Beinvenido

Welcome - Robert, Bev and Colby Dow from Henderson,NV. He is a general dentist who had an desire to work at the Tio Juan Clinic for three days. On Thursday they headed to Patan - 3 hours above Tikal- three hour 4 wheel drive, dirt road experience. Patan is a remote area where a school was built but needed school supplies. A ward member was aware of the need so Colby decided this would be a rewarding Eagle Project.

Welcome - Gordon and Ann Croft from Meridian, Idaho. He, too, is a general dentist wanting to experience a different country to give humanitarian service. They go to Puerta Vallarta each year doing humanitarian service. He read the LDS Academy newsletter telling about the Tio Juan Clinic and decided a change would be good.

Meet the boys from Mi Casa Orphanage with their founder John. Tio Juan means 'Uncle John'. He is the founder of the girls and boys orphanage. There are currently 60 girls and 300 boys in the Tio Juan orphanages. He started the orphanages in 1975 and during that time there have been over 8,000 orphans.

These girls are from the Esperanza Orphanage. Dr. Call had to counsel the Nuns about what the two little girls have been drinking from too much - COKE. Look closely at the smallest girl - you will see a small bottle she is holding - she had coke in it. Both the youngest girls baby teeth were rotting because of the coke. (Do you think I should quit?)

Group picture with the adorable girl's from the orphanage.

Elsie has become my best friend. She has been the cook for the past 18 year's at Tio Juan. She was demonstrating the technique of making tortillas. It's not as easy as it looks.

Dr. Dow and Colby were doing their best to make perfectly round tortillas. The girls had a fun time trying to teach us how to make them. It's all in the movement of patting the dough to make them so round. The tortilla's were tasty. The girls mainly loved having Colby in the kitchen. They thought he was pretty cute. Today they were making 100 tortilla's for the Mi Casa (boys) orphanage. On Friday, they will make the same amount of biscuits for them.

In an earlier blog, I showed you the working table when they make biscuits. This is a picture of their kitchen - not windows or doors.

Richard and Cindy (She is being trained to become a dental assistant so when a visiting dentist doesn't bring an assistant with him she will take on that role.) Richard teaches her an English word and then she teaches him a Spanish word. It's fun to watch the exchange between the two of them.

Dow family hard at work. By the end of three days, Colby was assisting his dad and doing a great job.

Gordan and Ann in action.

We all enjoyed getting acquainted during the week of January 23- 26, 2012. LeeAnn and I furnished lunches for everyone and then traded alternated evenings of feeding the group. Lots of bonding time - we enjoyed getting to know all about their families, and to hear about other humanitarian trips they've completed.

Las Lomas Branch

We have been assigned to the Las Lomas Branch that is located about 1/2 hr from our apartment in a poor area. There are approximately 100 members but only 25-30 come each week. There are two Melchizedek priesthood in the Branch. One is President Perez, no counselors in the Branch, and the other Erik Reyes, Elders Quorum President. These two men are amazing. Erik teaches the Sunday School lesson plus combined Priesthood/Relief Society lesson too. I haven't seen a RS President since we've been here.

Tonight, the Branch held a ' Going Away Party for Elder & Sister Parent and Welcome to Elder & Sister Johnson'. The party started at 7:00 p.m. By 7:45 p.m. the party began, Guatemalan's have their own time. It was a delightful evening. Elder & Sister Johnson had been a little under the weather the last 2 or 3 days so we were just a little nervous about what they would serve. Our meal was Kentucky Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, a roll and the most unusual punch. The punch - they boil the hibiscus flower - add sugar and that's the drink. It was actually pretty good. Can't think of the name but I'll publish that later.

Many of the Branch members gave tribute to the Parent's for the love they have given the Branch for the past 18 months. This picture is Erik Reyes and Elder Walker (from South Jordan). The Parent's help Erik and his wife prepare to be sealed. They were sealed in October. Elder Parent has helped this Branch tremendously.

President & Sister Perez and family. Sister Perez is also the Primary President with no counselors. Their son, Jose, helps with the music every Sunday. No ones plays the piano so he is in charge of playing the CD when we sing.

This mother and her daughter's have just recently started to attend church once again. She is commissioned by the missionaries to cook them a couple of meals a day. For breakfast they get eggs and beans - dinner consists of chicken, rice and beans. The mission president wants them to be productive and not spending time preparing meals so all missionaries commission someone to prepare meals for them.

Young Men's President, his wife and family. He has the cutest personality.

Jennifer Reyes is passing out our meal for the evening. The couple sitting next to Elder Johnson are Elder & Sister Parent. The serving tray is the rack out of the oven.

Reyes family - mother, father, sister (Monica, return missionary and does speak English) Erik, his wife and daughter, Jennifer and her baby.

Elder & Sister Parent & Erik Reyes family...

Branch members - As they paid tribute to the Parent's you could feel the influence this couple had on the Branch. The Branch members expressed their gratefulness for the missionary program and how much the gospel has meant in their lives. They also expressed their love to us and welcomed us to the Las Lomas Branch. Sister Johnson will take over leading the singing and Elder Johnson will do splits with the Elder's. Our challenge is communication... We hug a lot and they always give a kiss on your cheek. Our eyes are opened each Sunday as we attend this humble Branch to the importance of missionary work. Their love of the gospel radiates when they greet you, when they bear their testimonies, respond in class discussions and their commitment to attend each Sunday.

Tio Juan Girl's

Baking day for the Tio Juan girls. Today they were making rolls in the most unusual way. The working area is a large stainless steel table. So much fun to watch their process. I love bonding with these girls. One day, I might be able to converse with them - don't know when - but one day. They are such adorable, loving girls.

A flour wall was created first and then the following was added one at a time: eggs, vanilla, baking powder - strategically placed on the top of the flour wall, lard and etc. Everyone had their specific assignments to complete the process.

Lard being weighed before placing along side all the other ingredients.

Clever way of mixing all the ingredients. They take a little at a time from the sides of the wall and mix center ingredients and flour. No mixer - just hands.

Many 'Betty Crocker's' in the kitchen today. It's all in the kneading of the dough and they had the technique down.

These girls knew exactly how much dough to make the balls and the right technique in making the circular motion to create a perfect piece of dough. One young girl took my dough and gave me a quick lesson on rolling the dough. It was fascinating to watch them.

Talk about 'Pros' - every round ball was perfect -with the exception of mine.

The orphanage bought this new oven and gas stove just a few months ago. Elsie, their cook whose been there for 18 years, was cooking on a wood burning stove. Their kitchen is an large open room with no doors or windows.

All the photos I took during the process of making the bread, the girl's were most excited to see the photo instantly. Most of the older girl's have cell phones and are always taking pictures but the younger ones do not.

Finished product presented to the two Doc's by Flor, Director of Tio Juan. The girls were so excited to have their picture taken. Their sweet bread had a unique flavor - not my favorite. We were so hungry at the time, end of the day, the bread probably tasted better than we thought.

Guatemala Relief Map

One day at work we had an 1 hour to spare between patients (which is highly unusual), so Sister Call took us to the Relief Map located across the street from the clinic. Our clinic is located in the Historical section of town. Guatemala City was once located in this area at one time. The Presidential Palace, Historical Library and other governmental office are located here. Between 1904 and 1905 two Guatemalans recreated a map of the whole Country of Guatemala and Belize (without computers). It has most of the major cities, volcanos, rivers, ports, oil fields and more. It was inaugurated on October 29, 105. Fascinating ariel of the country.

City Cemetery/Dump Dwellers

City Cemetery - burials are all above ground. You would see several long lines of burial sites with 10 or more high. Very decorative sites but small in width and length. Several of these areas were throughout the walls of the cemetery.

Egyptian crypt - hugh site - this is just one of the many crypts. It has been said that some of the crypts for the family are much better than their casa's (homes).


Some of the more conservative crypts. The cemetery reminded me of the movie 'Double Jeopardy' (I believe that was the name) where the husband put his wife in a crypt inside a casket and left her. ) The movie was great and the cemetery looked just like this one.

Sister Call was told by other missionaries that behind the cemetery and down the hill you could see a 'garbage community'. There are dwellers living in the garbage dump that pilferage the waste from the trucks. There are many generations that live at the dump. They've never known any other life but the dump. A article I read indicated they have a problem with them sniffing glue to get high and it helps to relieve the smell of the dump. We stood in awe at the amount of individuals/families looking for food and/or treasures. You can see the homes located right in the middle of the dump. You never know how blessed you are for the bounties of life until you witness sights such as this one. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS ONE BY ONE!!

This was the best sight of all. Several buzzards were watching their prized feed yard just waiting for the opportunity to feast. The large trucks are their garbage trucks. They were coming in three to four at a time.


A group of women have lined up their bags along the road for pickup. We were astounded by the amount of people going through the garbage looking for whatever. As the garbage trucks pulled in to dump, people would gather around the trucks to start rummaging through the bags. The garbage men would empty the bags loaded in their truck and then gather up the empty bags and place back in the truck(s).


Look closely and you will see men carrying a bag of food and/or treasures to take home. It was amazing to see the amount of people rummaging through the garbage.