One of the things we were most looking forward to on the trip was the cultural celebration that the youth were putting on in Quetzaltenango the night before the temple dedication. The event had to be moved to a smaller facility, because the soccer stadium kept trying to charge the church more and more. We were worried we wouldn't get to see it, but Linette's old companion Yamilet told us that she had arranged tickets for all four of us, which was wonderful news.
So Saturday afternoon, December 10, 2011, after a brief mission reunion, we drove to the outdoor venue for the celebration. When we pulled up, we saw a huge row of "chicken busses" that had brought 2500 youth from the 11 stakes around Guatemala that would be in the new temple district.
Even out in the parking lot, I knew we were going to be in for a treat, because I could see some of the youth in their cool costumes. The families made their own costumes for the events, often at great sacrifice.
I even took a few pictures of audience members who looked cool, because it was fascinating to me to see people wearing these traditional patterns not as a "costume", but for real.
One of my goals of the trip had been to see someone playing the marimbas, since the book A Doorway in Antigua had talked about how proud the Guatemalan people were of this instrument, and how intricately they were carved. So I was excited to see that there were several full-sized sets of marimbas playing music for an hour while we waited for the event to begin.
Here are a couple thousand youth in the waiting area. I thought it was cool to see all these youth in their traditional costumes--and the girl in front with her cell phone! :) There was definitely an excited buzz in the room as the kids anticipated performing the dances they had spent six months practicing.
Soon they all started heading out to the stage in the center of the stadium. It took 45 minutes for all of them to make it out there, with youth running in single file the whole time. Stephanie Summers and I took hundreds of pictures as the kids in all their different costumes ran by. I have included a few of them here.
All week long, whenever I took a picture of someone, they seemed shy and awkward. But one thing I noticed about these youth was that when I went to take a picture of them, they would bunch up and smile big for the camera. I don't know if it was just that they were in costume, that they were so excited about the evening, or if it wasn't due in part to the inner strength and confidence they had from knowing that they were among friends and especially that they were children of God. There was an inner fire in their eyes, and it touched me to know how much power there was just in this group of youth, and what that would mean for Guatemala in the coming decades.
The girl on the left will come up in the next episode, though we had no idea who she was at the time I took this picture. I just thought the colors were stunning.
"Do you like my hat?"
"I do, I do like your hat!"
Giddy up!
Like I mentioned before, you can tell where people are from by the patterns of their clothes. When I showed a few of these pictures the next morning to the lady who cooked our breakfast, she immediately said what area each costume was from. Apparently everyone there knows the patterns, even though almost nobody from outside does. (And I couldn't find anything about this on Google, though I didn't try searching in Spanish).
Holy cape, Batman!
The kids started running even faster when everyone realized how long it was taking to get them on stage.
"Oh, deer!"
Lollipop!
I didn't quite get the chicken outfit...
I'm guessing sisters.
Neal Summers hadn't seen anyone he knew yet in Guatemala on our trip. He said he had come with low expectations, because he had lost contact with everyone. He did find one old companion on Facebook, who had told him to call him at the cultural celebration, because he would be there. But then the day of the celebration, Neal couldn't get internet access, so he couldn't get the guy's number. "Bumero" (That's Spanish for "bummer" :)
We had found some seats when we first arrived, and a little later a family came and saved some seats next to us. Then, suddenly, in the midst of this crowd of thousands of people, Neal's old companion comes and sits down right next to him!
Finally it was time for the celebration to begin.
With all the youth packed onto the stage, President Uchtdorf finally came out, and the youth went crazy, waving white handkerchiefs and cheering. It was so neat to see how much they loved him, and it was so sweet how he was able to express his love for them, putting his hand on his heart and reaching out to them. It just made us all want to cry.
President Uchtdorf said some beautiful things to them, and we were amazed at how well the translator did (except on the word "micromanage").
It was cool hearing all these saints singing "Army of Helaman" in Spanish.
There was a miniature version of the Quetzaltenango temple and the Mayan temple of Tikal.
One of the things that touched Linette the most was a Spanish verb tense. In the Book of Mormon there are prophecies of how the Lamanites would receive the gospel in the last days, and that they "shall blossom as a rose." But the program for the evening had at the bottom the words "La rosa ha florecida"--"The rose has blossomed." Looking around at these faithful saints, and hearing the words of President Uchtdorf, I had to agree.
I don't have great footage of the performances, because it was dark by then, but it was very well done, and it was fun to hear the crowd singing along with a lot of the music (especially the lady right behind us!)
As mentioned in A Doorway in Antigua, fireworks are done all the time in Guatemala, and this celebration was no exception. In fact, after the "official" fireworks were over and everyone was leaving, another entire round was done from the other side of the stadium, which President Uchtdorf later said he suspected was the work of one of the church leaders from there.
This guy said, "Hey, why didn't you take my picture?" So I did.
This lady was in the audience, but Stephanie asked if we could take a picture to show how she carried her child. I got the sense that she wasn't LDS and had probably been invited to attend the celebration by a member.
This guy taught English, and his daughter spoke very well. She was hoping to someday visit the United States, and perhaps even attend BYU.
Here is Yamilet and Reyes with their children, Kimberly and Kevin Spencer, who had danced in one of the numbers.
And keep an eye out for Part VII: The Day of Dedication, In Which Randy and Linette get adopted into a Mayan family.
All week long, whenever I took a picture of someone, they seemed shy and awkward. But one thing I noticed about these youth was that when I went to take a picture of them, they would bunch up and smile big for the camera. I don't know if it was just that they were in costume, that they were so excited about the evening, or if it wasn't due in part to the inner strength and confidence they had from knowing that they were among friends and especially that they were children of God. There was an inner fire in their eyes, and it touched me to know how much power there was just in this group of youth, and what that would mean for Guatemala in the coming decades.
The girl on the left will come up in the next episode, though we had no idea who she was at the time I took this picture. I just thought the colors were stunning.
"Do you like my hat?"
"I do, I do like your hat!"
Giddy up!
Like I mentioned before, you can tell where people are from by the patterns of their clothes. When I showed a few of these pictures the next morning to the lady who cooked our breakfast, she immediately said what area each costume was from. Apparently everyone there knows the patterns, even though almost nobody from outside does. (And I couldn't find anything about this on Google, though I didn't try searching in Spanish).
These are all youth, so my guess is that the little girl really is at least 12.
Holy cape, Batman!
The kids started running even faster when everyone realized how long it was taking to get them on stage.
"Oh, deer!"
Lollipop!
I didn't quite get the chicken outfit...
I'm guessing sisters.
Neal Summers hadn't seen anyone he knew yet in Guatemala on our trip. He said he had come with low expectations, because he had lost contact with everyone. He did find one old companion on Facebook, who had told him to call him at the cultural celebration, because he would be there. But then the day of the celebration, Neal couldn't get internet access, so he couldn't get the guy's number. "Bumero" (That's Spanish for "bummer" :)
We had found some seats when we first arrived, and a little later a family came and saved some seats next to us. Then, suddenly, in the midst of this crowd of thousands of people, Neal's old companion comes and sits down right next to him!
Neal couldn't believe it!
Our trip kept seeing one small miracle after another.
Finally it was time for the celebration to begin.
With all the youth packed onto the stage, President Uchtdorf finally came out, and the youth went crazy, waving white handkerchiefs and cheering. It was so neat to see how much they loved him, and it was so sweet how he was able to express his love for them, putting his hand on his heart and reaching out to them. It just made us all want to cry.
President Uchtdorf said some beautiful things to them, and we were amazed at how well the translator did (except on the word "micromanage").
It was cool hearing all these saints singing "Army of Helaman" in Spanish.
There was a miniature version of the Quetzaltenango temple and the Mayan temple of Tikal.
One of the things that touched Linette the most was a Spanish verb tense. In the Book of Mormon there are prophecies of how the Lamanites would receive the gospel in the last days, and that they "shall blossom as a rose." But the program for the evening had at the bottom the words "La rosa ha florecida"--"The rose has blossomed." Looking around at these faithful saints, and hearing the words of President Uchtdorf, I had to agree.
I don't have great footage of the performances, because it was dark by then, but it was very well done, and it was fun to hear the crowd singing along with a lot of the music (especially the lady right behind us!)
Did I mention that it was kind of freezing that night? It was probably about 50 degrees. Guatemala is pretty far south, but we were in the highlands in December, so while it was pleasant, it could get chilly at night. I didn't realize it would be outside, so I hadn't brought my jacket, so Yamilet, Linette and I all tried to stay under parts of this blanket during the evening. It was the last of the donated blankets we hadn't given away yet.
As mentioned in A Doorway in Antigua, fireworks are done all the time in Guatemala, and this celebration was no exception. In fact, after the "official" fireworks were over and everyone was leaving, another entire round was done from the other side of the stadium, which President Uchtdorf later said he suspected was the work of one of the church leaders from there.
When the show was over, many people seemed hesitant to leave, and we all wandered around and basked in the feeling that was there. The youth were more than happy to be in our pictures, and there was just such a wonderful feeling of love all around.
President Uchtdorf mentioned that he believed that quite a few marriages would come out of this cultural celebration, since it allowed many youth to meet in a great environment. In fact, the feeling I got at this activity was that while it was wonderful for the audience, its main point was to strengthen these 2500 youth and give them an unforgettable spiritual experience.
This guy said, "Hey, why didn't you take my picture?" So I did.
This lady was in the audience, but Stephanie asked if we could take a picture to show how she carried her child. I got the sense that she wasn't LDS and had probably been invited to attend the celebration by a member.
This guy taught English, and his daughter spoke very well. She was hoping to someday visit the United States, and perhaps even attend BYU.
Here is Yamilet and Reyes with their children, Kimberly and Kevin Spencer, who had danced in one of the numbers.
The celebration was so wonderful, and we were so thankful to have been blessed to be able to attend. It took a long time to get out of the parking lot, and then we took Yamilet's family out to Pizza Hut, and then dropped them off at their place, arriving home around 11 p.m.
Believe it or not, I left a lot of pictures out of this episode because there were so many cool costumes that I couldn't include them all. If you'd like to see some more of my favorite pictures from this night (and at better resolution than those above), you can see them in the photo album at:
When you get there, just click on the first picture, and start hitting the left and right arrow keys to go through the pictures.
And keep an eye out for Part VII: The Day of Dedication, In Which Randy and Linette get adopted into a Mayan family.
No comments:
Post a Comment