How do you Hold a Moonbeam in your Hand?

"How do you Hold a Moonbeam in your Hand?"
When Maria was turning 4,    her mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

                                                    Mom was tired, and Maria was not.

(Okay, she did sleep, under duress!)

At four, nap time on the living room couch gave Dr. Seuss his due of maybe 10 pages before Mom was adrift in dreams and daughter found her way to a basement entertainment of Sesame Street and puppet shows.  When it was suggested that this autumn birthday girl test to begin kindergarten early, it seemed like a great way to keep busy fingers and sharp mind engaged in good things.

Maria, turning 5

Celia Guerra, with magic in her smile

Why not join sister in the "immersion" section of a neighborhood/Spanish Immersion elementary? Language-challenged moms could puzzle  math sheets from Sra. Guerra (and if not, what is Dad for?) School was Spanish all day (minus an hour for English at the end) for six years.

"Passport Club" helper, Mom, was invited to tutor in the classroom monthly, to peer into many of the 144 countries that the children were encouraged to memorize five at a time, learning about Dominican Republic, the Czech Republic, Bangladesh and others from 4th grade library books with stories, songs, and food. Children loved the food, even if the mom was not immersed. 

Fast forward 6 years--President Monson makes the historic announcement to lower missionary ages, and Maria's friends turning 19, jump on a tide launched all directions.  Neighbor Melissa is ready in a week.  Others wait their turn [and from Passport Club, Maria can locate Benin (Africa) when Cheston opens his call.]  Emails torpedo from Argentina, Midwestern United States, Virginia, California, each meriting heartfelt applause--but with birthdays and timing different, the answers to Maria's prayers for now have been to "stay put and study."

Civil Engineering is no basket-weaving major at Brigham Young University.  Considering a need for an escort for Mom's medicine, in the crunch of 3rd semester midterms and hoping for May internships,  Maria wonders what would happen if she visited for Christmas rather than Spring.  Christmas!!  Never say "no" to Christmas.

Phone calls to secure prescription overrides and airline tickets, precede flurries of sisterly and motherly scurrying to find skinny sweater, tailored shirt, and nonbinding socks for Elder Starkey.  Careful crafting of personal pass-along cards by Kristen, all work together to fill personal (hard to get in Honduras) needs. Christmas indeed! 

Pondering what a young adult might want to experience in Honduras, we were told to visit Copan Ruins.  We had earlier thought there would not be enough break from our temple assignments to travel at all, but our presidency encouraged us to "go."  So we found substitutes and, looked for ideas on how to navigate. We spoke with a missionary couple who had visited here from one of the San Pedro Sula missions, with a wealth of travel savvy.


 "Why worry about safe lodging?  We have room!  We have it figured out--we want you to borrow our car to drive there, if you will.  And we will pick you all up at the airport."

Corinthians talks about being "easy to be entreated."  Good advice.  Elder and Sister John arrived with grand ideas to make a sign to find a daughter who would not find her party at the gate (just a little further along, after customs.)

  "You have to see San Pedro!"  And of course, this comes with an introductory visit to the mission office.  Meeting missionaries and president, touring supply rooms and '"neat as a whistle" office that had recently become "two" after a split in the San Pedro missions--our journey advanced to find food, a few cute souvenir stores, and then the lay of the land.

This is a field of sugar cane that they burn in the Spring before harvest (and the flower.)

I think the above, is a standard cathedral near town square, and then this up and coming LDS chapel.                                                        Notice the high gates.

Then the mission office(s)...

This is one of the neighbors to the John's neighborhood.  We heard this week that many people in San Pedro have to pay protection payments each month for security from the "ladrones" or bad guys.  These people probably pay more.

John's apartment had been the mission office at one time.  And their mission originally began in Roután, where they served as membership and leadership support (MLS) missionaries.  It was in such capacity that they served in wards, taught delegation, bolstered attendance, visited families, and helped a Stake President's wife to decide she could join the church when she learned that it was okay to dance! 

The Johns are from Fruit Heights.  Elder John, working for the Church, with seminaries in Bountiful, read  a Boeing study indicating for every year worked after 55, two years of life was cut off.  He decided, even if he liked his job, he valued life's quantity and quality.  He and his wife would apply for a mission.  And why not more than one?

As we exulted in their successes of loving people, firming family bonds and strengthening youth groups, then "parenting" younger missionaries, acting as mail service and apartment finders, teaching fiscal responsibility ("There really is no more money at the end of the month, even if you are out!") we learned that their mission would be complete in 100 days.  There would be no planned replacement. President Dester from Bountiful, reiterated to us a message of immense need for willing hands, from couples, in all capacities. As the mission force has increased from 50,000 to 80,000, and scores of new missions have been created with openings for office couples, humanitarian, employment, family history technical and teaching, temple missionaries in places where retirement is unlikely, and task descriptions still in the making.

After a tour of their city and John's lovely apartment, we were invited to plunk ourselves onto an upstairs couch, so the Johns could learn more about our mission.  They planned to go again, and hoped to hear the perks or drawbacks of temple missionary life.

Maria, waning from her red eye flight, discovered the shower (where she learned it is not a given, even in nice homes, to have hot water in Honduras) and bed.  She woke to a nice breakfast, bon voyage, and detailed road directions.  Being on foreign turf and having not driven for most of a year, even Val held a little awed respect for rutted roads and stories of being pulled over by a uniformed post.  A missionary name badge could help, we heard, but Val forgot his name tag. The Johns suggested since bilingual policia are rare here that Val wear my (English) tag, which he did.

Maria got a kick out of this.

more of the sugar cane

Don't do this at home--bicycle riding is a little risky here

The road is well-rutted.  Val did a great job navigating the "gran huecos" (great holes--many requiring a brief visit over the passing line.)  And we were not sure if we could tell which hole it was that Elder John said would bring our heads to the ceiling--there were more than one!  Copan Ruinas were varied, interesting. 

Here is a moto-taxi--less expensive--but in an accident we saw later, the moto-taxi did not compete as well as the truck.

 We hired a guide.  I don't know if I would do again.  We were tired, and wagered it better to "be led" and not miss something.  

Val missed the stairs and walked directly to the "game arena" where our guide finished. 

Ceiba tree, sacred tree of ancient Mayans

                                                    We saw structures and carvings, birds, and more 

  

This is a tepezcuintle or cotuza (left is my picture; and right is a closer view I found online... 

How is this for a Central American version of "squirrel"?)

"I can understand more than I can say" was Maria's mantra...and subsequently, ours.  (Solomon requested an "understanding heart" and it went over well.)  Perhaps you will understand that our P-day is finished for today...the army of ants residing in the ruins of our printer here in Teguc have haply

been put to rest, but the miracles of the rest of our "together time" have yet to be penned.  Stay tuned!  

Moonbeam Maria is currently measuring I-beams at BYU...

However, getting to share a piece of a Honduras home with a small piece of  family, filled a "hueco" (or hole) in our hearts.  You have to watch out for those huecos!  

Take our smiles and our love for you and fill them up!

Laurene and Val