was cutting wood, loading it on his donkey, and taking it to town to sell. Now he can hardly get out of bed.

Now that summer (for me) is over, maybe I can keep up on the blog a little better, you think?

Luisa