A Guatemalan Visit

One thing I've been grateful for lately is that the mission helps you make lifetime friends. One such friend and former mission companion, Karen, helped me meet my wonderful husband when she came to visit from Honduras last year. Just this week my other friend from Guatemala, Astrid, stopped by Provo on the way to see her sister in Dallas. Although Astrid and I were never companions, we were great friends in the mission. We served in Belize together and left the mission on the same day. She's always been dear to my heart.

We had such a great time reminiscing about Orange Walk and Belize, touring Provo, shopping, etc. This week was Ben's last week of classes so he was at school and work nearly all day, every day. Therefore, it was great to have a friend to hang out with.

One of the highlights was having a Belize mission reunion party with one of the senior couples we served with, the Dunford's. I called Sister Dunford the Thursday before Astrid was going to arrive and we quickly threw a party together. I invited mission friends from Facebook and by email and Sister Dunford offered to do the food. When the night arrived, we had a great turnout. 10 former missionaries plus the Dunford's!

While we ate dinner we each had to go around and tell a mission story about Belize. These are some of the highlights:
- Elder Dunford was approached by police after he turned the wrong way on a one way bridge. After arguing with them so he wouldn't have to pay a $150 ticket, they offered to take a bribe if he would pay for their lunch.
- One elder had a women high on drugs try to steal his bike while he was riding it. She then pulled the water bottle out of his backpack and hit him over the head with it until it bounced out of her hands.
- When my companion was hit by a car, we had to take her to the hospital in Belmopan. Shortly after arriving, a man walked in who had cut off all his fingers with a saw. Later, we were waiting in the hallway and saw as a nurse walked out of the ER and dropped bloodied gauze in the garbage can. When we examined it we saw... the man's fingers. Needless to say, my companion did not want to stay for treatment.
- Another elder was arrested for "improper documents" on the island of San Pedro. Six police men surrounded him with machine guns for six hours until a significant mob of people gathered and protested, telling the police to let him go.
- Two elders offered to help cut a woodpile for a member. Little did they know, they cut down the che che negro tree and carried it on their shoulders. In Mayan legend even standing underneath the tree causes a rash. The next morning one elder awoke to a hugely swollen face, neck and hands with "fingers like hot dogs". It took a week for the swelling to go away.
- Three of the elders in Belize City were all mugged by the same man, a shabby black gentleman who referred to himself as "Prince Charles".

Those are just a few of the Belize stories that were told. That gives you a view into the kind of mission we all served in. Maybe that's why we all became so close- it was a huge adjustment for all of us. As for the party though, we had a great time and for the rest of the week it was so great to have Astrid here. Mission friends are friends for life.