A Day at the Clinic

Sergio bonding with Elder Johnson Jr.

Sergio receiving oral hygiene instruction from Carmina. She is great teaching this to all of our orphans.


This has to be a first; Sergio feel asleep while Dr. Johnson was working on his teeth.

Sergio, age 8years old, is one of our favorite orphans. The x-ray drape is much larger than he is as you can plainly see. When he first started at the clinic, he was quite a handful and wouldn't let you work on him. Now he is a model patient. He immediately went to Dr. Call to give him a hug when he first came today. He is another patient Dr. Call has won over to ease their fear of the clinic.

Unconventional way of treating a patient in a dental clinic. Grandma is sitting on the dental chair holding his legs and the patient's head is on the dentist's lap. All-in-all the young boy handle his treatment quite well on this day. Dr. Call is amazing how he can persuade those a little fearful to relax and trust him.

Dr. Call trying to ease the fear of this young patient. We saw him the week before and removed his two front teeth that were broken off. Returning to the clinic for more work was more than he bargained fo


This is a group of Tio Juan Orphans that visited the clinic this week. They were so sweet and a handsome group of young men. After they left the clinic, they were headed to Cemaco (similar to a Target) to work. Cemaco hired the young men to help them earn extra money for the holiday season. After work, Elder Johnson and I went to Cemaco and when the boys saw us, they came over to

Carmina was feeling a little under the weather this morning. It's amazing what you can do with a dental chair.

Chucos - Guatemalan Hot Dog

Dental Clinic Christmas lunch - the girl's, Ceci, Carmina, and Besty wanted us to experience the Chuco. They insisted we visit a eating establishment just on the street. I don't know if it had the stamp of approval from the Dept. of Health, but we visited the El Chino eating establishment. A delightful experience for lunch. Hopefully, no 'gringo' will have after effects from our dining experience.

Mom and Dad preparing the food for the lunch rush. Mom is so small she is standing on a box so she can reach the grill to prepare the food.

Chuco - infamous hot dog in Guatemala. A Chuco needs more hot dog than just a few small slices they put on the bun but the condiments added make it so tasty. Lots of hot sauce, onions, mustard, peppers it just lacked hot dog meat.

These men stand in the streets waving to cars to entice them to come down their street to the eating establishment they represent. VIP parking is generally reserved with a gallon bucket that they remove so you can park. They saw me take a picture so on the second photo they posed for me.

Every employer would love to have this young man work in their business. He was hustling tables with great ease. We were there during a busy time for their business and while Mom and Dad were preparing the food, this handsome young boy bused all the tables single handedly. His sister was behind us cooking the bacon over a small gas burner. He couldn't be more than 10 years old and the sister was younger.

On the Road!!

Every time you travel there is a Kodak moment just waiting to be captured. You see men and women carrying heavy loads on their heads or backs. They were blessed with strong legs and backs. This gentleman and sons (a young son in front of him carrying about the same amount) are walking up a steep hill.


Leaving Quetzaltenango, I saw two loads of cornstalks walking down the road. You have to look closely to see if there is a body connected to the stalks. I instructed Elder Johnson to make a U turn for this photo. They are amazing and industrious people.


Notice the Christmas tree on the top of this ladies head and the children being carried on their backs.

Oops!!!!!

Friday was to be a short day at work completing some dental work on a couple of missionaries prior to their leaving on Monday for their missions. We finished before Noon but when Elder Johnson tried to start the car, the only response was the alarm system blaring loudly. Elder Call and Johnson tried and tried to figure out what was wrong. After an hour of looking for the alarm reset button, they finally asked for assistance. Flor, the Tia Juan Director, went for help. A neighbor came to the rescue. They finally decided it was the battery and of course - no jumper cables were available. He graciously took the battery home to charge which took another hour. Apparently Elder Johnson left the lights - thus causing a low battery. In the meantime, we watched Kung Fu Panda. Just when you think you have most to the day to run errands, you watch a movie instead. We watched the movie and Elder Johnson reclined on a dental chair for a snooze.

Cultural Event

Hundreds of youth performed this evening. By the expressions on their faces, they were all having a great time. As the dancers left the stage and passed by Pres. Uchtdorf, he waved to each group.

Quetzaltenango Temple Culture Event

Saturday morning up at 5:30 a.m. - on the road to Quetzaltanengo for the Culture Celebration prior to the dedication of temple. It is a 3 hour drive to the hills of Quetzaltanengo and a beautiful drive. Guatemala is around 5,000 elevation and Quetzaltanengo around 7,000 feet. We attended the 10:00 a.m. rehearsal event and also the 6:00 p.m. production. President Uchtdorf and Elder Anderson (newest apostle) plus their wives attended. We sat in the VIP section behind President Uchtdorf and the Area Presidency. There were dancers from the different stakes in Guatemala. The costumes and dancing performed depicted the different cultures in Guatemala. Fireworks filled the sky at the end of the performance plus all the dancers sang to Pres. Uchtdorf - Called to Serve. Beautiful, chilly evening feeling so blessed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints and having the opportunity to serve. We met former missionaries that returned just for the dedication. One return missionary, just home from her mission three months ago, had to return to be apart of the temple activities. She served in the Quetzaltaneno area. A wonderful opportunity for the Call's and Johnson's to feel the spirit and witness the love President Uchtdorf shared with the youth of Guatemala.

Christmas Concert

Getting the Christmas Spirit this year has been most difficult. December is a month of parties, cooking, shopping, friends, and family traditions and here we are hundreds of miles away from those we love. We did put some lights on our artificial tree, decorated the tree with artificial poinsettias and bought a real poinsettia to make it look like Christmas, but it just isn't the same. Rudy, our Area PR man, came to the rescue. He was given some tickets to the Christmas Symphony Concert at the Teatro Nacional. Fielding Roldan, 1st chair Obo, is a member of the Church, gave Rudy the ticket. Here we are enjoying a wonderful evening at the Symphony.

These flowers were placed on both sides of the stage.


The Symphony played all the traditional Christmas music. We may not have understood the MC introducing the pieces but we definitely recognized the music. The evening couldn't have been better.