Guatemala Trip: Friends

You just can't go on such a meaningful trip without making some meaningful friendships along the way.

I was so touched by many of the people I met while in Guatemala and each time I met them I would get so overwhelmed thinking "How can I leave and go back to the life I live at home, knowing that this person lives like they do." Getting to know their personal stories really affected me and I worried that I would not be able to go on with my life after coming home because of the heartache I saw in Guatemala.
On the last day of our trip, the group held a small testimony meeting in which anyone who wanted to could get up and share their experiences and testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was so neat to hear the personal experiences that each person in our group had while on the trip. Again, I was overcome with how I was going to go back seeing what I had seen. For the closing song of the meeting we sang "God Be with You 'til We Meet Again." Just as a refresher, here are the words to the 2nd verse of that hymn:

 God be with you till we meet again;
When life’s perils thick confound you,
Put his arms unfailing round you.
God be with you till we meet again.

These words hit me so powerfully and I felt like it was God's simple way of telling me, "Annie, these people are my children and I am watching over them." After that, my fears were settled and I felt such a sweet peace. I could now look back on the people I met and be glad that I met them and hope the best for them knowing that a loving Heavenly Father is watching over them just as he does me.

This is Karla. She was an interpreter from the University. She is not a member of the church and she had a lot of questions about what we believe after seeing so many missionaries come through and bear their testimonies of why they wanted to serve a mission. She translated for my father-in-law her first day there and he gave her a Book of Mormon, so we were able to talk a little about that as well as about her life.

This boy by Pete is Manuel. He was by far the hardest to leave behind. He had such a hard life, although you wouldn't know unless you really pressed for answers (which Pete and I did). We really got to know him and I think he admired Pete. Every chance he got to translate in the lab by Pete he took it. Manuel traveled about 2 hours each day to come and volunteer at the clinic. He converted to the church 3 years ago and hopes to serve a mission himself.

This other lady by me is Elizabeth. She was so sweet! I met her the first day--although we didn't get to talk much because she didn't speak much English. But we worked right next to each other and smiled to each other a lot.  The next day she was sick and couldn't make it to the clinic. I was so worried I wouldn't get to take a picture with her. But on Monday she showed up and brought me a handmade little bookmark that says "Guatemala" on it. She was another local member of the church who volunteered her time to be there.

This boy's name was Nefi. He came with some rockin' hair and was quite hesitant to make such a sacrifice to cut his hair for his mission--it is a big deal to some of these boys for some reason. He took about 4 hours talking to the local leaders and trying to make the decision to cut his hair (and essentially go on a mission, since clean-cut hair is a must). He finally did it and was all smiles. Look how handsome he is!

Also pictured here with Nefi is Karlene. She is a single mom from Alpine. I guess I went to school with some of her kids although I never knew them. Her husband died years ago in a tragic plane crash and she is an inspiration! She is such a sweet lady and I got to work with her and learn from her "take-it-as-it-comes" personality.

This is Jose. He is a Stake President in Honduras and one AWESOME guy! He is fun and personable and we really had a fun time hearing his crazy stories from living in Honduras. I can't remember how old he is..like 34 or something and he has been a Stake President for 9 years! He is such a great example of someone who has dedicated his life to serving in the church.

Here again is Manuel (at the right) and a couple of the interpreters from the University. Since they spoke English we were able to interact with them more and get to know them. They were typical goofy college students but really worked hard interpreting for us all week. Most of them were not LDS (they were studying English and got credit for coming) so we had a fun time answering all their questions about the church's missionary program.

This is a picture of The Lucky 13. One night after the clinic 13 of us from the group decided to venture to the mall in the downstairs floors of our hotel. On our way back up we got stuck in the elevator! Not only stuck, but it would drop a about a foot every few seconds and scare us all to death! It was quite the Guatemalan adventure! But we survived to tell the story and figured our experience together was worth a photo in front of that blessed elevator.

We made a lot more friends that I could talk about. Such good people that we were able to learn from. I just hit on a few of the highlights.