What each and every kid deserves

The Family: A Proclamation to the World
The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. "Children are an heritage of the Lord" (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

For more on building strong homes and families, visit family.lds.org

Address! - updated

My kind of town, Chimaaalt is, my kind of to-own...

(note: the above is NOT a picture of my home,

however it IS part of the town in which I live)

Here is the REAL address:

Mary Lindquist

c/o Niños de Guatemala

3 Av. 5-68 Zona 1
Quintas Los Aposentos
Chimaltenango, Guatemala

I´m not sure if it´s written in 1, 2, or 3 lines, so I just put my best guess. I figure it´ll get here somehow...or it won´t. One or the other.

Sending mail may be complicated, but sending smiles certainly is not! Here you are:

Now YOU try!

Comments

So I just found out that you all have the ability to post comments on here. Sorry I haven´t been responding, but I just found out the comments existed! So thank you all for your comments and for all your helpful advice, kind words, and the dash of nonsense. Always appreciated.

This week has been way busy, so I´ve much to write. However, I haven´t the time right now. So this is just your teaser entry. Tune in tomorrow (hopefully) for more!


Oh, by the way, it turns out the address I sent out earlier is NOT really where I´m living. It´s the address for where the orphanage used to be. There is a new address, which I lack access to right this minute. So....enjoy another helping of anticipation!

Thanks for everything! I love you all!

30 September 2008

Someone went home! One of our sweet little girls has returned to live with her family after the judges deemed them fit enough to take her back. We’re going to miss her quite a bit, but she is going to be so much happier. You should have seen her the morning she was preparing to leave. She dressed in her prettiest outfit, hair combed, bows everywhere, and the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. Every time she’d walk by, she’d stop to jump up in my or one of the other volunteers’ arms and say in her best English, “I love you!”
Now she’s home and we’re hoping and praying that she keeps practicing that phrase often, in whatever language it may be!

Hey! I memorized that other rhyme!
Tin Marín de do PingÜe
Cúcara Mácara Títere fue
Yo no fui, Fue Tete
Pégale, pégale al quién fue
Con la punta del Pingue!

Are Boyscout activities brutal all over the world? I’d never been to one before, and I went on Saturday. EVERY game was waaaay violent and I ended up with the most impressive bruises my arms have ever experienced. One looks like a smiley face! A giant, purple, painful smiley face. Totally worth it though.

Oh oh oh!! Martita, the cook, took me under her wing. Our relationship started because she was too short to plug in the blender. Beautiful, isn’t it? The outlet is about 5 feet tall, but there’s a 1-2 foot counter that adds some space. Pretty mighty feat for our mini-Mami. Her plea: !Soy pequenita! Too true, Mami Martita.
She taught me how to make tortillas! I’d wanted to learn so badly. She makes amazing tortillas, and we have them at nearly every meal. One day, she initiated me: “María, ¿me ayuda con las tortillas?” And later, “María, ¿Puede cortar los plátanos?” That’s right, she also taught me how to make fried plantains – one of my absolute FAVORITE foods. I get off lucky because some of my favorite foods are beans, rice, tortillas, and fried plantains. Pretty popular meals around these parts! Oh man, and there’s a drink called Atól which is the true “magically delicious” breakfast treat. Here´s a shot of some of the kids getting ready to eat in our happy abode:
Gringas! Those are amazing too. No, not me and my companions, but rather this taco-like food that consists of some sort of meat (street dog, perchance?), pineapple, cheese, and a salsa/pico concoction. It doesn’t sound that impressive, but they do something amazing to it, I know. They’re Guillermo’s favorite food, so he took us out for some last night. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same…

Okay, enough about food for now. AAh! I gotta go!

Hasta luego!!!

Runnin´ around

Last Friday we went to Iximché and romped around the Mayan ruins with the kids. Iximché was the very first Guatemalan city (i.e. before the Spaniards arrived). It was a day full of ¨race you to the next temple!¨and ¨Be respectful of the ancient relics.¨ So many mixed messages! All the more fun that way, I´m sure.
The last temple we saw actually is still used by indigenous folk. We actually saw several people burning incense, placing candles on the alter, and performing other traditional ceremonial services. I still haven´t figured out what it all means, but I have someone to ask, and I´ll be checking soon. I´ve got my sources...

The volunteers spent the weekend in Copan, Honduras. We met so many wonderful people. I made friends with a family of jewelry vendors (Dad and 2 sons). The older son taught me how to make the bracelets and necklaces, and then he handed me the tools and said a Spanish equivalent of ¨Go for it!¨ He had already put the seeds on (he uses seeds and shells and nuts and things instead of beads; I love it!) so I just worked on the sinew part. Then he fired it and we put the finishing touches on it so that he can sell it to the next unsuspecting tourist. Suckers....Like me! Perfecto.

Oh, one more thing, I´m learning to barter! Getting better, but still probably looking silly to the locals. As long as they get a kick out of it, I´m happy. This 9-year-old-ish kid in Antigua is the best salesman I´ve ever met. Well, the best I´ve ever met outside my family anyway. Yes, he even rivals Trenton and Randy, believe it or not (so watch your backs, you two). I did manage to talk him down quite a bit, but by the end of it I was so impressed with him that I gave him the price we´d decided on and then tipped him 5 more than he´d said, saying ¨Porque tú me caes bien.¨Yeah, I pulled the line: ¨Because I like ya.¨But I really did. Awesome kid. And he certainly appreciated the tip. I am such an easy target for the salesfolk. Don´t bother me none, ´cause it makes for good friend-makin´!

A new volunteer just arrived. Since we had two leave us last week, it´s nice to have one more. So now we have the volunteers: Marissa, Renée, Mike (new), and myself; the owners: Guillermo and Mandy; the 3 more experienced older ladies who are like the mothers here; and the 15 angelitos. One big happy family!

Hasta luego!

Some fun lil´rhymes the kids have taught me of late

This one is sung while swinging a child by his or her arms and legs as if to throw them into water. If the person being swung responds ¨Sí¨then you throw him or her into the air. Muy divertido!
Pezcadito pezcadote quieres ir al agua, ¿sí o no?
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This one is some sort of Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Mo type of game. The rhyme is ridiculously catchy.
Zapatito conchinito, díme quien cambia de piecito más bonito (y chiq-ui-ti-to).
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This one is like ¨Who took the cookie from the cookie jar¨:
Todos: (María) robó pan en la casa de San Juan! (María robbed bread from San Juan´s house)
María: ¿Quién, yo? (Who, me?)
Todos: Sí tú! (Yes you!)
María: Yo no fui! (It wasn´t me!)
Todos: Entonces, ¿quién? (Then who?)
María: (Diana)!
(Se repite con ¨Diana¨ en vez de ¨María¨)
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I haven´t quite got this one down. It´s longer and with lots more rolly Rs (which I´m working on). Here´s a version I found online similar to the one the kids sing. I´ve got about half memorized, but soon now....very soon.

Tin Marín de dos pingues,
cuca la macara titire fue,
yo no fuí, fue pepé,
pégale pégale que ella fue.
Tin Marín de don Pingüé,
Cúcara, Mácara, Títere fue
yo no fui, fue Teté,
pégale, pégale
con la punta del pie.
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More to come, I´m sure. :)

Ya Lleguè

La Primera Semana...

Oye! Guess where I am? Well, if you’ve made it to this site, you probably already know: Chimaltenango, Guatemala. It’s beautiful! More importantly, the people are beautiful!

The first day, Luis picked us up from the airport late at night, and we drove about 45 minutos outside of Guatemala city. It was then that I found out that I actually CAN speak Spanish! Who’d a thunk it? Luis and I talked all the way to the orphanage. We discussed everything from chu chus (another word for perros) to the political geography within the country to the soccer game that EVERYONE was watching/listening to (don’t worry, Guate won) and more.

When the other 4 volunteers and I arrived to the hogar, most were asleep but we met a couple and then we went to sleep. Four other volunteers, you say? Why yes! Marissa and I met three girls in the airport who were also on their way to an orphanage in Guatemala. You’d think that when we all got in the same car, we would have guessed that we were going to the same, but nooooo. We didn’t realize we’d all be working together until we pulled up to Clara Fantasia and Luis dropped us all off. We’re slow, but we eventually get things.

En the MORNING, however, we met TODOS! Now, we’ve only been here…hmm…less than a week? Yeah, about 4 ½ days and it feels like we’ve been here for months. These ninos are so quick to befriend and love. The more I learn about their backgrounds, the more I am just completely inspired by how resilient and happy and eager they are.

I only have a bit more time, so here are some highlights:

The other volunteers don’t speak Spanish, so I translated the Welcome to Clara Fantasia speech that Guillermo (the owner) gave us. I get to translate a lot nowadays. It’s so fun!

The kids LOVE abrazos y besitos, and we get plenty around here. The leaders just say “bessssho!” and someone always shows up with the cheek-peck greeting.

Chicken funeral. Oh yeah, there’s no way I can go on without mentioning the chicken funeral. The grounds here are actually absolutely beautiful. Basically, everything is outside. There’s a courtyard with a garden and a court (where we play tag, soccer, basketball, dance parties, and everything else) and then around it, there are rooms and a kitchen (of sorts), and all that jazz. Then out back there is a yard with the most enormous avocado tree that I have ever heard of. Grandote! But I digress. Though avocados are important, I was going to tell you about the chickens. So, first, one of my little amigos taught me how to catch them and keep them calm. A day or two later, we received word that some animal had attacked and killed five of the six chickens. Just so we all remember, that’s a lot. So, kind of unfortunate. However (now, don’t think I’m insensitive; after all the people here don’t really seem to mind that they’ve died), it was hilarious. One of the boys came and told me to come out for the burial service of the pollos. When I did, a bunch of the kids were out there, pick axes and shovels still in hand, huddled around the gravesites. They had made little crosses out of wood and then we all sat in a circle while one of the boys conducted a prayer. One of the little girls sat in my lap and was quick to note that I was more busy trying not to laugh than bidding farewell to the birds (or, “cinco de nuestros amigos”). When the prayer ended, everyone jumped up and was eager to show me traces of bird around the yard. Eeeeeew. It was so funny though. The boys insisted on taking pictures next to the battle scenes they’d discovered. Group pictures were also taken. It was a big deal. The kids had so much fun. Goodness, I love them!

Oh! We also went to the park to see a parade (it’s the season of Independence Day), but we missed it. Instead, we danced to all the music around. We were our own parade: five white girls, a couple older Guatemalan ladies, and about 15 kids. Oh yeah. One of the toddlers is always so quick to dance whenever he can, and he gets down! So we all cut the proverbial rug until the kids realized I was tickelish. From then on, I’ve been at their mercy. They are expert tickelers and I am very weak to such things. So we played in the town center a while and then took off.

Argh!! There’s so much more to say, but time doesn’t permit. Curse you, Time!!! Actually, I’m a big fan of time. More of it would be nice. Whenever I think about having to leave in December, it makes me very very sad. It was so easy to become best friends with each kid (I’m so grateful for the Spanish that I do speak. It’s helped so much). I get to spend a lot of one on one time with each and I also get group time. It’s just so wonderful! Every once in a while, I’ll be watching one of my amiguitos do a play for me or read with me, and I have to fight back thoughts of having to leave. I just want to help them all so much more.

Okay, well I should go. I LOVE it here. There are things to be wary of, but that’s just part of life anywhere. Let’s just say, it’s becoming more and more apparent that “normal” doesn’t have a universal definition.
AAAAH!! I want to write more! But no! NO! I must away.

I love you all! Thank you all for everything! I hope all is well.

Hasta luego!
Maria

p.s. good news: after our room’s check, we see that none of the volunteers have lice! Good news indeed! That’s your prayers at work, folks! Well, actually your prayers help WAY more than that. But lice-lessness is good too.