He went with about 20 of his fellow students and spent the week doing dental work in this church outside of Guatemala City. Conditions were pretty rustic!
They stayed in a seminary inside Guatemala City. It was in a fairly nice area that was guarded 24 hours a day by an armed guard. All of the homes had tall, concrete fences with razor wire at the top.
The first day of service was a little slow but, once word got out that they were there and offering free dental care, folks were lining up in the morning to see them.
They had one day off that they used to travel to Antigua and rode horsed up to the top of a volcano. There are many active volcanoes in the area--yes, that's one blowing off a bunch of smoke and ash on the left!
Jeff's poor horse was skin and bones. He said that he should've carried it up and down the mountain.
Until recently, this volcano had lava running out of it!
Where's Waldo (Jeff)?
An homage to his brother, Clark.
Jade is one of the precious commodities in the area and Jeff was happy to find an armed security guard with a sense of humor at a jade museum in Antigua.
They ate pretty well while there. Including this evening, where they had to stop and rest while digesting. They were also able to go and see the U.S. Men's soccer team play a World Cup qualifying game against Guatemala. No pictures from that (they were told to leave everything valuable at the seminary) but, he said it was an interesting experience. The field was surrounded by a fence with razor wire and plenty of armed guards. He was grateful the game ended in a tie--otherwise, they woud've had to make a hasty exit to stay safe!
A crowd waits to see a dentist...
This is the sterilization station at the "clinic." They had to pack all of their instruments and stuff with them so, these girls were in charge of sterilizing everything in between patients.
The view outside of the church. Coincidentally, the LDS missionaries apartment is right there on the left.
All of the operatories.
Jeff, in action. Yes, that's a standard-issue, Walmart headlamp.
Not tall enough? Just stack up some more blue patio chairs!
Not exactly the working conditions he's used to but, it was such a great experience. He pulled lots of teeth and the people were really grateful.
They ended the week with a worship service that included lots of prayers, singing, and some flag waving to celebrate the Savior.
I'm so glad that he was able to go and even more glad that he arrived home safely on his first Father's Day. It was a happy reunion and we were so glad to have him home!
