7/1/2013 Penned by Val
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| 20 years and counting |
This week in Teguc:
Sun 6/30/2013 We
celebrated our anniversary this week with a couple things: first we breakfast
waffles breakfast with real baking soda... two sessions where Laurene and I conducted the sessions...a sealing session where Laurene and I got to do sealings...a night our on the town at the El Patio restaurant
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| (notice the Viva Honduras on the wall behind) |
with a Mayan type heated ceramic pots
with creamed cheese, re-fried beans, Laurene had a chicken shish-kabob and I had a pork, shrimp, and sausage shish-kabob,a lovely meal.
So after gathering instruction materials and finally talking to Tyler at
the organ store in Salt Lake, we went over to the Temple tried adjusting the
board up and down again, and still no sound of the lower octave pedals. Just like what the Peterson's found. I talked to President Cazier and reasoned
that is was a small chance that I could take of the back and find any thing
wrong. But I said that I would at least
tell Tyler what
we had done. I called him back and he
listened and said they could send someone.
But he did say there was an electrical ribbon that attached an
electrical board that drove the last octave pedals. Based on that idea, I decided to go back and
spend another half to one hour taking the back off and trying one more
time. (It now reminds me of “Nephi
getting the plates” trip.) We pulled the
back off after moving the organ and found the wire ribbon was indeed loose from
the connector. I tried putting the
connector on, but it did not work. So
the next call to Tyler
was to ask if he would know how the 20
pin plug fits on a 16 pin connector. He
said he would look at the model in the back.
He called back in 3 minutes and said that it was centered. So this time I let Laurene try the centering
and "Voila!" It worked!
So we
put the back on and felt blessed for the help and offered a prayer of thanks. And Laurene has promised to love me another
twenty years just for that hour of work!
The next project was the "toilet paper roll
adapter". You see the typical rolls
the apartment people buy are short, and fall off the holder (see right.) Our daughter, the editor Amber's comment: "Dear Dad and
Mom, Too bad about your toilet
paper holder not working. That can be a “bum”mer. :)"
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| (the fix, and the problem...not many people like using paper off the floor!) |
Actually we had heard this little device has
had some blessed or maybe not so blessed words thrown at it. The common roll
width is 10.8 cm. The holder is supposed
to use 11.4 cm. The Temple people can
buy commercial 11.4 cm rolls, but not the apartment people. The
fix: find something to span the distance.
So being the engineer of the group, I found that 1 1/4 inch
white PVC "tubo" pipe would slip over. (Try to picture Elder and Sister Starkey parading half a mile down the street with a 6 foot PVC pipe each, wagging their tails behind them!) I cut it to the right length with a little
slot to fit the spring so that it does not rotate. Fabricate 14 plus a few spares and it is
fixed. And now all seven apartments have paper that stays on (see left.) That's what an aerospace engineer does in his
spare time.
Sunday we had a super Google + session with 4, including
April. It was nice to see her....looking
very ready to deliver...our prayers are with her and Tom and family. Maria arrived on Sunday to help.
Laurene's Saturday in part: ...."I went downstairs
and found Sister Cazier looking for someone to help in the guarderia. The
nursery needed a helper, would I do it? Of course, yes! (This is the moment I had been preparing for, for days and days!) The two
boys were 9 and 13 and were watching The Testament movie in the waiting room or
sala de espera. I went all over the temple, right and left, hunting for ties and
pants and shirts and ties, underwear and socks, just the right size, in time to
learn that they had brought their own clothes.
Before long, it was time to go to the nursery room (just a few steps west of our apartment across the parking lot in the casa de huespes or guest house) designated and set up for children of families
being sealed to stay with a guardian while their parents are doing other things
in the temple to prepare to have their family sealed to them.
When Jala Jala and his older brother joined me in walking through the
baptistery and the clothing issue or roperia to the south side door of the
temple (which opens up and closes to appear like a granite wall—a secret
passage way!)
two other Obreras joined me. No questions, we just welcomed them to the adventure. After securing a special video from Elder
Gallo to teach children about what a sealing session is like and
what it is for, we walked over to the guest house, asked Brother
Cruz
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| Brother and Sister Cruz manage the guest house |
to open the nursery door, set up the video, sat on the couch together, all
of us to watch it, and listened to one of the older sisters sing along, to I
Have A Family Here on Earth. The boys listened attentively, then helped each other dress in the rest room for quite a
period of time. Small buttons and a tie can present a challenge for boys
ages nine and eleven. Eventually, they poked their heads out and requested help with tying their ties.
As I have zero experience in that
category, I deferred, and went instead to my apartment to find a knit
picker to help remove one or two little snags that happened in pulling the ties
from the wrappers. Oh! and why not nuts for snacks and some pens and
paper to make missionary pictures on the wrappers of their shirts that looked
like missionaries in the making? We were just sitting down to draw “Where
do I see myself going on my mission? And what will I look like?” when the
phone rang.
“How many
sisters are in the guarderia?”
“Three.” (Too many!)
“Could you
please send Sister Starkey back to the temple to do laundry?”
(A real blow to my creative where with all. After several hours folding overalls, bemoaning the turn of events, I got word to the coordinator that I liked the nursery...that it she had obreras who counted it not a chore but a prize.)
So, just as our turno or shift ended, a new set of children arrived. "Can you go?" I knew we were nearly out of time (and Val and I had that anniversary outing) but ...."I threw caution to the wind, went downstairs, hunting for white
clothing. This time the children let me know up front that they had no white clothing prepared. Size 11 or so, for—was her name—Ana, and maybe size 14 for her
handsome 13 year old brother. Oh, and they wanted me to know, “We can
speak English!” And boy, did they want to!
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| I got this photo in a happenstance later. So happy! |
We found a
pretty Amber Princessa dress with the diagonal smocking bodice for Ana, and
pants that fit just right for her brother. How did that happen, with
choices of small, medium, large, and very large? Ana picked out a regal
head band, and I found her some hose. Her brother put the two pair of size 9
slippers together (I thought I had brought both size 8 and 9 for him to choose.) Oh well, they
fit perfectly this way. Can I use them? Who am I to say no?
Why not?! He should be a prince for a day. And he was. I wish
I could remember his name, and I do not, but what if we call him Jeremy?
On the way out
the door, Elder Gallo asked me to stop in the office, where he loaded me up
with Cup-a-Soups, juice, and cookies all in a big green grocery bag. We
went
out the secret passageway,
across
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| path, |
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| the |
watched the video, prepared the lunch, and sat
down together at the table for a pleasant chat. The two told me about
their family: their mom had been baptized at age eight. Their
father had not been a member of the church. When their mother had become
very ill about a year or so ago, their grandmother had come to live with
them. She took them to Primary and the missionaries began to visit.
They taught lessons to the children and the father, and on about the 22nd
of June, just over a year ago, the children and the father were baptized. The
mother nearly died. The doctor had told them that she was within 12 hours
of living or dying, it sounded like problems with circulation. She lived.
The aunt, who had remained active throughout her life, accompanied her sister, the mom, through the temple. One of the missionaries who taught them was
present to accompany the father.
When we talked
about where they wanted to go for their missions, Jeremy said, I want to go on
my mission to Spain! Tegucigalpa
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| (These 2 pictures are published in Meridian Magazine) |
Jeremy had loved the
“Armies of Helaman,” and paraded across the room, reenacting the horse who had danced across the stage, to illustrate the majestic moment.
They bubbled over in English, and what a good time we had together!
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| Their bus happened to be leaving, just as Val & I headed out, and we got to snap 2 photos. Wow! |
I had promised Val that we could go to dinner for our 20th
anniversary directly after our temple time, which officially
ended at 12:45. Because it was close to 1:40 when someone from the temple called
to inquire if I could use a replacement, I reluctantly agreed, though I truly wanted to meet their parents and others in the tapestry of their tale. Maybe someday I can experience a fuller piece of the complete story. "
A treasured day.... a treasured week....a treasured, yes 20
years....the Lord has been kind.....
Val and Laurene Starkey in Tegucigalpa
P.S. A ripe mango is still a treat....I wonder if Adam and
Eve had them.
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