Good Friday

Early on Good Friday morning, we watched as worshipers in Antigua, Guatemala, worked tediously to create colorful carpets. Towns people worked for hours on the intricate details, knowing all along that within minutes these amazing carpets would be utterly destroyed.

The carpets (alfombras) were made of sawdust,
flower petals and vegetation of all kinds.

Some artists designed their carpets completely 
by hand and used only parts of freshly picked plants.

Some artists used stencils,
 sand and colored sawdust. 

Alfombras stretched block after block
covering the cobblestone streets in 
preparation for a parade commemorating 
the Passion, Crucifixion and 
Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Along with other reverent spectators, we watched 
long processions walk slowly through town. 
Thousands of purple-robed men carried 
heavy andas (floats) bearing statues of 
Christ or the Virgin Mary.

The feet of those who walked in the procession
were cushioned by the freshly created carpets,
which were destroyed as the
parade passed over them.

Before - beautifully arranged.

After - crushed and scattered.

Witnessing the sights and hearing the sounds of this annual Catholic celebration will be something that we and the other senior Mormon missionaries will never forget.

You're Not in Idaho Anymore

The missionaries walking to Church

When our first Fast Sunday approached, I was concerned about how the meeting would go with our tiny branch in Pueblo Nuevo Vinas. In advance, I prepared some thoughts, so that I could take some time if necessary in Fast and Testimony Meeting. I shouldn't have been concerned. During the meeting, faithful members stood in rapid succession one after another, no delays, each bearing simple but solid testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel. I had to have quick reflexes to jump in between testimonies in order to bear mine. I followed the example of the other members, giving a very short, to the point testimony.

In priesthood meeting, the lesson topic was prayer. One of the priesthood brothers said that he had recently gone to his work on a small banana farm where he makes his living, only to find the field on fire. About a fifth of the banana crop had been destroyed. He feverishly tried to put out fire. It continued to burn.

In desperation, he fell to his knees in the dirt and prayed for Heavenly Father's help. Almost instantly it started to rain. Then, he said, the heavens opened up and literally dumped water on the fire, putting it completely out within seconds. The man concluded, "I know that God hears and answers prayers."

Aaronic Priesthood class meets in the parking lot

Many things in the mission field are not like back home in the central stakes of Zion. The week after the dedication of our new chapel in Pueblo Nuevo Vinas, the branch president received permission to extend our meetings from a two-hour to a three-hour block. For the first time in this village, Sunday School was being taught. A new Sunday School President had been called, and he taught the first lesson. He indicated that this year we would be studying the Book of Mormon. He started the lesson by asking, "How can we know if the Book of Mormon is true?"

A few people responded, taking about five minutes of the lesson.

There were still about 45 minutes left. It was quite obvious at this point that the teacher had finished his portion of the prepared lesson and was wondering how he could fill the remaining time. He asked hopefully, "Any questions?"

After an uncomfortably long silence, I raised my hand, "What are your favorite Book of Mormon stories?" I asked.

Fortunately, that opened a floodgate of comments from the members of the class. For about half an hour, the members talked about their favorite Book of Mormon stories. The teacher was able to complete the lesson, and I felt pretty pleased that I had been able to help.

Then came priesthood meeting. A counselor in the Elder's Quorum Presidency stood up and announced, in Spanish of course, "No one has prepared a lesson today. So, Elder Harris, would you teach the lesson?"

I sat there stunned. I pointed at my chest and asked, "Yo?"

He nodded.

I knew the lesson was from the priesthood manual on the life and teachings of President Gordon B. Hinckley, but I was totally unprepared. And this was to be in Spanish, no less! For what seemed like five minutes, I stood in front of the class and said nothing. Everyone stared at me uneasily. I frantically searched on my iPhone through the lesson material and tried to figure out what to teach. I prayed silently. What could I say?

Finally, I asked what I thought would be an easy opening question, "When I say the name Gordon B. Hinckley, what accomplishments come to mind?"

Total silence. They all just stared back at me as if I were speaking some foreign language.

Come on, I thought, My Spanish isn't that bad!

To my relief, at long last a brother raised his hand. He spoke honestly. "I'm one of the earliest members of the Church here," he said, "and I was baptized only three years ago. I've heard the name, but I don't know anything about Gordon B. Hinckley."

I realized then that these wonderful, faithful members are just infants in the gospel. Elder Harris, you're not in Idaho anymore.

I taught a brief lesson on some of the accomplishments of Gordon B. Hinckley, then went to the last page of the lesson material and asked the simple questions found there. A great discussion ensued, and I was happy with my impromptu lesson.

The following Sunday, I breathed a sigh of relief when someone else was asked at the beginning of class to give the priesthood lesson. He, too, was unprepared but at least he was a native Spanish speaker.

Our teacher, Cristofer Lopez

This return missionary was new in the branch. He gave a fabulous lesson on home teaching. At the end of the lesson, he said, "I don't know who my home teaching companion is. How many of you don't have a home teaching companion?"

In response, every priesthood brother in the room raised his hand.

Then, an unusual ceremony took place. "I live near so-and-so," one man said. "He can be my companion."

Another said, "I'd like to be so-and-so's companion."

Within five minutes, everyone was thrilled to have a home teaching companion.

"That's great," I said, "everyone has a companion. But do you have an assignment?"

"Who is the Elder's Quorum President?" asked the teacher.

"He's not here," they answered. "He doesn't come anymore."

Yikes! We've got a little work left to do in Pueblo Nuevo Vinas.

The Sweet Buy and Buy

Shopping in Guatemala is a blast, with street vendors, artisan markets and modern malls.

Yes, that is a dead rooster she is carrying.
Chicken-to-go, anyone?

This chicken-in-a-bag is even fresher.
In fact, it's still alive.

Vendor and Spender.

Milk run! Guatemala City style.

Guatemalan art

Angels in pajamas
(the wood carvings, not the people)

Barbecue pork. Yum!
(But does the pig  really still need his sunglasses?)

Which one do you like best? It's a tie!

Fruits, veggies (and a nut in the back)

This woman worked 9 hours a day
 for 38 days to weave this wall hanging.

We bought this wall hanging
for her asking price of 38 U. S. dollars.

Vending can be hard
and sometimes discouraging work.

Market day fun

Guatemala also has gigantic modern malls.

And, of course, there's always Walmart!

Being Brave

We laugh about the fact that Jay does dental procedures for free in Guatemala that you couldn't pay him to do in the United States. Back in Idaho, he referred all impacted wisdom teeth to oral surgeons. Here, he doesn't have that luxury. Because the Church has a policy requiring all missionaries to have their wisdom teeth removed before they enter the mission field, dentists in our clinic pull lots of wisdom teeth.  

So, how do these young people feel when we inform them that they need oral surgery?

"You're going to do WHAT?"

And how does Dr. Harris feel when he learns that he has a bony impaction on the schedule?

"I'm going to do WHAT?""

Many silent prayers are said during these challenging procedures.

This picture on our clinic wall reminds us
that divine help makes success possible.

I also helps that we have other qualified dentists only a few feet away. It's great to be part of a team. Dr. Hogg, for example, trained with an oral surgeon and is an expert at extractions.

Dr. Hogg to the rescue!

Whether it is dealing with difficult root canals, teeth that are falling apart, or stressful extractions, I am grateful to have a husband who is skilled and courageous enough to handle the challenges .

And yes, there are many challenges.

At the end of each successful procedure, both patients and doctors are happy and relieved...

"We did it!"

because they have both been so brave!

The Finca

After sacrament meeting, we naively offered to drive one of the branch members, Cristofer Lopez, home. He said he lived on a "finca." We thought that meant he lived on the outskirts of town. It turned out this "finca," or "property" was located far away from town, not just our town, but any town! As our tires splashed through muddy creeks, skidded on stony inclines, and bounced along dusty trails, Trudy kept saying, "If we die, no one will ever find our bodies!" Guess what? We survived another adventure (thanks to our 4-wheel-drive vehicle). We were hanging on too tightly to take pictures of the worst parts of the road, but here are a few photos from along the way.

The most amazing part of this story is that Cristofer faithfully makes this journey every Sunday. Sometimes he is able to pay the finca owner to drive him, his wife and child to town in a truck. Sometimes they borrow a motorcycle. Sometimes Cristofer walks.

At first, the dirt road looked innocent enough.

It soon got more narrow and lead us over the top of a jungle mountain.

Switchbacks took us down to a remote valley.

At last we arrived at the finca.

Cristofer sat on a tractor and smiled as we
 turned around to trace our tire treads back home.

Mountain of Death

It seemed sadly ironic that as we drove to the "Mountain of Death," we passed the body of a motorcyclist who had just been killed and was still lying on the road. Knowing that he had been breathing only minutes earlier reminded us of the fragile fleeting nature of earth life. We were still thinking of the accident when we arrived at Kaminaljuyu (Mountain of Death). Situated in the heart of busy Guatemala City, Kaminaljuyu is a quiet wooded place where Mayans practice rituals to honor deceased loved ones and communicate with the Lord of Creation.

Kamilaljuyu is also the location of a 500 square kilometer archaeological park.While many structures of earlier civilizations are buried under the buildings of modern Guatemala City, this park and other occasional grassy mounds have been preserved. Ruins beneath these grounds coincide perfectly with Book of Mormon dates. For this and other reasons, many scholars believe these unearthed structures were once part of the City of Nephi.

Dating back to 600 years before Christ, Lehi and Nephi may have once walked these stairs

Ancient buildings on this site were constructed with clay and volcanic stone from nearby volcanoes.

As we walked the paths through Kamilaljuyu, we saw many flowers placed carefully at the base of trees. One family covered flower petals with honey, then poured a liter of Pepsi over the flowers as a special offering.

Not everyone worshiped in the same manner. Two people rolled up their pant legs and crawled on bare knees over sharp rocks. Another man allowed his companion to repeatedly hit him over the head with what looked like a thick heavy Bible. People sang sad-sounding songs, smoked brown leaves in large homemade cigars or knelt before stone altars.

In all cases, however, ceremonies took place under trees. In the Mayan culture, trees represent life. The sturdy ceiba tree is the most sacred of all. Its roots represent the levels of the underworld. The trunk and ground surface are symbols for earth life. Branches reaching toward heaven stand for the levels in the next life.

As we stood under the tall ceiba, we could not help but think of another symbolic tree. In the Book of Mormon, Lehi saw in vision a beautiful white tree. Precious fruit clung to the branches of this Tree of Life. The fruit was "desirable to make one happy" and "most joyous to the soul." In his dream, Lehi wanted to eat of the fruit. After he had tasted it, his greatest wish was for his children to also eat it. Like Lehi, we want to partake of that fruit; the Love of God; and more than anything else, we want every member of our family to partake of the fruit of the Gospel and Atonement of Jesus Christ. We want to live together for longer than this fleeting earth life. We want to be together for eternity.