When I was a young missionary there was always a lot of discussion about the different areas we could be assigned to live and work in. The plusses and minuses of each one were frequent topics, and opinions were given about the best and worst areas to be in. Those areas that were considered most undesirable were called “holes” as in “I hope I never get moved to that hole.” So what constitues a “hole”? The most frequently cited factors were weather, usually the heat, primitive living conditions in a small town, distance from city life, and the hard-headedness of the people. I suppose each missionary had his or her own list of most dreaded “holes”.
Of course, our ideas about how bad these places were arose from stories that others would tell. And the bad reputation was often proven to be just someone else’s opinion. One man’s hole can be another man’s heaven.
I spent some time in a couple of areas that might have been on many missionary’s hole list, and enjoyed them both. My second area was a small town, far from the capital city, in a hot and dry region of Guatemala. I was lucky enough to be there during the hottest time of the year which is March and April in this region. You might wonder why the summer months wouldn’t be hotter. The reason is that the rainy season runs from May through October and the almost daily clouds and rain result in cooling off in what would otherwise be the hot part of the day.
Any way, it was plenty hot there. We would drink several soda pops daily (that was before bottled water became fashionable) to keep our cools. And it was so hot in the afternoons that we would have no appetite at lunch time, except for an occasional milk shake. Instead we would usually head home for a cold shower (hot water was not needed here). But inspite of all that we had many enjoyable times and experiences there and it was in no way miserable.
As the rainy season began, our mission president thought I deserved to go to one of the rainiest spots in the mission, on the coast. This was another small town, with no particular claim to beauty, remote from the glamour of the city, where we had heavy rain daily and I experienced humidity like I never had before. It’s that kind of humidity where you kind of feel like you are swimming through the air. Sounds pretty miserable. But this turned out to be one of my most enjoyable areas! We learned to cope with the humidity, finding that our bodies adapted to it, sort of, after a short time living there. I met some of the most enjoyable and memorable people of my mission there.
As time went on I was sent to more temperate climates (as the tropics go, that is). I held out hope that, before finishing, I would be returned to the wonderful climate of my first area, in Guatemala City. So with every change came the double-edged sword: it could be better, or it could be worse. As it turned out, I never returned to work in Guatemala and spent the last 15 months in the more tropical climes of El Salvador.
But until I was in my last area and knew I would not be transferred again, there was always the nagging dread that I might be sent to my own personal hole of holes, as I had created it in my head: the town of Escuintla on the coastal plane of Guatemala.
Escuintla is only about an hour from Guatemala City but it is 4000 feet lower in altitude and so it has a hot, muggy coastal climate. It is the largest city on the coastal plane. I actually spent a couple of days there on a temporary assignment. Escuintla began as a transportation hub and rail center between coastal ports, the population center around the capital city, and the coffee, banana, and sugar growing and processing areas on the coastal plane. It was considered the most uncomfortable climate in the country. The people had the reputation of being the hard-headed, hard-living, hard-drinking types you would expect to be around transportation and processing enterprises. The Church was struggling to get a foothold there. The two branches in town were weak and new members were hard to find and keep. To top it off, the town had the appearance, kind of like our gold rush towns, that it had been thrown together in a hurry without any thought toward planning or esthetics. In other words, it was just mud-ugly!
Once I was in the area that I knew was my last, I was somewhat disappointed not to have returned to Guatemala City but comforted with the thought that I had avoided Escuintla and the other “holes” that I might have been sent to.
Then last November, we received our call to return to Guatemala! I thought “Now I will be able to spend time in the perfect climate of Guatemala City!” And we have, for 5 months.
But our president knows we need to be somewhere where we can contribute more. He thought a lot and fasted and prayed to know where we should be. Where could we most contribute to the strengthening of the Church? The mission district that is closest to qualifying for becoming a stake, with 5 strong branches, is (drumroll): Escuintla! And so about August first we go to Escuintla where we expect to spend our remaining 13 months. But this time we have a car and air conditioning! Many photos will come in later posts.
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