Water Filters

We assembled water filtration kits during our Sunday afternoon in Antigua! We had enough sets of hands to make an assembly line, and we got through 500 kits. I'm grateful for the work we did, because each kit will filter water for up to 10 years. These kits will be so important to many families in Guatemala.

Tortilla Making

We've been too busy living the experiences to write about them! So we're all home from the trip, but we want to document them anyway.

Every day at every meal while we were at Casa de Sion, we ate tortillas. Tortillas go with beans, rice, eggs, noodles, anything! That's why we were so excited to learn to make tortillas with our cooks who made us so many delicious meals.
The recipe seemed so easy. Add water to corn flour until it feels like play-dough, roll it into a ball, and pat it from hand to hand, smoothing out the edges, until it's a nice shape.

We started patting out our tortillas, and it's not as easy as it looks! We dropped quite a few pieces of dough on the ground. The cooks were laughing at our attempts.

Can you guess which ones we made, and which the cooks made? Thankfully, they still tasted wonderful!

-Elsie

Outreach Program

We drove into the mountains on a dirt path that used to only be accessable on motorcycles. These kids from the village saw us and ran up in a big swarm. We broke into groups and played lots of fun games. We didn´t know we were supposed to supply the activities, so we thought quick on our feet. Duck duck goose, Simon says, and races were favorites. We had such a good time. We were also able to hand out school supplies and food for their families.

Piñata Party with Special Needs Kids

This morning we bussed to a nearby pueblo and got to meet some special needs kids and their moms for a party. When we arrived, a 17 year old girl named Ilaria Josefina came up and gave very single one of us big, long hugs. She reminds us all of our favorite Heather! The moms only spoke in quiche, a Mayan dialect, so we had to translate from quiche to Spanish and then to English. But it all worked out! Kate and Kaitlynn made balloon animals for all of the kids and they LOVED it. Then we broke out the piñata and they all got to have a turn hitting it. It was way bigger than any piñata we have seen in the States! The moms and the kids went crazy trying to get candy, it was great. Then we gave them crackers and Coka that they loved. We had enough to give every person two, which we were grateful for. After all of this, Susie was able to bear her testimony to the families. She told them that we love them and that she knows that God loves all of His children. She shared her knowledge of the fact that after we die, our bodies will be perfected. It was very powerful and there were multiple people (both from our group and the natives) crying. I am so grateful for this Gospel and the chance we have to share it. These people here love God, even if they are in a different religion. We are all so grateful for the chance we had to meet these kids today.

the orphanage

We absolutely love the orphanage. The kids here are to die for, they are so cute. We feel so blessed to be able to know them. They are extremely energetic and very hard to keep up with, so we havent gone home one day without being exhausted. Here are a few of their favorite things to do:
1. Play futbol. They absolutely love it. And they are actually pretty good! They never seem to run out of energy, they are always wanting to play.
2. Make us caballos (horses). Its basically like giving kids endless piggy back rides because they never get tired of it.
3. Hug. These kids love to show and receive affection. They will climb in your lap and just wrap their arms around you. They give so much love and you can tell how much love they need from you. They love your attention and affection.

We are so blessed to be able to know these kids, they are absolutely amazing. They all have a story behind themselves, some of them a very tragic story. So it is an honor to be able to love them.

Danielle

La Casa De Sion

I have loved spending time with these kids for the past two day. the first moment we walked through the gate, the kids ran up to us, started hugging us and talking to us. The kids are amazing and we had so much fun playing with them all afternoon. It doesn´t matter that we don´t speak perfect Spansih, play is a universal language:)

-Nina

Zip Lining in Reserva Natural Atitlan

We went on a ziplining trip yesterday, in a natural reserve next to lake Atitlan (google Lake Atitlan). There was a shortish hike up through the jungle to the start of the zipline course, and a beautiful view.

We crossed several rope bridges on the way up, and about half of the group thought it was super fun to jump up and down and swing the bridges side to side, and the other half were reluctant to get on, even before six people started jumping up and down on the bridges.

 There were four longer zips, one of which took over a minute from start to finish, and then three short ones. On a few of the short ones, you had to start braking with your gloves almost from the beginning of the trip. Afterwards, there was a short ropes course that was a party.

Shopping in Panajachel

We broke off into smaller groups and explored the streets. There are no price tags on any items, because haggling is the way things are sold here. Susie taught us the perfect techniques for haggling -- laugh when they say a high price, and they´ll go lower. When they won´t go any lower, start walking away. It was funny seeing them react. "Okay, okay, here´s your best price." We were able to get some items for a very reduced price. Because Panajachel is very tourist-y, there are many older women walking around the street with wares in their hands and on their heads. They´ll find one person to target and will be very insistant on selling. "Bonita, no gracias", we repeat over and over. Nathan, Nina, and I went to eat at a smaller restaurant, and over the course of our meal we had maybe 7 people try to sell us knick-knacks. There was one lady that would not leave Nina, and she bought some bracelets from her. Two little boys and their grandma came up to us all at one time, they were very confusing, and it was strange to see that they were salesmen from such a young age. We gave them bread and they ran off happy.
While we were wandering the street, we heard someone say ¨BYU?¨, which was on Nathan´s sweatshirt. A young man who just graduated from there was running across the street toward us. He had a friend with him who graduated from Utah State! They were on a medical team. It was so wonderful to talk with them for a few minutes IN ENGLISH. They also knew our driver, Jorge. What a funny coincidence.

-Elsie Williamson

First Day in Los Lomas

We arrived in Panajachel yesterday, and after shopping, we drove in another private bus to the house of the founders of the orphanage. They live in the States, so we have the house to ourselves! We have cooks who had fresh, homemade tortillas ready for us when we arrived. SO good! After our snack, we decided we needed to have some people shower so we didn´t all have to do it before church today. Jacob went first, and when he opened the curtain, he found a little friend. A frog! He thought it was a toy at first, but then it moved. He called us all in to see, then he trapped it between to paper plates, took it outside, and threw it as far as he could. Some of the girls were sad because they thought he must have killed it. But we couldn´t find it this morning, so it lived! And Brother and Sister Coleman, don´t worry, because he thought it might have some freaky diseases so he made sure not to touch it :). After that excitement, we all sat around and played uke, sang, and just talked until it was time for bed. We are all in bunkbeds and it is pretty cool!
This morning we woke up and had the most delicious pineapple any of us have ever tasted. Then we walked to church and enjoyed singing with the locals. Only some of us could understand, but it was still really cool. The kids from the orphanage were there, so it was hard to focus because they are so so cute. We get to go see them in a couple of hours, and then work more with them tomorrow. We can´t wait! We hope everything is going well at home and we miss you all.

Love,
Callie, Jacob, Eli

The Hot Springs

We took a taxi bus up the mountains to get to the hot springs. when we got there it was still raining pretty hard, but it didn´t really matter because the hot springs felt so good! they had a couple different pools with different temperatures. We were surrounded by green foliage like a picture off pinterest, the whole area was so beautiful.
-Nina

San Francisco Market

Only have two minutes to write this so it will be quick!

Today we went to the largest outdoor market in all of Central America. We were the only white people there--basically it is a Mayan market where people from all over come on Fridays to get anything they could need for the whole week. We say piglets, kittens, puppies, turkeys, chickens, woven clothing of every kind, and any type of food you could ever imagine. It was insanely crouded; there must have been thousands of people there. The people and vendors there were dressed in beautiful Mayan woven clothing with so many vibrant, different colors.

Love to you all, pictures to come! :)

Hailey

Salsa Dancing

Last night after we had some awesome free time, we all went to take a Salsa class. It was so fun! A worker and friend from the Spanish school (Kie Balam), Ana, set it up for us. She has professional dancers as friends, and they taught us! They played such fun music and they had enough boys there to give every girl a partner. Us girls fell a little bit in love :). These Guatemalans were such good dancers and we hardly had to know what we were doing, they just led us! The boys in our group were pretty fun too :). Maddy fell in love with one in a pink shirt named Tico, and Hailey loved one that we now lovingly refer to as "the one in the white shirt". We got to go to dinner with Ana and her brother and friend after, who were both in the marching band here. It is the best band in Centroamérica! Last year the travelled to Indianapolis to compete in DCI, the first band from Centroamérica ever! Nathan, Elsie, and I loved that. So fun! We all want to go Salsa dancing again now. So great! We all hope that everything is going great at home!!

Love,
Callie

Hike To Chicobol

Today we hiked to the mountain lake of Chicobol. It was unlike any hike I have ever done before--we started at the base of an ancient volcano. The trail was a little bit muddy but the weather was perfect. It was beautiful to look around and be completely surrounded by thick jungle--ferns and trees of every kind everywhere! But, as Susie pointed out, they hardly ever use swichbacks here, which made for a crazy steep hike (like... straight up). It was hard with the ten thousand foot elevation along with the steep slopes, but it was so worth it!

The lake was pristine and beautiful. Once we reached the top, we were inside of a cloud and it started to rain. Fog covered the hills and the surrounding volcanoes were hardly visible. After the hike, we had to climb down 500 plus steep stairs leading down from the ridge into the lake. We had to go very slow because they were slippery and very, very steep as well. We followed a trail around the lake, which was perfectly calm and unlike anything I have ever seen before. There would be little Mayan sites of worship every quarter mile or so around the lake, which was usually a cross constructed of various types of dried plants and fresh, colored flowers. Scrawny little dogs followed us the whole way and the whole group grew quite fond of them. They even followed us onto floating logs and trailside areas for pictures! The sky was white and the rain was at a perfect drizzle, making for a magical hike.

Looking forward to more good times with this amazing group!!
-Hailey

Temple Trip

Here in Quetzaltenango, all of the buildings are run down, cramped, and cluttered. We have to walk in a single file line down the sidewalks because they are so narrow and so torn up. It is scary because if you look away from where you are walking for even a second, you will trip. Everything is pretty dirty with trash in the cobblestone roads. The driving is crazy and loud with a lot of honking. Don´t get me wrong, I love it here with all of my heart, but the conditions are very different from the US.

Yesterday afternoon, we piled into three separate taxis in the pouring rain, and asked to be taken to el templo. Every driver knew exactly where to go, because it is a landmark. We drove up hills and on torn up roads, seeing more poverty. Then, we came up a hill and saw the temple. It is a massive building that shone white against the gray sky, with the green volcano behind it. On the road that leads up to the temple, one side has bad sidewalks and the side of the temple has perfectly manicured gardens and even sidewalks, which are the only I have seen here.  We got out of the cabs and left the noisy, chaotic streets and walked into the silence of the temple. The workers were waiting for us and were so kind to help us in. We gave them all of our cameras and then walked through to the baptistry. After we changed, we went into the chapel where we spoke with some of the workers and waited for the other group. There were three boys from Quetzaltenango there do to baptisms. They were giggling and ponting at us, so surprised to be outnumbered by us Americans! One of them, name Francisco, reminded me of my little brother Zachary. He was giggly but so funny and was just so happy to be in the temple with his friends. The temple is beautiful, with intricate designs and paintings and stone. It is spacious and clean. And quiet. We sang Soy Un Hijo de Dios and then proceeded with the ordinances, which were performed in Spanish. I loved being able to sing in Spanish and to speak with the workers because there is a strong connection between us because of our shared religious beliefs. The Spirit was really strong because we all listened carefully to the prayers and tried to pick out the names of the people we were doing work for. We also loved hearing them try to pronounce our names! After we walked out, we took pictures and looked at the grounds. It was so peaceful and the Spirit was very strong.

I think what was really special about our temple visit was seeing the difference between being outside the temple and being inside. The temple truly is a refuge. It is a place to excape the world and to just feel the power of God. It was quiet and we were all influenced by the Holy Ghost. We don´t need to be in a different country to understand the power of the temple, and I hope we all continue to visit the temples where we live when we come home. The temple here is beautiful and we all are so grateful that we had the opportunity to go there while in Guatemala.


Love,
Callie

The Moo Truck

So as many of you have read, today we went to the lake in Chicobal just about an hour outside of Xela where we are staying. We took a really awesome bus ride up but then to get to the hiking point we had to take a truck up the rest of the way. Going up the truck lost traction and we had to get out and push, once it started back up everyone jumped on... we looked back to see Callie sprinting after the truck trying to jump on. After the lake hike we got back on the truck to get down the mountain. This whole time it had been lightly raining but after 4 hours the trail was slippery and muddy. So we jumped on and started down. The truck was sliding EVERYWHERE. I´m suprised it didn´t tip with just us. but as we were going we began picking up locals on the way. I believe the final count was 18 people on this little toyota pickup. We saw some locals who called the truck the moo truck because it had horns on it and a built in speaker system with wired cow sounds. The driver really enjoyed playing the various cow noises.We got down safe but the ride was so crazy that some of the locals who had jumped on, jumped off because it was getting so crazy!! when we got down i noticed that the suspension on the truck was held together with rope and the tires were smoother than paper... but hey were alive!!

Walking Tour

Yesaterday we went on a walking tour for some of the landmarks here.  We went to a theatre which was built in 1871! It was very old but also very beautiful. The theatre was used for ballet, plays,etc. Next we went to a Catholic cathedral. It was a really unique experience and was interesting to be there during a service. Although we were in a church of a different faith it was still very special. Seeing the religous and spiritual differences showed that even though we are very different, we all have faith in a greater being. Walking around this city for the past few days has been an eye opening experience for all of us.

just one of many adventures

After the temple and dinner last night we needed to get home, so we were trying to find some taxis to get back to the house. (Taxis is plural because you know it´d probably be pretty hard to fit all 13 of us in just one little car.) So as we were trying to find at least one, a 15-person van pulled up to the curb and let us in! We were all able to pile in, but I think it´s safe to say that the taxis here freak me out and I was pretty paranoid about the situation. I sat in the back of the van and as we were driving the trunk opened! The windows of the van were made out of plastic and had little holes for your fingers so you could slide them open manually, and at one point we braked really hard and it opened all by itself!
Needless to say I was freaking out a little bit, but we ended up home all safe and sound. It´s just one more adventure to add to the list.

-Madi Graham

Day 2- Trama Textiles

Today we went to the assosiation for the women weavers. This coorporation was founded after the civil war about 30 years ago in guatemala. The women who run the organization give other women an opportunity to sell their work in their shop and make a living for their family. Many of these women were scarred by the war, and all of them weave, giving them a common "thread" among themselves. The women work extremely hard to create the beautiful works of art to support their families. We learned that a blanket takes about 2-3 months to make, earning them 400 quetzales (about 40$). Most of the women that work at the assosiation spend 8 hours weaving on their knees. For all of the moms reading this... you know how hard that would be.The president and vice president of the association do not earn a salary, they earn what they make from their weavings. The weavings here are beautiful... the colors are vibrant, bright and happy. The women say that weaving helps them forget the war as they put their heart and soul into the gorgeous creations. It has made us truly appreciate what we knew before as just "a colorful bag, table runner, or headbands". Due to this worthy cause, many of us have purchased items from the association to create a better future for these women.

Also i would like to note that the keyboards here are a lot different.

ññññññññçççñçñºººººªªªººº

-Danielle

There And Back Again

To get to the hike, we had to ride a bus through the town here, and another in a valley nearby. The roads are crazy, and are either cobblestoned, or have tons of speed bumps on them. The valleys here remind me of Jurrassic park. They´re incredibly green, and the clouds drift through the passes because we´re at this altitude.

Concrete and cinder block houses fill most of the valley floors, and rebar pokes out of the columns in people´s roofs. Apparently this allows you to classify your house as unfinished, and get out of some taxes. Bundles of pvc pipes carry water to people´s houses.

The houses are all painted in colorful ways. Fields of crops surround the small town, and overfill the valley floor. I´m reminded of the scene in inception where the ground turns upward, and the city is sideways, because the fields continue in nice little rectangles, even up the hills and through the forest.

Wrapping Up the Day

Some of us hardly knew each other before the trip, but that hasn´t deterred us at all!!  Yesterday evening (Wednesday) was a perfect example of this. After we came back from the temple, we came together for a devo and to wrap up the day, and it was only supposed to take maybe 15 minutes. It took us more than twice the time to get though it because we had so many memories to share and so many experiences to laugh about. We could hardly think of negative things for the day. The other kids will hopefully post some of these memories we have, but we were able to share them with each other and it felt like home away from home! During the prayer, we all were so tense because we were trying not to laugh. Then we hung out for a while and got even rowdier, but Madi came upstairs with her ukelele and we all sung Riptide together. It was such a cool experience! We´re having so much fun together.
-Elsie Williamson

Guatemala Day 2: Spanish School

Yesterday morning (Guatemala Day 2) we went to Spanish school! We split into three groups, beginner, intermediate, and advanced and grouped off with the different level teachers. For the advanced group, our teachers name was Dora, but the other ladies called her Dorita:) The intermediate group worked on how to order at restaraunts in spanish and how to converse and ask for directions. in the advanced group we just conversed and asked questions, so we could practice communicating in Spanish. The school was half inside half out, and it had pretty bushes and trees and flowers all around the border of the ´´school yard.´´  After the hour lesson they gave us a little traditional snack, which was really delicious! It was a really great experience to learn from native Guatemalans who were so so nice, and were extemely patient with all of us. We are happy, we are safe, and we are having the chance of a lifetime!
-Nina Bylund

Safe and Having a Blast!

We arrived safe in Guatemala at 5:45, though we were very tired. We had some trouble finding all of the donations bags but soon we were on our way! Our luggage was strapped to the top of our van and we love looking at the farms on the hillside, though we all succumbed to sleep pretty quickly. For breakfast, we tried to recognize the foods we knew, and asked for help on some others. Some of us ordered papaya juice, and that was our first experience with adventure. It was very different than we thought, to say the least. Xela is gorgeous, the view from the top of our house is amazing. We rested for a little while and checked out the markets today! We love the bread that is made here and also the pizza. :) We ran into a high school band with mostly trumpets and drumline. They played many songs and it made us very happy! Music is a universal language.

-Elsie Williamson


I think it´s safe to say we have the coolest view ever from the roof of our house. Xela is incredible, with so many colors and so many people. (The girls seem to be pretty popular with the Guatemalan boys.... We stick out pretty well compared to the dark skin and hair!) The streets here are crazy busy, drivers won´t stop for you no matter what. So, note to self, look both ways before crossing the street. We stopped by a lot of shops and stands and looked through some of the unique items they sold. It´s pretty hard to divide in our heads for everything we buy to see how much money something would cost in dollars instead of quetzal. I guess it´s time for us to review basic math facts. There´s not a lot to say, so I´ll end it there. Adios!

-Madi Graham

Up and Away

First shot - looking good.  Wait where's Elsie?

Now we're all here!
Hailey Larson, Callie Millward, Elsie Williamson, Nina Byland, Nathan Jones, Eli Gale, Ashton Mercer, Jacob Coleman, Kate Elder, Kaitlyn Deeble, Danielle Dayton, and Susie Johnson.  (Soon Madi Graham will join the group.)

Guatemala here we come!  Eleven teenagers and their fearless leader Susie Johnson leaving from the Boise Airport.  Soon Madi will join them in Salt Lake.  There was just one minor complication.  Susie was delayed going through security, having forgot her own boarding pass.  Now the rest of the adventure can go smoothly.